What Is...

...blasphemy and heresy?
What does it really mean to "use God's name in vain"?

All my life I've heard the words "blasphemy" and "heresy". I'm also very familiar with the phrase "Don't use God's name in vain.", but honestly if I had to explain it to someone, I wasn't able.

Since God makes it clear in His word that blasphemy or using His name in vain or teaching heresy are such grievous sins in His sight, I figured I should find out what it means and heed His warnings regarding such practices:

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."
~ Exodus 20:7

"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing up on themselves swift destruction."
2 Peter 2:1

I realized that if I'm going to be about my Father's business, study His word and seek His counsel for all things, then I better know what these words mean - especially if I plan to teach my sons about God and what it truly means to remain in awe of the Lord God and give Him the honor and glory He alone is due.

First, we'll go over the dictionary definition¹ of both blasphemy and heresy, then we'll take a look at how the words blasphemy and heresy (in their various forms) are used in Scripture as well as the original Hebrew and Greek words used in God's holy word. We'll also take a look at some of the Scriptures where God Himself warns us not to use His name in vain and what all that entails.

Dictionary definitions:

blasphemy n. ~ 1. profane or contemptuous speech, writing, or action concerning God or anything held as divine; 2. any remark or action held to be irreverent or disrespectful.

heresy n. ~ 1. a religious belief opposed to the orthodox doctrines of a church; esp., such a belief specifically denounced by the church; 2. any opinion (in philosophy, politics, etc.) opposed to official or established views or doctrine.

Hebrew and Greek² words used in the following Scripture passages:

Deuteronomy 5:11
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."

vain ~ [Hebrew] shav' means: emptiness, vanity, falsehood; or shav {shav}; from the same as 7722 in the sense of desolating; evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile)

Leviticus 24:16
"Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death."

blaspheme ~ [Hebrew] naqab means:to pierce, perforate, bore, appoint; a primitive root; to puncture, literally (to perforate, with more or less violence) or figuratively (to specify, designate, libel):-appoint, blaspheme, bore, curse, express, with holes, name, pierce, strike through

1 Timothy 1:18-20
"This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme."

Jude 1:8
"Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority , and blaspheme the glorious ones."

blaspheme ~ [Greek] blasphemeo means:to speak reproachfully, rail at, revile, calumniate, blaspheme

In 2 Peter 2:1 the Greek word used for heresies is: hairesis ~ a body of men following their own tenets (sect or party)

From these Scriptures we can firmly conclude that the words blaspheme and vain are alike in that they both defile the holy name and character of God by speaking evil of Him through equating God to sinful man; and speaking to God or of God like we would speak to one another; with casual familiarity.

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in rigtheousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood and the name by which he is called is The Word of God."
~ Revelation 19:11-13

When Moses asks God what His name is, God simply tells Moses, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14-15). This was a very significant and profound point God made to Moses as Moses was aware that those who worshiped false gods, gave their god a name depending on what service that specific god provided the people. But our God, the one true God has no name given to Him by man. Unlike the pagan gods, we did not create the Lord God Almighty; therefore we cannot presume that we are capable of giving Him a name apart from the names He uses in Scripture. Attempting to give God a name that He has never given us to use, is to be guilty of blasphemy.

Then there's the word "heresy". What does it mean to commit this sin? From Scripture we can clearly understand that heresy is the opposite of sound doctrine, it is false doctrine. But then the question has arisen (especially within the emerging or emergent church movement) that doctrine is not important, only relationship is important, so why teach doctrine? But what does God say about doctrine in His word? Well, let's take a look:

"Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted."
~ 1 Timothy 1:8-11

"He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it."
~ Titus 1:9

Not by my personal opinion, but by the word of God, sound doctrine is very important and we, as God's holy children ought to teach sound doctrine and gently rebuke those who teach what is contrary.

So what is sound doctrine? Doctrine is teaching that is in agreement with Scripture. In other words, if it's not in God's word, then it's not "sound". Not only this, but we must be sure to read God's word through His eyes, and not ours. How can we do this? Through the Holy Spirit.

