Sacramental Present Truths

New Year and New Business

2012-01-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

As we have entered a new year, many new opportunities have come our way and I want to detour from our usual teaching and theology material today to just "talk shop" regarding my vision for the coming year for this page.   Sacramental Present Truths has been in circulation now about 2 years, and I have covered a number of controversial topics as well as presenting some teachings on various aspects of my personal faith, in concordance with the Holy Tradition of the Church and the Bible of course.   I will continue doing that for as long as God allows me to do so, and you will be seeing some things I have in the works here in the near future that should be fascinating.   I want to spend some time talking about that, as well as a specific vision I feel I have for this year too.

I have devoted a considerable amount of time in the past to covering prophetic issues, polemics and apologetics, and will certainly continue to address issues that pertain to those as they arise. However, you are going to notice a difference in my teaching this year as I begin to present more material on doctrinal issues, going back to basics. I have felt the need for some time, as a matter of fact, to publish a series of lessons on the spiritual gifts, and also want to give some attention to teachings the Church holds concerning Mary the Mother of Jesus.    Therefore, in coming months we will be writing on those subjects. Also, I have had some requests from some friends and others to repost a research thesis I wrote in college some years back on the gift of tears in lieu of Syriac Patristic writings, and with more comprehensive reference material I plan on presenting a revision of that here too.   Another thing I want to begin featuring is some church history material, as I feel like a lot can be learned from certain aspects of Church history in regard to some things - two in particular I want to address are spiritual renewal movements in the history of the Church and I also want to do something on the yurodivi, or "fools for Christ," in the Eastern Christian tradition.   Over the course of 2012, you will be seeing a lot of this material, and I hope it will be interesting reading and that it will enlighten you to some things that maybe you haven't heard before from a fresh perspective. Fresh perspective is something I try to maintain in these articles, because in my collective experience and study I have gained some insights into things that many writers have missed, and I feel that they will enhance our understanding of the way we study Scripture and also our spiritual lives as we individually live them.   We must, as II Timothy 2:15 says, "study to show ourselves approved," and often with that study comes some challenges that can rock our world and make us totally rethink some long-held beliefs on things. That, folks, is however what is called spiritual growth, and it is lifelong.   I still discover things at times, and sometimes I find I was wrong in some previously-held position I may have had and it can be difficult to accept at first - I have struggled with that many times, but God is merciful and gives me the wisdom.   No doubt, many of you have been there too, and although it can be painful it is also nothing to be ashamed of.   Keep that in mind as you read anything - my posts or other material - because I grow too, being a fallible human with the typical limitations we all have.

That being said, I want to share something now with you all that is a little on the personal side. Over the past several years, I have been on a spiritual journey of my own, and originally thought that I was supposed to be part of an independent Catholic group I have been corresponding with for several years called the Synod of Saint Timothy.   The many friends I have made among the Synod are wonderful people, and they are some of the best examples of Christian spirituality I can document at this point. However, in the past year or two, I have been doing some soul-searching, and it seems as if God has been directing us to an Anglican Catholic Church parish for a reason, and recently being licensed as a Lay Reader by the ACC has confirmed something I have long thought about but was apprehensive to act on.   That being said, as of this year I am going to be formally affilliating with the Anglican Catholic Church and will make that my official church home for good. I still will remain in good fellowship with the Synod of Saint Timothy, and as Christians they are still some of the best people I have had the privelege of knowing, but a formal identification with them is not practical as they do not have a parish church close by nor do they have the resources at this time to do a lot of church planting.   Therefore, I begin the year as formally an Anglican Catholic, but be assured my beliefs and convictions are still the same. I am also coveting your prayers about possibly pursuing the permanent diaconate in the ACC, as opportunities are starting to present themselves and some friends of ours have sort of sparked that thought with me. That being said, I have a spiritual vision I want to share with you all now too.

For anyone who has been following my blog articles for any length of time, you know that there is a crisis in the American Evangelical denominations as some bizarre things are taking root in them that are sending alarms in the church world.   A couple of weeks back, I reviewed and wrote something here regarding an article that the Metropolitan of the Anglican Catholic Church, Archbishop Mark Haverland, authored entitled "Our Baptist Friends and Their Difficulties" in the September-October 2011 issue of The Trinitarian, the Anglican Catholic Church newspaper.   I noted that the Archbishop observed that due to a growing secularization in American Evangelical groups (he focuses on the Southern Baptists, but it could equally apply to the Assemblies of God, Nazarenes, and other denominations as well) could mean a potential audience for the message of the ACC and other traditionalist Catholics and Anglicans - in other words, the Archbishop says there is a mission field ripe for our harvest! That being said, recently my good friend and fellow Falangist comrade Christopher Rose brought to my attention another article that pretty much anchors this - it was an article authored by Adelle M. Banks a couple of days ago entitled "Churchgoing Has No Effect On 50% of Americans, According to Survey."   In her article, Banks notes that 46% of people attending churches in the US, according to a Barna survey, don't feel like they have been impacted by what they hear on Sundays.   The people she is referencing are not Unitarians or Episcopalians either, but supposedly "born-again" Evangelicals! This actually comes as no surprise to me, as you will see by my past articles, because many churches in the US are so watered-down and "seeker-sensitive" that they have no real substance and people are starving - doesn't the Bible say something about that in Hosea 4:6 - God spoke through the prophet to backslidden Israel and proclaimed "My people perish for lack of knowledge."   The "knowledge" it talks about is not just any random recitation of facts, but rather the knowledge of the deeper things of God, which many churches neglect these days - most offer a junk-food diet of fluff and entertainment rather than discipling their people, and as a result people are dying spiritually.   To tie all this together, what the Archbishop said about a potential audience among these disaffected Evangelicals along with the fact most churches are neglecting to solidly disciple these people means a potential and radically different new mission field, and THAT is where I am going now, because it is something I feel the Lord is stirring within me personally.

