Carcasses for Christ pt.1

The podcast message for today is Carcasses for Christ. This is the first part of the message which is an introduction. Avoid becoming a carcass in the wilderness as those who wandered for 40 years in unbelief ultimately losing out on the promised land. Are you trusting in an empty lifeless religion or is your faith fixed on the Living Redeemer? Are you resting on a doctrine of security or is your security found in fellowship with the Divine Savior?

Remember

“And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever”. Exodus 12:14

In the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy God repeatedly tells the Hebrew children, “I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt”. God insists that these chosen ones remember where they came from and Who delivered them to be a peculiar people unto Him. For this purpose the passover is a feast of remembrance to be passed on from generation to generation. God wants us to remember our past life in sin not to relish in that sin but to distance ourselves from it. God took them out of Egypt and instituted His law as a means to take Egypt out of them. What about you? Does the Egypt of your past still exist in you? Do you still desire the Egypt of your past as the Hebrew people who built a golden calf and worshipped that calf as Jehovah. Maybe you have hung on to idols or behaviors from your past and ascribed the sacred name of Jesus to that idol. I strongly encourage you to read Exodus 32 and see what is in store for you if you are clinging to the idols and behaviors of your pre-Christian days. Jesus our Passover Lamb died to deliver your from Egypt and He gave us the Holy Spirit to conquer the Egypt in you.

The feast of passover is to be kept by God's chosen FOREVER.

I find this rather striking. I am fully aware of what Paul says in Colossians 2:16 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of holyday, or of the new moon or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ.”

The passover is not only a remembrance of the past deliverance but also a shadow of the future Messiah who will deliver His chosen from the bondage of sin. Jesus said He came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. The feast of the passover is a type of Christs sacrifice and I think its a beautiful way to not only remember how Jehovah delivered the Hebrew children from bondage in Egypt but how Christ fulfilled the law and became the final sacrificial Lamb once and for all. How Christians easily forget or conveniently ignore that Jesus sacrificed Himself as the Lamb of God during Passover. The feast of Passover lasts for seven days. Luke 22 tells us that Jesus desired to eat the passover with His disciples before He died. Pilate states in John 18:39 “ you have a custom that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?”. And we all know that they released the criminal Barabbas instead. In the words of Joseph who spoke to his brothers that sold him into bondage,” you meant if for evil but God meant it for good”. The mob that cried out ,” crucify Him , crucify Him.” Did not realize they had chosen the spotless Lamb of God to be slain for the sin of the world.

Jesus celebrated the Passover and so did Paul in Acts 12:4. The word translated “Easter” in Acts 12:4 in the King James Version is the Greek word, Pascha which literally means, “Passover”. There is no first century koine Greek word for “easter”*. I Cor. 5:7 Paul refers to “...Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us”. I think its a shame that Christians do not celebrate the Passover Feast as the first century Christians would have in memory of Christ the final sacrificial Lamb once and for all. Instead Christians incorporate paganism into this most sacred day of the year. For now, let us never forget what the Lamb has saved us from and is leading us to.

* As you may realize by now I exclusively use the King James Version but I am not KJV only. In spite of its antiquated language I think its still the best translation except for this reference in Acts 12:4. I have read some very weird explanations from KJV only people concerning this translation in Acts 12:4 but there is no way getting around the fact that Pascha cannot mean, “easter”. If the etymology can be stretched to mean “easter” then we might as well call Jesus Buddha. The 1611 KJV is translated from the Received Text or whats called the Majority Text of Greek manuscripts. The Geneva Bible was translated from these same texts 60 years prior to the KJV and reads almost identical to the KJV, Acts 12:4 is one exception. The Geneva Bible is the Bible of the reformation used by Calvin, Zwingli and the Puritans. I believe in biblical inerrancy in the original manuscripts. Some of you attend evangelical churches that do not accepted biblical inerrancy and you don't realize the importance of this issue. I will post more on this subject at another time.

Our Highest Calling

Greetings. I'm still working my way through the technical aspects of podcasting and blogging simultaneously. I had hoped that when I post a podcast that Blogger would notify my email list but it does not appear to be. I will be making a short note to draw your attention to the podcast when I post one. Today's podcast message is titled, Our Highest Calling. For what purpose did God create man? Is the church today fulfilling this purpose? I am going to be focusing on this theme in a series of messages and walking down different paths in God's word that support this theme of Our Highest Calling.

Have a blessed day in the Lord!

