What are you preaching?

Galations 1:1-10

1Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
2and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
3Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
4who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
5to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.
6I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;
7which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
9As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
10For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

Please I beg you to read this with caution. Many of you who will read this and say "Amen" are the very ones distorting the Gospel. I love you all.

The New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31-34

31"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
33"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
34"They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."

Furtick and Osteen

So on June 4th a pastor named Steven Furtick wrote a post that was titled "Please stop pickin on Joel" in which he pretty much told everyone to stop talking negatively about Joel and his preaching. Then I saw leaders agreeing with him and posting a link to it on their stuff. I have a few problems with what Mr. Furtick said. (Keep in mind while you are reading this that i often read and enjoy his blog but i hated this one.)

1. He called Lakewood a church which it is obviously not. It is a place for a bunch of lost people to get together and feel good about their lives.

2. While i fully agree that we should not be mean-spirited and that we should do a lot more walking than we do talking. We should publicly expose Joel for being a false teacher, which is what he is.

3. Pastor Furtick said that he was impacting Houston. Which is true except he forgot to mention that the impact he has is that he is an instrument of deception.

4. Who gives a crap that this man preaches to 40,000 people weekly if they are only there to feel really good about themselves. Oh and Steven, the reason why i could not get 40,000 people to come hear me weekly is because the Jesus I preach (which is the One from the Bible) is an offense to unconverted sinners.

Again I agree that everything we say and do should be out of love, and that we should be doing before we begin talking, but that is all most of us are doing.

We should expose Joel Osteen for what he is because people need to know.

Be doers of the Word.

J.R. Lee

Well what to say? Just kidding.

I want to say thank you to J.R. for a few reasons.
1. I have learned a lot from you.
2. I get better at sports when i play them with you
3. you have given me more stuff than anyone else (except my parents, but thats a given)

Anyways man. I hope God blesses you. This sounds like a goodbye but its not.

I just read this post and it is the weirdest one i have ever written.

J.R. I love you man. Later

Women

I have been appalled on several occassions at some women that attend my church ( not all of them, but a few) and now more than ever (I think) see why God created the order of leadership in the manner that He did.

On one occassion i was at a horribly unbiblical meeting that was called at my church by some lay people that do not study their Bible very much from what i gathered. Every time a man would begin to say something, some woman would interrupt so that she could hear herself talk for like 15 minutes. This happened over and over again. I must also say that some fault does fall on the men for two reasons.
1. The men were doing something, by having the meeting, that was HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!
2. The men were acting like cowards and would not take the floor after being interrupted.

Last night there were at least two (very loud) women that were acting in a terrible manner as well. I cannot go into detail because everyone who attends my church would know exactly who i was talking about.

Read these verses in 1 Cor.
34The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says.
35If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.

For the women reading this blog. If you are acting like a woman should then may God bless you to continue being like Christ.
If you are not then please take Scripture to heart and if you have questions ask your husband. Do not waste everybody elses time.

For the men. STOP ACTING LIKE COWARDS. Be a man!!!!!!!

Also, for the men. Biblical leadership in the household means that you are to lead on behalf of your wife and not as a tyrant. In not being a coward please still act as Christ does toward His beautiful bride.

The Sinfulness of Sin

I am currently reading a book by John Bunyan called "The Pilgrims Progress" and it is incredible. It is said to be the greatest allegory ever written and since it is the first allegory i have ever read i think i will stop after the best. I would hate to be dissappointed.

Anyways, God showed me something while i was reading this book the other day. Read this:

"CHRISTIAN: Sir, what think you? Is there any hope? May I now go back, and go up to the wicket-gate? Shall I not be abandoned for this, and sent back from thence ashamed? I am sorry I have hearkened to this man’s counsel; but may my sin be forgiven?
EVANGELIST: Then said Evangelist to him, Thy sin is very great, for by it thou hast committed two evils: thou hast forsaken the way that is good, to tread in forbidden paths. Yet will the man at the gate receive thee, for he has good-will for men; only, said he, take heed that thou turn not aside again, lest thou “perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.” Psalm 2:12."

What evangelist says to christian here is so crazy to me. When you and i sin we just count it as one little thing but what if every time we do something wrong we have committed more than just one sin against God.