For years, many of the bigger Evangelical and Pentecostal groups in this country have pushed missions - I was a Missions major in college, and I remember hearing a lot of terminology about the "10/40 Window," "Fields Ripe Unto the Harvest," etc.   I have seen the mission teams going to Africa and Asia, and also inner-city ministry, etc.   However, something tragic has happened - many of these same denominations today are placing a lot of emphasis on that - and in the wrong spirit I might add - while so many people in the pews are spiritually starving. There needs to be a re-evangelization of American Evangelicals, as many of them are apostasizing fast as they give into entertainment-led church and statistics rather than proclaiming the Gospel.   That of course has created a couple of different types of Evangelicals. The first type is the poorly-discipled - they identify as Southern Baptist, Assemblies of God, etc., but they lack a fundamental understanding of what being a Christian is all about and may even question cardinal doctrines such as the reality of hell or even the Lordship of Christ.   The second type is the disaffected churchgoer - these people are sincere believers, some being pillars of the church, who feel out-of-touch with many things going on in most of the larger Evangelical denominations today. They feel in their spirit that many things going on are not of God, and many of them have tremendous testimonies of where God has brought them.   However, the "New Church Order" has no place for them - they are often called "obstacles," are accused of having "religious spirits," and some have even found themselves thrown out of churches they helped to establish all because they felt a check in their spirit about some of the innovations being brought in.   It is the ostracism of this second group, as a matter of fact, that has led to the rise of the first.   Thing is, this presents a challenge to the rest of us - we have the same Great Commission and the same Scriptures that contain it as Christians, and these people need to be reached.  And, it is time that we independent Catholics and Anglicans seize that opportunity and start aggressively evangelizing these people. I was one of the disaffected myself at one time - I felt like a square peg in a round hole in many Evangelical churches in recent years due to the fact the "worship" and other stuff seems foreign to me and the spirit of such things is just, well, wrong...God is not in much of what is going on.   Becoming an independent Catholic has given me the underpinning I need spiritually to grow and maintain the spirituality and faith I have, and thanks be to God for good people in the independent Catholic movement who reached out to me.   Now, I am feeling it is my turn to do likewise, and my vision is to view American Evangelicalism as a mission field to reach out to. This year, my biggest challenge will be to present this vision to the Archbishop and get his input on it, as this is something that is uncharted territory.   In doing so, of course, some attitudes and ways of doing things need to change in the ACC and other independent Catholic and Anglican churches, and I want to address some of that now too.

Many independent Catholics and traditional Anglicans come from Roman Catholic and Episcopalian backgrounds, and unfortunately many of them are very unfamiliar with American Evangelical Christians - their judgements are often tainted by such things as huckster TV preachers, stereotypes of the "fundamentalist Holy-rollers," (a term I heard one of our older church members use derisively yesterday, which I didn't really appreciate too well), and the "Religious Right" and its political emphasis.   However, I was raised Pentecostal, and prior to becoming Catholic myself I served as a minister in a major Pentecostal denomination for many years and also graduated from an Assemblies of God college here in Florida, so I have been around it all my life. I have seen the good, the bad, AND the ugly; as I have said many times in the past, the stories I could tell! That being said, I can say that American Evangelicals are actually a lot more diverse than they are given credit for, and have always been - Southern Baptists, Assemblies of God, Nazarenes, and others may look alike on the surface, but there are some theological differences.   Also, the emphasis on an outreach to these people should by no means be treated in the same way as going to some remote tribe in the Amazon - these are Christians, some nominal and some committed, and there are different ministry needs for these people. Some, for instance, just need a more solid church home - they have been dispossessed by their own churches and want a solid Christian community to be part of. Others have not had a proper Christian discipleship, and need to be taught. Still others are only "culturally Christian" - they may have been in church most of their lives, may even know the Bible and went up on a few altar calls at revivals, but they have no real relationship with Jesus Christ. All different needs, but all need to be reached, and we as the ACC have the capabilities of doing just that.   However, it will require some adjustments on our part - for one thing, one Sunday morning Mass isn't going to cut it for some of these people, especially the stronger Christians who are looking for a stable church environment. Although not so much today, in the past Evangelicals used to have no less than three church services as week - Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and midweek.   Then, they had interspersed through the year prayer meetings, Bible study groups, revivals, Sunday schools, etc.   Traditional Protestant Evangelical Christianity calls for a high level of commitment to fellowship and spiritual growth, and that is not a liability but an asset - they take seriously Hebrews 10:25: "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together..." Most Anglicans and Catholics consider it sufficient to just partake of the Eucharist once a week and maybe a coffee hour afterwards, along with holy days and such, and that is as far as it goes - this works if you are a cradle Catholic or Episcopalian, because you understand it that way.   However, if we are to effectively reach the disaffected and nominal Evangelicals, we need to do better than that - bringing back the parish mission (the Catholic equivalent of the revival meeting) would be a good start, as well as weekly informal Bible studies for parishioners as well, maybe focusing on some Anglican and Catholic distinctives as they are based in Scripture and Tradition.   Also - and this is for our ACC flock as well - there needs to be a little more education and understanding in regard to Pentecostals and charismatics.   Yes, some "claiming" to be Pentecostal/Charismatic have been guilty of some ridiculous excesses, and TBN and other religious TV venues have reinforced a lot of negative stereotypes, so I can understand the chagrin some traditional Anglicans and Catholic have in regard to that. However, let me also say that although no longer part of a Pentecostal denomination myself, I still believe fully in the spiritual gifts, I do speak in tongues, believe in healing, and I do practice what I believe - there is evidence, both in Scripture and in the history of our own Church traditions, that these things are valid and legitimate expressions of Christian spirituality.   Therefore, to my readers who are clergy or lay leaders in ACC or other parishes, let me challenge you not to discourage people who may be charismatics from being who they are in your parish communities - give them the guidance they need to avoid the excesses, but also see them as a valuable asset to the spiritual life of your parish family, and they will be a blessing to you. Also, be informed as to what Pentecostals and charismatics are - they are one of the fastest-growing segments of global Christianity, and they transcend denominations and are thus diverse; there is no stereotypical "typical Pentecostal," I would argue.   The ACC needs to have the spiritual vitality strong parishioners with Pentecostal convictions can bring to the table, and they will enrich us as a church too. These are just some things to keep in mind as we see the rich harvest of people the ACC has and can reap.