My Wonderful Lord

I desire that my life shall be ordered by Thee
That my will be in perfect accord -
With Thine own sov'reign will
Thy desires to fulfill
My Wonderful, Wonderful Lord

All the talents I have I have laid at Thy Feet
Thy approval shall be my reward.
Be my store great or small
I surrender it all
To my wonderful, wonderful Lord.

My wonderful Lord, my wonderful Lord
By angels and seraphs in Heaven adored!
I bow at thy shrine, my Savior divine
My wonderful, wonderful Lord.

Haldor Lillenas

Impressions and Hearing God

 Impressions

God can communicate with us in many different ways. As I mentioned in my first blog post, God spoke to me through the newspaper, radio and billboard signs when He was calling me to preach. We must be very cautious to claim instances like these, by themselves, as communication from God. God's primary source to communicate is God's word the bible and any sense of communication we have from Him must be measured against this standard.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God and profitable for reproof for doctrine and instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works" II Tim. 3:16 .

"The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb. 4:12

Heaven and earth shall pass away but not His word Matt. 5:18. And Gods word will judge us at the last day John 12:48. Jesus said he came to fulfill the law not abolish it. He is the Living Word. And, He has given us the written word as a tangible objective standard.

Golf is a great social sport that I enjoy. Not only can I enjoy nature in a well manicured setting I get to meet new and sometimes very interesting people. A couple years ago I met one such very interesting man on the golf course. As we trekked around the course the conversation turned to spiritual things. He was a member of a local church that claimed to be having a revival for 20 years with strange physical demonstrations by the congregants. This man claimed to have personally healed over 300 people and the healings were all “confirmed” by physicians. He gave no glory or acknowledgment to Christ. Aside from this rather grandiose statement ,he made another comment that captured my attention. I can't recall precisely what he said but his comment sounded like he received a direct revelation from God. I challenged him and stated that all impressions or inclinations that we think we get from God must be measured against God's word the bible. If it contradicts His word then its not from God. The Bible is our standard and final authority. Without hesitation he responded, “no, I don't believe that”. He actually believed he received direct revelation from God and it did not matter if it contradicted the Bible. This would be new revelation and contradicts the scriptures. Paul said in Galatians 1 that if anyone preach another gospel than what we have preached let him be cursed. He repeats this curse a second time as a stark warning to people like this golfer I met.

Salvation is a revelation from God. In Matthew 16 Jesus asked His disciples, “who do men say that I am?” Some say you are Moses, some say Elijah. Then Jesus looked at Peter and said, “Who do you say that I am.” Peter replied, “You are the Christ the Son of the living God. Jesus responded, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven(has revealed it to you)”. This was a direct revelation to Peter that was in complete concord with the scriptures.

The Old Testament was well established by the time of the apostles as “God breathed”. When Paul wrote that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, II Tim 3:16, he was referring to the Old Testament. The apostles preached Jesus from the Old Testament.  There was no New Testament at the time of Paul. The New Testament cannon was complete by the end of the first century. As these letters of the apostles circulated, the church began to realize what they had in those letters. The revealed word of God by the hands of the apostles. This revealed word ceased with John the Revelator. If one is relying solely on their impressions as a revelation from God without using the bible then they make themselves the objective standard thereby they are the final authority and thus they set themselves up as a god. This is the secular humanist spirit of our age.

Contrary to most men, when I purchase something that has 200 hundred different parts and needs to be assembled, I follow the directions provided. If I don't, that book case may turn out looking like a coffee table. So it will be in our personal lives if we follow the logic of this pseudo-gnostic golfer.

Hearing God

Let me share a few practical things about hearing God. Oh, there is nothing new under the sun but some of these ideas may be things you have practiced before and simply faded away. It does not hurt for us to have some reminders now and then.

Prayer is a two way line. One of the main reasons we don't hear God is because we don't take the time to listen. Most Christians, if they pray at all, only have a one direction line that goes to God. It may sound something like this:

Dear God bless mother and father and brother and sister and child and church, fido and fluffy, the pastor and sick Mrs. Johnson. Help me have a good day. Amen. I hope the lameness of this is a bit exaggerated but I'm not so sure. We can have substance to our prayer and learn to be effectual and fervent in prayer.

Psalm 100 tells us to enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; be thankful unto Him and bless His name. Praise and thanksgiving are two different things. Thank God for what He has done and Praise Him for who he IS. When we come to God in prayer we should prepare our hearts with these two principles in mind. Thank Him for a new day to serve Him. Thank Him for His many provisions in your life now and to come. Then praise Him for who He is. Love is not just something God imparts to us it is something that He IS. God does not just impute holiness to us, He IS holy, He IS Justice, He IS mercy, He IS............... This worship time of thanksgiving and praise prepares the heart for prayer. God takes up residence in the praises of His children. Psalm 22 tells us He inhabits the praises of His people. Its in this atmosphere of worship that I approach the throne of heaven in supplication.

