The Lord Jesus

What If One Was Born a Homosexual?

Let us say, just for argument sake, that one is born a homosexual, would this in any way change the fact that homosexuality is sin, wrong and immoral? No, it would not. Why? Simply because the Written Word of God says that all immorality is sin and homosexuality is included and specifically listed as sin, as immoral and therefore as wrong as well.

So, what if one was born a homosexual, shouldn’t we be more tolerant of this sin, this product of the fall? Well, the truth be known, No.

Everyone is born in sin and therefore is a sinner. As a result of this reality we are all born with a very real propensity to sin or as people like to say today, an orientation toward sin and sinful behaviors. Because humanity is born in sin, with a sin nature, that is a nature that is given over to sin and therefore sinful lifestyles, we are all in the same kind of boat as it were. Apart from the work of God’s grace as revealed in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, there are no exceptions here. While there are many different kinds of sin, there is only one sin nature and each of us is born with it. This sin nature is reflected in a wide variety of evidences, forms, heart conditions, attitudes, and behaviors, but regardless, they are all rooted in the same base. This base is called the sin nature, the fallen state of humanity. It is in man’s nature to sin and thus to it is in man’s nature to rebel against the will, word and ways of the Lord God Almighty and therefore to do and be what the Lord God has called for us to not do and be.

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Categories: Accountability, Boundaries, Deliverance, Dependency, Empowerment, Homosexuality, Lies, New Beginnings, Presumptions, Regeneration, Righteousness, Salvation, Saving Faith, The Lord Jesus, Victory, Work of God | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

The Great Falling Away

The Lord Jesus Christ one day while he was teaching asked a vitally important question. This question is almost too easily overlooked because of the way that it came forth. His question arose at the end of his teaching. He was telling a parable of the importance of persevering in faith, in earnest prayer, of how we need to be those who learn the power of and value of our praying through until we have what we are seeking the Lord.  For in Spirit and Truth, He is willing, just and ready to answer our prayers. As the Lord was finished sharing his brief parable, suddenly, almost as a passing thought Jesus says, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8 ESV)

Will we as believers persevere in faithful prayer, in genuine faith, while waiting for the Lord’s return? Or will we give up and walk away, throwing in the towel, turning around and no longer walking in the faith, hope and love of the Lord Jesus Christ?

We live in crucial times with rapidly accelerating darkness and sin all around us. We live in a time that all too quickly approaches, what the Word of God refers to as the time of The Rebellion, The Apostasy, The Great Falling Away.

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Categories: Anointing, Apostasy, Awakening, Being Built Up, Belief System, Believer, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Darkness, Dependency, Disobedience, Dying to Self Will, Edification, Empowerment, Encouragement, Exhortation, Faith, Fear of God, Flesh, Following Through, Genuineness, God Faith, God's Faithfulness, Grace, Growing in Faith, His Chosen, Holy Spirit, Hope, Knowledge, Last Days, Mercy, Ministry, Noise and Distractions, Now Word, Obedience, Open Ears, Open Eyes, Openness, Paradigm Shift, Persecution, Perseverance, Prayer, Presumptions, Priorities, Process, Profession, Promises, Readiness, Relationship, Rest, Righteousness, Rock, Salvation, Saving Faith, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Source, Spirit, Spirit of Truth, Spiritual Warfare, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Teacher, Teaching, Tenaciousness, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, Victory, Vulnerability, Waiting on the Lord, Witness, Word, Word of God, Work, Worship | Leave a comment

Awaken To His Praise, His Worship, For Now!

In 2007, the Lord gave me this word and I wrote out what follows below. I ran across it again this evening and realized that this is already beginning to take place. There is, however, a very real concern, no, a very real growing burden that there will be, as there always seems to be, those who will stubbornly or even defiantly remain in what they know and have known for however long and won’t be open to nor respond appropriately to His, our Lord and Saviors call.

I pray the Lord will rise up and once again confirm His Word for His People to Awake and Arise in His Worship. May He continue to break forth His Anointing for His Worship, His Prophetic Worship Within and Through His Church. May we all by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit surrender to all that He is saying and bless the Lord, doing today! May we once again so deeply hunger and thirst for the Lord Jesus Christ to have His Way With Us All, that we indeed not only cry out but yield, surrender in eyes wide open genuine and authentic saving faith. Blessed be the Lord Jesus Christ!