I want to eventually codify all of this information into a formal letter to Archbishop Haverland sometime this year, and it is my hope to even have a personal audience with him to present this whole thing in person. I have had the privelege of getting to meet and know the Archbishop personally, and he is a man of vision, so this is something I feel will be of interest to him. I just ask for your prayers as we begin to embark upon these tasks, as our work is cut out for us. In the meantime, please keep up with my posts, as I will be presenting some good information in coming weeks as we go into a "back to the basics" emphasis that focuses on certain doctrinal truths and distinctives.   I also hope to use this page as my own evangelistic tool to educate and disciple disaffected Evangelicals who are searching God for a church home, and to those of you out there who fit that description, feel free to check out the ACC - we welcome you in our parishes, and hope we can be what God desires for you, because he is listening to your concerns and wants you to be all he has called you to be.   God bless you all, and will be seeing you soon.

___________________________________________________________________________________

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The Secularization of American Evangelicalism - The New Mission Field For Us

2011-12-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

Recently, I read a very interesting editorial by Archbishop Mark Haverland, the Metropolitan of the Anglican Catholic Church, entitled "Our Baptist Friends And Their Difficulties." The article was published in the ACC newspaper, The Trinitarian, in the September/October 2011 edition, and it was very insightful.   Barb and I attend an Anglican Catholic parish ourselves, and I have had the privelege of meeting Archbishop Haverland - he is a very astute scholar and he has a good finger on the pulse of the American religious spectrum. Therefore, what he has to say is actually quite insightful, and honestly he nails the issue well as far as this article is concerned too. Reading the Archbishop's thoughts got my own wheels turning, and I wanted to expound on what he said by writing this article myself, and adding a couple of other things to what he talked about as I feel they add another dimension to his article also.

Archbishop Haverland''s article focuses primarily on some trends in the Southern Baptist Convention, which by and large with 16 million adherents is the largest Evangelical Protestant denomination in the US. In reading the article, I see the Archbishop making two very important (and I must say correct) assessments that many of our Evangelical friends would do well to take notice of. First, he mentions that the "Mainline" churches often turn "Sideline," based on terminology from Richard John Neuhaus, and inevitably some societal tendencies could "sideline" the "mainline."   Going further, Archbishop Haverland observes that the "Mainline" of yesteryear - groups like the United Methodists and the ECUSA, among others - has become the "Sideline" while larger, more conservative groups - the Southern Baptists, Lutheran Church/Missouri Synod, Presbyterian Church in America, Assemblies of God, and Nazarenes, among others - have by their increased numbers become more "Mainline." Yet, as the Archbishop also alludes to, the conservative Evangelical "Mainline" of the present is in danger as well, and he notes it is due to what he calls "profound individualism" on the part of many Evangelicals in regard to soteriology and spirituality - the danger he notes, citing specifically the great increase in divorce rates, is a changing in attitudes regarding key moral issues based on societal peer pressure, to use my own translation of what he said.   Toward the conclusion of his article, the Archbishop says Baptists have a choice - they can either slowly secularize as many of yesterday's "Mainliners" have and decline, or they can begin to commit to a creed and tradition that would anchor their convictions better - he notes the rise in a movement called Reformed Baptists (one of my good college friends is active in this group) among former Southern Baptists due to the fact the Reformeds offer a more solid grounding in tradition and stability that some Southern Baptists feel are lacking. Indeed, the Reformed Baptists are a growing phenomenon too, and although a little too Calvinistic for my taste, they nonetheless have retained some things that many Southern Baptists once had and lost that are beneficial to maintaining a strong Biblically-sound faith.   Therefore, I concur with the Archbishop that this may be something good.

