Independence from God

“This, then, is how you should pray: “’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”
Matthew 6: 9-13

The thought occurred to me just yesterday as I contemplated issues regarding earthly relationships, that in God’s mercy to forgive a sinner like me, and in my need to be forgiven and to forgive others, I realized I must seek independence from God. “Independence from God you say, how outrageous a thought”, I can hear readers of these words reply; but yes, independence that I must receive from God, so that I must become fully dependent upon Him as my LORD and Saviour, alone.

There was an angry young man who, throughout his entire adult life as a lost sinner, struggled to win the approval of his parents. In that flesh driven state, the young man became more and more frustrated as he found himself constantly in need of his parents for material provision, much more than any man should be, and in his need he was constantly making compromises in order to keep his relationship with his unjust parents in good order. The angry man most deeply wanted his parents to love him, and to stand for truth, but the angry man, while he loved truth, stood on a bed of quicksand as he himself made way to every sinful behaviour a person could know.

One day that man had an encounter with the Living God of the universe, the LORD Jesus Christ, and everything changed! After 38 years of a filth driven existence, the angry man found his sins washed clean and his heart new; like a little boy with true hope in his eyes he began to see how many people he had hurt in his past life, as God revealed to him His heart. As the angry man was changed into a new man, he repented from the awful things he had done to sin against his LORD. The new man realized it was his own filthiness that nailed Jesus to the cross, and in that revelation the new man was compelled to allow his life to become that of His LORD’s.

As the years began to pass in the new man’s life, the LORD began many new works in him. But the new man was ignorant to the wisdom of the LORD, and many times he mistakenly believed that if he just tried hard enough he could persuade other lost people in his life to come to faith in Jesus too. So many times the new man had to fall on his face and seek the LORD’s forgiveness as he mistakenly attempted to be a lord to others, instead of relying on the LORD to do His work. So many times the new man would speak too often, and listen to the LORD too little, but the LORD is so merciful He continued His work in the new man.

The new man had old relationships that hovered over his head where he sought approval from his parents who had many times rejected him over the years. And since being saved by the LORD there were times in which the new man’s parents were actually reluctant to tell others of their knowing him; at times they were ashamed of their son and his zeal for the LORD. The new man felt deeply wounded by this rejection, as more than any other time in his life he was obedient and loving with them. But still the new man tried to win their approval, and in so doing, found he was making compromises and allowing himself to remain dependent upon them in ways he simply should not have allowed. In short, the new man was dragging the old man behind him as he refused to suffer the pain of accepting that which he could not change.

The new man was being deceived by sentiment as he really wanted to feel secure in his relationship with his parents, but in that sentimental state he was forsaking his trust in God. The LORD, Jesus Christ, saves souls, and the LORD, Jesus Christ, changes hearts and lives; it is not people who accomplish this task. So even though the new man was aware of that truth in most areas of his faith, he had allowed himself to remain dependent on people, and in his hope of changing them, he had inadvertently given reign of his life to his parents. The new man had to allow a suffering to occur where he would risk complete rejection from his parents if he would fully trust in God to deliver him from his sin. The new man had to fully trust in God to change his parents; the new man had preached the gospel to them, and he had made the truth known, so if he was going to follow Christ with all of his heart, the LORD revealed to him that he had to allow the possibility that his relationship with his parents could change forever.

When Mary and Jesus’ brothers came to pull Him out of the house where He was conducting His ministry, as they seemed to reject the truth, what did Jesus do? Jesus turned His back on them and focused on the will of God. He said whoever does the will of His Father, is His brothers, sisters, and mother. It seems Jesus teaches us that He is to be the centre of our faith, and that we need to make Him our LORD and step aside when others place stumbling blocks in our path, but continue to follow Him. What did Jesus say when the man wanted to go back and bury his father who had just died? Let the dead bury the dead, now come follow Me.

These are radical premises, but the basis for true faith. To step out on the water as the LORD calls us to walk with Him, will take much in the way of trust. And to do so we will risk every relationship on earth that fails to see Him as LORD. Whether it’s our love of a parent, our love of a child, our love of ourselves, our love of money, our love of our profession, our love of entertainment; whatever it is that threatens our allegiance to the KING, we must risk losing those things as we follow Him. Relationships can be the area where the enemy seeks to confuse the truth the most, because he will tempt us into sentiment when we actually need to suffer. Satan will tell us that love has no strife or struggle. Satan will try to convince us that if we love one another we will have no conflict whatsoever. Satan is a liar.

If our loved ones have not the love of Jesus Christ transforming them, at sometime we may face the pain of parting with those loved ones without knowing if Christ will save them too. We won’t hate them, but we will love God much more than them, and so we will follow the Master as He leads us unto righteousness. We will quietly accept what we cannot change and trust in God to supply our needs. We will not make compromises in order to fulfill our carnal desire to feel comfortable, instead we will suffer the sting of the sharp edge of faith that sometimes divides.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10: 34-39

These radical words can be painful when realized in human existence, and the new man is now learning that truth every day. To be lost in Jesus is to be lost to the world that denies Him as LORD. And if that leads to division with those that we love, we must not lose heart, but persevere in faith as our Saviour so commands, and follow Him... for His glory.

Amen.

A Five Dollar Deposit on a Twenty Thousand Dollar Deal

Are you a young man of this world? Have you got the idea that sex is the focus of what a relationship with a female is all about? Have you been “socialized” into believing that you’re going to have sex anyway, everyone else does, and so what’s the big deal? Is the idea of marriage just a “piece of paper” in your way of thinking?

Let’s get honest, shall we? If you find yourself having played the field for a number of years now, you know the emptiness of a sex driven relationship where both parties reserve the most significant parts of their spirit, never fully trusting in one another. You know how volatile such a relationship is, and how often you find yourselves teetering on the edge of ending the relationship for petty reasons. Have you ever stopped to examine why? Consider the following:

On the busiest Saturday of the year, a wealthy man (we’ll call Tom) walked into an electronics store to sample their products as he looked for a complete home theatre. The wealthy man desired some of the very best of what the store that he was visiting offered. He wanted a 65” top of the line Plasma TV, a 3D Blu-Ray Player, 8 pairs of 3D Glasses, a 135w/channel high current 7.1 Dolby TruHD Receiver, high end tower speakers complimented with equally high end centre channel, side and rear speakers, with a 500w RMS powered subwoofer capable of creating low frequencies that bring about nausea, and $3000 worth of the very best high end cables.

The salesman (we’ll call Peter) that helped the wealthy man worked very hard to satisfy his interests. Peter should have asked Tom upfront if he was looking to buy, but because of his past experience with wealthy men, Peter was intimidated and didn't want to risk losing a potential sale. Peter was paid on commission and he’d had a tough month, so he had to work diligently to please his customers if he hoped to receive a reward for his work. And besides, the way Tom behaved, Peter got the impression that he was looking to buy. So with hope, Peter made a commitment to help Tom the best that he could.

For 5.5 hours Peter took Tom through every piece of equipment he had that might have been of interest to Tom. He explained in great detail the differences between the products and how each one might be of benefit to Tom, based on Tom’s desires. While Peter was busy with Tom there were many people buying other products from other sales people, but Peter was committed to Tom and to serving him, so he gave Tom his full attention and missed those other opportunities.

After the 5.5 hours, Peter presented Tom with a package of equipment that was exactly as Tom had wished. Peter worked out an excellent price for Tom and the total for all the equipment, with tax, came to $20,000. Tom agreed that Peter had given him an excellent price, and Tom also agreed that the package was exactly what he wanted.

So Peter asked Tom if he’d like to take the equipment home today. Tom said yes! Peter was elated, and for the next 35 minutes he worked diligently to get every piece of Tom’s package out of the warehouse and piled it up high, next to the check out. With a sweaty brow and a hopeful voice, at the counter Peter asked Tom, “how would like to pay today”? To which Tom indignantly replied, “pay? I’m only giving a deposit today, but I want to take home the product first to see if it’s any good.” Peter stood for a moment, shocked by what Tom had said, and gathered himself enough to respond, “I’m sorry Tom, but that’s not our company policy”. Tom, sensing Peter’s desperation, quipped, “I don’t care about your policy, if you want this deal you’ll make it work”. Peter assured Tom he did want his business and so, as the Assistant Manager and a husband and father of 3 children, Peter decided to take a chance and allow Tom’s request.