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Categories: Anointing, Authenticity, Awakening, Body of Christ, Breaking Forth, Calling, Church, Churches, Communion, Dependency, Dying to Self Will, Edification, Empowerment, Exhortation, Father, Genuineness, God Faith, Grace, His Gift of Love, His Praise, His Worship, Holy Ghost Burdens, Hope, Humility, illumination, In Spirit and In Truth, Intimacy, Mercy, Ministry, Now Word, Obedience, Open Ears, Open Eyes, Openness, Paradigm Shift, Pastor, Prayer, Presumptions, Priorities, Prophetic, Prophetic Actions, Prophetic Revelation, Prophetic Worship, Relationship, Spiritual Hunger and Thirst, Spiritual Warfare, Steadfastness, Stirrings, Surrender, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, The Power of God, Timing, Transcendence, Word of God, Work of God, Worship | Leave a comment

Is The Church Worth Saving?

Matthew 16:18 (ESV) And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

I confess that I love the church and the people of God, how can I not? They are my Lord and Saviors children. I also confess that I do not always like the church or what is going on in it. My heart, however, when it is said and done is pro-church and therefore pro-people of God.

I am concerned about what is going on today throughout the world of the church. Statistically, there seems to be a very real departure or exodus of people from what has been frequently referred to as the Institutional (IC) or Organized Church (OC). Now what I can surmise from this term as it is being used over the web is that we are speaking of any church that has its own church building, which is dedicated to the purpose of being, doing and having church with those who enter within. It can refer to denominational churches, regardless of the denomination. It can also refer to those who belong to or are a part of these churches. This seems too broad for me and evades the complexity of what it is that truly is the Body of Christ.

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Absolute Dependency, Authenticity, Being Built Up, Belief System, Believer, Benefits, Breaking Forth, Calling, Character, Christian Maturity, Church, Churches, Commands, Dying to Self Will, Edification, Empowerment, Encouragement, Exhortation, Faith, Family, Following Through, Genuineness, Grace, Hatred, Healing, Holiness, Hope, Humility, In Spirit and In Truth, Inspiration, Loving One Another, Mercy, Ministry, Openness, Perseverance, Prayer, Preaching, Presumptions, Prophetic, Reconciliation, Relationship, Remembrances, Repentance, Resurrection Life, Revelation, Sacrifice, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Separatism, Simplicity, Spirit, Spiritual Warfare, Steadfastness, Stirrings, Teaching, Tenaciousness, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, The Power of God, Transformation, True Love, Victory, Witness, Word, Work, Work of God | Leave a comment

Let Us Arise, Yet Again!

There is so very much more than we are experiencing in and of Christ Jesus. There is so very much more of the Kingdom of God than we know or understand. There is so very much more of life in the Spirit than we are living out on a daily basis. There simply is so very much more yet to do and that needs to be done; I for one, long to know, do and experience the more. I also am haunted by what I have known, have accomplished or think I know. I also understand how tempting, as I get older, it is to remain in what I have come to know and experience.

What I mean is, that what I have known, done or think I know of Christ Jesus and the Kingdom of God, seems at times to get in the way of the more. It gets in the way by having captured my attention, my heart and the battles that were for or needed to contend for it has passed. Yesterdays victories become all too easily today’s excuses. As I look forward to the more, this means more battles, contending, more stretching, more dying, more of that which we already and all too often resist in our growing in the Lord Jesus Christ. This looking forward seems to be less and less attractive when I honestly consider the cost of the past. While I know that nothing of what life and ministry has cost us compares to that sacrifice of Christ Jesus, it still, for us remains a very tangible, real and essential counting of the cost. We have given our all so many times, yet the call remains, to surrender our all yet once again.

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Awakening, Belief System, Believer, Body of Christ, Breaking Forth, Calling, Character, Christian Maturity, Church, Commands, Confidence, Covering, Dependency, Dying to Self Will, Edification, Empowerment, Encouragement, Exhortation, Faith, Family, Father, Fear of God, Flesh, Following Through, Foundations, Genuineness, God's Faithfulness, God's Love, Grace, Healing, His Chosen, His Gift of Love, Holiness, Holy Ghost Burdens, Hope, Humility, In Spirit and In Truth, Inspiration, Light, Ministry, Mother, Noise and Distractions, Now Word, Obedience, Persecution, Perseverance, Pioneering, Prayer, Priorities, Process, Promises, Readiness, Relationship, Rest, Resurrection Life, Righteousness, Sacrifice, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Self Justification, Selfishness, Selflessness, Separatism, Simplicity, Spiritual Fathers/Mothers, Spiritual Warfare, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Tenaciousness, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, The Lord's Fullness, The Power of God, Timing, Truth, Victory, Wind of the Spirit, Witness, Word, Word of God | Leave a comment