We have become so numb to sin that we neither recognize it nor are grieved by it. Pray that God will give you a sensitivity to sin like you have never had before. I am not talking about things like murder and rape, i am talking about things like watching movies with cursing or music that does not glorify God. Remember that if you are not sensitive to sin then you are lost according to 1 John.

WALK IN A MANNER WORTHY OF THE GOSPEL.

I love you

Are you truly born again?

3By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
5but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected By this we know that we are in Him:
6the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
7Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.

Persecution

2 Timothy 3:2
12Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

I just read a story at The Voice of the Martyrs website. Five muslim men walked into a Christian institute of somekind and killed three Christians because of their hatred for Christ and His Church. Two of the men who were killed were converts from Islam and the other was a missionary from Germany.

The church in Turkey (which is where it happened) wrote a letter to the Church abroad. The pastor of the church said this "Please pray for the Church in Turkey. “Don’t pray against persecution, pray for perseverence,” urges Pastor Fikret Bocek".

THIS IS REAL CHRISTIANITY!!!!!!!!!!!

How much do you or I cherish Jesus Christ. My heart is broken over the condition of the American Church.

PLEASE PRAY for our brothers and sisters in Christ that face this kind of opposition every day. There is so much we can learn from them.

God has been good

For me it is too rare of an occasion to stop and take a look at my life and thank God for how good He has been. God has blessed my life in more ways than I could count but here are a few.

1. I am engaged to the most wonderful person in the whole world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It still blows my mind that God would bless my life with Carmen Ann York. She is my baby.

2. I have the best job ever outside of ministry. I help kids with terminal illnesses and i get to work with mice and other animals. Get mad all you want to all of you PETA members. I would kill ten thousand mice to save the life of just one HUMAN child.

3. I have two of the most wonderful parents in the world. They have never failed me that i can remember. My mom has always been so great and thank you dad for showing me how to selflessly love my future wife.

4. God is growing me in His Word through His Spirit.

5. God chose to save me. Because He first loved me now I give everything i am to Him forever.

6.He has never failed to keep His promises.

7. I am surrounded by some incredible people who love Jesus with all their heart.

That is all that i have time for but read this verse.

Ephesians 3:20
20Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

Our God is AWESOME.

Romans 8:33-39

33Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies;
34who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED."
37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is )in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Persecution

The Bible has a lot to say about the subject of persecution, mainly that christians will have to face it. This verse is awesome. It is in 2 Timothy.

12Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

I have one question. Are you, in some way, being persecuted for the sake of the Gospel and because of your desire for holiness. If not then it is obvious that you do not truly desire to "live godly in Christ Jesus".

I exhort you to do one thing. "LOVE JESUS AND BE HOLY"

Jesus

Well when in doubt look to Jesus. After all He is everything. This passage in in Mark 4.

9And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
10As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
11And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables,
12so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN."

There is no taking this out of context. This whole chapter is astounding from a theological perspective.

Matthew 24
22"Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

24"For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.

More Scripture

Proverbs 21
The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD;He turns it wherever He wishes

Malachi 1
3but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness."

Romans 8 (radical depravity)
7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God

Daniel 4 (irresistable grace)

35"All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What have You done?'

John 6

64"But there are some of you who do not believe " For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.
65And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."

2 Timothy 2
24The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
25with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,

Romans 3 (definite atonement)
25whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;
26for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

John 10
26"But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep." Notice: being a sheep enables you to become a believer, not vice versa

john 17

9"I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;

Ephesians 1(unconditional election)

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love
5He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
6to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

For more on this look at previous posts and read romans 9

I will address passages like John 3:16 and many others later. I am at work and i have to go.

John Piper on free will

IV. The Place of Free Will
Verse 16 draws the obvious inference from verse 15. Whether a man receives mercy from God or not does not depend on a man's willing or his running (=efforts) but solely on God. In other words, God's merciful treatment of anyone is never initiated by or in any way ultimately influenced by the person's will. This is a necessary inference from verse 15: The all glorious God whose glory consists in his freedom to choose whomever He will cannot be determined by or obligated by anything outside himself.
If free will were defined as the native power in a man to determine his own destiny, this text shows that there is no such thing in the entire world. It not only shows free will to be non-existent, it also shows that to demand free will is an offence against the righteousness of God. For in Paul's understanding the inability of man by his willing to elicit God's mercy (9:16) is a direct inference from the glorious freedom of God (9:15) which in turn is the ground of his righteousness. If God's righteousness consists in his maintaining the fullness of his glory, and if an essential side of that glory is his absolute freedom in election from human willing and running, then to insist that man's will ultimately determines his destiny is to offend the righteousness of God.