However, there is something even better that really caught my attention as the Archbishop concluded his article. In his closing words, he wrote this statement - "The Anglican Catholic Church and its clergy need to look for growth not only to the former Episcopalians - a small and shrinking group - but also to the millions upon millions of conservative Protestants." All I have to say to that is this - AMEN!!!   More so than ever, America is a ripe mission field for the harvest, but unlike the missionary endeavors of the past, this is a little different - we need to start casting out lifelines to dedicated people, who are Christians, that are finding themselves dispossessed by a lot of paradigm shifting in the American religious landscape.   Many of us -myself included! - have been there; we love the spiritual upbringing of our youth, but we also have been disturbed by the fact that many of the churches that once nurtured it are now eschewing and ridiculing those foundations. I was raised in a Pentecostal environment, born again myself in a Southern Baptist church, graduated from a Pentecostal Bible school here in Florida, and for many years was an active minister in the Foursquare Church (a large Pentecostal denomination).   Yet, I grew very disenfranchised with what I was seeing as a departure from the old-time faith of these churches in many congregations, and it seemed as if their leadership was more hung up on running their denominations like Fortune 500 companies rather than spiritual centers that they should be - therefore, it seems as if the trend was in many of these Evangelical, supposedly conservative, churches was more toward entertainment and relevancy versus discipleship and spiritual growth. With the rise of such things as the megachurch, Rick Warren's "Purpose-Driven" ideology, the whole "seeker" movement, and the Emerging Church cult, many distinctives of Evangelicalism became deconstructed, redefined, and even "de-christianized" to the point some of these formerlly Evangelical "churches" are hardly recognizeable as Christian anymore! It seems like these "churches" were more interested in rock bands, shopping malls in the sanctuaries, and other nonessentials than they were in their mandated mission laid down two millenia before by Christ Himself, and therefore a number of people in these churches found themselves dispossessed and basically "spiritual orphans."   Archbishop Haverland said early in his article "I have argued that American Fundamentalists are merely the slow lane to secularization," and to be honest, he is tragically correct - churches, via Rick Warren and other innovators, are becoming more secularized every day because they are ashamed to be identified as "Christian." In many of these groups that have adopted this mentality - and it is spreading like a cancer unfortunately - it has become a cardinal offense to mention words in a sermon or anywhere else such as "sin," "hell," and "repentance," as well as becoming taboo to preach on subjects related to it such as Bible prophecy and the Second Coming. Altar calls and revivals - once the spiritual "bread-and-butter" of the Evangelical churches - are now deemed "antiquated" and "irrelevent."   Worse, societal ills have crept into churches that just a few decades ago wouldn't have even entertained the notion of accepting - divorce rates are at an all-time high among professed Christians, as is consumption of alcohol and pornography, and I see a lot of religious syncretism going on as more and more supposedly "spirit-filled" Christians are dabbling in occultic practices such as reading horoscopes, etc.   It has gotten so bad that once I remember in an office I worked that the manager - a self-professed Pentecostal Christian - would often ogle pornography while listening to "praise" music! What blasphemy!! However, it gets worse, especially when one sees what is happening to the youth in churches.   In 2006, noted Evangelical speaker/author Josh McDowell published a book entitled The Last Christian Generation (Holiday, FL: Green Key Books) and the premise of the book was the fact that many professed Evangelical Christian youth are in a crisis of faith due to the fact they are not being properly discipled and reached.   He notes, on page 18, that George Barna conducted a poll in which 98% of "Christian" young people simply "believe in Christ" but do not reflect Christian attitudes or actions.   But, it gets scarier - on page 15, Mcdowell notes some other disturbing statistics among church-going youth:

63% don't believe Jesus is the Son of the one true God;
58% believe all faiths teach equally valid truths;
51% don't believe Jesus was bodily resurrected;
65% don't believe Satan is a real entity;
68% don't believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity

McDowell correctly notes that much of what these kids are believing comes from a distorted view gleaned from the world around them - they get much of their inspiration from crap like these reality shows, or from nonsense like "Glee" or "90210," or they follow the Gospel According to Oprah. Since this book was written in 2006, something more disturbing has happened - of the 35% that do accept Satan as real, many of those are following his deceptions and are getting involved in the occult and other stuff thanks in part to stuff like the "Harry Potter" phenomenon as well as this proliferation of romanticized vampire fantasies from the Twilight movies and other similar media.   In a very insightful book I read recently entitled God's Ghostbusters by Tom Horn (Crane, MO: Defender Publishers, 2011) an essay in the book entitled "The Blood is the Life" by Derek Gilbert sums up something about this whole thing - he says, and I quote:

The transformation of the vampire from monster to hero reflects the gradual decay of of the Christian faith into an anemic shell of its former self. The critical role of the blood shed by Jesus Christ for the redemption of our sins has been replaced in many churches today, eithe by an emphasis on our own works, or by a kinder, gentler Jesus for whom the greatest sin is being untrue to our innermost desires.   (Horn, 70)

This goes back to Archbishop Haverland's assessment that profound individualism on the part of Evangelicals will over time lead to secularization.   The stats and quotes I have supplied here are evidence that this is not something for the distant future - it is happening now! And, not only is secularization a threat, but worse, many of these kids will soon discover that secularization doesn't fulfill the spiritual void and they will start looking for something to do just that - it is a field day for Satan, because as this vampire trend (we have talked about that before) becomes more popular, it is going to introduce kids to the dark side of spirituality, and that could mean their very souls are at risk.   All of this while Rick Warren and his many disciples fiddle around and play "Purpose-Driven Church" - it's all good to them, because their salaries are getting paid and their bank accounts are fat! They have "dumbed-down" the Gospel so much that it is hardly recognizable, and as a result, people have a spiritual hunger. If those of us who know the truth do not take advantage of this, many souls could be lost for eternity and accountable from our hands, as their blood will stain us crimson.   And, that is all the more reason why I believe Archbishop Haverland's article is important - he sees the opportunity the Holy Spirit is giving to us as conservative Catholic Christians, and he I truly believe has been given this insight for the Holy Spirit. Now, let's talk about that.