"For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual."
~ 1 Corinthians 2:11-13

I've often witnessed people have a thought or opinion about something then pick and choose Scriptures they believe support their personal ideology. The only problem with that is that we're supposed to follow God's word, not the other way around. Having an opinion about something, then opening God's word to see if you can find support for it, is never the way to read God's word. Doing this puts many of us in the dangerously tempting place of learning and teaching false doctrine as we begin to slowly take God's word out of the context in which He intended and begin to read and apply it in the context of our emotions, thoughts or personal experiences.

In closing, blasphemy is using God's name with no reverence (i.e., speaking to God as He is our equal, using profanity or other vulgar language before His sight or in relation to His holy name) and speaking evil of God's holy name. Heresy is any teaching that did not originate from the infallible, inerrant word of God, but from vain human philosophies or ideologies that are found nowhere in the holy Scriptures. God's word is complete and needs no additions or subtractions.

"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."
~ 1 Corinthians 1:17

As the seven (7) days of prayer ends tomorrow, by the Lord's leading, I will post my biblical review of the book, The Shack by Wm. Paul Young either on Friday or Saturday.

O Lord God, keep us Father from committing these heinous crimes against You! Keep us from blaspheming Your most holy name through our speech, writings, actions or any form in which we communicate to others about You. Keep us from teaching heresy. Lord God wake us in the morning to Your word so that we can see clearly and not wander from Your path of truth. Father God, thank You for Your patience and great mercy. Thank You for forgiving me of committing these atrocious crimes against You. Oh Lord, I was only an ignorant woman, spouting knowledge without wisdom from Your word. I pray Lord that You help others just as You've helped me, so they too may be freed from the deceptive philosophies of this world. O God, help us!

Thank You most holy Father God for Laurie Ann, Hope, Michelle, Dusty and Ruth. I continue to ask You to protect them, guide them and bless them Father with Your truth, by Your love. May we all heavenly Father desire to read Your word for no other reason than to know You more so that we can love You better. May our lives be pleasing to You in every way. Teach us to flee from all that is evil and cling to what is good. We love You so much Father! Thank You for Jesus! Amen.

Footnotes:

1. Webster's New World College Dictionary: Fourth Edition, Copyright © 2001; page 153
2. Hebrew and Greek definitions from http://www.blueletterbible.org, http://net.bible.org and http://biblos.com

Read more...

The Trinity and Hierarchy

Not only is it a daunting task for anyone to assume to describe the holy Trinity of God, but it is also one that will never be complete by any human efforts; for God alone is God, there is no other and (as we discussed a few days ago), our finite minds will never be able to fully grasp the greatness of an infinite God.

"To whom will you liken Me and make Me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?
~ Isaiah 46:5

"I realized that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything, no matter what they claim."
~ Ecclesiastes 8:17 (NLT)

According to Scripture, our limited minds are incapable of fully understanding all the visible works of God here on earth; therefore I don't think it's a stretch to conclude that we'll never be able to fully comprehend the qualities, nature and character of our invisible and awesome Creator, the Lord God Almighty.

With much fear and reverence for our LORD, I will attempt to share with you what I have found in God's revealed word about His relationship to mankind as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

According to Scripture, the very essence, character and nature of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all the same: not a created being; almighty; holy; perfect; just; righteous; kind; compassionate; merciful; gracious; loving; due all glory, honor and reverence; alone should be worshiped; jealous; displays grief and righteous anger. But in God's relationship with mankind, each Person of the Trinity functions in different roles that are not interchangeable (i.e., .God the Father did not die on the Cross for our sins, God the Son does not determine the time He will return, and God the Holy Spirit alone indwells believers for our sanctification).

This is not at all an exhaustive list, but hope it is sufficient in revealing to you how God describes Himself to us through His word.

God the Father's relationship with mankind:

• Genesis 1:1 ~ God the Father spoke all creation into existence
• Genesis 3:21 ~ God the Father provides and made plans for human redemption through sacrifice and covering for sin
  
• John 1:18 and Colossians 1:15~ God the Father has never been seen by man
• John 4:23-24 ~ God the Father has always been and will always be invisible; He is spirit; therefore all who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth
  
• Matthew 27:46 ~ God the Father forsook the Son and accepted Him as the propitiation for our sins
• John 12:49 ~ God the Father sent the Son the first time to provide salvation
  
• Mark 13:32 ~ only God the Father knows when the Son will return the second time to gather up His own
  

God the Son's relationship with mankind:

