Liar Liar, pants on fire! What used to be a silly kids game is actually more truthful then people realize. Consider what the scripture says about liars:
Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, will have their part in the Lake burning with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
So what's the deal with a post about liars? Well, I've been thinking a lot lately about how many Christians have been deceived by lies from America's pulpits. For example: did you know that the fastest growing segment of Christianity (and I really hate to call it that)is the segment that is taught that if you have a need, just sow a seed? In other words, if you need God to perform a miracle in your life just send the "man of god" a gift and it will happen. Sort of like rubbing the magic lamp whenever you need the genie to grant your wish.
Beloved, any man that tells you this is a LIAR! Sure, our Father wants us to prosper and be in health,even as our soul prospers. But there is no place in scripture where we are taught the principle of purchasing your next miracle.
That is a sick,perverted heresy taught by greedy men and women who are drunk with the love of money,fame, and riches.So many people have had their faith destroyed by falling into this demonic snare and the trap is ever widening.
If your church teaches this falsehood RUN, do not walk,but RUN from there as fast as your little feet will carry you! And the next time you turn on your TV to the unholy network that is largely responsible for filling this world with these lies,do yourself and your family a huge favor. Rebuke those liars and give your money to the local mission or food bank. You won't see any millionaire TV religious hustlers hanging around those places!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Deception in the House of God
"Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;"
Deuteronomy 11:16
One of the earliest warnings delivered to the children of Israel concerning idolatry is the scripture from Deuteronomy 11:16. This dire warning came immediately after God's promises to bless them if only they would be faithful to Him. read with me:
Deu 11:13 And it will be, if you will listen carefully to My commandments which I command you today, to love Jehovah your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deu 11:14 I will give the rain of your land in its due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.
Deu 11:15 And I will send grass in your fields for your cattle so that you may eat and be full.
Well, as we all know, Israel did not obey the Lord and ended up following after a multitude of false gods and religions. What has any of this to do with you and I?
It has everything to do with us. As I write this today I am convinced that God has begun to abandon America and turn us over to the imaginations of our hearts. I cannot sugar coat it any longer. I cannot mince words and act as though I believe God is going to somehow overlook the sins of this nation.He will not because He cannot.
I am declaring categorically that I believe this nation is lost and that we are going to see a slow but steady erosion of the blessings God has heaped upon this nation. In that we have abandoned His commandments we have brought upon ourselves the consequences of our actions.
The church has allowed this nation to backslide because it has preferred to cater to her own selfish desires rather than the desire of her heart being to please Him who has called her out of darkness. We have willingly populated our pulpits with anyone who will tickle our ears and appease our guilty consciousness with stories designed to make us feel good about ourselves.
We have murmured and complained about everything to the point where we are a nation of ungrateful,spoiled brats hell bent on perpetrating our own demise. And God is saying "enough".
The church is deceived. The church no longer searches for truth.The church no longer has the stomach to fight the good fight.The church has laid her armor down and is defenseless.
O God, that a remnant might not bow the kneel to Baal!!
Deuteronomy 11:16
One of the earliest warnings delivered to the children of Israel concerning idolatry is the scripture from Deuteronomy 11:16. This dire warning came immediately after God's promises to bless them if only they would be faithful to Him. read with me:
Deu 11:13 And it will be, if you will listen carefully to My commandments which I command you today, to love Jehovah your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deu 11:14 I will give the rain of your land in its due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil.
Deu 11:15 And I will send grass in your fields for your cattle so that you may eat and be full.
Well, as we all know, Israel did not obey the Lord and ended up following after a multitude of false gods and religions. What has any of this to do with you and I?
It has everything to do with us. As I write this today I am convinced that God has begun to abandon America and turn us over to the imaginations of our hearts. I cannot sugar coat it any longer. I cannot mince words and act as though I believe God is going to somehow overlook the sins of this nation.He will not because He cannot.
I am declaring categorically that I believe this nation is lost and that we are going to see a slow but steady erosion of the blessings God has heaped upon this nation. In that we have abandoned His commandments we have brought upon ourselves the consequences of our actions.
The church has allowed this nation to backslide because it has preferred to cater to her own selfish desires rather than the desire of her heart being to please Him who has called her out of darkness. We have willingly populated our pulpits with anyone who will tickle our ears and appease our guilty consciousness with stories designed to make us feel good about ourselves.