I often have my Bible open when I pray. Sometimes I pray the Psalms. Other times I just begin reading scripture and when something strikes me I meditate on that passage and make it my prayer. I ask God to open the deep layers of meaning in the text and apply it to my life. After intercessory prayer I remain in silence with my conscience fixed on God. Any thoughts that pop into my mind immediately go through the filter of Gods word. Keep silent before Him. “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before Him” Habakkuk 2:20. When the mind is quieted then I sit and read His word. It is in this reading that He speaks to me because I have unburdened my heart before Him with all my cares and God speaks to me through His word.

Aside from the Bible there is a wonderful book that can aid in this process. I have used it many times and will use it again. “A Celebration of Praise” by Dick Eastman is a 7 week structured reading where each day has an attribute of God that you focus on in praise. He also explores the character and nature of God that will have you wanting to seek Him more. I highly recommend this book and acquiring the books that he references in his notes section. Its theologically unbiased because he uses authors from various theological persuasions and all are sound.

God Bless You Pilgrim

Be still and know that He is God

The 3rd Commandment

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” Exodus 20:7

Taking the Lords name in vain is commonly interpreted to mean “speaking” the Lords name in vain. The Hebrew word for “take” in Exodus 20:7 can no where in the scriptures be interpreted to mean “speak or utter”. While I'm not suggesting its appropriate to speak the Lords name in a vain manner the 3^rd Commandment does not indicate this even remotely. Taking the Lords name in vain is much broader in meaning. The Hebrew word means to “take up, carry or bear a burden or bear a load”.  A couple of interpretations that scholars have regarding this is pertaining to swearing an oath falsely or associating God's name with something inconsistent with His character.  I believe its more associated with breaking covenant. The Hebrew word "take" literally means to "take upon oneself" or "bear up" as in to carry a burden.  

The law that God gave on Mount Sinai was a covenant between Him and the children of Israel. The law or the ten commandments was not given to the world. It was given to God's chosen people the Hebrews. If a Hebrew was living a life in conflict with God's law he was taking the name of God in vain. Let us look at a few examples.

When a woman takes upon herself her husbands name she becomes representative of him in public life. If she behaves badly she brings shame to that name. She is taking her husbands name in vain.

Socialist Marxist ideology is antithetical to foundational American principles of government. They are in complete contradiction. An American who adheres to Socialist Marxist ideology may be American by birth but they are not American in their world view or way of life. They are taking the name of America in vain.

A Hebrew is a Hebrew by birth but when he lives his life in conflict with the Mosaic law yet touts being a Hebrew he is taking the name of God in vain. 

When you were born into the kingdom of God you're redemption was paid for by the precious blood of Christ.  You are no longer your own but Christs.  When your world view or lifestyle is contrary to Gods word then you are taking Christs name in vain. 

Is your life clearly different from the world around you or do you strive to identify with the world about you? Are you afraid of being different or looking different from those about you? For nearly 5 decades now the Western Christian has adopted the worlds standard of what is modest. Pagan customs of body mutilation and tatoos have become commonplace in churches. This is not the behavior of one setting themselves apart from the world.  People who claim to be Christian but who want to live as close to the godless worldview as possible are precisely who John was writing to in I John 2:15;

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 

Christian, if you are allured by the fashions and fads of this day take heed that those fashions and fads were not designed by people endeavoring to please God but to please the lusts of the flesh. The movies you watch and the music you listen to is probably produced by people who hate God or worship devils. Few people would admit they hate God but actions speak louder than words. 

I sat in a restaurant recently and listened to the music playing on the PA system. I heard two songs by a radical, flaming homosexual, two songs by a self professed witch and one song by a whoremongering adulterer. And those songs were from the 70's. Think of how far society has deteriorated since then. I know Christians who listen to this kind of music. Should Christians be filling their minds with music from people who not only dishonor God but hate God?  Christians are called to set themselves apart from the world.

“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” I Peter 1:14-16

Christian, are you taking upon you the name of the Lord in vain by finding delight in things which do not honor Him? Repent. Turn away from the enticements of the world and seek the Lord. “Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.” James 4:8

Podcast

Greetings friends.  I have added podcast preaching to this blog.  Note the link in the gadget to the right.  I am new at this so I will eventually work out the bugs in due time.  You can also add your email address to the blog and receive email alerts every time I post something. 
I trust the Lord will richly bless you with this blog and podcast drawing you closer to Him.