The Archbishop talks about the dilemma among the Southern Baptists - and among Evangelicals in general - generating a huge potential audience for our message. What is our message? It is the historic Catholic Faith, grounded in Scripture and Holy Tradition, and as the Archbishop correctly assesses, it is exactly what many of these people need. Although many youth, for instance, are being secularized, or worse even being drawn into occultism through the proliferation of vampire cults and such, there are a Remnant of young people who are discovering the historic Liturgy and spirituality of our faith, and they want it! Unfortunately, they are not going to find it in Rome - the Roman Catholics have their own issues that parallel the Evangelicals - and they unfortunately will not find it in the Christian East - the East tends to, despite a beautiful and rich spirituality, degenerate into legalism and triumphalist mentality when it comes to the idea of other Christians.   So, it is up to those of us who are independent Catholics and Continuing Anglicans to reach these people.   Youth are searching, and older sincere Christians also end up being dispossessed a lot of times as their former congregations, many of which they were pillars of at one point, have embraced entertainment, Rick Warren, or the Emerging Church, and when these dear people see something is amiss with all that garbage, they are often thrown out like yesterday's garbage from churches they had contributed so much to in the past.   All of these people need a home, and they need spiritual communion - we can offer that.   And, we should. The harvest is indeed ready for the American mission field, and we who are independent Catholics and Continuing Anglicans need laborers to gather it.   Let us catch that vision, and let's give the orphans a secure home - they are our brothers and sisters in Christ, as they are already dedicated Christians, so they need us too.   May we take this to mind in all of our parishes as our Archbishop has presented us a challenge. May we, as the Roman Catholic Mass rightly says, "go in peace to love and serve the Lord" by providing a spiritual home to our dispossessed brethren. Amen.

In The Image - A Radical New Perspective

2011-12-12T05:26:00.000-08:00

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27 NKJV)

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privelege of hearing a singing evangelist by the name of Jeff Steinberg at a local church where he was in concert. Jeff is not your typical evangelist - he is a little person, was born without arms, and spent most of his younger life in hospitals going through corrective surgery. He holds the microphone as he sings and speaks with a prosthetic hook, and he autographs his books and CD's with a pen in his mouth. Yet, this amazing guy is someone God is continuing to use mightily, and his testimony is one of the most inspiring things you will ever hear. I finished reading his book, Masterpiece in Progress, just recently, and there is something he taught me from reading it that certainly I hadn't seen before, but it makes perfect sense in the light of the total context of the Bible - being created in God's image doesn't mean we look necessarily like clones of the Most High, but rather that God created us in the image He personally saw of us! Think about that for a moment, as it will rattle some theological cages, but it will revolutionize your view of yourself and of human nature in general if you grasp it. I was so inspired by it personally that I decided to do this study on the whole thing, and hope it will be a blessing to you as well.

Humanity is far from perfect - we sin, we have physical issues a lot of times, and as we age we get fatter, more wrinkly, and less hairy on our heads and more hairy in other places. Reason for that is simply because our mortal flesh was not meant to be eternal, but our souls and spirits are. And, with the sting of sin affecting humanity, one of its consequences is that all mortal flesh will die someday - one in one die, let's face facts! Now, that doesn't detract from the fact that there will be a resurrection of the body, but like Scripture says, if we are dead in Christ we will be raised incorruptible in glorified bodies, being restored to that which God originally intended. However, on this earth, we deal with physical pain, bodily inperfections, and death as part of the process. I said all of that now to say something that will shed new light on the verse that I opened this study with, so let us begin.