Tom, with a growing sense of entitlement, seemed somewhat satisfied with Peter’s compromise. Peter then asked Tom, “so how much will you be putting as a down payment on this deal Peter? The minimum deposit we take that would normally hold a product is 10%, so that would be $2000. Will that be your amount?” Tom clenched his jaw and with an angry tone asked Peter, “do you know who I am? Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with? I am the grandson of the man that developed this entire community! If I wanted to, I could buy this entire plaza and the entire inventory in each of the different stores! How dare you ask me to put a minimum deposit of 10%! You don’t trust me Peter? Is that it? I will give you $5, and you will give me all the product to sample in my home, for up to a year, or I won’t do business with you! Furthermore, if you don’t accept the terms of my offer, I’ll be contacting the owner of this store. Do I make myself clear?”

Peter, with a rather large frog growing in his throat, and a bright crimson tone on his face replied, “OK sir, I’m sorry. I’ll take everything out to your car.” “My car”, barked Tom, “oh no, you’ll be delivering and setting up this product... today!” With a deep breath, and a long sigh, Peter submitted to Tom’s demands. Peter was vulnerable and Tom knew it. Peter was desperate to keep his job and feed his family, and Tom knew it. So Peter did just as Tom demanded, even though in the end Peter could have done so much better if he had just helped somebody else that Saturday. If Peter had followed the righteous path and not made such increasingly wicked compromises with Tom, he would have had peace. But Peter, in desperation, fell to his own greed and to his own need. Peter didn’t trust truth, instead he trusted Tom.

Maybe today you’re involved with a woman that gave you sex the first time you asked? Maybe you’re involved with a woman who made you ask 10 times before she gave you sex? Maybe when a woman says no to your requests you look for an easier woman? Maybe you’re living with a woman, having sex at your leisure, but still able to live the life of a bachelor? Maybe every time a woman asks you about marriage you become angry and call her a ball and chain? Maybe your attitude is that of Tom’s. Maybe you sense the desperation and confusion of the modern woman, and maybe you’ve told yourself it’s not your fault that they give you such easy sex? Well guess what? You’re wrong!

This world has turned black to white, up to down, wrong to right, and right to wrong. But there is a standard of truth, a policy that is black and white; it’s God and His word. His Ten Commandments tell us that we should not commit adultery, and Jesus said that to lust after a woman is the same as committing adultery with her in our heart; married or not. The Bible says all sexually immoral will have their place in Hell. These standards of God’s are not set simply to deny us from pleasure, but to uphold truth and the righteousness of God.

When you get easy sex, deep inside you know there’s something about you that feels dirty. If you’re beyond that feeling of dirtiness, remember back to when you did feel that dirtiness, and then be careful. Because God’s word cautions us about knowing the truth and then ignoring it, that our conscience might not become seared as with a hot iron. In other words, if your heart starts to grow a crust around it, and you’ve become insensitive to the truth your conscience is revealing to you, you better be careful because you may go too far and never hear truth again.

Jesus Christ came and lived a perfect life, for you and me. He took the punishment of our sin and was brutally murdered and left to die on a tree. He was guilty of nothing, but yet he took the wrath of God so that we can have hope in God, hope in life, hope in death, and know truth really exists! He is risen today, and He lives so that we can receive His free gift of salvation. Repent from your sinfulness, get honest with God and confess to Him, and put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you from your darkness and sin. Don’t try to be a “better person”. You will fail to make yourself presentable to God. He is a perfect Judge who cannot overlook your crimes. But put your faith in Jesus Christ to change you, and you will be born again; born new with a new spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. He will change your ways forever, and like a 5 year old boy, you will have hope again, and a light in your eyes. You won’t crave the darkness anymore!

Please take this opportunity and put your faith in Jesus Christ!

I Long To Have Your Fragrance LORD

I long to have Your fragrance LORD,
Mighty King of all around.
Keep me in Your presence Christ,
May Your truth on earth abound.

Your “self” never known in this world,
Your Father’s will was done.
The Perfect Lamb, a living sacrifice,
Alone You paid and won.

I can never shed this flesh of mine,
Thank You for your Spirit.
I long to see this reflection fade,
Help me turn away the mirror.

I hope when I wake each morn,
That I bathe in all that’s You.
You cleansed me from who I was,
My life today is new.

Even still, I must remain in check,
Examine, pray and read.
To know You and the price You paid,
Please keep me in Your need.

If I never immerge a successful man,
Your glory be my goal.
Your sufferings dwarf all I am,
Your victory fill my soul.

I am nothing LORD without Your grace,
It’s by that You gave me life.
Your blood the perfect substitute,
For my lust, my hate, my strife.

Please keep me in Your truth O’ LORD,
Ignite me with Your fire,
Let others hear the hope that’s Yours,
Use me to reach the liar.

And when I’m hated or scorned because,
Of Your message that I bring.
May I always rejoice and know that You,
Bring glory to Your Name.

He Is Out Of His Mind

Where is your Christianity today? Are you a comfortable convert? Has your Jesus made your life just that much better than it was before? Does the idea of suffering in your faith make no sense to you at all? Is the concept of obedience in the LORD foreign to your understanding of His character? Has your life really changed in a tangible way since coming to Christ? Do you continue to sin, just as you had before, only now you find yourself regularly confessing those sins in a helpless manner? Does your sin even really bother you? Be careful.

Or are you like Christ in that you are a suffering servant? Has Jesus brought you true transformation, not sinless perfection but a freedom from the ‘habit’ of sinning, where you are no longer a slave to your sin? If so, Hallelujah! If you have been freed from your sin, then you know you are no longer headed for Hell, but you can live with hope for things eternal. You now live for God’s glory, understanding that He did not create any of us for our glory, but that we would be grateful for the gifts and talents that He entrusts with us. And now you live a life seeking to use your gifts to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ! Be encouraged, as you walk on your pilgrimage, to remember the others who have gone before you and suffered in the same way. Preach the gospel, in and out of season.

If there is one area of our faith that Satan will constantly tempt us to sin, it is in the area of allowing ourselves to become carnal in our daily activities. So much so that, if we give in, we will eventually forget the glorious wonders that God has revealed to us in our own lives on an intimate basis. What a tragic sin is that. To think in His mercy, the God of all creation has revealed Himself to us, and we return to our vomit and begin living a self driven life of comfort again, as though He does not exist; lest we forget.

In fact, it doesn’t stop there either. As you obediently journey with Christ you will probably find the deeper the LORD brings you into His conviction and transformation, sceptics will begin to arise with discouraging ‘insights’. Do you discourage brothers when you see them being radically transformed? Does your lack of obedience bring about conviction which you in turn use as discouragement for those, around you, who are being obedient in the LORD? Be careful.

The LORD performed many miracles through Moses, before the Israelites, but each time they faced difficulties they grumbled and they either gave up or wanted to give up on being obedient. It’s easy to look back and criticize their disobedient nature, and ignore our own, but how many times do we too want to return to our personal Egypt?

Walking that narrow path of obedience in Christ, as you obediently seek His Kingdom first in your life, you will probably encounter resistance from those around you; but take courage in the LORD and press on. Perhaps those around you have even accused you of losing your mind? Praise God! If Jesus could face such an injustice, who then are we to believe we should be exempt from similar scoffing?

The temptation to forget the power and sovereignty of God, in our sin nature, could be no more apparent then when Mary, the woman God chose to bear His Son, who being a virgin not only knew the immaculate nature of her pregnancy with Jesus but was visited by an angel of the LORD telling her who Jesus was to become, seemed to forget the miracles she had seen before His birth and then tried to interrupt Jesus from His ministry some 30 years later. As seen in Mark 3, Mary joined with her other sons to attempt to bring Jesus out of God’s will, and into their own as they accused Him of losing His mind. As they called Him out of the house He was situated in, teaching and preaching, Jesus ever obedient to the will of His Father, rejected His earthly mother and brothers in favour of those willing to keep the will of God.