The Vitalness of His Manifest Presence

Exodus 33:14-16 (ESV) And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

Here in Exodus we see that the presence of the Lord was so vital to Moses that he said to the Lord that if the Lord was not going to come with them, then don’t send Israel up to the Promise Land. The Lord offered earlier to send up an Angel who would assure them of the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise in providing them the Promise Land. For Moses this was not enough. He wanted the Lord’s presence, not simply the presence of an Angel no matter how great the Angel was.

I find this so very significant for us today as well. The evidence of Gods manifest presence with and amongst His people is both that which confirms the favor of God concerning His people and that which makes them distinct from the rest of the World. This distinction is vital for us as the people of God. We’re to be in, yet not of the world. The question remains however, how far shall we go without His manifest, evident, or tangible presence?

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, A Simple Reminder, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Angels, Anointing, Authenticity, Belief System, Benefits, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Church, Church Forms, Churches, Communion, Confidence, Core Values, Covering, Dependency, Edification, Empowerment, Encouragement, Exhortation, Family, Father, Genuineness, God's Faithfulness, God's Love, Grace, Healing, His Chosen, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Hope, Humility, In Spirit and In Truth, Intimacy, Mercy, Ministry, Prayer, Presumptions, Relationship, Rest, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Signs & Wonders, Simplicity, Spirit, Spiritual Hunger and Thirst, Stirrings, Surrender, Teaching, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, The Power of God, Transcendence, Truth, Waiting on the Lord, Witness, Word of God, Work of God, Worship | 2 Comments

Bring It On World!

It wasn’t all that long ago when I was reading an article on the World Magazine web site titled “R is for Religion[1]”, written by Gene Edward Veith. He was making us aware of the very real possibility of a day sometime soon when we will find ourselves as Christians rated in the same way that sex, nudity and violence is rated, with a warning, “you are entering a strongly religious zone in which the messages are from one religion and therefore might indeed be offensive to those of other faiths or even those with no faith at all.”

Within this article the question is asked, “Why are references to Christ so offensive?” and then he goes on to explain, “In today’s climate, religion is relative. According to the conventional wisdom, no one religion is true for everyone, and all religions are equally valid. Mention of a generic “God” is acceptable, as long as He is not defined. So is invocation of other concepts common to various religions, such as prayer, spirituality, mystical experiences, and salvation by good works.

But Jesus Christ is too specific. God in the flesh is too tangible. And He says, “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). That Jesus—despite His goodness and love—offends people is simply more evidence that the Bible is true. He is “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8). That He died on the cross for our sins is especially offensive (Galatians 5:11).

So no one should be surprised when secularists react to Jesus with shock and outrage. But “blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Matthew 11:6).

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, A Simple Reminder, Absolute Dependency, Authenticity, Awakening, Baptist Theology, Believer, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Character, Christian Maturity, Church, Commands, Confidence, Covering, Encouragement, Following Through, Genuineness, God Faith, God's Faithfulness, God's Love, Grace, Growing in Faith, His Chosen, His Gift of Love, History, Holiness, Holy Spirit, Hope, Humility, In Spirit and In Truth, No Other Name, Noise and Distractions, Obedience, Persecution, Perseverance, Political Correctness, Process, Profession, Promises, Prophetic, Protection, Readiness, Relationship, religious idolatry, Resurrection Life, Sacrifice, Salvation, Saving Faith, Separatism, Spirit of Truth, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, The Power of God, Transformation, Truth, Victory, Waiting on the Lord, Word of God, Work of God | Leave a comment

Is It All About Knowledge, Really?

It is how you live in Christ Jesus that is all important, not just what you know. Having said this, there has been many times in and throughout history when this issue of knowledge for knowledge sake, came to a head. It was this issue of Knowledge first, over the simplicity of Knowing Jesus first that seemed to be what the battle was about.

For example, there was a time in the later middle ages when the theologians of that day had gone so far as to create a theology that no one but they themselves could understand or relate to. Their theology had become increasingly complex and stood in direct contrast to the simplicity of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As this gap widened, so did the reactions of the people. Their reactions were focused upon a theology that was fraught with an over emphasis of subtleties, developing its own exclusive and elitist language with an insistence upon precise definitions and fine distinctions, theologically.