The verses are in Romans 9

Does God elect some?

13Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED."
14What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!
15For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION."
16So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH."
18So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
19You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"
20On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?
21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?
22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
23And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
24even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

I could not add even one word but none of you can deny what we are taught in the Scriptures here.


48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

What about this verse?

10 Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

Interesting.

Please do not say that this is not enough proof. It is in Scripture. There are many more.

Life

Well life is just crazy sometimes. A lot of people seem to be dying or be on the verge of dying and it hasn't really soaked in yet. Carmen had her great grandma die on Monday. My whole family minus me left abruptly for St. Louis to see my grandma because it could be the last time my dad gets to see his mom. We just found out that my grandpa (my moms dad) has alzheimer's and right now, it doesn't look good.

On a much, much happier note, I got to see my favorite preacher in the world speak this past Thursday and it was incredible. Paul Washer is by far the most Godly preacher I have ever met. Most preachers do their thing and then leave because they are tired or need to spend time with their family( not that their is anything wrong with spending time with your family. In fact biblically, your family takes priority over everything but God Himself) but this man was very selfless. After he spoke he took a group of us into a small room and hung out with us for two and a half hours. It was awesome. He told us if he needed to he would stay there all night.

Also on a brighter note, the interim pastor at my church has resigned. (PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!) I hope that we have someone who will really preach the Word of God come to take his place.

That is all for now.

God rocks my world, literally

God has made me realize or caused me to think about things differently over the past several months. Here are a few examples.

1. A great number of people who claim to be saved are not truly born again. This is something that I should have realized a long time ago because there are many Scriptures that talk about this like this one in the book of Hebrews chapter 6.

4For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

2. I glorify God most when I am most satisfied in Him. God wants to conform us to the image of His Son. That is why He saved us. This is where we will be most satisfied because the more we are like Christ the more intimate we will be with God.

3. When seeking God people put their circumstances before Scripture. This is very foolish because circumstances can be very misleading. For example, (this one happened like 8 months ago but i remember it pretty well) My fiance' and me were talking to a young lady who said that she was called of God to marry someone in ministry. Carmen asked this young lady how God had spoken to her through His Word about this and she said He hadn't but that she just knew. That is unbelievable but not uncommon in our churches. Most people that I have ever talked to about how they knew God was speaking to them about something said very little, if anything, about Scripture and a whole lot about how they "weighed the pro's and con's" or how"I cannot deny all the things that are coming together that point to this" or how "I prayed over it" (I am not trying to take away from the importance of prayer at all. I also believe prayer to be an improtant part when trying to discern God's will but this person said nothing about Scripture along with their praying). This brings me to the next thing I have learned.

4. God speaks, primarily, through His Word. If you want to know God's Will, read His Word and until you hear from Him through His Word forget about your stupid circumstances.

5. God loves His glory

11"For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another

6. God has given me a new view about my future marriage. I will love her with everything I am because God has called me to lay down my life for His precious daughter.

7. There is no greater truth than the Gospel and everything in our lives should be centered around that truth.

Pray for our leadership

Please pray for the leadership of our country. Many, many of them are having to make really hard decisions and/or fight to make sure that people have a right to life...etc. Right now the Supreme Court is hearing a case that might give federal funding to conduct embryonic stem cell research which is nothing more than the destruction of human life. It will pass, and the President will have to use a veto.
I encourage all of you to keep up with what is going on around our country and i encourage you to pray for our leaders, and pray that God gives us a decent choice for a President in the up and coming election because right now all of our choices suck!!!!!!!!!!! Good ole Hillary(that is a scary thought), Obama, Giuliani(his views on abortion and many other issues are jacked up), Romney(HE IS A MORMON), Mccain(he is weak, we can't have him run our country during a time of war, or any other time for that matter). Just pray hard. Just pray hard. Just pray hard.

God is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

God continues to rock my world every single day!!! He is showing me so much in Scripture and it is very exciting when God is the one doing that.