Sickness and suffering, as mentioned, are a consequence of the fall and we all are subject to that at some point. However, God always has plans for things, and in a lot of cases He can even use our limitations to His greater good, and thus this verse. When God said he created us in His image, that by no means implies we are to look and act exactly like God Himself. Much bad theology over the years has resulted from a misunderstanding of that, and in many cases it has had tragic consequences. Take, for example, this whole "health and wealth" nonsense in these charismatic churches that is often piped from the peepers of TV preachers like bad elevator music. If half of that heresy were true, then we should all be walking around looking like Romanesque statues or something - have you looked in the mirror lately though? I know I don't come anywhere close to an Adonis personally, and sorry, but neither do you! And, sorry to say to those crooks on TBN, but neither do they - one of the idiots teaching this weighs about 400 pounds for instance, and another one - and Lord forgive me for saying this - is this woman Bible "teacher" who is uglier than a mud fence! Their issue is not what they look like, but rather what they are saying - they have not only disqualified (in their not-so-humble opinions) 99% of the human race from God's blessings, but they have disqualified themselves. Thanks be to God that HE is in charge, and His truth has more sense than some people selling his name like cheap moonshine. Another example recently that my good friend Johnny Lee Clary, a wonderful evangelist with a tremedous testimony, shared with me was this church who decided that, due to some "revelation," they were going to ban fat preachers from their pulpit! Well, that rules out a lot of good ministers in the South down here then, don't it? Do you think God really cares what we look like on the outside? I mean, seriously, there is nothing wrong with healthy living and exercise, and we all need those to be sure, so that is not what I am talking about. What I am talking about is this mentality that all women need to look like Playboy centerfolds and men like GQ models, and sadly that mentality has entered into the Church - especially with these "Purpose-Driven" and "seeker-friendly" fads that are a bi-product of the Emerging Church cult. However, God never said that to be "in His image" meant you had to look perfect - He meant that we are created in an image He had for us, as an individual, from the beginning of the world. God doesn't mass-produce babies in heaven, but each of us is, as Psalm 139:14 says, "fearfully and wonderfully made." And, that aspect of our creation goes hand-in-hand with Romans 12:4-5, which talks about us being one Body with many members, as well as the diversity of gifts in the Body of Christ it talks about in Ephesians. The talent and creativity you have personally and individually is not an accident - God gave it to you! And, if we are to follow Christ, we learn to use those talents and creativities to His glory and to the best of our ability. Jeff Steinberg is a man who does that well, I must say - not only him, but so many others. Take Jacob Berry, for instance - he is a young Free Will Baptist evangelist in Oklahoma I believe who was born with muscular dystrophy, and although he cannot talk and has to be in a specially-made wheelchair, he is in God's eyes a great creation, and God has used him to touch many lives. Then there is David Ring, the Southern Baptist evangelist from Arkansas with cerebral palsey - in the 30+ years he has been in public ministry, untold numbers of people have been touched by his testimony as well. I also need to mention Joni Earickson Tada, who for decades has produced so many things such as paintings, music recordings, and books, and yet she is a quadraplegic who cannot move a muscle on her body. And, there is my friend Bill Burtoft, whom I went to college with - Bill has been in a wheelchair, yet he not only has a strong and unshakable faith, but he also has a sharp mind and you couldn't find a more capable technology whiz than this guy. If the establishment (and some heretical TV preachers) would have had their way, all of the above would have been cast by the wayside and even aborted at birth, but God uses what the world casts out as "foolish" oftentimes to confound the idiocy of worldly wisdom, and all the individuals I have mentioned - all handicapped people I might add - have been used greatly of God to touch and improve many lives. The testimonies of these people have prevented suicides, healed marriages, and more importantly, brought people to the altar to be born again of the Holy Spirit in Christ. Appearances can indeed be deceiving sometimes, and we need to be more discerning of that as a Church. What is created in God's image may not always be what we think, and sometimes those perfect specimens of humanity we think are "blessed" of God may often be no more than prettily-packaged compost heaps as God sees them. Which is why I believe God can use a person in a wheelchair more often than not than he can a supermodel, because looks indeed can be deceiving - my friend Bill, for instance, is secure with who he is, and while he lives his life as God intended, the next "America's Top Model" is puking her guts out in the bathroom sink due to the fact she ate a Lifesaver and is tormented about that. Which one of them do you think is more in God's will? Think about that.

It is not just physical disabilities though that people often flippantly dismiss, but other factors as well. Some people, for instance, are born into money and they get all the opportunities, all the prestige, and all the accolades due to the fact they have Donald Trump as a grandpaw or something. Yet, often, these same people cannot operate a toaster, yet they are in places of authority. On the other hand, there are people much like myself who were reared in poverty, with a single parent, and had to fight and scratch and scrape to get somewhere, and often those people are written off as statistics. Let me tell you about me - according to the "official" statistics, I should have been an alcoholic, had a girl knocked up at 16, and should have been dead 10 years ago. Yet, I was a great student in school, never had a taste for alcohol, and finished college and made something of myself, and still have no kids! Reason is, I followed God's plan instead of man's, and thankfully I did that. I was created in the image God made me, and He knew just what would bring out my best and thus made the way for that to happen. God wants to do that for all of us, but oftentimes we are so blinded by what the world thinks that we miss it, and oftentimes the world too writes us off because we don't fit into their profile for success. God, however, is greater than the world, and if He wills something for your life and you are yielded to what He wants to do, you will be that person God intended you to be as an individual. It may not involved great financial riches, and you may not be a great superstar or model, but you will know within the depth of your being that you are where you are supposed to be. People may give you opposition for that - expect it, as a matter of fact! - and you may even screw up on occasion along that pilgrim trail (I could tell you stories of my own on that one, believe me!) and you may get impatient and discouraged at times because things may not be where you think they should be. However, remember this - we need to trust God to guide our steps. It is hard, and honestly as I write this it is something I struggle with just as some of you do, but we need to find peace within ourselves to understand God doesn't steer us wrong. Remember again, we are created in HIS image - not necessarily a carbon clone of Him, but in the image He made us - and that means something in the greater scheme of things. So, be encouraged today as you read this, and hope to visit you again really soon.

Playing God - Transhumanism and Twisting Genetics As A Sign of the End Times

2011-11-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

"Resistance is futile: you will be assimilated!" is a familiar line for those of us who are Star Trek fans that revolves around an evil genetically-altered humanoid enemy on the series called the Borg. The Borg think that by assimilating organic and mechanic composition together, they will achieve perfection as a sort of "super race." Although fictional, the Borg scenario is something that some people are taking seriously today in a movement called Transhumanism. Their goal is to "perfect" humanity into being basically "posthuman," and in doing so, a new step in human evolution will happen. Thing is, this is not a new idea, nor is it even original - Plato proposed it in his monumental Republic, and it is the driving force behind such things as the Nazis and some New Age occultists. As such, it is a dangerous idea in that it makes man play the part of God, and in doing so, it may be getting this world into something over its head.   Being this is a new subject for me, I have spent the last week pouring over articles and books in preparation for this study, and it is subject to frequent updating as a lot of new information becomes available. Also, this is an area that hasn't been thoroughly researched by students of Bible prophecy as of yet (Tom Horn, Chuck Missler, and some others have begun to do so, and their work has proven to be very valuable at this point in my own research), but I have a feeling that as events begin to unfold it will. Therefore, I am going to make my own modest attempt to share with you the knowledge I have culled so far.

