Word of God

Proof of Discipleship

John 14:22-24 (ESV) Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23  Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

  *Derek Prince outlines four vital facts that are of vital importance for everyone who claims to be an authentic Believer/Disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ from verse 23.  They are:

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Categories: Authenticity, Discipleship, Disobedience, Following Through, Genuineness, Obedience, Saving Faith, Self Examination, Surrender, Truth, Word of God | Leave a comment

Worth Waiting For

I emailed this to a Pastor friend in the Okanogan.

“A few weeks ago, I was in prayer when I saw a vision of a dam at the border of the Okanogan river valley (in Washington State) and Canada. That dam was holding back the blessings and a fresh outpouring of the Lord for the Okanogan river Valley. Hear this: this dam is about to break and there will be an overcoming of the whole of the Okanogan river Valley with the power, blessing and richness of the grace and wonder of God. Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!”

This day has been a long time coming, eights years to be exact. No, not the word above, but the how of this and other recent words of the Lord.

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Categories: A Simple Faith, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Authenticity, Awakening, Changes, Dependency, Divine Encounters, Dying to Self Will, Genuineness, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Grace, Growing in Faith, Pentecostal Theology, Prophecy, Prophetic Ministry, Spiritual Barreness, Waiting on the Lord, Word of God | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Rising Tide of Resurrection Life

Revelation 20:4 (ESV) Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

We’re speaking of an ever-increasing pressure to live in a very compromised manner within this world. As believers, we also find ourselves under this ever-increasing pressure from within and without the so-called Church. The pressure to compromise will increasingly show itself forth with consequences to match, for those who refuse to submit to the power of compromise and tolerance. However, where sin abounds, God’s grace much more abounds.

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Categories: Accountability, Awakening, Body of Christ, Breaking Forth, Christian Maturity, Dying to Self Will, New Beginnings, Persecution, Political Correctness, Prophetic Revelation, Resurrection Life, Separatism, Steadfastness, Visions, Word of God | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

“The Word of God in English”

Quote #1: “The fallacies are that the Bible is a uniformly simple book, that it is predominantly a book of ideas, that it is essentially a modern book, that it needs correcting in some areas, and that it was intended to be without mystery and ambiguity. I believe all of this to be the reverse of what is actually true. The truth is that the Bible is sometimes simple and sometimes difficult and complex. It is a book of stories and poetic images more than a book of abstract propositions. Furthermore, the Bible is an indisputably ancient book. As such, it is the book that in its original form is the book that God wants us to have, including much that is mysterious and requires careful pondering and unpacking.” Page 78 (Leland Ryken, Ph.D.)

My response is, yes and amen! To strip the Bible of what it actually is, to take it into our own hands and dumb it down and strip it of its mystery, complexities and wonder, under the assumption that we the people are too ignorant to hear the Lord through it as it actually is, well, is simply wrong.

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Categories: Bible Translations, Bibles, Boundaries, Holy Spirit, Inspiration, Presumptions, Simplicity, Spirit of Truth, Word, Word of God, Work of God | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

King James Only or ?

(Note: this post has been further updated)

I have a great friend and brother in the Lord who belongs to a group believers who are very, very, KJV only oriented. As a result, we have had various friendly conversations on this issue and yes, I have learned a lot from him as we have over a couple of years discussed these things, off and on. It has been genuinely good for me to work through this, coming to see, by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, and discern the true threat behind all of this innocent appearing issue.

Just recently, after not hearing from him on this subject for a good while,  he sent me a text message with a request that I listen to a “you tube” video called, “Whats the Big Deal about the KJV?”. You can find it here. When I listened to it I heard many things that didn’t register as true. Therefore, I was curious if anyone had presented a case to challenge this video and its claims. There is. You can find all five parts beginning  here. Both opposing presentations are insightful and very different, yet I genuinely believe that “KJV Onlyism” is genuinely standing on extremely weak ground. There is a very real deception related to King James Onlyism. Just to be clear, the King James Bible is not the bottom line, it is not The Standard by which all other Bibles are to be judged or evaluated.

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Categories: A Simple Faith, Bible Translations, Bibles, Changes, Confidence, Elitism, God's Faithfulness, Hearing The Lord, Isolation, Man's Faith, Misplaced Dependency, religious idolatry, Word, Word of God, Work of God | 2 Comments

The Great Unraveling!

I have been sitting on this for some time now, dependently waiting upon the Lord Jesus Christ, for His release, correction and witness as to the timing of putting this out there, as it were. Today it seems like it is His time to share it. May He then, confirm His Word for His Glory, Honor and Praise and may we His people heed His Word.

As I was in prayer, in the Spirit, I began to see myself in a TV studio being interviewed. There was the interviewer directly in front of me and the studio audience to my left. They were all seated on what looked like bleachers. As the interviewer began to speak with me the Holy Spirit began to acutely draw my attention to someone at the right side of the bleachers and a little behind them. As I responded to the strong prompting of the Holy Spirit, I got up to see who it was that the Holy Spirit was drawing to my attention to. As I approached the end of the bleachers, I saw that someone move behind the bleachers further into the shadows. As I actually got to that end of the bleachers, I looked around to the back of them where I saw a young man standing there, hiding.

I called him out and as he came to me I brought him out and around to the front of the bleachers and the studio audience. He was without shoes and socks. His shirt was dirty and torn as were his pants. He, himself, was also unclean and unkempt.