• John 1:1-4, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Colossians 1:15-16 ~ All creation was made and given life through God the Son
• John 3:16-18 ~ God the Son was sent by the Father as the ransom for our souls
• John 5:19, John 12:49-50, 1 Corinthians 11:3 ~ God the Son is under the authority of God the Father
  
• John 14:6 ~ God the Son is the only way to the God the Father, He's not the "best" way, He is the ONLY way.
• Colossians 1:18 ~ God the Son is the head of the Church, which is His "body"
• Romans 5:1 ~ Peace with God the Father is provided to believers only through God the Son

God the Holy Spirit's relationship with mankind:

• John 14:26 ~ God the Holy Spirit is sent by God the Father only to believers, and only after God the Son has ascended into Heaven
• John 14:16 ~ God the Holy Spirit is the Counselor, Helper for all believers
  
• John 15:26 ~ God the Holy Spirit bears witness to God the Son
  
• John 16:8 ~ God the Holy Spirit convicts the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment
• Titus 3:5 ~ God the Holy Spirit sanctifies us
• 2 Timothy 1:14 ~ God the Holy Spirit indwells all believers
• 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 ~ God the Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts to all believers

Now that we've looked at the Trinity and their relationship to mankind, let us look at the evidence of heirarchy within the God-head.

The word hierarchy means; any system of persons or things ranked one above another and is derived from these two words below:

hieró = Greek for holy, sacred + arch = Greek for rule, government

We know clearly that our God is a God of order, not chaos and we've seen in these Scriptures above that God the Father commands and directs, while God the Son fulfills the Father's commands and God the Holy Spirit bears witness to the Son as He equips every believer to live holy lives unto the Lord.

"Finally, it may be said that there are no differences in deity, attributes, or essential nature between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each Person is fully God and has all the attributes of God. The only distinctions between the members of the Trinity are in the ways they relate to each other and to the rest of creation. In those relationships they carry out roles that are appropriate to each Person."

~ Wayne Grudem
Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine

Gracious and most merciful Father God in Heaven, I thank You for revealing Yourself to us through Your written word. Thank You so much for making a way for us to know You. I still can't completely wrap my mind around Your majesty and the fullness of Your glorious nature. You are so much greater and more wonderful than I'm sure my feeble mind could ever behold. I am humbled by Your love and that You even take notice of me.

Oh wonderful and merciful Father God, I thank You also for my sisters Laurie Ann, Hope, Michelle, Dusty and Ruth whom You've provided to travel with me in prayer as I seek to do Your will and share Your truth with anyone who will listen. Bless us awesome Father and fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so we may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Strengthen us Father God will all power according to Your glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to You Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Thank You Father for delivering us from the domain of darkness and transferring us to the kingdom of Your beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Amen.

Read more...

I Have Seen the LORD

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,

As I was studying this morning and meditating on God's word, the Holy Spirit was so gracious to take me to the Scriptures where God our Father reveals Himself to us in His deity, His holiness, His sovereignty, righteousness and matchless nature; and how every person who has "seen" God in His majesty responds. They are all different people, but all have the same reaction from being in His holy presence: humility and fear.

"Thus says the LORD:
Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."
~ Jeremiah 9:23-24

If I may, I'd like to share these Scriptures with you so that our hearts might be united to fear (revere) His holy name and worship our awesome and incomparable God in the splendor of His glory (Psalm 86:11, Psalm 29:1-2). I pray that God will give all His children discerning and wise hearts; so much so, that we will not entertain thoughts of God in ways He never reveals Himself to all mankind; that is, through His living word.

"It is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such a contemplation to look into himself."

- John Calvin

Below are some of the accounts in Scripture where people have been in the presence of the LORD God Almighty and their reaction, not only towards God, but also towards themselves (their true selves); in the light of God's holiness we can't help but clearly see our putrid depravity.


