There is Evil and there is Sin!  Not always the same!

    Sin is evil but not all evil is sin!  Some evil goes beyond sin, or the acts of sin by individuals.  Some evil is so big and so disguised, it goes mostly undetected.   Quite often, the people involved in the evil I am thinking of are good people, well-intentioned and think they are doing right.  However, they are victims.   Let me give you a example:  The Pharisee's, when Jesus walked amongst them, were nice people, the back bone of the society and the Jewish people.  They had good intentions, they had the Scriptures, the buildings, the good reputation and the tag "normal".  Yet, they were involved with Evil.  They didn't know it but they were in bondage to that evil.   Jesus said they were "fathered by the devil".  That is as evil as you can imagine.  That evil that drove them didn't use sin, sinful acts or sinful, evil people.  The Pharisees had Scripture, religious symbolism, rituals and traditions on their side.  Yet, it they were driven by evil, fathered by the devil himself and could not recognize it.  They thought they were doing good, defending righteousness and sacred truths and rituals when they crucified Jesus and persecuted the early church,  Yet, they were doing evil.

    In the world we live in, the same EVIL power exists. This is the power Satan uses at the highest level of his war. With this power of EVIL he is able to bond good people, with good intentions into a mass and herd them toward disaster, and they will not realize it is happening.  It happened with the Nazi's.  How else can you explain a whole nation of people that turned toward evil but thought it was doing good?  It even explains what has been happening in this nation where half of this county, people who love this nation, people with good intentions are being herded to the cliff edge all the while they THINK they are doing well, even saving the country, even saving the globe but in fact, they are headed for disaster and cannot see it.  It explains why people, such as we witness in the country, vote in a way that brings them harm, yet do not recognize what is happening.   The Pharisees could not see they were in bondage and that is why EVIL survives and succeeds as it does.  It does not use acts of sin to empower, it uses good people with good intentions.

    The EVIL that marshaled the Pharisees into a force against God is still among us, still doing the same things, for the same purposes, as it did back then.  The people in it are innocent victims.  Let me give you an exercise:  Imagine you were completely new to Christianity, and you just picked up a New Testament and read it, trying to figure out what it was about.  With no other information to go on, you would read the story of Jesus, the Cross and conclude "Awful".  But, then you would read Acts 2 and onward and realize why the cross happened.  You would rightly conclude "Jesus went to the cross so He could give to every believer the Holy Ghost".  You would then look at what those who received the Holy Ghost in baptismal measure, at how they received and how they behaved like and you would say "Ah Hah!.  You would look at the book of Acts and say "Ah Hah, that is what a Christian church experienced, looked like and behaved like".   If you were that person, reaching those conclusions and then looking around at the Main street church world, you would conclude "Well, that is all history now".  You might even ask "What happened?  Why no power, where is the HOly Ghost, where is the reality of God?"   The answer?  EVIL has done its work.

    The force of EVIL is not about you sinning, making a mistake, etc.   It is about turning masses of people away from the reality of God and sweeping you up into that mass.  When Jesus walked among us, EVIL turned normal, good people by the masses away from Him for He was the reality of God, God manifested among men.  Now, today, God among men, God in reality, is the Holy Ghost and EVIL in every way possible, with everyone possible, working subtly, strives to turn men away from God in reality.  This is religion.  The word "religion" means "ceremonial observance".   So, the force of EVIL has millions of good, Christian people ceremonially observing God while all the while ignoring the reality of God.  The people in religion are not un-saved heathen. God loves them. They are His children, but children in bondage. They are victims of EVIL.  They are in bondage to evil though they may never sin a sin.  The Pharisee people were victims, in bonds of EVIL and did not know it or recognize it.  That is what religion does. 

   The only cure for this EVIL that I know of is to embrace the Holy Ghost with great zeal.  He is, indeed, what Jesus died on the cross so you could receive.  Yes, on the cross, he purchased your forgiveness of sins, but did that in order to give you the Holy Ghost.   Embrace Him the way the Bible reveals Him to be. He is a River, living water, something to be experienced by drinking.   And, be on guard.  Evil is always there, always attempting to move you away from the reality of God.  It is why we are instructed to not be "umwise" concerning the will of God but "ever be being filled and stimulated with the Holy Ghost".   Only when we turn to the Spirit is the blinding veil lifted from us and we begin to experience the glory, the reality of God among us. 

No regrets? Are you kidding?

