GET BLESSED!!!!!

I have been believing for some time now, and have been telling people whenever I have a chance, that the church is following the wrong covenant; the old one God made with the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai. The church today has bought into the idea that if we obey God He will bless us.

Here is an introduction to Haggai written by Kay Arthur:

“Obedience” is a word missing from the vocabulary of many people today. Yet it is the key to blessing. When God have His commandments, statutes, and ordinances to His people, He had one objective—obediance! They were give for their good.
Among those commandments were statutes regarding the Sabbath. God instructed the children of Israel through Moses to observe a Sabbath once they entered the land He planned to give them. Six years the people could sow fields, prune vineyards, and gather crops, but during the seventh year they were commanded to let the land rest—a Sabbath to the Lord (Lev. 25:1-7).
God warned them if they chose not to obey, He would punish them seven times for their sins, lay waste their cities, make their sanctuaries desolate, scatter them (Lev. 26:27-35). God meant business. If they obeyed, He would punish them until the land enjoyed its Sabbath.
At the same time, God promised that if they would humble themselves before Him, confess their iniquity, and make amends, He would remember His covenant with them and not reject or destroy them (Lev. 26:40-60).
Moses was faithful to give these words to the children of Israel. So they knew what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. But they ignored the words God had spoken. The Lord sent prophet after prophet to remind them of what He had said, but they chose not to listen to his spokesman. Therefore, God had one one option—to punish them for their own good, for blessings can never come apart from obedience.

Kay Arthur has captured in these four paragraphs the essence of the Old Covenant—if you obey me, I will bless you, and if you disobey me I will punish you.

But before I quote the last paragraph of this introduction, listen to these words.
“If the first covenant (the one I made with their ancestors when I took them our of the land of Egypt) had been faultless there would be no need for a second covenant to replace it. But God himself found fault with the old one (Heb. 8:7). When God speaks of a new covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and ready to be put aside.” (Heb. 8:13). The verses between 8:7 and 8:13 are a quote from Jer. 31:31-34.
“Replaced, “made obsolete,” and “put aside.” Does the writer of Hebrews believe the church is under the Old Covenant any longer? Could anyone who wrote this believe the church is being treated by God the same way he dealt with Israel?

Kay Arthur writes, “Do you realize that because God is God, because he never changes, He deals with us today as He did with the children of Israel? We have His Word—the Bible. We can know what God wants us to do, and how we are to live so the He might open the windows of heaven and pour out out his blessings upon us. No book in the entire Bible illustrates the rewards for obedience and the penalties for disobedience in a more powerful and profound way than the book of Haggai.”

So there it is: Obedience leads to blessings. I wonder how many times that sermon has been preached in churches across America? Far to many I am afraid. Far, far to many.

Chasing My Tail

I was talking with a friend of mine who attended the church I used to pastor, and said to her, “I didn’t have any idea what I was doing back then.” I really didn’t. I was like a dog chasing his tail. A lot of activity but not really going anywhere.

Let me say clearly: I am not implying that I have it all figured out at this juncture in my life. However, I can state a major shift from back then (10 years ago) and today.

I no longer try and find favor with God so that He will bless my life.

Back then I was constantly trying to win God’s approval, or to try and get God to notice what I was doing down here in Pekin, IL. I figured, back then, that if He would see what I was doing down here on earth He would be happy and good things would happen to my ministry.

Something change in my thinking. No, something changed in my soul. I now believe by faith this truth: The Blessing, The Holy One, The Righteous One, The Creating One, The Truth, The Good News, The Word of God LIVES INSIDE OF ME.

The one who said, “Let there be light,” lives within my very soul. The one who said, Father forgive them, they don’t know what they do,” has free reign in my heart. The one who said, “Love one another,” has created a “new creature” by taking up residence within me.

When this truth sinks in, you stop trying to find favor with God and you stop trying to Get God to make your life better.

How can I get more blessed when “Christ lives in me?” Why try and get approval or find favor with God, when he is already so close and so intimate and so personal that His abode is my very soul.

I am no longer chasing my tail. I hope I am chasing after knowing the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit more than anything else.