Genesis 32:30
"So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, 'For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.' "

Exodus 20:18-20
"Now when all the people saw the thunder and flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, 'You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.' Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.' "

In human philosophies, God's righteous and merciful statement in Exodus 20:20, doesn't make much sense. We don't hear this in the world, nor in churches any more: That if we fear God, we will love Him all the more and obey Him. According to God's word, the "fear of God" is clearly a gift and not something to be avoided or replaced with something a bit more warm and fuzzy that makes our flesh "feel" good (Proverbs 1:7). But we continue to see this in today's society and sadly in our churches as well. Often we will hear people refer to God in ways that is more appeasing to the human ear while desensitizing our spirits to the holiness of God's nature and at the same time, feeding our pride; then we wonder why our churches our filled with rampant sin - just as it is outside the church. This seems to be a dangerous road we've wandered off to and would be wise to quickly leave it.

Judges 6:22-23
"Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, 'Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.' But the LORD said to him, 'Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.' "

Isaiah 6:5
"And I said; 'Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!' "

Luke 1:11-12
"And there appeared to him [Zechariah] an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.' "

In this account, Zechariah, has the same reaction to seeing God or even a servant of God (an angel) in the proper way others before him responded. But then, after Gabriel comforts Zechariah and let's him know that he was not sent by God to destroy him, but to bless him, Zechariah gets a bit too familiar, a bit too comfortable and therefore is reminded that he is merely a man and talking back to an angel of God is a dangerous and foolish thing.

Luke 1:19-20
"And the angel answered him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.' "

At this time, it would've greatly benefited Zechariah to have remembered the word of God spoken through King Solomon:

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few."

Luke 1:28-30
"And he [Gabriel] came to her [Mary] and said, 'Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!' But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.' "

In contrast, we see Mary responds differently than Zechariah when Gabriel assures her not to be afraid, because he has been sent by God to bless her with good news. Instead of letting her pride rise within her so that she would sin like Zechariah and dare to become too "chummy" with an angel of the Lord, she humbles herself as she perceives herself as she truly is - a lowly servant in the sight of a holy God .

This reminds me of a time several years ago, when my oldest son purchased himself a t-shirt while at church camp. The shirt was very plain. It was black and had white writing on it that simply, yet profoundly stated: "Jesus is NOT my homeboy. He is God." My son bought this shirt because at the time, many teens his age (that is, professing born-again believers) were sadly duped into wearing t-shirts that boasted about their intimacy with God. These t-shirts said: "Jesus is my homeboy." Our oldest son considered this statement to be extremely irreverent and was very sad for those who had fallen into the deception that God is our "buddy". Purchasing the t-shirt, which he wore very proudly, was his silent way of revealing God's truth about His own character; God is holy and alone is worthy of the utmost honor and glory.

Jesus Himself when He spoke of His resurrection said, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself." As only Jesus has the power to raise Himself from the dead, since He is God. Jesus did not say, "And if you bring me down to your level, your understanding, your comfort, I will draw all people to a more intimate relationship with me." As a matter of fact, we clearly see here in the Scripture below what God says about such things:

"But the righteousness based on faith says, 'Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend in to heaven?' (that is, to bring Christ down) or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)."
~ Romans 10:6-7

It is very clear in God's word, that the "fear of God" is what proves how intimate someone truly is in their relationship with Him. Nowhere in Scripture is it revealed that "chumminess" with God produces intimacy. And nowhere is Scripture do we ever witness God sharing His "secrets" with those who do not fear Him and approach Him with irreverence as if He were their buddy or pal. I will close with these Scriptures:

"The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant [secret counsel]."
~ Psalm 25:14

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:10-11

I am thankful to the Lord for giving me this time with you as we unite our hearts to fear the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 86:11); rejoicing together by the power of His Holy Spirit as we meditate on the greatness of our God, who makes Himself known to us by the revelation of His word. The more we read God's word, the more easily can we discern His voice as He daily directs us in His righteousness.

Tomorrow, I will share Scriptures that reveal the nature of the God-head, the holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and the hierarchy of their relationship.

Read more...

A Song For the Sabbath

Psalm 92

It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
to declare Your steadfast love in the morning,
and Your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your work;
at the works of Your hands I sing for joy.

How great are Your works, O LORD!
Your thoughts are very deep!
The stupid man cannot know;
the fool cannot understand this:
that though the wicked sprout like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
but You, O LORD, are on high forever.
For behold, Your enemies, O LORD,
for behold, Your enemies shall perish;
all evildoers shall be scattered.

But You have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
You have poured over me fresh oil.
My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
to declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Read more...

The More I Learn, The Less I Know

I'm a walking oxymoron.