In the book, “Imitation of Christ”, we discover what was the commonly held belief’s of the day, beliefs that were reactions against the theologians and their theology of the day. Here is a taste of it (1.1.3):

“What good is it for you to be able to discuss the Trinity with great profundity, if you lack humility, and thereby offend the Trinity?”

“Verily, high sounding words do not make one holy and just. But a life of virtue does make one acceptable to God.”

“It is better to feel repentance, than to be able to define it.”

“Were you to memorize the entire Bible and all the sayings of the philosophers, what good would this be for you without the love of God and without grace?”

“Vanities of vanities. All is vanity, except loving God and serving only God.”

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Categories: A Simple Faith, A Simple Reminder, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Authenticity, Character, Church History, Communion, Confidence, Core Values, Dependency, Edification, Elitism, Empowerment, Faith, Foundations, Genuineness, Grace, Growing in Faith, His Chosen, History, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit Benefits, Humility, Intellectualism, Intimacy, Knowledge, Ministry, Ministry Motivation, Obedience, Priorities, Questions, Readiness, Reflections, Relationship, Rest, Resurrection, Resurrection Life, Revelation, Righteousness, Rock, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Separatism, Simplicity, Source, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Surrender, Teacher, Teaching, Tenaciousness, The Lord Jesus, The Lord's Fullness, The Power of God, Theology, Training, Transcendence, Transformation, Truth, Victory, Word, Word of God, Work of God | 2 Comments

Are We Really Ready For His New Wind?

I believe there is hope for the church and the people of God. I also believe that we need very real change. Could it be that in spirit and in truth we need a reformation, a rebuilding from the foundation (1 Cor 3) of Christ Jesus and up?

Reformation: 1) improvement (or an intended improvement) in the existing form or condition of institutions or practices etc.; intended to make a striking change for the better in social or political or religious affairs 2) rescuing from error and returning to a rightful course.

There is something stirring out there and I pray that what is stirring is the breath of HIS change that we need. Will we see it when it comes or will our hurts, frustrations and disappointments and dissatisfaction’s with the church and the people of God keep us from seeing the changes that are coming or even that are needed? Will our being blinded by what we want or expect to see or have occur, keep us from seeing what really will be happening in the Lord Jesus and his church/body as happened so many times before?

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Categories: Believer, Body of Christ, Breaking Forth, Calling, Church, Communion, Confidence, Dependency, Exhortation, Holy Ghost Burdens, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit Hearing, Holy Spirit Seeing, Hope, Humility, illumination, In Spirit and In Truth, Mercy, Ministry, Ministry Motivation, Now Word, Open Ears, Open Eyes, Openness, Priorities, Prophetic, Prophetic Revelation, Readiness, Repent, Repentance, Rhema, Rock, Simplicity, Son and Holy Spirit, Spirit, Surrender, The Lord Jesus, The Power of God, Transcendence, Transformation, Truth, Vulnerability, Waiting on the Lord, Wind of the Spirit, Word of God, Work of God, Worship | Leave a comment

Reflections Of An Earlier Season

Genesis 12:1 (NKJV) Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.

I was just reflecting upon our life in the ministry and specifically the very early years. It was in those times, seemingly so long ago, that my wife and I helped to pioneer several churches and restart a few more. It was interesting because when we began, we had little if any money, resources or support and absolutely no training, at all. I worked in construction and pastored bi-vocationally for many years off and on. Even then, it was still financially very difficult.

As the years went on, pioneering churches seemed to catch on more and more in other denominations and church organizations. It became much more institutionalized and structured. Money became more available for what now was called, planting churches, as did other resources such as training and relational support systems. All that we see today, including the books, conferences, etc. just was not available back then.

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Categories: Abiding, Anointing, Authenticity, Being Built Up, Calling, Christian Maturity, Church Planting Days, Churches, Communion, Confidence, Dependency, Empowerment, Faith, Following Through, Foundations, Grace, History, Holy Ghost Burdens, In Spirit and In Truth, Intimacy, Isolation, Mercy, Obedience, Pioneering, Priorities, Reflections, Remembrances, Righteousness, Sacrifice, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Simplicity, Source, Steadfastness, Surrender, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, The Lord Jesus, Word, Work of God, Worship | Leave a comment

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