I want to say from the outset that when we speak of "transhumanism," its practices are not the same as those of gifted physicians who are making breakthroughs in lifesaving medical procedures - therefore, we are not talking here about glass eyes and pacemakers. Rather, this is about some very radical pseudo-science that seeks to "enhance" human potential by experimenting with nanotechnology and animal DNA, among other things, to create "superhumans." Some of this is being funded by our own government (one study paid close to 7 BILLION DOLLARS to inject sperm from a Black man into a female gorilla in order to see if humans and primates could cross-breed - with all the joblessness, economic trouble, and other things going on, I find it interesting that our government can waste our tax dollars on crap like this!) to create the "ultimate warrior" to go into combat. Yet, again, this should come as no surprise to us, as this stuff has some deep roots, and it is those roots we want to examine first. I want to begin by first giving you the background of this transhumanist philosophy, which has two main roots - Darwinian evolution and theosophical occultism. Both have similar goals, and both came together before with disastrous consequences: remember the Nazis?? Therefore, this movement has both a technical aspect (pseudo-science) and a religious one (occultism). And, with that we begin.

The Roots of The Phenomena

1. Darwinian Pseudo-Science

The root source for transhumanism can by all accounts be found in the person of naturalist Charles Darwin, who is also the originator of the theory of evolution.   More specifically, it can be found in the part of Darwin's theory known as natural selection, or by its more common vernacular, "survival of the fittest."   However, as Richard Weikart writes in his 2004 epic study From Darwin to Hitler (New York: Palgrave MacMillan), it seems as if Darwin received some influence from an earlier theorist, Thomas Robert Malthus (1746-1834), whose 1798 treatise entitled Essay on the Principle of Population argued that most organisms (including humans) produce far more than can be sustained, and therefore it was necessary that the vast majority of people must die without reproducing (Weikart, 74). Darwin of course took that one step further by saying that the "fittest" must survive by prevailing over the "unfit," thus assuring thereby the propagation of the species and its evolution to a higher life form.   The later disciples of both Darwin and Malthus would eventually take this to catastrophic levels, and one Austrian rabble-rouser by the name of Adolf Hitler would commit some of the most violent, evil acts in the name of this theory some 100 years after Malthus himself died.   It is also worth mentioning the irony that Malthus was actually an Anglican vicar, which makes his position in this even more bizarre. However, despite how omenous the writings of Darwin and Malthus sounded, they were still pretty humane compared to what some of their disciples would do in their names.   Henceforth, here we enter a kinsman of Darwin by the name of Francis Galton.

Francis Galton was a first cousin to Darwin, and is often cited as the "father of modern eugenics." (He coined the word in 1883) To explain what eugenics is first, basically it is a discipline in which through clinical means, the Darwinian "survival of the fittest" concept could be carried out by selectively "culling the herd," so to speak, of traits and individuals its proponents considered "unfit" and "inferior."   Means of doing this included forced sterilization, abortion, selective breeding of people, and other things in order to breed a 'superhuman" that was, in their eyes, the "best of the best." Margaret Sanger, a very devout and rabid Malthusian eugenics proponent and Darwinist, summed this up by saying that the organization she founded, Planned Parenthood, had the ultimate goal of producing a race of "thoroughbreds" while simultaneously eliminating what she termed "human weeds" and "inferior races." (George Grant, Grand Illusions. {Nashville: Highland Books, 1998} pp. 107). This is similar to Francis Galton's goals, and the latter advocated using sexual selection as a means of guiding evolution along, based on his view that ability is passed down by genetics and therefore only the best should be encouraged to breed (Tom DeRosa, Evolution's Fatal Fruit. {Fort Lauderdale, FL: Coral Ridge Ministries, 2006} p. 139).   The link between Galton and Margaret Sanger, DeRosa notes, was biologist Charles Davenport, the man who imported eugenics to America around the turn of the century and served as a mentor to Sanger while being a disciple of Galton (DeRosa, 141-142). Thus, evil begets evil, but it gets much worse when it is imported to Germany and is taken up as a cause by a doctor named Ernst Haeckel.

Ernst Haeckel figures prominently in both Darwinian and eugenic pseudo-science in Germany in the latter part of the 1800's. amd although exposed as a fraud in 1868 (DeRosa, 148), his influence is felt even today. Haeckel taught, for one thing, that morality was an evolutionary process subject to change and constantly in flux (Weikart, 25). That being said, he also believed that "races" were in reality different species, some were more developed than others, thus allowing for the "higher" races to achieve more as well as having a natural right to dominate the "inferiors." To prove this was so, Haeckel even conducted an experiment where he attempted to inseminate a female gorilla with sperm from a Black man (DeRosa, 153)! He also favored infanticide for babies with congenital conditions, and although he did hold that life began at conception, Haeckel didn't believe a baby was human until it "earned the right" to be so at some point in its early development (ibid, 153-154). However, his most significant contribution to the later Nazi regime was his view that Europeans were a super race, and thus he advocated a geopolitical solution, not unlike that of Karl Haushofer later, to take land from "inferior" people, and that allowed for extermination of "inferiors" to insure the proliferation of the "superiors" (p. 155). Later on, he helped found a racist, anti-Semitic organization called the Pan-German League, and its chairman, Georg von Schonerer, became an object of admiration for Adolph Hitler. In regard to this infanticide advocacy, Haeckel considered aborting an "unfit" baby no different then from the killing of a cockroach (Weikart, 147).