To Know Him is to Love Him

“I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine” John 10:14

“Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him” I John 2:15


Augustine said that everyone is born with an in inherent need to worship. Our soul is a "God shaped vacuum" which we attempt to fill with things and not God. Within this inherent need to worship is the need to love something or someone. We love family, hobbies, pets and chocolate. How does this love occur? How do you know you love someone or something? I remember as a lad asking, “How will I know when I find the love of my life”. The answer was usually, “You'll just know”.

To love is an act of the will. The more pleasant that object of love may be to us the less effort is involved in the will. The greatest key to knowing if something or someone is loved is the amount of time given to that object of love. I once spent the weekend with some friends of mine who just had a baby. For 2 days they were baby talking, goo goo this and goo goo that. Mom and dad were completely obsessed with this baby and the entire weekend evolve around this little one. It nearly drove me nuts. It took little effort of will on the part of the parents to dote on this baby. Their time was consumed with her and they loved her immensely and still do.

If you want to get to know someone, work with them 40 hours a week. Even though you are not, “in love” with that person you learn their likes and dislikes. You learn to anticipate how they will respond in certain situations. And you learn when to avoid them if possible. All of this occurs not because you have an intimate love for that person but because you spend time with them.

Though I have never been married I have been in love. When we first fall in love our whole world is preoccupied with that person. You go to sleep at night and awake in the morning thinking of them. Throughout the day the thought of them may cause you to daydream. The expression, “falling in love” is quite appropriate for this type of behavior. It makes me think of a glassy eyed, preoccupied person walking along and falling in a ditch. “Falling in love” is often not true love. As you spend more time with that person then you will discover if your will to love them is true.

We can't truly love someone unless we know them. And we can't truly know someone unless we spend time with them. The amount of time you spend with the Lord in prayer and communion is indicative of your love to Him. You cannot know the Lord without spending time with him. When you fell in love with your spouse you made time for them did you not? Stop being a mere acquaintance of God ,get to know Him again. Ask Him to put the desire in your heart. Fall in love with Jesus all over again and spend time with Him. Is their sin in your life that hinders you from hearing or desiring to hear His voice? Ask God to give you a repentant heart. Turn from your selfish desires and turn to the cross of Christ. To know Him is to love Him.

“My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me” John10:27.

Welcome

Welcome to this new blog. My name is Joel. I was raised in a nominal church where I never heard the gospel. In fact, when I was going through confirmation class at the age of 12 I was eager to know about God. I asked many questions and received no answers. Why attend church. The peoples lives in that church were no different than the unchurched. After my high school years of drugs and no direction in life I joined the military. On May 30, 1980 I came under the crushing conviction of the Holy Spirit and heard the gospel for the first time in a military barracks at 2:00 AM. A fellow airman had just completed a personal evangelism course of study 5 days earlier. He had learned how to share the Gospel and I was his first convert. God revealed himself to me through His word, I repented of my sin with tears of sorrow and Christ Jesus saved me. It was a powerful transformation of the Damascus road type that the apostle Paul experienced. For the next 7 years my walk with God was intimate and powerful. During those 7 years I had close friends who I prayed with, shared scripture and had fellowship in sweet communion. After leaving the military and completing Bible College I took a position as an assistant pastor. That sweet one on one fellowship I had known for 7 years ended.

The pastor I served with is a wonderful man of God and a great preacher. And the congregation was very good to me. But the one on one fellowship was not present. I attempted to establish that fellowship to no avail. Nearly 3 years after arriving at the church I left in search of fellowship elsewhere. For 20 years I searched in vain. Church after church that I attended I found the manifest presence of God absent and the holiness of its people non-existent. I had the strangest experiences that could only involve the providence of God. Pastors would preach things they don’t believe and do things they don’t support when I was in the church meeting that day. My paths would cross with people I felt a kindred spirit with and God would take them from me. God shut down every attempt of me finding fellowship in and out of an established church. I will share more of these experiences in later posts.

During this 20 years of searching for fellowship my life was a microcosm of the Israelites in the old testament. I would seek the Lord and find repentance, rebel and fall into sin, God would chastise me and I would seek the Lord and find repentance. I repeated this cycle several times. However, like the Israelites the time I spent living in rebellion was more often than the time I spent in communion with God. I longed for fellowship and rebelled against God when I could not find it. For nearly a quarter of a century I also sought fellowship with my brother to no avail.