So the standard was set; it was just one of the ways God revealed to us through Christ how we need to live. Jesus Christ isn’t a part of an already wonderful life you might live. Jesus Christ is life itself; He is risen so that we might live too and escape Hell that we so rightly deserve. He created us, we owe Him everything; yet we can give Him nothing. We must yield to His majesty and worship His greatness, for His justice and mercy abounds. Obedience is all we can do to express our love for Him. The Holy Spirit lives in those that believe, and if the Holy Spirit has convicted you of a sin in your life, it doesn’t matter if you’re the only believer on the planet that knows such a thing to be sin... if God says so, it is sin!

Whether you or I understand any of this is of little consequence; we were not created to receive glory for our efforts and accomplishments. Pride says a man needs to be recognized for what he does. God says a man ought to be grateful and in awe of what He has done, continues to do, and promises to bring in Christ’s return. God created man for God’s glory. We will revere His holiness when we consider His mercy and love to save such wretched creatures, as us, from our pathetic filth and sin. And in reverence we will love Him; for He is mighty and awesome!

Blessings in Christ.

In The World, But Not of the World

When Christ called us to repentance and warned that the Kingdom of God is near (Matthew 4: 17), at the very beginning of His ministry, potential disciples ever since have been faced with the gut-wrenching reality that most of us are very much of this world, and such a call to true discipleship would bring us to a place where we would have to face some very real, radical, and sacrificial choices. Let’s face it; a true disciple cannot live in this world without suffering much loss of those things that his flesh so deeply desires. (John 12: 25 and John 15: 18-19) These scriptures are the words of Jesus Christ, not me; but I must ask you, does the world hate you today? Or do you blend in with this world, so much, that at times in your ministry you’re applauded and heralded as being a really good guy? “Sure you’re a Christian, but at least you relate to those of us who are non-Christians, and you don’t preach at us”, they might say. We must love the lost and like Paul relate to them, but to love like Christ... is to suffer. And we must never compromise the truth of the gospel.

Is the statement, to be in the world but not of the world, a question without an answer; a theological quandary that gives us permission to simply sit on our hands and think? Be careful brothers, don’t think too long. If the world does not hate you, I would say based upon God’s word, it’s possible that you don’t belong to Jesus Christ. In Matthew 13: 24-29, Jesus tells us in the parable of the weeds, that while everyone was asleep the enemy came along and sowed bad seeds among the wheat. I would argue that many of the leaders of the churches of the western world are asleep today! And the amount of bad seed that has been planted, and continues to be planted, is almost to the point that it is beginning to choke out the wheat.

If a child of God, who is radically chasing after His Saviour, finds himself in the religious factory of western culture known as the evangelical church, it’s quite likely that he will be told not to sell too many of his things, or give too much up, instead that he should put his faith in perspective. It’s also quite likely that he will find men of power in the church today that would rather have him still seeking his own filthy sin, and never depart from his flesh, as long as the status quo in their church would not be challenged. Like a white washed tomb, he could look outwardly presentable to that which culture deems normal and good, and never really encounter discouragement from within the church; a dead man, never being told of his impending doom without faith in Christ. Yet if that same man falls so deeply in love with God, for the free gift of salvation and grace that he begins to die to his flesh and live a life so focused on things of God, many times that man will face criticism and rejection from the very brothers around him that should be inspired most.

God did not create man to glorify man, God created man to glorify God! And I don’t know how I can live my life seeking the things in this world and not be of this world? I’ll say that again; how can I live my life seeking the things in this world and not be of this world? It’s impossible! We must live in this world, yes! But let’s get honest about the condition of our hearts! Toiling over material purchases, obsessing during the day about what entertainment we’ll enjoy for the evening after work, spending hours watching or playing sports, trying to earn greater amounts of money to pay for 2 or more cars, trying to gain worldly wealth through investments and trading, pouring the heart into a smorgasbord of worldly things! And then because I do some ‘ministry’ work at church on Sunday or get involved in the right programs within the four walls of the church, I can receive the blessing of that church and its members? How does that make me a man a disciple of Jesus Christ? If He has called me to give up the ways of this world in favour of saving souls; then I better do it!

Wake up children, we’ve been put to sleep by the enemy, through a decadent culture that has made us so drowsy to truth, we hardly care anymore. Are any of the previously mentioned lifestyle activities, evil in their own right? I don’t think so. But when your heart and life is lived in such a way that all of those things add up to great big pile of dung that divides your heart from that of your love and devotion for Jesus Christ; then I believe you have chosen to live an evil, self-serving existence. (Romans 12: 1-2 and Matthew 6: 24) The issue isn’t political either, so if you’ve been anesthetised by that poison, give it up. This isn’t about socialism verses capitalism; this is about Jesus Christ and what He did at the cross! He commands us to be genuine followers of Christ. He didn’t go to the cross for our worldly well being and political might; Jesus went to the cross to save the very ones that sent Him there! That’s us; you and me! Please wake up to the truth!

We have so much more than we ever need, it’s almost sickening! Does the LORD give to us so that we might have comfort and pleasure? No, He gives to us so that we might be good stewards and use our resources to give to others, and of those gifts that which is most life giving; the good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel, unedited and without compromise... without compromise... without compromise. (Matthew 6: 24)

We will be hated by this world when we live without compromise. Are you hated by this world today? Do your coworkers and people around you know you to be a man without compromise, with that which is the love and truth of Christ crucified? Is the blood of Christ so dripping from your soul that if those around you were to touch you today, they’d risk becoming blood stained themselves? If so, I would say to you, my brother in Christ, you know of rejection, and loss in this world. But if you’re the ‘compromising Christian’, who makes excuses why you need to put things in perspective, in your daily activities, you probably don’t have too much to worry about in the way of the world hating you, do you. But where does that leave you in the Kingdom of God? Is Jesus making your life better able to have your cake and eat it too, or is He leading you to taking up your cross, and partake in the suffering, each and every day?

Are you a weed among the wheat? Have you had the seeds of this world so planted in your heart, even by the leaders of the churches you’ve depended upon, that you’ve lost your fire for Jesus Christ, or maybe never even had one? Have you become a person that discourages brothers in Christ, from obedience to Christ, in favour of your own interests, and comfort? Repent if you are! Get on your knees today, and then when you arise, take up your cross again and share His glory with everyone you can!

Being hated by this world is not our goal; it is a by-product of Christ living in us and through us. We cannot be lost in the ways of Jesus Christ and be so easily tolerated by this world. The same sinful world that He pulled me from, the world where I hated Him, the world of pride and power, the world of human glory and accomplishment, the world of greed, lust and money; that world HATES GOD! So if we are of Him and sent by Him, how can we not also be hated in this place that so hates Him? This does not mean that we hate the people of this world, on the contrary! We cannot love, or even really like this world, but we must know that the LORD has left us a mission; to bring His sheep home!

They are His sheep, not yours or mine! So they are precious, and He told us that a good shepherd would leave 99 sheep to go find one. That’s how much He loves His sheep! So as His Hands and Feet, we need to love them as His own, and put up with being hated as we take the message of the gospel to the world. We must rely on Him to bring His sheep home. We only need share the truth in love, and let Him save the souls. But we must live as true disciples crucified with Christ, without compromise, otherwise the lost sheep will see our hypocrisies and we will become their stumbling blocks. We must not go deeper into the darkness of hiding our sin so as to avoid looking like hypocrites, but instead, truly repent and believe in Jesus.

Action must be taken! Believers must stand up and be counted, today! If Christ has revealed to you that you have given way to slavery in your life, you need to run from that which keeps you from hating everything else compared to Him! (Luke 14: 25-27) It’s time we recognize the cost of being a disciple, my brothers! Maybe He has led you to do things others don’t understand or given you gifts that could be misunderstood, but don’t let your heart deceive you into receiving worldly rewards in the name of Christ, when He didn’t give them to you in the first place. Stop chasing your dreams and start chasing after Him! I’ve found that Jesus rarely leads us to a place of comfort in our flesh, but when we follow Him without compromise He always brings us a stillness of spirit, peace and joy.

May God bless you today.

The KING for Men, Or a King of Men

This topic is a difficult one for me to share with you my brethren. I desire to be obedient to our LORD and so I feel I must attempt to put this topic before you. If anyone at all should decide to read this article, I pray that I am acting in accordance to God’s will in writing these words.