Many of you don't really know how this whole journey started out. I thought i was saved on Oct. 17, 2001 because I prayed a prayer and my life was outwardly different but i soon found out that it doesn't matter very much how the outside looks if i wasn't changed inside. Then I heard a message on March 17, 2004 and again prayed a prayer and again thought i was saved. (this pray a prayer thing can be very misleading)and (the prayer of salvation wasn't even around until the 1950's- interesting that Paul and John and Jesus did not do this.) Anyways, after a couple of years i began to get really frustrated about my supposed relationship with God and i prayed that God would help me have a desire for Him and for His Word. The next morning i woke up changed, God had done a miracle in my life and all of a sudden I desired to know God and had a deep desire to read His Word. This is one of the main things that has caused me to question my old view of salvation and God's sovereignty. I made no decision, God simply did a work in my heart.

Then God began to show me things in His Word and things have been very different since then. That is the first time that i had any real assurance of my salvation because God showed me that 1 John was written so that i may know and that the only way to know that you are saved is to examine your life by Scripture.

God has turned my entire world upside down. He had to. I had to throw out a lot of things that i had learned from many teachers and allow God to reveal truth to me. All of that to say that our God is awesome and He still is changing lives.

Election

It is becoming more and more apparent that most people in churches today, including the pastors, are almost totally ignorant of the things of God. Now before I go any further, just know that the statement I made might seem a bit prideful but I assure you that God is breaking over this fact and I take no credit for what God has shown me in His Word, to God be the glory, without Him i am nothing.
I have been taught my whole life that to say that God pre-ordained some for heaven and some for hell is not Biblical. Let's look into this together. On my last blog if you will remember we looked at Jesus when He said "You do not believe because you are not of my sheep" and this is a totally different statement than "You are not of my sheep because you do not believe". You do not become His sheep by believing, you are His sheep pre-destined before the foundation of time and that is why you now believe. Now with that in mind let's look into verses like John 3:16 "For God so loved the WORLD that he gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life."(emphasis added) What does God mean when He says "the world" and "whosoever"? We are going to use Scripture to interpret Scripture which by the way is the only real way to get an accurate interpretation of Scripture. Acts 15:17 says "So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My Name" This verse is referring back to the book of Amos in chapter 9. Look at how God said "the rest of mankind may seek the Lord" We know that the rest of mankind cannot mean every single person so what does it mean? "The gentiles who are called by my Name". What does the world mean in John 3:16, it is trying to get across the fact that salvation was not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles.
One last thing. People always quote the verse in 1 Peter that says "God is not willing that any should perish but all come to repentance" in support of the fact that God wants all men to be saved. This is a very foolish argument. If it truly is God's will that all come to repentance then he is a failure and we should immediately stop worshiping him. Not only do some not come to repentance but more do not than do and if it is his will that all men be saved then satan has been victorious over him. This is not Calvanism this is the Bible. Our God is not a failure and nothing can stand in the way of His perfect will. Satan does not win when someone goes to hell. It was God's will and He still reigns victorious. Just read your Bible and stop taking all the stupid things you hear from the pulpit seriously. If you will truly study His Word and meditate on His law and His work He will reveal Himself to you believer. That is my encouragement to you, chase hard after God so that you may know Him and enjoy Him.

you are not my sheep

In the book of John Jesus is talking to a crowd in chapter 10 and Jesus says in verse 26 "But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep". Now if that were written today by most evangelist it would say " you are not my sheep because you do not believe". There is a major difference between these two statements mainly that one is right and one is wrong and of course Jesus is right. It is not that you believe and then you become His sheep. Could it be that we are predestined to be His sheep and that is why we have believed. John 10:15 says "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep." Could it also be that only God's wrath toward the sheep was satisfied on the cross. Think about it, if God's wrath toward all men for all time was satisfied,knowing what satisfied means,then no one would go to hell but God's wrath has not been fully satisfied has it? God sovereignty goes beyond Him just knowing all things it is that He is directly involved in making everything happen. Our God is awesome and our doctrines about His salvation are very weak and we must be very careful. I am not doing away with will i am simply saying this " God regulates all the movements of men so that they still have the exercise of their will" I know that this is not fully conceivable. I want to know what you think.