We have murmured and complained about everything to the point where we are a nation of ungrateful,spoiled brats hell bent on perpetrating our own demise. And God is saying "enough".
The church is deceived. The church no longer searches for truth.The church no longer has the stomach to fight the good fight.The church has laid her armor down and is defenseless.
O God, that a remnant might not bow the kneel to Baal!!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Christianity: Then and Now
I often wonder about what passes for Christianity today. I know, I know,I'm being judgmental aren't I? Well...not really. Let me explain.
You see, there was a time when saying you were a Christian meant you were aligned with Christ. That used to mean that you identified with Him and walked according to His statutes and tried to live by the holy scriptures. Come to think abut it, I can even remember when people who said they were Christian actually had a reverence for God!
Contrast these things with what I see today and I must wonder if God doesn't look upon us and weep.I wonder if He ever asks Himself the question "this is what I gave my Son for?"
To coin a familiar phrase "where's the love?" I don't see it. What I see instead are people so utterly consumed with self that they have nothing left to give a brother or sister in need.
The Apostle John spoke of this lack of love here:
1st John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
So I wonder, is it asking too much for the child of God to love one another? Isn't that what being a Christian is really all about?
To do otherwise is to abide in death. All while setting on the pew each Sunday.
You see, there was a time when saying you were a Christian meant you were aligned with Christ. That used to mean that you identified with Him and walked according to His statutes and tried to live by the holy scriptures. Come to think abut it, I can even remember when people who said they were Christian actually had a reverence for God!
Contrast these things with what I see today and I must wonder if God doesn't look upon us and weep.I wonder if He ever asks Himself the question "this is what I gave my Son for?"
To coin a familiar phrase "where's the love?" I don't see it. What I see instead are people so utterly consumed with self that they have nothing left to give a brother or sister in need.
The Apostle John spoke of this lack of love here:
1st John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
So I wonder, is it asking too much for the child of God to love one another? Isn't that what being a Christian is really all about?
To do otherwise is to abide in death. All while setting on the pew each Sunday.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
What Kind of Christian Are You?
As mainstream denominational lines become more blurred and the church itself slips deeper into a state of luke warmness, I've been doing some soul searching about what I am and what I believe.
I was saved in a traditional Pentecostal church and have remained so for over 35 years. That does not mean however that I agree with everything that happens in the Pentecostal church. For example; I believe in the gift of tongues but I do NOT believe that most of the tongues I hear are from God. When I hear a "word" that someone brings forth under the premise that it is directly from the Lord Himself and it does not line up with scripture I reject it completely.
I am now and have always been about as anti-charismatic as a person could be. What passes for the Spirit of God in the charismatic church is in my opinion an offence to a Holy God. The practice of people giving themselves over to uncontrollable laughter and the making of animal noises is altogether unscriptural and should be utterly condemned.
I believe with all that’s in me that God still heals today. For me to say otherwise would be for me to make God out to be a liar because I know that He has touched my body on several occasions. That being said, I do not believe anyone on this earth has been given a “healing” ministry. There are many people claiming this and they are fleecing the flock out of untold millions of dollars under the guise of being able to “pray the prayer of faith” but that is not how the Bible says it works. Acts 14:8,9 states that…
Act 14:8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:
Act 14:9 The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
Notice Paul perceived that this impotent man “had faith to be healed” (emphasis mine). That’s the way it works; when the gospel is preached it causes faith to arise in our hearts and sometimes to the point that we can actually believe God for our healing.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that the longer I walk with the Lord the more I wonder if it isn’t enough to simply know Christ, and Him crucified.
I was saved in a traditional Pentecostal church and have remained so for over 35 years. That does not mean however that I agree with everything that happens in the Pentecostal church. For example; I believe in the gift of tongues but I do NOT believe that most of the tongues I hear are from God. When I hear a "word" that someone brings forth under the premise that it is directly from the Lord Himself and it does not line up with scripture I reject it completely.
I am now and have always been about as anti-charismatic as a person could be. What passes for the Spirit of God in the charismatic church is in my opinion an offence to a Holy God. The practice of people giving themselves over to uncontrollable laughter and the making of animal noises is altogether unscriptural and should be utterly condemned.