Men love heroes. We desire to make for ourselves images of what “perfection” would look like if it took the form of a man. In athletics we like our heroes to be muscular, tall, fast, strong, fierce, and most of all... successful men who make a habit of dominating their opponents. In business we like our heroes to be tall, well dressed, well groomed, well spoken, highly educated, highly paid men of power and influence.

Does this carnal desire of ours stop simply at the world’s exit and the church’s doorstep? Or does that same manmade image we crave bleed its way into the sanctuaries of our churches, and even as far as our desire for ‘sound doctrine’? In our desire to understand our LORD, do we attempt to circumvent the mysteries of God and the uncertainty of faith by clinging to the ‘sound doctrines’ of this age which, in large part, are creations of men who we consider to be heroes of our faith?

The LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.

"Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day--in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods--so they are doing to you also.

"Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them." 1 Samuel 8: 7-9 NASB

I think that every believer can agree that sound doctrine is a key to remaining obedient to Jesus Christ. How can we deny the importance of sound doctrine when God instructs us so clearly toward it?

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." 2 Timothy 4: 3-5 NASB

Where is your doctrine taking you today? In 2 Timothy, through Paul, God so clearly directs us toward His word as the source of sufficiency. In order to receive salvation, and in order to keep growing in the LORD, His word does not tell us that we need university degrees or diplomas; successful ministries led by men of power and influence; or a theological understanding of His word that attempts to remove the mysteries of God and His sovereignty. Where does God’s word tell the believer the way to salvation is through understanding? The beginning of wisdom is a fear of God, but the way to salvation only comes through what Jesus Christ did at the cross! Jesus said we must be born again in order to see the Kingdom of God.

Do not be deceived my brethren. If you find yourselves clinging to a doctrine where you hear very articulate and well educated men making intelligent sounding, deep doctrinal conclusions that go way beyond what God’s very word says, step carefully! If these men cannot accept that faith does not come from what they know, then they should examine themselves to see if they actually have faith. If the original disciples of our Saviour could not understand how Jesus could drive a demon out of a boy while they failed, and Jesus called their faith too little to do so, then who are we to decide that we have unlocked the mysteries of God and His word? (Matthew 7: 14-20) We must believe what we cannot understand.

I don’t know about you, but there are many times I read God’s word and I have to ask Him to help me with my faith. But with those areas where God has so clearly left allowance for us to have to rely on Him in faith, aren’t we tempted into idolatry instead? Corporately, don’t we seek a hero that will explain to us that which we cannot understand? The mystery of election unveiled and explained according to a particular doctrine. The unfortunate part of that doctrine is that its many followers seem to identify themselves with that man’s name, almost on par, beside that of Jesus’. And those that subscribe so vehemently to its teachings alienate others within the faith that may claim a less certain view of such things, that their doctrinal teaching states as fact.

If you’re reading this and you need to have a complete understanding of how God elects His people, maybe you should ask yourself why. Why do you need to know how God elects His people? Will that save you? Will your knowledge of election save others? Will your knowledge of another man’s teachings gain you or anyone else salvation? When we seek knowledge of God to the extent that we go beyond His word and give way to a deep theological dogma, aren’t we seeking a ‘works’ focused salvation? If you’re a doctrine focused Christian, do you find yourself looking beyond your own helpless and sinful state, and what Jesus Christ did for you at the cross to save you, in favour of your own intellect and the intellect of those spiritual heroes that are kings to you and so many others?

Israel wasn’t content with relying on God. They needed a King. And then when they received ONE true KING, almost all of them missed Him. They wanted what men today want. They failed to seek God, but instead they looked to a man hero for help. They knew--in all their theological supremacy they knew--if a “King” was going to bring them out of their oppression, he would have to be a man of great power and influence. He would have to be wealthy and much greater than any simple peasant. Because of their lack of faith, according to Jesus, even the disciples failed to see all of what God could have revealed to them.

I myself am a man of faith that at times seems quite small; to that I confess. I suffer from fear, sometimes, for my daughter’s health. I also find peace when I run to Jesus. I find joy when I've spent some time on my knees. When I confess my fear to our LORD, He helps me. But I confess there is much about God and His word that I simply do not understand. I know that He forgives me for my lack of perfection, and as I seek Him He continues His work in me. But the only reason any of that is possible at all is because Jesus Christ died on a cross for me, and in some mysterious way He gave me an opportunity to hear His name, repent, and believe in Him. That is grace. I don’t know if my response was His choice or mine. But I don’t need to know, do I. God’s the boss, God’s in control, God knows.

So brethren, please seek Jesus and His word. Stop looking for a King among men. We have our KING and He is mightier than all kings combined! If God left mystery in His word, then how can any man attempt to remove it in a way that makes his personal understanding the correct understanding, but a stumbling block for others? (Luke 17: 1)

If the LORD has made you a teacher, then teach His word! Do not attempt to teach a system of understanding His word, which goes beyond His word. Do not attach yourself to a religious order that could prevent you from speaking His word in truth. Do not make for yourself an idol of another man and omit key portions of God’s word as you teach, so that you will not contradict your doctrine. Instead allow the Holy Spirit to teach each man according to God’s will. Rebuke the believer that lives against God’s word and sins, but do not attempt to fill in the blanks of scripture with a doctrine that divides.

Please brethren. Put aside pride and prejudice, and seek His word in its Holy sufficiency. Let us come together in our weakness, and faith in Jesus Christ. Let us rely solely on His salvation, His provision, and His wisdom, not our works. Let us be uncertain about the things that God deemed to be so. As we discover truth, let us know that our hearts can be deceived and so we must never put our discovery above God’s word.

Blessings to you in Christ.

Pizzeria, A Sex Story for Youths

There was a time, not so long ago, when getting a pizza was a whole lot different than it is today. During that time pizza was at the height of its popularity, everyone wanted it. It seems hard to believe, but yes it was much more popular than pizza is today. That’s where this story begins.

It was sometime early in the last century, in a busy urban centre; somewhere in a city a lot like one you know, when a Pizzeria owner had an epiphany of sorts. We’ll call the owner of that Pizzeria, Giuseppe. It was a typical Friday night for Giuseppe’s Pizzeria, the orders were coming in at a fairly steady pace, but on that Friday night Giuseppe realized that there had to be more people that wanted pizza and that for whatever reason they just weren’t buying it.

He knew more pizza lovers had to be out there. He also knew how much he wanted people to enjoy his pies. So with very good intentions Giuseppe did the unthinkable; he did something so outlandish, so abnormal, and so ridiculous, that the world of pizza changed for the next 50 years. You see what Giuseppe did was not at all in accordance to the plan of the Original Pizza Maker, in fact it was against all common sense, and there were serious consequences for his choice; if only Giuseppe had known the negative impact his decision would have on the world of pizza.

That fateful Friday night Giuseppe decided he was going to make 25 extra large pizzas, with all types of toppings; something for everyone. He cleared a big area in the front of his store so that he could set up 5 tables. On each table he placed 5 pizzas and a paper cup, and when he was done he put a sign in his front window that said “XL Pizzas, Pay as Little or as Much as You Want”.

Well he didn’t have that sign hanging in the window for longer than 30 seconds before a person off the street wandered into his store and asked, “What does, pay as little or as much as you want mean”? “Just what it says”, Giuseppe responded. “So what if I don’t have any money”, the straggler quipped. But to his surprise Giuseppe proudly proclaimed, “Don’t worry about it. I want everyone to enjoy my pie. If you have some money leave what you can in one of the paper cups, if not take your pizza and enjoy it. In fact... if you’re really hungry, take two!”

And so it began. It wasn’t more than a couple of days, before Giuseppe’s Pizzeria was the busiest restaurant on the planet. He had hundreds, if not thousands, of people waiting in line on the sidewalks of that tiny little side street; all there for the same thing, cheap pizza. It wasn’t long and other pizza restaurants took notice. From the four corners of the earth pizza restaurant owners began copying Giuseppe. And why wouldn’t they? Reportedly, Giuseppe had ‘sold’ more than 50,000 pizzas in a single week! Other hasty pizza pros, all over the planet, just wanted their slice of the Giuseppe genius, and so they followed his lead.