I quit!

They always want more.

go to church more
pray more
read more
give more
witness more
memorize more
volunteer more
fellowship more
study more
mentor more

more....more ......more

Here's the deal: I don't want to do it any..... more.

I'm tired and so I quit. I quit doing christianity. No more trying to do more.

I can not follow Jesus and at the same time live up to that wretched list. Oh, the pressure that comes with following the list. I should be doing more, and I ought to be doing more, but honestly I don't WANT TO!

Oh sure, I know, I'm suppose to "keep on keeping on" even when I don't feel like it, and I'm suppose to remain faithful even when life throws me a curve.

Let's be honest for a change; and admit the yoke is to heavy and the burden is to hard. Isn't it????

Christians and their beloved Bible

If you are a church-going, Bible-believer, you are probably relying on the Scriptures (God’s Word) for your relationship with him. You are confident that all is well between yourself and God because his Son’s death has atoned for your sins. Yes, you God has a plan for your life and you know right from wrong because you have been taught the Bible while attending church. You are convinced that you possess the four spiritual laws which are needed by those who are lost in darkness without God. You think you can teach new believers and children the way of God because you are convinced that in God’s Word you have complete knowledge and truth.

Well, then, if you teach other, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell the church to build each other up with grace and mercy, but do you show grace and mercy? You say it is wrong to be unforgiving, but do you forgive? You teach that we should love one another, but do you love? You are so proud of your Bible knowledge, but you dishonor God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, “The world blasphemes the name of God because of you.”

If this sounds like something you read somewhere in the Bible, you did in Romans 2:17ff.

Old vs. New.2

Old Covenant: God chose one man Abram and through him came many descendants who made up one nation; Israel. God directed and commanded Israel on many occasions to war against other nations and kill without mercy.

We are no longer under the Old Covenant.

New Covenant: God chose one man Jesus and through Him came many descendants who make up one Church. God no longer directs and commands his Church to war or kill anyone.

Loving God means keeping his commandments (love one another), and really, that isn’t difficult. For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give victory. And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”
~ The Apostle John ~

President Bush is not following the words of the Apostle in his foreign policy; he unfortunately is following after on Old Covenant; a way which was replaced the the New Covenant.

Old vs. New.1

The New Covenant promises persecution for those who follow after Jesus. The Old Covenant promises prosperity for those who follow the Ten Commandments.

Which of these two have your heard preached most recently?

The Whole Truth

The gospel message is fully realized when we preach and teach both of these wonderful truths. 1) God sent His son to die and purchase my freedom from sin. 2) God sent the Spirit of His Son into my heart so that I can call out “Abba Father.” Everything He has, I now possess because He has adopted me as His very own son. (taken from Gal. 4:1-7)

This first truth by far has been the major emphasis in my 20+ years of being a Christian. Christ died for me, my sins have been forgiven, and I am going to heaven. Nothing wrong except it’s incomplete.

This incompleteness or void if you will was filled with something else. I was trying to find favor with God based upon what I did or did not do. I went to Bible College, Seminary, became a Pastor, organized Bible reading marathons and prayer walks in Pekin. I started a new church that was going to bring hundreds if not thousands to Christ. I tried to get it right and I thought if I did my spiritual life would workout, not perfectly but at least favorably.

But now I count my past as religious garbage.
I have found freedom in Jesus, and in Him alone.
I am one with Christ.

I have yet to fully realize those 3 statements, but I can say with great assurance being one with Him is more real today than it was 4 years ago. Ten to fifteen years ago, I had no clue what Paul was talking about in Phil. 3, but today I do. And I believe by faith that I am running the same race Paul spoke of in this letter.

God sent His Son to die. This first great truth was preparatory for the second. God sent His Son into our hearts to live and dwell. Our bodies have become a walking temple of the Most High God. Wherever my body goes, so goes God. Whenever I enter a room, the Kingdom of God has emerged. Remember, it is not I who lives, but Christ who lives in me. I am nothing, but Jesus is alive and present because I and Christ are one.

May those who read this be filled with joy.