I'm a total introvert and delight in being alone, yet I hunger for fellowship with the Body of Christ.

I'm the epitome of laziness, yet one of my greatest joys is serving as the Holy Spirit directs me.

I'm terribly afraid of heights (even being on a step stool scares me), yet I love to fly!

I love new adventures, yet I find comfort in routine.

I'm extremely judgmental and merciless, yet the Lord continues to send me to bring His comfort and peace to those who suffer great loss.

In light of what I just shared, the title of this article should make complete sense. :-)

The more I learn about God, I've discovered how very little I truly know Him.

Every time I call out to my Heavenly Father, asking Him to show me great and unsearchable things I did not know (Jeremiah 33:3), He is faithful to answer; and I am always completely in awe and wonder of all that He shows me. It is then I realize how very big my God is. It is during these times of blessed intimacy with God that I realize that all my learning and studying, brings me to the inescapable truth that my finite mind, will never be able to behold the fullness of my infinite God. In other words, I will never fully comprehend the complete character, the very essence and nature of a limitless, holy God with my limited, defiled mind. But I can intimately know Him as He graciously reveals Himself to His creation; and for all that I do not understand, I must apply faith and trust He is exactly who He says He is, nothing more and nothing less. If I ever chose to describe God or refer to Him as someone that I am more comfortable with or someone I could better relate myself to, then I would be guilty of denigrating the most holy name of God; who states there is none like Him - there is nothing in all creation that we would ever be able to use to describe Him.

"To whom will you liken Me and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be alike?...remember the things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,"
~ Isaiah 46:5, 9

Understanding this truth, I am grieved to the core as I consider what the Lord our God stated in Genesis 6:6. According to this Scripture, we; little fallible, sinful, finite and weak human-beings are capable of causing the seemingly impossible and most atrocious thing: bringing horrendous grief to the very heart of our sovereign and holy God.

How does this happen?

Our enemy Satan is no fool. He is wicked, but as Scripture states, he is crafty. Instead of telling us obvious lies, he introduces lies to us that have a bit of truth in it, or quotes Scripture, but takes it completely out of context.

As Christians, that is true disciples of Christ, I don't believe any of us who are indwelt with the Holy Spirit wakes up every morning with the intent to fill our day with sinful acts or thoughts. But because we aren't nearly as diligent to faithfully feed our souls (with the word of God) as often (or more) than we feed our temporal bodies (3 times a day), we've allowed heretical and blasphemous ideologies to creep into our churches; thereby creeping into our minds and hearts.

"For though we walk in flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete."
~ 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Because we do not properly armor ourselves with the armor of God, because we do not mediate on God's word day and night (Psalm 1:1-3), we are easily, like sheep, led astray by various winds of "new" teaching that may come our way. There are many books, movies, seminars and even churches that are teaching Christians to view God in ways that God Himself has never used to describe Himself in His word.

My request to you is that you commit to pray and read God's word with me for a minimum of three (3) times per day, for the next seven (7) days; and only Scriptures that specifically reveal God's holy and incomparable nature.

If you agree to participate with me in this, please leave a comment so that I may pray for you personally, by name. At the end of the seven (7) days, I will share with you, in accordance with God's holy Scripture, my video review on The Shack by Wm. Paul Young.

"Teach me Your way, O LORD, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name."
~ Psalm 86:11

"As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions."
~ 1 Timothy 1:3-7

Gracious and most holy Father God in Heaven, I ask you to please unite our hearts to fear Your name. Teach us Your way Father that we may not fall into deceptive human philosophies or suppositions, but please Lord, light our path with Your word that we might safely walk in Your truth. I echo what my brother St. Augustine once requested of You, 'Command what You wish, but give what You command.' Give us one heart Lord and give to us as You so mercifully gave to the men of Asher, Manasseh, Zebulun and Judah during the days of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30:6-12). Let Your hand also be upon us as it was upon them, so that we may humble ourselves and do what you command by Your word. I thank You awesome Father God, in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son. Amen.

Read more...

Faith Like Potatoes

We just purchased this DVD yesterday and we watched it last night.

This movie is based on a true story of Angus and Jill Buchan who founded Shalom Ministries in South Africa amongst the Zulu tribes.