Unfortunately for them and for all true pizza lovers there was a dark secret that no one was talking about. After 6 months of allowing people to decide what they’d pay for his pizzas, Giuseppe had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Every day he toiled from 9 a.m. till 2 a.m., making pizzas for the endless customers that kept pouring in off the streets., only to receive, in most cases, nothing for his trouble. You see, Giuseppe made excellent pizza, but when given a choice, in the beginning the vast majority of his customers chose to pay only a fraction of what the pizzas cost should have been. And most times they only did that out of, what they perceived to be, social obligation. It wasn’t long before some of those customers began to rationalize and simply take their pizza without paying anything at all. But they would tell themselves that next time they’d pay extra... then they never did.

Over the next 25 years, thousands of pizzeria owners from all around the world had given away their personal fortunes as they served millions of free pizzas, while they tried hopelessly to keep up to the social pressures of what it meant to make and ‘sell’ pizza in their age. Many of the pizzeria owners knew somewhere in their bottom of their hearts that they weren’t using sound business practices by giving away their product; but they felt pressure from the rest of society to keep up with the insane standard that had been set. So against their better judgement, time and time again, pizzeria owners would fight the truth and give their pizza away when they knew they should have been charging the customer a fair price for their product instead.

During those years it was a very dark time for pizza lovers. You see all the pizza that was available was being sold the same way, and because the individual restaurant owners had to lose so much money in order to give away their pizza, the quality of pizza everywhere had become absolutely horrific! Not only did the average pizza have a very low standard of quality, it also tasted terrible. During that time it seemed like no one knew how bad pizza had become; it seemed like everyone forgot that pizza could be, and should have been... delicious. Instead, people were so focused on getting their pizzas for free they ignored the fact that most of the pizzas they’d ever eat weren’t even fit for human consumption.

It took nearly 50 years until Giuseppe finally decided to put an end to the insanity that he had created. On that wonderful day, Giuseppe used wisdom and he closed his pizzeria. He put a sign on the window that said, “Out of money, out of pizza, out of business”. The customers didn’t really care because there were 50 more pizzerias within a 10 minute walk of Giuseppe’s, but nonetheless they wouldn’t be able to freeload at Giuseppe’s any longer. But that wasn’t the last of Giuseppe, no... Giuseppe had a plan.

Secretly, he began preparations for a whole new pizzeria, on the other side of town. It took him a few weeks but after some hard work, and much determination, Giuseppe opened his new pizzeria featuring pizzas that were made with the kind of quality and love that he used to make 50 years earlier, before he ever began giving them away free. In fact he was so certain of the quality of his pizzas that he charged 35% more than he should have charged. Back in those days an XL pie with 3 toppings, at Giuseppe’s, would set a person back a whopping $47.00! His critics thought that he had gone mad; how could a man think that anyone would pay $47.00 for a pizza they could get free somewhere else?

Well that was just it; you couldn’t get a pizza like Giuseppe’s anywhere, in any country, that even came close to the quality of pizza that Giuseppe was making and selling for $47.00. But at first Giuseppe was wondering if he should have even bothered trying, because no one seemed interested in his costly pies. He thought the critics might have been correct. Until the international news organization, BNN, featured Giuseppe and his life story. In the report they gave full account of Giuseppe’s pizza making career and they finished the story on location at his new pizzeria.

It was only the next day when the phone at Giuseppe’s Pizzeria began ringing off the hook. It seemed that there were many people all over the world that were longing for a good pizza again. They wanted to taste the delicious flavour of a well made pie, and they were willing to pay whatever it would cost to get one. In the next six months Giuseppe made $50,000,000,000 as people from all over the earth were ordering pizzas weeks in advance. At one point the demand got so high for great pie that Giuseppe was able to charge $7000 per pizza!

And before long all the other pizza places began trying to charge money for their pizzas too, but somehow that didn’t work. What they didn’t know was that Giuseppe had done something different than they had; he closed his original pizzeria and opened a new pizzeria, in a new location, with a new name. It seemed that the ‘customers’ at the free pizzerias placed a very low value on the pizza they had gotten for free all those years. So even when the owners of those pizzerias improved the quality, leaps and bounds, and then demanded a fair price for their pizzas, the customers had already come to believe that they were bad pizzas because they knew they could get them free at the same pizzeria at an earlier time.

Thankfully everything eventually turned around in the pizza industry, and today you can pay a fair price and get a quality pizza at any one of countless different pizzerias in over 500 countries around the world.

Pizza can be a lot like sex. Girls today are like the pizzeria owners in this story. They don’t think they have a choice; they think they have to give sex to a guy, for little to no commitment, or they won’t ever get a guy in the first place. As a result, guys today are getting a lot of cheap, and or even free sex. Many, many girls have stopped thinking of their virginity as valuable. Instead they have accepted the lie that they have to offer their ‘love’ for free in order to be normal and compete with other girls. And just who is it that benefits the most?

God intended for a man and a woman to be wed. He intended that the man would have to make sacrifices in order to have sex with a woman. He would have to first love her, and then marry her. And then marriage wasn’t temporary... IT WAS PERMANENT! So you see, in God’s plan, sex has a very high cost associated with it. And so in this day and age, the woman who values that responsibility and who cares about God enough to not live with every boyfriend she meets, and to not have sex before marriage---that woman won’t have a huge line of guys waiting on the sidewalk to ask her out. But word will soon get out, and the true guys out there will start calling, because there are guys who really want a quality girl but don’t know where to find one.

Please don’t worry, if you’re like Giuseppe and you’ve already started giving your pizzas away, it’s not too late, you can start over. Confess to Jesus that you’ve sinned against God, tell Him you’re sorry and stop your sinning. Believe in Him as your Saviour, and like Giuseppe you’ll be able to open a brand new business and start to demand a higher price for yourself. Don’t give yourself away any longer. God intended for you to be loved, not used. He loves you, and so should your boyfriend. If your boyfriend doesn’t love you enough to wait for sex, then maybe your boyfriend doesn’t love you at all. Think about it.

Right Angle

Going out into the world and preaching the Gospel can be a very daunting task. Nonetheless, Christ calls each and every one of His flock to share His gift with the world. When Christ, risen, came upon Peter who had returned to fishing instead of preaching the Gospel, what did Jesus say to Peter? John 21: 15-17

But still it seems there is a litany of reasons why it seems impossible sometimes to actually step out on that limb of faith and publicly share Jesus Christ. Fear is probably the most common of these obstacles. Too many times, it seems, we can be deceived by our own natures and fail to see God’s will. If we understand that sharing Jesus Christ is not of us; not about us; not for us; then maybe we can see God’s will in His plan to evangelize with the truth of the Gospel.

The world does hate the Gospel; let’s face it, the world hates Jesus. Didn’t you a sinner hate the Gospel before God apprehended you? And think about it, what other name is blasphemed more? People use God’s name all the time to swear, but many times those people have false gods anyway. It would seem, however, that when they take the name of Jesus Christ in vain, there is more of a direct intent to use the true God’s name in cursing with their hatred focused toward the Saviour.

There is good news about sharing the Good News, though! When we allow ourselves to be used by God as we love Him, He will show us His mighty work and the power of His truth!

There is a man who loves to have a sanitary and organized kitchen environment. He is quite careful about placing raw meat near other foods in the refrigerator; he won’t place non food items on the area of the counter where he rolls dough; when preparing raw chicken he takes many precautions regarding cross contamination; he is quite careful to avoid getting any hair in food; he will not use the dish rag for anything other than washing dishes or cleaning the counter areas. This man’s love of cleanliness is so genuine that he does not take care of all these things as a duty, but out of love for his work. Because of his love for that work, that same man, who has never worked or been formally trained in the food industry, was recently hired as a manager at a restaurant.

The restaurant that hired him, had many other managers before, but always struggled with the quality standards in their kitchen. Time and time again, the owner of the restaurant would send his acting managers to food safety training courses, and time and time again they would come back to the restaurant with a better standard then when they had left; but only for a little while. With each and every manager that went off to be formally trained in their vocation, it seemed when they returned they had acquired the necessary knowledge to keep good kitchen standards, but they didn’t have a genuine love for those things. As a result, as soon as the newly trained managers had any sort of unfavourable work conditions arise, like being fatigued, or stressed, or very busy, the standards of the kitchen would return to very near what they had been like prior to their training.