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Categories: Accountability, Apostasy, Authenticity, Awakening, Body of Christ, Church Forms, Churches, Divine Encounters, Flesh, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit Hearing, Holy Spirit Seeing, Honesty, In Spirit and In Truth, Last Days, Ministry Motivation, Prophecy, Prophetic, Prophetic Revelation, The Power of God, Theology, Word, Word of God | 6 Comments

Holding Fast To The Truth

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ESV

In the face of all that is going on around us in the world, let us remain strong in our hope, in our confident expectation regarding the Lord Jesus Christ and His faithfulness, His promises, His Word of Life.

Let us not become those who shrink back, or draw back into fearful compromise, acquiescing to those who would threaten, be offended by the truth, or would attack the message and thus the messengers of the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not surrender our genuine saving faith and its message for the sake of cultural acceptance or relativity, self-preservation, or even of a worldly appeasement, or worldly acceptance and approval.

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Categories: Authenticity, Calling, Christian Maturity, Church, Communion, Confidence, Encouragement, Following Through, Genuineness, Hope, Persecution, Perseverance, Readiness, Sacrifice, Spiritual Warfare, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Suffering, Surrender, Tenaciousness, True Love, Victory, Word of God | Leave a comment

Thoughts About Age and Changes

Change comes hard for most of us and as we get older, change seems to become even more difficult. It may simply be because of our age or it is simply because when you have spent a life time moving through one change after another, change just gets harder, more difficult and seems to require more of you than ever before. The motivation, energy and drive required for these changes seems to wane and not be as sufficient as it once was, to see you through these seemingly essential changes.

The truth is however, that true change is hard, risky and is always stressful whatever its ultimate fruit and our age at the time.

As a pastor or one who has spent the majority of his life in the ministry in one form or another, I find myself in such a season of life. The real question arises for me, regarding my need for change, is simply, is it worth the effort, difficulty, stress, etc? I have experienced a lot of changes in my life, from one move after another, from one church or ministry organization after another, from one home to another, one state to another, from one ministry crisis to another and even from one job after another. So, yes, the question arises, is this change worth all of the effort, stress and hardship it requires of us to accomplish this change and the promises that these changes hopefully contain?

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Categories: Word of God, Ministry Motivation, Work, Jobs, Breaking Forth, Hope, Grace, Seeking The Lord Jesus, Absolute Dependency, Being Built Up, Holy Ghost Burdens, Dying to Self Will, Christian Maturity, Timing, Mentoring/Discipleship, Spiritual Fathers/Mothers, Genuineness, A Genuine Heart Cry, Fear of God, Changes, Hearing The Lord | Leave a comment

Monergism

{The following article was discovered in an older folder by itself within my computer. I am not sure if I wrote it originally but I don’t think so. However, I have honestly re-worked it quite a bit in order to post it here. I am not sure where I may have gotten it from. It may have been when I was originally doing my research on this topic of Monergism years ago. If anyone reads this and recognizes some its basic nuts and bolts and can identify who wrote them originally, I would gladly post an acknowledgment saying so.}

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“It is the Spirit who gives life [quickens]; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me [i.e. believe in me] unless it is granted him by the Father.” John 6:63-65 ESV [text added for clarity]

Definition
The Century Dictionary’s definition of monergism may be helpful:

“In theology, [monergism is] the doctrine that the Holy Spirit is the only efficient agent in regeneration [the new birth] – that the human will possesses no inclination to holiness until regenerated [born again], and therefore cannot cooperate in regeneration.”

Etymology
The word “monergism” consists of two main parts. The Greek prefix “mono” signifies “one”, “single”, or “alone” while the suffix “ergon” means “to work”. Taken together it means “the work of one”.

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Categories: A Compilation of Sources, Authenticity, Belief System, Believer, Calling, Christian Maturity, Confidence, Dependency, Edification, Foundations, God Faith, Grace, Holy Spirit, Hope, Reformed Theology, Saving Faith, Teaching, Thankfulness, Theology, True Love, Word of God, Work of God | 2 Comments

Will The Real Church Stand Up?

There is truly only one universal church. This universal church is, in spirit and in truth, The True Church or The Body of Christ Jesus. It is made up of many and varied members. These members are those found throughout the world in various local church fellowships, missions, organizations and denominations, etc.; a scattering of salt throughout the world. They may not be fully aware of their place strategically within the Body of Christ Jesus, but as genuine believers in Christ Jesus they should be aware that they are indeed a part of the Body of Christ Jesus. It is in so many ways a church without boundaries, for it is a church of the Spirit. For me, this is the bottom line.

Not everyone who says they are a believer is a believer in spirit and in truth. This is also true of the church, not everyone or every church, mission, organization, etc. is actually a genuine part of the Body of Christ Jesus just because they claimed to be. Having said all of this I am aware of a very real danger. This danger is that one would leap into trying to discern that which is the true church and that which isn’t? I am saying that this is a danger in that we are not exactly called to this. We could say as scripture says, that we shall know them by their fruit and this would also be true for the church or churches as it is for individuals or even nations, etc.

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Categories: A Genuine Heart Cry, Abiding, Absolute Dependency, Anointing, Authenticity, Awakening, Being Built Up, Belief System, Believer, Body of Christ, Boundaries, Breaking Forth, Calling, Character, Christian Maturity, Church, Death, Dependency, Disobedience, Dying to Self Will, Empowerment, Family, Fear of God, Finding the Right Church, Flesh, Genuineness, God's Righteousness, Grace, In Spirit and In Truth, Last Days, Loving One Another, Ministry Motivation, Now Word, Open Ears, Open Eyes, Presumptions, Priorities, Process, Prophetic, Readiness, Repentance, Simplicity, Spirit, Standing in Faith, Steadfastness, Surrender, Teaching, The Power of God, Training, Truth, Word, Word of God, Work of God, Worship | 2 Comments

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