  

     Ever heard someone say "I have no regrets".  That to me sounds like a person who lived a very tame, very boring life. Went no where, did nothing. Over burdended with pride.  That sounds like someone hit with a stupid stick who never recovered. I have lots of regrets.  I regret not having more kids so I could have more grand-kids.  I regret not being twice as loving towards my kids and wife.  I regret not doing ten times more for God than I did.  I regret not making more friends and even more, regret not keeping them.  I regret not being more loving to others around me. I regret missing the will of God far too many times but greatly appreciate His acceptance and forgiveness.  I regret being stubborn and prideful far too often.  I regret at having failed at times to accomplish what I know God wanted and so thankful He gives second, third, ect., etc., other chances.  I regret having to battle my flesh in some of the same areas for so many years. And yes, I regret my sins, trespasses, iniquity, guile and being short of the original glory of God.  But, so thankful He saved me, forgive me, plucked me out of the miry clay and put my feet on the Rock.  I regret not walking in a greater lever of God's wisdom, which I could have done, had I surrendered my pride.  I regret not kicking the devil in the teeth more often.  I regret not learning to drink to overflowing of the Holy Ghost earlier in my life.  I regret taking so long to discover the supernatural joy of the Holy Ghost.  My, oh my, would that have made a difference. (Less regrets for sure).   Regrets?  Oh, yeah!   I have them.

    To me, people with no regrets also have no consciousness of how wonderful God's grace, forgiveness and long-suffering happens to be. People with no regrets, I guess, never look back and think "I wish I had done differently".  To me that sounds like they went through life and really learned nothing much. That reminds me of the horses that race with blinders on.  Do you realize how much that horses missing seeing?  He just sees the dirt path in front of him and nothing else. Just goes in circles.  How boring would that be? I have found life is not one consistent blind walk down a smooth path like that horse.  It is walking, with a little running, with a jump here and there, a misstep here, a wrong turn there, an obstacle or two there, one you jumped and the other you had to fight your way through.  Life is lived taking what comes at you, sometimes throwing a right hook when you should have thrown a left. It is standing when you should have run and running when you should have stood. And, sometimes it is actually getting things right. But, it is always going on, learning, living, laughing and loving.

   Now, there are some things I don't regret.  I don't regret tricking the greatest woman on God's green earth to marry me.  No regrets!  I don't regret having three kids and my grand-kids who I love more than life.  No regrets!  And for sure, I don't regret a trip to the altar as an eight year old boy, asking God to save me.  I sure don't regret the opportunity to serve the Lord in so many, many ways, for sixty two years now and with a million or two, etc.,  yet to go.  I don't regret getting baptized with the Holy Ghost setting off on a lifetime of companionship and learning with Him.  No regrets!

The "Bigger is better" philosphy

     

    "I'd rather do a little right than a lot wrong".  That was the wisdom of days gone by, wisdom lost to this generation.  Nowhere is this more painful to watch than in the church world. It seems we have adopted "bigger is better" philosophy completely.  It doesn't matter that we do things well, we just do a lot of whatever we do.  Our vision is "big", our quality is suspect.  With this philosophy, an artist doesn't just paint one great picture, he paint twenty bad ones and feels successful because of numbers.  This philosophy is the end of artistic greatness, quality manufacturing, and even successful church or Christianity.

   Want a painful example?  The command to "go ye" that we evangelical and Pentecostals just love, was actually not a command to go win lost souls. It was a command to go ye and make disciples. In the church world, this misreading of the command has become our "great commission".  "Win the lost at any cost"  Of course, you have to win a soul in order to make a disciple and that we should do with fervor, but that isn't the command.  The command is to make disciples. That is where church and leadership are supposed to invest themselves. They are to bring believers to maturity, to make disciples. Today, leaders seem more concerned with just getting the sheep into the building. And, the discipling that does get done seems to be to just teach the same philosophy.  Go ye and collect people! 

  I once made this statement "I would rather pastor ten people in a shack who have been taught to love God, to know God, and live pleasing to Him than ten thousand in a mega church who don't love God, don't know their God and live as they want to live".  Some thought that was a crazy idea.  They thought just getting a lot of people in the church, by whatever means, was a better measure of success.   This points out a classic error of religion: to do, without knowing why you do.  This error has swept across the church for many, many generations greatly affecting the shape of what we now are as a corporate body.  We win souls without knowing why, we sing without knowing why, we build without knowing why, etc. The eyes of our understanding remain closed and so, we just do what we do and do a lot of it. 

   What if you get a lot of people saved, or in the building at least, and never teach a one to worship?  God's purpose in saving us was not just so we could escape hell, but that we would worship Him. "God seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth".  Of course, we will miss hell if we are saved, but that isn't why God saved us. This salvation plan isn't based on His pity.  It is not merely a rescue effort. God's salvation plan is based on His love for us and desire to be loved by us.  So, what if you have ten thousand who don't, won't, can't worship God "in spirit and in truth"?   Will God say "Well done"?   What if you get a sinner saved, dress him up, teach him to say "Amen" but he still sins at will?  What have you done, really?  Will God say "well done"?