So the owner of that restaurant decided to hire a new, different type of recruit; someone who had never been in the restaurant industry at all, but someone who had a pre-existing love for food safety and cleanliness. When he was given the manager job by the restaurant owner, the man who loved his clean kitchen didn’t require much training at all. With some simple procedural training, he was able to keep that restaurant more organized and sanitary than it had ever been kept before. And because he loved his work, he didn’t labour out of duty, but out of love. Yes, he had to be disciplined in his work, and yes he had to perform duties in order to complete his daily tasks. But out of love, his work had much more of an impact than any of the previous, superiorly trained, managers who lacked love for their work.

The Lord loved us while we were still sinners; so much so, that He poured all of His wrath and justice upon His innocent Son and sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Jesus became filth for us. Jesus willingly took the punishment for our sin while He was perfect in word, thought and deed. He paid the price of our filth, for you and me. He was torn from His Father, because of who we are. He could have let us all suffer what we deserve, because we are filthy. We are the Romans, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, in our flesh. We must recognize our sin toward God, and hate the cravings our flesh. Without the redeeming justification of our perfect living Saviour, Jesus Christ, we would all suffer an eternity in Hell; a Hell that we deserve, a Hell that is a mere reflection of our evil nature.

But our merciful and loving God allows us to know life in eternity, glorifying Him; because He loves us. By that love and obedience for His Father, Jesus became our sin; He suffered in a way that is incomprehensible for the human mind. There was no self in Jesus, only love for God! If we even catch the tiniest of a glimpse of that love and devotion that Christ so mercifully displayed, how can we do anything but love Him in return? Nothing we have could stand in our way to serving Him, or would be too much to give up! We will die for Him when we know His love! We will no longer serve Him out of religious duty as to vainly attempt to make ourselves better, but instead we will humbly acknowledge our pathetic inability to do so, and rely fully upon His love and sacrifice.

Our faith comes from God above and then does a 90 degree turn of sorts. As we share Jesus Christ crucified, and His Gospel, God gives us His truth in His word in a very vertical sense. Truth comes from Him, not us. So as God shares His truth vertically from His word and testimony with us, and when we’re willing to be used of God, that truth simply makes a right turn and spreads horizontally from the vessels known as our mouths; as it reaches out to death and destruction around us. If we can simply see that when we share the truth of Jesus Christ that we are witnesses, and nothing else, I think we might find courage in the Lord. If we can see ourselves as an intersection where God’s road of truth turns to deliver His word to the lost and dying in this world, maybe we’ll be hard pressed to see ourselves at all. And wouldn’t that be a good thing? John 3: 30

Tim

By God's Grace

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." John 3: 16-21 NIV

Dear Brothers,

I am writing today, a brother in Christ’s love, and it is for His glory that I hope I am able to freely and effectively communicate some very important matters regarding God’s Word.

"Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." Luke 9: 23-27 NIV

Words not to be taken lightly; they are the words as you know, God-breathed words, of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. They belong to the roadmap of salvation for all of us, not just some of us; they belong to The Holy Bible. Jesus told us that He is the way the truth and the life, and that no one will come to the Father but through Him. So His Words are the intravenous to LIFE; not an enhancement of our lives, but the supply channel to LIFE itself.

Can any of us afford to risk the implications of what a soft interpretation of God’s word could mean to our eternal destinies? His words are very clear and quite simple to understand, aren’t they? Western Culture, Post-Modernism, Universalism, whatever... there will be no excuses when we stand before Him; just the truth. We were either willing to repent, believe and serve until death for Him... or not. By grace, we followed His commands for our lives, or by stubbornness and flesh we didn’t. Matthew 12: 30

Hell is a reality and so are false converts. We should all pray that our salvation is authentic; that when we examine ourselves we find the Holy Spirit resides in us and leads us to the proper discovery of God’s truth in His word. But then we need to live as though our dedication to Christ doesn’t depend on our salvation, don’t we? After all if a man is a witness to a truth, should he only testify if he earns a reward? In the same way, since we cannot earn our salvation, shouldn’t we be bound by the truth to testify to Christ’s existence, if we truly believe, regardless of whether or not we’ll receive a reward for our testimonies?

“ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4: 1-5 NIV

In Luke 13: 22-30, Jesus told those that followed Him to make every effort to enter through the narrow door, and He warned of punishment for His believers as many of us will claim to have known Him, but He will deny knowing those of us that were evildoers. Again, His, God-breathed words, not mine. We have a responsibility to go and tell all of mankind the truth regarding their fate if they live this life without His saving grace.
Matthew 28: 16-20

We must warn people of what they are being saved from or they won’t care about their salvation, will they? And that responsibility to the truth begins with the flock doesn’t it? If any man considered what Hell would actually mean to his eternity and, most importantly, how offensive his sin is to God, would he risk his eternity to Hell as he loves what God hates? Maybe some of us have diligently sought God’s word, but for those of us that have not, and are confused and mislead by heretics, what will be their fate? Can we risk that we may be amongst the lost, and worse, that we are helping to aid in the confusion? Galatians 5: 9

What is our primary responsibility as Christians? Isn’t it to disciple new believers, with urgency? How many of us are literally willing to take action in our everyday lives? Simply “living our faith” as an example to others, while we go on seeking the things of this world and disregard eternity, isn’t how Jesus and His disciples did it, is it? No, the Holy Bible tells us that Christ and His disciples preached the gospel with urgency! We too should share the gospel with every man like today might be his last.

It was our sin, but Jesus’ obedience to His Father to have the courage to speak the truth about our sinful nature to the Pharisees and the Scribes of His age, that sent Him to the cross. We must never reduce our Holy, Righteous God, to a god without wrath and justice! He is a God of justice! Praise Him for that we can trust in Him! We cannot afford to assume that the lost will be alright if we don’t share the whole gospel with them. Where did Jesus say that’s how we should follow Him; to avoid confronting the truth of sin and Hell but by “loving” people; then He would bring them out from death? John Lennon said, “All You Need is Love”, not Jesus! Jesus spoke these very difficult and convicting words, in love:

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Luke 14: 25-35 NIV

Believers and non-believers alike must be taught these truths. Then it’s up to each individual to hear the voice of their conscience as it convicts their heart. Then after hearing our conscience it’s not enough to know we’re wrong, we need to lay it at the foot of the cross, repent and believe in Jesus Christ. But before any of that process can take place, the truth of the word must be spoken!

In Luke 14: 25-35, who was Jesus talking to? The Bible says crowds that were following Him. In order to be a true follower of Jesus, He commands more than lip service from us; doesn’t His Word say so? Jesus commands that we lose our hopes, dreams, and lusts in this world, and allow Him to lead us into eternity. As Christians, if we continue to live with this world as the main focus of our lives, then how are we living in faithful service to Christ in eternity?

Should we make sure we have all of our bases covered first? Education... Check, Career... Check, Wife... Check, Kids... Check, House... Check, Bigger House... Check, Investments... Check, God... Check, Volunteer at Church... Check, Tithe... Check. Isn’t that living by works and not by faith?

If we totally surrender to the King, will we know what our tomorrow on this earth will look like? Won’t we appear to be oddballs to the lost of this world? Won’t we be willing to look stupid in this world and suffer for Him if we are truly chained to His glory? Shouldn’t His word be taught without compromise or omission of truth? It is meant to offend! Unless our consciences have been seared, our flesh ought to be offended by the Holy Word of God, because we are all sinners. The Word applies to every single one of us, regardless of where we find ourselves in our own personal circumstance.

Like children, our flesh needs constant correction or soon sin can and will take over. And one of the best ways to keep our spirit healthy is with good, perfect, food; His Word. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8: 3 when answering the Devil’s temptation as the word tells us; “Jesus answered, ‘It is written; Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4: 4 NIV

The gospel is full of urgency! Do we believe the lost have an infinite amount of time seeking sinfulness, never repenting, without God bringing judgement down upon them? If so, no one is in danger of going to Hell, is he? Do we believe in repentance? Do we believe in Hell?

"Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." Luke 24: 45-49 NIV

Are we dedicated to sound doctrine and God’s Truth in North American Christianity today? If God is misunderstood the way William P. Young portrayed Him in The Shack, how can people be in fear and awe of Him? Do we properly fear God? Do we humbly revere Him? Do we need more humility before our Holy and perfect God? Is the word front and centre, above all else? Relevance; or the Word? Is God’s Word the only food in our diet that we depend upon for our health? Or are we just dining on the parts of His word that taste good while we discard the hard to chew portions, only to cram a bunch of poisonous supplements into our bellies in its place?