I believe with all that’s in me that God still heals today. For me to say otherwise would be for me to make God out to be a liar because I know that He has touched my body on several occasions. That being said, I do not believe anyone on this earth has been given a “healing” ministry. There are many people claiming this and they are fleecing the flock out of untold millions of dollars under the guise of being able to “pray the prayer of faith” but that is not how the Bible says it works. Acts 14:8,9 states that…
Act 14:8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:
Act 14:9 The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
Notice Paul perceived that this impotent man “had faith to be healed” (emphasis mine). That’s the way it works; when the gospel is preached it causes faith to arise in our hearts and sometimes to the point that we can actually believe God for our healing.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that the longer I walk with the Lord the more I wonder if it isn’t enough to simply know Christ, and Him crucified.
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Love of Many Shall Wax Cold
Beloved, we are living in a very dangerous time. A day never passes that we do not hear story after story of murder,rape,corruption,and all manner of evil taking place in our own neighborhoods.
The war on drugs was lost a long time ago.Surely wisdom will ultimately prevail and our government will acknowledge that the untold Billions of dollars fighting the war against illegal drugs has been futile.
Where is even the natural care of one for another? Have we become as brute beasts? Has the pinnacle of God's creation descended to a level from which there is no turning back?
No, as long as man attempts to satisfy his carnal nature there is no depth to which he will not sink.There is no limit to the evil man is capable of apart from a Holy God.
The question begs to be asked: how did this happen? How in the world di man fall into such a perpetual state of sin?
My friends, the answer is so simple that a fool should be able to receive it. Read what our Lord Jesus said about this very subject in Matthew 24:11,12...
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
May He turn our hearts around. May He create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us.
The war on drugs was lost a long time ago.Surely wisdom will ultimately prevail and our government will acknowledge that the untold Billions of dollars fighting the war against illegal drugs has been futile.
Where is even the natural care of one for another? Have we become as brute beasts? Has the pinnacle of God's creation descended to a level from which there is no turning back?
No, as long as man attempts to satisfy his carnal nature there is no depth to which he will not sink.There is no limit to the evil man is capable of apart from a Holy God.
The question begs to be asked: how did this happen? How in the world di man fall into such a perpetual state of sin?
My friends, the answer is so simple that a fool should be able to receive it. Read what our Lord Jesus said about this very subject in Matthew 24:11,12...
And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
May He turn our hearts around. May He create in us a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within us.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Where is The Fear and Reverence of God Today?
I witnessed something yesterday at church that caught me off guard and really got me to thinking about just how complacent we have become in our attitudes towards God. I saw someone sitting in the sanctuary with their feet up on the back of the seat in front of them. Sort of reminded me of the people who have their feet on the dash of their mom’s car while tooling down the highway.
Now, I realize that many may say what’s the big deal; at least this young person was in church instead of out doing something they shouldn’t be. OK…I get that. And I agree, it is far better to be in the house of God then out doing who knows what.
But does all of that mean we should allow ourselves to become so irreverent in the house of God that this kind of behavior is acceptable? Have we become so lax in our treatment of the house of God that we should just look the other way when we see these things?
This is just a small, isolated incident that is really part of a much larger problem. We have lost our fear of the Holy. We no longer respect our God as we once did. This is obvious in the world as well as the church, as more and more the church has become synonymous with the world. You know, hard to tell which is which any more isn’t it?
I’ve begun again this year to read the Bible through and my study selection this week has focused upon the book of Acts, particularly chapter 5. Many will remember that this chapter deals with a man and his wife who sold a piece of property and conspired together to lie about the price they received from the sale of it.
Act 5:1 And a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession.
Act 5:2 And he kept back part of the price, his wife also knowing, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Act 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart for you to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Act 5:4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own authority? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.
Act 5:5 And hearing these words, Ananias fell down and expired. And great fear came on all those who heard these things.
Act 5:6 And the younger ones arose, wound him up, and carrying him out, they buried him.
Act 5:7 And it was about the space of three hours afterward, when his wife (not knowing what was done) came in.
Act 5:8 And Peter answered her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much? And she said, Yes, for so much.
Act 5:9 Then Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out.
Act 5:10 Then at once she fell down at his feet and expired. And the younger ones found her dead, and, carrying her out, buried her beside her husband.
Act 5:11 And great fear came on all the church and on as many as heard these things.
I’m certainly not advocating that the Lord begin to strike people dead in their tracks for lying to Him. I doubt the funeral homes could handle the traffic and besides, God is graceful and compassionate towards his people.
But is it asking too much for those who profess Christ as their Savior to show Him love and respect? Seriously, just what is our image of our heavenly Father if we can have such a lax and disrespectful attitude toward Him?