    I remember a famous evangelist, ejected from his denomination because he came into deliverance and Holy Ghost baptism saying something he discovered as a result, "The church is full of the meanest people on earth".  If that be true, and sometimes it seems that way, it is because we have collected lots of heads and no hearts.  We have failed at discipleship, the great "go ye" command.  Most of the church messes you can put your finger on, at the heart of the problem is that we have substituted quantity for quality.  Discipleship is not story telling, it is not exciting people with the daring adventurous stories of the Old Testament.  It is say "this is the way, walk in it".

I could change the world - part 2

  

   I could change the world if I could get Christians to embrace Christianity as God presents it in the New Testament, book of Acts.  That book describes the birth of the redeemed church.  It describes the Gentiles being drawn into relationship with God, such as Abraham had and having been given the Holy Ghost.  Consider a few things they knew well which we (church in general) don't seem to know.

1.  The knew Jesus went away but sent another Comforter who was just as real as was Jesus.  They embraced the Comforter, they knew the Comforter.  We don't. 

2. They knew that to embrace and relate to this new Comforter required being baptized, saturated and filled to overflowing.  We don't.

3.  They knew that to receive or experience the Spirit they had to drink (experience).  They knew they were made to drink.  They knew that was how the Spirit was presented.  We don't.

4.  They knew they were spirit beings and that their spirit was empowered by The Spirit.   They knew they were filled with the dynamite (dunamis) power of God and the authority (exousia) to use the power.  They knew the Greater One lived in them.  We don't.

5.  They knew that Holy Ghost baptism was the seal of all God's promises.  We don't.

6.  They knew that the Holy Ghost was the earnest, the down-payment, the security deposit of all that God has in store for us.  We don't.

7. They knew that Holy Ghost baptism and every subsequent touch of the supernatural Spirit made them witnesses of the resurrected Lord.  We don't.

8.  They knew that the Kingdom of God was to be found in the Holy Ghost, not in education or religious activities.  They knew they were to seek that Kingdom. We don't.

9.  They knew that the way to defeat sin and the flesh was to walk in fellowship with the Spirit.  We don't.

10.  They knew that by being filled with The Spirit, they could talk directly out of their spirit to God.  We don't.

11. They knew that to mind the things of the Spirit made them a friend of God but to mind the things of the flesh (natural mind) put them at enmity with God.  We don't.

12.  They knew that to embrace the Spirit put them in a new covenant with God causing a vail to be lifted off their eyes and allowing the glory of God to be renewed.  We don't.

  If we knew what they knew we could have and be what they were.  The recipe is the same in God's plan.  The product would be Christianity as seen in the book of Acts. And, that would change the church and that would change the world.

  

I Could Change The World

   If I could convince the church that they should approach God with singing, with joy on their head and in so doing, would obtain gladness and joy which would make sadness and sorrow flee away, (depression), it would change the world.  This is how God says the redeemed are to live and approach him, Is. 51:11.

   If I could convince the church, when persecuted, to rejoice and leap for joy, the rewards of God would increase dramatically.  That would change the world. This is what Jesus said,  Lk. 6:23 

   If I could convince the church to have a merry heart, it would do good like a medicine.  Merry hearts would release the healing power of God across the church and the world in greater measure and that would change the world. This is what the Bible says, Prv. 17:22.

   If I could convince the church to have merry heart, it would make us all look better and that would change the world, so the Bible says, Prv. 15:13

   If I could convince the church to have a merry heart, we would have a continual feast so the provision of God would be released at a greater level, so the Bible says, (Prv.15:15).

   If I could convince the church to step into the joy of the Lord, it would step into the strength of the Lord.  A more powerful church would arise, walking in the strength of the Lord and that would change the world.  The joy of the Lord is our strength, so the Bible says, (Neh. 8:10).

  If I could convince the world to look for the "fullness of joy" when seeking the presence of God, they would more likely find it and the rewards would increase dramatically. His presence is marked by fulness of joy. That is how you know you are where you think you are in relation to His presence, so the Bible says, Ps.16:11, Acts 2:28.

   If we were to walk in joy, we would begin to look like the church portrayed in the New Testament and that would change the world.  The Bible says God has chosen the foolish things to confound the wise. Isn't it sad, but curious, we go for the wise and ignore the foolish?

"I Will"

   The words "I WILL" are powerful words indeed!  Sometimes very important words.  Especially when we consider the idea of obedience, which incidentally, is a time when many believers quit wanting to say those two words.  Great example?  What we often call praise!   For many, what we call praise is a cloud we hide behind in order to look spiritual.  We are not really praising, we are just putting on a praise appearance. 

   Let me explain:  look at how David said things like, "I will bless the Lord", or, "I will rejoice" and how Paul said things like "I will pray in the Spirit, I will sing will the Spirit".  Those words "I will" point out that an act of the will is involved.  It is not just emotions or mannerism involved, a decision is involved, a decision you consciously make.  The Bible makes it clear that praying in tongues, singing in tongues, rejoicing, etc., are acts of the will, not emotion.  "I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with understanding".    This is what James taught us when he encouraged us not to just be "hearers" of the Word but "doers".  He pointed out that to just hear, and not do, invoked self-deception, the very worst kind of deception from which to break free.