God doesn’t need us to make Him relevant. God doesn’t need anything, including us or our help; our lives are a gift to be used to glorify His Name. We breathe because He says so. We think, because He made a way. His Word is infallible and it is to be held above all else! There is no way to compromise the truth without choosing to live in sin. It is His word and His Hand, not our stories or opinions, that make people believe. His word is the seed; the sower is simply a tool to plant that seed. All men should fear sharing His word that we might not seek to glorify Him, but instead ourselves.

Jesus promised us that we would suffer for His name sake, if we believe.

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn " 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her motherinlaw— a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." Matthew 10: 34-42 NIV

Those are tough words. If we address those teachings as the truth that they so clearly are, then how much different will our lives inevitably look when we apply them to our everyday activities? Those words won’t rise up too many spiritual weaklings, will they? But they have to be spoken in order that we absorb them and face the conviction of our need to press deeper for The Lord.

One could intellectualize to try to justify teachings that lean away from those words of truth that belong to our Saviour, but then one would be embracing another doctrine other than God’s word, wouldn’t one? God’s word is for His elect and He is is the author of that list, and therefore we must take His word as it is presented to us within the pages of The Holy Bible. Then we can share the truth without manipulation of that truth, as we trust in Him to bring salvation to the lost.

We need to take courage in the word and preach what we believe. Who would turn their back on a blind man if he was unknowingly running toward a cliff? Who would sit idle and watch a naive child carelessly step onto a busy highway? We are disciples in Christ and we need to be encouraging and actively raising the brethren up to go save the lost, right here... right now. There is no time. We don’t know how many appointments we’ve missed as a result of our disobedience to God’s call.

It’s His testimony in this life that we’ve been given. I pray that we will never lose sight of the fact that our lives are a gift and that our Father is worthy of all praise! Therefore, it should be our honour to be able to be bold and speak His name to even one lost soul. Imagine, by grace we are permitted to tell people about the Creator of all things, and He entrusts us with His word to share as the method by which He reveals Himself to this hateful and lost people; people like you and me. That’s an awesome privilege and a huge responsibility that all the Saints need to understand.

Go today, and give God the glory that He will receive whether you choose to obey or not! And if you choose not to obey, the question is; why?

In Christ’s Name,

Tim Rector

Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

"Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.”
Luke 6: 20-26 NIV

Tiger's Trap

Considering the magnitude of Tiger Woods’ return at the 2010 Masters, in Augusta, Georgia, I think it would be remiss for us to overlook the reason Tiger’s return was so “newsworthy” to the masses. And, ironically, it’s that premise that has inspired this commentary today.

To discover the answer to the question of why it is that Tiger Woods’ collapse and return to golf is one of the top news stories of 2010, I think we have to begin asking some rudimentary questions first, like; who is Tiger Woods; what has he done that deserves such intense media focus; and why do we care enough to follow this story wherever Tiger takes it?

On the surface we all know that Tiger Woods is a golfer, but more than that he’s the most prolific winner golf has seen in decades. He is on track to, and most predict he will, if not annihilate, at the very least break the all-time career major victories record of 18, held by Jack Nicklaus. At 34 years of age Tiger already holds 14 Majors in his grasp, 71 PGA Tour victories, plus 3 US Amateur titles. Compare those numbers to Jack’s numbers at the same age, of; 12 Majors, 52 PGA Tour wins, and 2 US Amateur titles, and it seems hard to fathom at the end of Tiger’s career that he’ll be remembered as anything less than the best golfer that has ever lived.

Beyond his unprecedented achievements on the course, Tiger has also claimed the status of being the first professional athlete, billionaire; with career earnings that top $82, 000, 000, he has also amassed an amazing total of somewhere near $920, 000, 000 in commercial endorsements, in less than 14 years of professional golf! So my question is: are these accomplishments the reason that people all around the globe are familiar with Tiger Woods, and more recently thriving on the epic story of his fall? Is it Tiger Woods’ “brand” that has had people devouring the stories of his sexual exploits and now the story of his return, or is it his achievement in sport? Perhaps it’s something else?

If the top ten executives of Coke, for example, were found to be engaged in the same activities as Tiger Woods has been, beyond a passing curiosity, would any of us care? I don’t think so. So I think it’s safe to say that we can rule out Tiger’s brand as being the catalyst for our interest in this particular story. But maybe Tiger’s worldly accomplishments are what have left us so disappointed with his off course escapades? To be fair to the truth, then, we should ask ourselves how we would respond if the news reported that Richard Dawkins, for example, as the world’s most prominent atheist, bestselling author, and leading scientist in the field of evolution, had been caught carrying out sexually devious behaviour that was unbecoming of what society deems to be morally correct; would any of us care?

Aside from the obvious free pass that the public would more than likely grant a man like Richard Dawkins in this hypothetical scenario, (since as the leader and crusader for atheism worldwide, Richard Dawkins himself, believes humans to be equivalent to animals in our need for morality) would any of us care if Dawkins’ with his worldly accomplishments, power, and influence, acted in the exact same way as Tiger Woods has confessed to behaving? I am almost certain that the answer would be a resounding... NO! So why then, why do we care so much about Tiger’s fall from, and now return to his sport?

The word conscience literally means with knowledge; con-science, or with-knowledge. Despite our personal opinions regarding religion and God, unless ours has been seared, all of us have a conscience that we can hear. That conscience was given to us by God. It is by our conscience that we can all agree on basic morals; right vs. wrong. Aside from the very few of us, like Richard Dawkins, the vast majority of us know what Tiger Woods did was outlandishly wrong; unfortunately, most of us will arrive at that opinion on a fairly high pedestal, a pedestal known as self-righteousness.

So here’s the truth. Humans, without a Saviour, are all slaves to our sin. At the end of the day, if we are truthful, none of us can say we are capable of living without doing any wrong. So truthfully then, none of us are any better than each other, are we. But because of our sinful nature, we are always trying to find examples of others that are obviously “worse” than we are in their moral depravity; so we assign levels of “goodness” in an attempt to elevate ourselves above our fellow man. And so most of us believe that we are pretty high up on that scale, but in that classification of our own “goodness”, we also find people that we feel extremely inferior to, as they seem to be much better than we are in their day to day “goodness”, as we so assign.

For most of us, Tiger was one of those people; that society collectively elevated to the status of a god. That elevation of Tiger to god appeal, I believe, was in many ways a direct result of his athletic achievements, his monetary worth, and his fairytale life. But without fashioning Tiger into a god, what makes Tiger Woods – Tiger Woods, would never have been enough to fuel our hunger the way we’ve lusted after the sensational appeal of his baffling break down. We needed to believe that Tiger was a better human being than each one of us, a god, in order for us to be so extremely offended and intrigued by this entire ordeal that we would follow so intently, and then: contracts could be broken, private lives could be invaded, people could be shamed, and many more millions of dollars could be made. I don’t feel sorry for Tiger, but the truth is, Tiger was a god to many, and now, to many he is a man, lower in “goodness” than the self-righteous ones that put him on that pedestal in the first place.

Check yourself in the mirror tonight, and ask yourself; how many people do I believe I’m better than? Here’s a question: how many people believe they’re better than you?

Jesus Christ said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". There is no other way to goodness, since none of us possess it in the first place.

There is only One who is truly good. Think about it.

The Fireman in the Coffee Shop

It had been a long, difficult year for Paul; in fact it had been the most difficult year he could remember in his 20 years of service with the Kitchener Fire Department. It seemed like every call in the last 12 months ended the same way, with another dead child. Whether it was a car accident, a house fire, or some other tragic event, Paul had never had to deal with the death of more children at any time in his career.

He had reached a breaking point of sorts, and something was going to have give. With his 20 years of wisdom and experience, Paul knew he had to take action, so he decided to approach his Chief and request a leave of absence. Without hesitation his Chief granted Paul’s request and told him to take 2 weeks off after finishing out the rest of that work week. For the first time in a long time, Paul felt a real sense of relief as his mind was immediately taken to discovering where he would go and what would he do with his much anticipated, 2 weeks of rest.