Now, I realize that many may say what’s the big deal; at least this young person was in church instead of out doing something they shouldn’t be. OK…I get that. And I agree, it is far better to be in the house of God then out doing who knows what.
But does all of that mean we should allow ourselves to become so irreverent in the house of God that this kind of behavior is acceptable? Have we become so lax in our treatment of the house of God that we should just look the other way when we see these things?
This is just a small, isolated incident that is really part of a much larger problem. We have lost our fear of the Holy. We no longer respect our God as we once did. This is obvious in the world as well as the church, as more and more the church has become synonymous with the world. You know, hard to tell which is which any more isn’t it?
I’ve begun again this year to read the Bible through and my study selection this week has focused upon the book of Acts, particularly chapter 5. Many will remember that this chapter deals with a man and his wife who sold a piece of property and conspired together to lie about the price they received from the sale of it.
Act 5:1 And a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession.
Act 5:2 And he kept back part of the price, his wife also knowing, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Act 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart for you to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Act 5:4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own authority? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.
Act 5:5 And hearing these words, Ananias fell down and expired. And great fear came on all those who heard these things.
Act 5:6 And the younger ones arose, wound him up, and carrying him out, they buried him.
Act 5:7 And it was about the space of three hours afterward, when his wife (not knowing what was done) came in.
Act 5:8 And Peter answered her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much? And she said, Yes, for so much.
Act 5:9 Then Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out.
Act 5:10 Then at once she fell down at his feet and expired. And the younger ones found her dead, and, carrying her out, buried her beside her husband.
Act 5:11 And great fear came on all the church and on as many as heard these things.
I’m certainly not advocating that the Lord begin to strike people dead in their tracks for lying to Him. I doubt the funeral homes could handle the traffic and besides, God is graceful and compassionate towards his people.
But is it asking too much for those who profess Christ as their Savior to show Him love and respect? Seriously, just what is our image of our heavenly Father if we can have such a lax and disrespectful attitude toward Him?
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Has Your Lamp Gone Out ?
As I spend time reflecting upon the opportunities God gave me to minister to others over the course of 2011 I am troubled by the fact that I know there were opportunities lost due to my own failure to obey.
What is most disturbing about this is that I cannot say that I did not know. I cannot plead ignorance to what the Lord wanted me to do. I cannot blame my shortcomings (pretty word for failures, don't you think?)on someone else.
No, I have to confess that my light did not shine as brightly as it should have and that at times what was most important to me was my own will, my own desires and not my heavenly Father's.
Funny thing about all of this is that we never see it coming do we? I mean, we don't deliberately turn our light off. We don't set out to disobey do we?
Maybe the problem is that we get so comfortable, so complacent, that we begin to believe that it's us and not God who is leading the charge. Could it be that we forget where we came from, and what the Lord has brought us through?
What I do know for certain is that it isn't enough to claim God is Lord of our life. It isn't enough to just say the words that we will follow Him wherever he leads. No, lip service offered to God is the same as what Israel offered to the Lord after their hearts were hardened and they had forsaken the Lord.
Isa 29:13 And Jehovah said, Because this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the command of men;
My prayer is that not only in my own life but in yours as well that we learn to obey His voice and forsake our own will so that He can truly lead us as He desires.
What is most disturbing about this is that I cannot say that I did not know. I cannot plead ignorance to what the Lord wanted me to do. I cannot blame my shortcomings (pretty word for failures, don't you think?)on someone else.
No, I have to confess that my light did not shine as brightly as it should have and that at times what was most important to me was my own will, my own desires and not my heavenly Father's.
Funny thing about all of this is that we never see it coming do we? I mean, we don't deliberately turn our light off. We don't set out to disobey do we?
Maybe the problem is that we get so comfortable, so complacent, that we begin to believe that it's us and not God who is leading the charge. Could it be that we forget where we came from, and what the Lord has brought us through?
What I do know for certain is that it isn't enough to claim God is Lord of our life. It isn't enough to just say the words that we will follow Him wherever he leads. No, lip service offered to God is the same as what Israel offered to the Lord after their hearts were hardened and they had forsaken the Lord.
Isa 29:13 And Jehovah said, Because this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the command of men;
My prayer is that not only in my own life but in yours as well that we learn to obey His voice and forsake our own will so that He can truly lead us as He desires.
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