The Buchan's are just regular folks - farmers. Watch this movie and be in awe of what our great and mighty God does with us regular folk as we offer Him, our 5 loaves and 2 fish!

I HIGHLY recommend this movie. A couple of times, Angus uses the "bl----" word to curse; but this is prior to his conversion.

Angus and Jill are still living lives totally abandoned to Christ and live in a way that would make us "westerners" a bit ashamed, BUT in a way that causes us to praise God, repent of our laziness and lack of spiritual fervor.

There is also a documentary of Angus and Jill in the Special Features section of the DVD - which by the way is so powerful! When you watch it, you'll feel like you're reading the book of Acts as you see Scripture being lived out.

Amazing, amazing, amazing! Our God is awesome and desires worshipers who worship Him in spirit and in truth and not in our religious rituals handed down from man.

Watch the movie, visit their link and be inspired to sacrifice all for the sake and glory of Christ our Savior, our Lord and Master.

Read more...

Freckles is Fourteen!

Today is my youngest son's 14^th birthday!

Happy Birthday Freckles!

May the Lord our God cause you to hunger and thirst for righteousness. May our Heavenly Father guide you and protect you as you seek His face. And may He faithfully cause trials to come into your life to test your faith so that steadfastness may be produced and have its full effect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. [James 1:2-4]

I love you so much my precious, precious son. You are God's blessing to me, a joy to my heart and a constant reminder of God's grace.

Love you baby, baby,
Mama

Read more...

Cleaning House...

...that is, our bodies that have been washed with the precious blood of Christ; having been made acceptable in the sight of holy God, no longer considered as God's enemies, but provided the peace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, so that our minds and hearts will be sanctified by God's word and protected in Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:7)


Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,

I want to begin with thanksgiving to our the Lord our God, who by the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ has made us a new creature with a new heart and new mind; no longer living in ignorance, but enlightened by the Holy Spirit who dwells within the souls of all who have been called and redeemed by the precious blood of our sinless Savior, Lord and Master.

I thank you all for your fervent prayers on my behalf, that I might not, "shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:27)

I thank you for beseeching our gracious, awesome and most holy Father God who is in Heaven to provide me with the wisdom from Heaven (James 3:17-18).

As I stated in my previous post, I am not writing an article re: The Shack with any effort on my part to share any personal opinions or that which may be considered as "common sense". But I continue to wait in silence, with much fear and trembling as I consider and meditate with my whole heart on all that Jesus Christ is teaching me through the power of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13 and Matthew 10:19-20).

What I am about to share with you regarding this book will not be, as John Piper puts it: "philosophical interpretation", but rather an "exegetical interpretation" that derives not from man's perspective and view of God, but God's perspective of man and His holy, pure and right judgment regarding all things.

I am compelled to share this, not because I deem myself greater than any of you, but only because of my deep abiding love for God, His holy word (His commandments) and for all of you as we continue to spur one another on toward love and good deeds all the more as we see that Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Please understand I do all this, believing 2 Timothy 3:16-17. May the Lord our God unite our hearts to fear Him so that what Isaiah prophesied will not be said of us:

"Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn an be healed."
~ Isaiah 6:9-10

Read more...

He Is Risen!

CHRIST
IS
RISEN!

HALLELUJAH!

Read more...

Why Is It "Good" Friday?

Today is GOOD Friday.

Why do we call this day "good"?

What's so good about it? Let's first take a look at the definition of the word good.

good n. ~ moral righteousness, excellent; adj. ~ virtuous, righteous, pure, untainted, unspoiled, reliable, sufficient.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, our Lord and Savior was brutally beaten, his beard was ripped off his face, He was spit on, utterly rejected; a murderer was considered better than Him; Jesus was mocked, stripped naked before the world, nailed to a cross of shame between two thieves, died and was buried.

To give us a better understanding, let's read Psalm 22, which is where King David, by the power of the Holy Spirit, prophesies what our precious Jesus was feeling on this very day nearly 2,000 years ago:

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.

Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.

I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.

All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.

I don't know about you, but this day doesn't sound like a very "good" day. So why do those of us who have repented and trusted our lives to Jesus Christ celebrate calling this day "good"? We do this because on this day, nearly 2,000 years ago, the greatest battle in all creation was won! On this very day, those of us who have sinned and were once enemies of God (which is all of us [Romans 5:12]) were given HOPE.

hope v. ~ to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; trust

"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."
~ Romans 8:22-25

This day, in which the Son of God suffered and died, was the day that Jesus defeated the sting of death; crushed the penalty of sin (eternity in Hell) and set the captives free. On this very day, Jesus the Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that we might be the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).