   Maybe this sounds rational to you, but a lot of folks miss this rational and in fact, can become very irrational when confronted with the idea.  Years ago, Bev and I were invited to preach a series of meetings along these lines at a Pentecostal church with membership of about 400. That is when I found out this could really be inflammatory.  We started Sunday morning and I preached from Ps. 34, "I will bless the Lord".  I told them, "You can no longer say you will praise the Lord only if the Spirit moves you".  I told them "Decide to do it. Bring a sacrifice of praise".   That congregation got so mad, all 400 stayed home Sunday night.  The pastor just lay in the altar and cried.  He had just discovered he did not have a praising church, he had a church using praise to hide who they really were.

  You see, this church was perfectly willing to praise if the right stimulant, body movement, spiritual notion, type of song, etc. was projected.  However, they were not willing to will themselves to just praise God.  In typical fashion, they excused themselves with religious words like "I will praise God, lift my hands, etc., if and when the Spirit moves me".  We used that excuse in the church of my youth but the problem was, the Spirit seldom moved anybody.  The only movement we saw was if the right stimulus came.  and usually when there was movement, it had nothing to do with Him.   Now, don't get me wrong, I like emotions!!!!!  I like being free with my emotions.  But, my emotions are not why I minister to the Lord.  I will bring my sacrifice of praise, knowing it pleases God, whether my body wants to or not, whether my soul gets emotional or not.  Obedience adds the flavor God is looking for in our praise.   Think about it:  why should the Spirit move you to do what He has so often commanded you to do?  We are commanded to "praise" God about a thousand times and the same for giving thanks. We are commanded almost that much to worship and we are commanded to "rejoice" all the time.  Together, the commands to do these things outnumber by far any other command to do anything.  What are you waiting on?  Another letter from heaven?  Another book added to the one we call the Bible?  Nah!.....just do it!  

Reasoning away your faith

 
    I was reminded recently of how people reason away their faith. It sounds like this, "Rev. Famous wasn't baptized with the Spirit and didn't speak in tongues, why should I be?"  Or, this one, "Speaking in tongues bothers some members, so surely God doesn't mean for us to do this in church".   This is much like another reasoning "Sister So and So didn't get healed and she had faith so therefore God doesn't heal", or, "Mr. Doodad didn't profess to be a Christian but he was a good man.  You can't tell me he wasn't saved".  This is how people so easily reason away their faith in God's Word.  The reasoning in such statements sounds logical but it really is not, not for a Christian.  What it does is equate human experience with the Word of God, and the two are not the same.  Something is true, something is good, something is right and necessary because God said it, not because human experience, human reasoning confirms or denies it.  God's word is true, whether it seems to work for you are not.  For it to work, you have to accept that fact.  If you don't, you almost insure that it ultimately will not work for you.  You have reasoned away your faith.

   When we began to accept this line of thinking, deciding what is right by human reasoning, what you hear or say may sound logical at first and may get approval from fellow reasoners. However, this approach is like rust.  You don't notice it at first but just let it go uncared for and soon it weakens and eats away at the fiber of your faith.  Soon reasoning becomes doubt legitimized.   Take it another step:  "God would be unjust if all good people were not taken to heaven".  Or, "I've been good, surely I will make it". Or this sad one "if there was a God, why did my loved one die in that accident".  All such reasonings are the testimonies of doubt, not faith.  Or, "We don't want the gifts, the demonstrations of the Spirit in the church, it bothers some people and after all, getting more people in the church is more important than the gifts or manifestations of the Spirit"

   So, Rev. Famous didn't speak in tongues.  What does that have to do with the Word of God in which God expressed a desire for us all to speak in tongues?  NOTHING.  So, Sister didn't get healed?  What has that go to do with the Word?  Nothing!  So, some folks are uncomfortable with speaking in tongues or the manifestations of the Spirit?  What has that got to do with what God says?  Nooooothing!  Once you see the magnitude of what such reasoning has done to the church, across the world, you will see that rust is eating away and has destroyed much already.   It is the corruption of humanism, eating away at our faith.

   To defeat such reasonings, it is important to know the Word and commit to believing and doing it, no matter what.  You should know you have a new and better covenant and therefore be able to say "God said" and know He said it to you, in you covenant.  Then, you can take this position, "If God said it (to me) I believe it and will act on it." Your commitment to the Word should sound like this "Even if God doesn't deliver me, we will not bend nor bow".  Or this, "If God doesn't heal me, I will go to my grave believing in divine healing".  The natural mind rebels against this, but your faith has to been in God's word and God who is true to His word, not matter what you personal experience is.