Every available minute, for the remainder of that week, Paul spent scanning the internet, desperately trying to find a destination that would take him away from all his troubles. Just when he thought he might change his plans and not go away at all, there it was; in his diligence he found what he was looking for! In the South Pacific there was an island named Pindadwa, inhabited by natives. The island of Pindadwa, the article stated, was completely isolated from Western Culture and had almost no tourist trade whatsoever. In fact, any visitors to the island would have to venture 10 hours, North East, on a fishing boat from New Zealand, if they wanted to go; just the right amount of adventure and seclusion that Paul was seeking.

The following Monday, Paul boarded a flight that left Pearson International Airport in Toronto and, after 3 stops, 16 hours later he arrived at Christchurch International Airport, in New Zealand. Paul then had about a 20 minute taxi ride to the harbour where he would find the small fishing boat that would eventually take him on his 10 hour trip, through calm seas, to Pindadwa. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the water was stunningly blue and crystal clear; Paul was relaxed. Even though he had very little knowledge of Pindadwa’s culture, he knew that the Pindadwans accepted American Currency, which he had a pocket full of, and he knew from his research that there were some island accommodations that he would be able to find once he physically arrived in Pindadwa.

Paul did learn something new about Pindadwan culture, however, from the Captain of the fishing boat during their 10 hour trip. The Captain explained to Paul that he should be careful about visiting any homes where the Pindadwans live. He went on to describe how in Pindadwan society they don’t know, or believe, that people actually physically die; in fact when someone is dying, the Captain exclaimed, in Pindadwa the natives pay little to no attention to that individual until the person is actually dead. “It is at that time they believe the person to have fallen asleep, and then they bring their corpse home where it slowly rots and decomposes in their midst”, the Captain grimly dissuaded. He went on, “they believe that after 10, 000 years all the sleeping remnants of people will awake”, Paul was told. Although it definitely put a new spin on his “vacation”, Paul wasn’t all that discouraged by the news. Sure it was creepy, “but what will that matter to me”, he thought. “I just won’t go into any native homes”, and with that Paul, once again, found the calming relaxation he had known before his conversation with the Captain took place.

With all the chatting Paul found himself engaged in, before he knew it they had arrived at the dock in Pindadwa. “What a strangely, beautiful place”, Paul quietly pondered as the Captain worked at getting the boat securely docked. Immediately, Paul (with a large bag slung over his shoulder) and the Captain shook hands and he made his way off the dock where he was eagerly greeted by a local cab driver who was proficient enough in English that he could direct Paul to the best accommodations available on the island. Twenty minutes later Paul was checked into a nice little “hotel”. He had a one room hut where he found everything he needed, including the most comfortable hammock he’d ever laid down on. For the rest of the day, the theme song from Gilligan’s Island played over and over in Paul’s head, as a joyous smile had snuck in and made a permanent home on his otherwise weary face.

The next morning Paul was able to find a native that pointed him to the nearest Pindadwan’s version of a Coffee Shop. It was no Tim Horton’s, Paul joked to himself, but it was 85 degrees, the sun was shining, the waves were lazily lapping on the nearby shore, there was a covered table that sat on a beautiful section of beach, the coffee was pretty good, and most of all... no one was asking anything of him! “Just what the doctor ordered”, Paul muttered as he unashamedly indulged himself. “If anyone deserves this, I sure do”, he went on in an effort to reassure himself and quiet that still, small voice, in the back of his mind. And besides, who could argue? After the year he had been through, Paul was certainly in need of his rest.

It was then, that the most unfortunate and unexpected thing happened, something no one could have predicted; just as Paul was getting up out of his lounge chair he heard the unmistakable sound of a person gasping for breath. Instantaneously, his tired eyes shot to the direction of the terrifying sounds of life hanging in the balance, and to his dismay he saw what looked to be a little girl of about 10 years of age who was choking, but to his further horror... no one was paying any attention! In a second Paul recalled what he had been told about Pindadwan culture and how they don’t believe that people ever die. The little girl’s face had the unmistakably frozen look of sheer terror, a look which, if nothing else, proved that within her innocent, 10 year old mind she had realized the truth about life and death. It was very clear to Paul, as she was trying feverishly to dislodge the obstruction in her throat without any assistance, that she would soon face that truth if someone didn’t respond to her need.

Without further deliberation, Paul leapt to her side, spun her around, and immediately began performing the Heimlich Manoeuvre. After several moments of continuous efforts, Paul deemed the obstruction too deep in the oesophagus, or too large in size, to be removed by using traditional Heimlich techniques. He knew with the age of the child he was dealing with, and the force he was exerting trying to help her, that he could actually harm her enough to kill her if he continued. So at once he drew upon some experimental training he had recently received, where in rare cases when oral obstructions could not be safely expelled using standard Heimlich, the rescuer should fill their own mouth with water, and then, placing their mouth over the victim’s mouth, discharge the water with maximum force. In theory, Paul had been taught, it could result in saving someone by forcing an obstruction down their oesophagus enough that they could resume normal breathing on their own.

Not taking notice of all the native Pindadwans who were outraged by Paul’s actions in trying to save the little girl’s life, he forged on and grabbed a bottle of water from a passerby. At that moment, time was irrelevant to Paul; the time this episode would demand from his rest; the time it would take to explain himself to the natives of the island afterward; the time he felt he needed for himself; and so Paul acted, as he filled his mouth with as much life giving water as was humanly possible, to the point of overflowing, and with one large push he expelled the entire mouthful into the little girl’s limp face. A few seconds passed, but nothing, there was no response. Her eyes rolled back in her head, the little girl lay limp in Paul’s gentle arms. A few more seconds passed, faithfully, Paul took another mouthful and gave everything he had. Still the young child lay motionless.

Paul had hoped his efforts hadn’t gone in vain; but still he knew he had done what was right, when just then, the ailing child began to cough, and then cough again! Moments later she began to regain her consciousness, and with exhaustion, Paul fell to ground... his hands on his face, with his head down between his knees. Paul began to reflect on what had happened, and soon he became very grateful that in his need for rest he had travelled to Pindadwa. Paul was banished from the island on that day, told never to return, but because of the boldness of his heart and the faithfulness of his actions in helping that little girl, he was able to bring life to another! And with great peace, Paul realized the purpose of his life, and of all of those that share his calling.

Firefighters are never off duty; even when they’re on vacation, they’re always on call. In the same way, as Paul honoured his duty and responsibility to others in need, we as Christians should see ourselves. Every believer has heard:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28: 18-20

But how many of us are living as though we’ve done enough in Jesus? Somehow, the church today, has been tricked into thinking that by believing in Jesus, going to church, and then simply being upbeat, people persons, when we’re out in public, that as we “live our faith” in a way that is so special, so different from other upbeat people around us, that we’ll be able to save others. Huh? In principle, Paul could have done the very same thing in the previous story; he could have rationalized that the islanders at the Coffee Shop should have been able to recognize the Kitchener Fire Department logo on his t-shirt, and therefore if they really needed help, they could have just asked him. But he didn’t do that. No, he knew that the little girl in the Coffee Shop was in very real danger of dying. He also knew that, in their ignorance, the Pindadwans would not recognize the danger of the situation. So despite his personal feelings, Paul acted in obedience to his call. He found himself a Fireman in a Coffee Shop, in a situation where no one knew how much that little girl needed the water that would eventually come from his mouth; that water gave life!

God might give you 1 chance or 10 chances, in a day, where a stranger engages you in some way. Do as Jesus did; use those opportunities to proclaim His testimony as the WAY to life! Be bold and unashamed, as you act on those chances to save lives! Use common conversations that God gives you with others and then swing them over to Jesus! Ask a perfect stranger what they think is going to happen when they die! Then be prepared to tell them the truth, no matter the cost. Remember, like the Pindadwans, the lost do not understand the danger of the life they are living; it’s up to us to act! We are His hands and feet. Please go... to God’s word, pray, and then take action, today! Remember, we’ll never be good enough, and we’ll always miss opportunities. But don’t let Satan deceive you into thinking it’s ever too late to be obedient if you’ve sinned, because when God grants you His amazing grace, and continues to give you opportunities as He calls, just respond and answer the call. Bring glory to His name!

Tim Rector