For those who witnessed the Lamb of God, drinking the full cup of God's wrath, this day seemed to be the worst day ever recorded in history. But then...Sunday came!

Therefore those of us who are in Christ Jesus celebrate this day calling it "Good Friday" because we know that Sunday's a comin' and.....

Christ has risen from the dead!

Read more...

Waiting in Silence

Hello beloved and precious brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ.

I know I haven't been "around" for a while now. My health issues continue to pull me away from bloggyland - but my prayers have not been hindered by this, as I delight in praying for each of you. ☺

There will be times I will be able to write, but when I can't I encourage you to read some of the "old" articles I've written.

The Lord has moved my heart to write on sound doctrine (since the false gospel continues to birth more false converts), forgiveness, how Christ overcomes all our troubles here and makes us victors in the Son of God and not victims of this world and our circumstances, etc.

In order to read some of my old writings, you can either do a search for something that the Lord has laid on your heart by using the "Search this Site" located on the top left-sidebar; or you can click on a topic from "My Traveling Log" located on the right-sidebar.

My next article will be on the book, "The Shack". Presently, I am waiting on the Lord's direction on how, what and when to write this. I sincerely pray that you will receive what God has revealed to me to share with you re: this book with love and much fear and trembling. Please understand that I am not writing this as a know-it-all, but merely sharing with you what little I do know, in the hopes that God will reveal His truth to you. Please pray for me. Pray that God will keep my heart humble and malleable. Pray that I will not shrink back from the strong message He has provided me, but that I will boldly proclaim all that He has given me, without fear of what others might think of me.

For now, I'm waiting in silence so that when our Heavenly Father speaks, I will be sure not to miss His voice. ♥

"Make me know Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long."
~ Psalm 25:4-5

I love you all!

Read more...

A Day of Rest & Worship

<a href="http://jesusrulzme.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh167/JesusRulzMe/Test%20Blog/SabbathDayScroll.gif" /></a><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>

Read more...

It's HERE - Evangelizing in Hollywood!

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,

I know I've been "away" for a bit and I have truly missed all of you and visiting with you via your blogs.

Just a quick summary on why I've been out-of-pocket is my health (many of you already know about my health issues for the past 5 years). A few weeks ago, my doctors sent me to the ER twice due to some bleeding issues and difficulty breathing. Our gracious and compassionate Father God has chosen to provide me with the wisdom to stop taking the meds I was on (not that there's anything wrong with taking meds). It's just that I have a very weak and overly sensitive digestive system and many meds provide me with very painful side affects. It turned out all the meds I was on was causing my bleeding and breathing problems, as well as compeltely off-setting and depleting my electrolytes and other vitamins so that my body wasn't asorbing many nutrients we all need to live.

But I'm not here to write about my health. :-) I'm here to share with you that it's THAT time of the month again...yep, you guessed it....CWO's April 2009 issue!



Our heavenly Father was so gracious to allow me an interview with Larissa Lam, co-host of JCTV’s Top 3, singer/songwriter/recording artist with her latest album “Revolutionary“, and the Founder of On The Way Up and Beautiful Faith ministries! This sister is passionate about being a good steward of the time, talents and gifts God has given her. In this interview, she shares with us her fears, her victories in Christ and how God took this spoiled, only-child and molded her to become a voice; a beautiful voice crying out for all to repent and trust in the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Larissa is compelled by the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel to those in Hollywood - that's one of the main reasons why she knows God put her there; to be a light in the darkness of all the earthly glitz and glamour.

In the article, you'll see a link on how Larissa would like to partner with you in sharing your "beautiful faith" in Christ. She has a section on her webiste that allows for readers to both watch and make video testimonies of what Christ has done in our lives. Maybe your video testimony will be the next one the Lord will choose to use to exhort others to abide in Christ!

I've been so humbled and encouraged by her passion and abandoned devotion to Christ our Lord - even in the midst of many uncertainties.

To read my entire article/interview with our precious sister Larissa Lam
click HERE.

Read more...