My brother was a very eccentric but brilliant person. Eric was seven years older than me so growing up he had little interest in his younger brother’s life. He was converted at age 16 in a youth revival meeting at a Wesleyan Church. My parents thought he took religion too far but in fact he became a true convert to Christ and not just a name on a church roll. My brother went to Bible College. I remember visiting him at college when I was about 13. I thought the people there were religious kooks. After I became a Christian I attended a Bible College much like the one my brother attended. My brother had a congenital defect that came to fruition in 1981 at the age of 27. At the time there was only one other known case in the world like his that left him in a wheel chair with excruciating crippling pain for 33 years. His condition was so rare he had experiments done on him at NIH, a federal research hospital, and his case was written up in the New England Journal of Medicine. Throughout those 33 years of suffering he kept the faith or shall I say the Lord kept him and Eric never questioned the sovereign will of God. He went on to earn a Masters degree in Classics studies. He loved studying the Greek New Testament and early church fathers and amassed a huge library of over 5,000 volumes.

Socialization and intimate conversation was very awkward for my brother. He was very introverted and calculated in his speech. Ever since I was a young pastor in the late 80’s I sought not only his friendship but fellowship. It was very difficult for him to let the barriers down even for his own brother. The last two years of his life he opened his heart and shared very personal things with me. It was not uncommon to spend 2 or 3 hours on the phone talking with him. We talked more in the last two years of his life than the previous 50 years combined. I finally found the fellowship that I sought with my brother for 25 years and God took him from me on Thanksgiving day 2014. I mourn his loss but rejoice that his journey to his heavenly home is complete and his suffering ended.

January of 1981, only 7 months after my conversion, I stood during a revival meeting at my church and gave a testimony. God had been dealing with me for three months. I had these haunting inescapable experiences whereby God was calling me to preach His word. I could pick up the newspaper and it read “Preach the Word”. I would pass a billboard sign and it would read, “Preach the Word”. I could turn on the radio and the voice would say, “Preach the word”. I dreamed about preaching and often it was glaring at me in devotional Bible reading time. When I rose and gave that testimony it went something like this, “I don’t understand what it’s all about. I’m still new in this Christian life but I feel that God is calling me to preach”. The pastor got a big grin on his face and a few people shouted, “praise God”. Several Godly people in the church approached me afterward and said, ”We're not surprised”. The sweetest older couple in the church came to me and said, “We’ve known for some time now and we’ve been waiting for you to acknowledge it”. It brings tears to my eyes right now as I type this. I am not worthy of this calling but it’s of God and I can't deny it.

My brother’s death has been an epiphany for me. I have come to a clearer understanding that for 30 years I invested my tears and passion in finding earthly fellowship when all along God was calling me to Himself. I long for social interaction and human fellowship and have placed too much emphasis upon these earthly desires though natural they may be. I have expected too much from people instead of enjoying the inheritance of God. When the Hebrew children went into possess the land of Canaan God divided up the land among the tribes. Every tribe got a piece of the promised land except Levi. God told them in Deut. 10 and 18:1 that God Himself would be their portion and their inheritance. God alone is my inheritance and I must tread this path with Him.

One of the last sermons I preached before leaving the pulpit in 1991 was a message about life in the wilderness. Little did I know that God would lead me into a wilderness for the next 25 years. During that time of sinful wanderings the call of God never left me. It sometimes haunted me with great dread. Yet, I always felt that God was not finished with me and would one day restore me into fellowship with Him and service to His Kingdom.

I have no expectations of what may come of this blog. I do know that some of what I will blog will not be well accepted. Most people in the church today are comfortable with familiar customs and notions that have no basis in the scripture. I will address some of these issues. The main thrust of this blog will be to call the church to holiness. When one is saved they are sanctified and set apart by God to be His children. We are not only declared holy by God but we are commanded to BE HOLY as HE is Holy.

My hearts desire is that the reader will have a burning in their heart along with me to love the Lord with all their heart, mind , soul and strength and their neighbor as themselves. This is the greatest commandment. As we strive to live this life we realize we are incapable of doing so and only the indwelling Holy Spirit can enable. My intent is that you may have a deeper more intimate relationship with God. Establishing intimate relationships can be painful because there is usually something we must surrender.

When God made Adam he gave him authority over the earth. Prior to Adams sin the greatest possession he had was not this vast world and everything in it but the communion he had with God. I desire for myself and for you that fellowship with God which occurs in everything we do. “Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God”. I Cor. 10:31

Lord willing, I will also be posting podcast preaching.

May God bless you and cause His face to shine upon you and grant you His peace.