This first unholy trinity of evolution/eugenics (Darwin/Galton/Haeckel) influenced a number of future radicals (Margaret Sanger and Adolf Hitler proved most prominent). However, this stuff didn't come out of a vacuum either, as it seems that Indo-Iranian thinking encompassed these theories for millenia for some odd reason. For instance, the Indo-Aryans of the Vedic period developed the caste system, and later Plato in his Republic in 360 BC. Plato, for instance, advocated selective birth in Book VIII, when he advocates that as brass and silver are mingled with inequity, so then is breeding outside one's social ranking.   Also, he advocates state-raised children, bred selectively for the good of the state, that would be of the finest stock of the people. There is no doubt that this Platonic nonsense had a lot to do with some of Darwin's and Malthus's own views, as both men were intelligent and well-read in the classics.   However, that erroneous philosophy led to some of the worst atrocities in human history, with the worst by far being those of the Nazis in the previous centuries. Yet, today, the same thing goes on in a more low-key fashion and is guided by the same philosophy, and it could be happening only minutes from your home at the local Planned Parenthood clinic.   Although this study is not about abortion, nor is it about Nazis, nonetheless both of those institutions mirror what the catastrophic results of trying to breed "supermen" results in. And, abortion is as much a mass murder of innocent humans as was the Holocaust, and both are two unfortunate evils that cannot be ignored by history or by any informed mind today.   Something to think about!

How, then, is Darwinism, Malthusian/Galtonian eugenics, and its derivatives relative to the modern transhumanist movement?   Simply put, transhumanism is the modern variant on the eugenics movement, and it has as its basis an evolutionary root.   The main difference is that transhumanists have access to technology that Malthus, Galton, and Haeckel didn't have, and that makes their movement even more frightening.   Take, for instance, San Diego State University professor and scientist Verner Vinge, who in his 1993 lecture "The Coming Technological Singularity" stated that when the scientific community achieves the technological means to create human intelligence, the human era will end (Tom Horn, "Splicing and Dicing The Next Step in Evolution," at www.forbiddengates.com). Kevin Warwick, an advocate of cyborg technology, states further that human/machine integration will be what achieves "Technological Singularity," or being "post-human." And, a leading transhumanist, Dr James Hughes, calls this "a new chapter in our evolution."   These scientists have several things in common. First, they are Darwinian evolutionists. Secondly, their advocacy of transhuman experimentation also makes them Neo-Malthusian eugenicists - the part they fail to mention is that in order to achieve all this "technological singularity," some "inferior" traits have to be removed - Haeckel and Galton did that through selectively breeding people they felt were "superior," but these transhumanists do it through gene-splicing and technology, but the result they are seeking is the same - a "superhuman race" that will ultimately be the next step in our supposed "evolution." So, is the "posthuman" of the Transhumanists any different from the "Master Aryan Race" of the Nazis? No, it isn't.   And, what they are doing is not true science either - like Tom DeRosa says in his book, racism has nothing to do with science but everything to do with evolution (DeRosa, p. 180). Despite the fact many of these guys such as Warwick and Dr. Hughes would probably flatly deny they are racists (as would the average administrator of your local Planned Parenthood clinic, I may add here!) nonetheless racism is the ultimate result of their endeavors. It is man trying to play God, by determining who or what is human and choosing what is worthy to live. And, that is the danger in trusting in such things. True science, like any other legitimate discipline, will always affirm God's existence and His creativity - that is simply because God created the universe and put into operation the natural laws that govern the universe. Anything that goes against those natural laws - many of these people do just that - is not of God, and is therefore not truly science, simple as that.

There is however another dimension to this whole movement, and it is even darker. Much of what these theories are based on is also occultic in nature, and following we will be discussing some of the roots of that.

2. Theosophy, Alchemy, and the Occult

The pseudo-scientific underpinnings of Darwin and the Malthusian eugenics movement definitely provided the technical and philosophical background of the modern transhumanist movement, but what is more insidious is the occultic connections this whole discipline also has. The occultic roots of this run deep too, going back to the rebellion in the Garden of Eden, when Satan in the form of a serpent told Eve that she would "be like the most high." Man, in his finite mind, has sought ever since to be a god himself, and in doing so he has corrupted and perverted a natural creative ability God gave us. And, Satan has had a field day ever since. However, the modern roots of the transhumanist/occultic connection go back to the Middle Ages first, with something called the Qabala and a bi-product it spawned called alchemy.

Alchemy was a pseudo-science that originally was intended to create valuable material out of common material, in particular things like gold out of water and the like. However, they also believed that they could tap into the secret of eternal life by creating an elixer called a "panacea," which could cure all ills and prolong life indefinitely.   Although practiced in Europe by Jewish mystical Qabalists, it was also practiced as well by Arabic/Islamic wizards (for lack of a better word) and one goal they had was the creation in due time of a thing called a taquin, which essentially would be laboratory-created life. The major contributor to this was one Jabir Ibn Hayyan, an Islamic alchemist. The Qabalists had a similar concept, the golem, in which a 12-century Hassidic qabalist, Eleazar of Worms, concocted several recipes to create (Isaacson and Wigoder, The International Jewish Encyclopedia {Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1973} p. 126). This was also the impetus for the Frankenstein legend as well, something I had previously discussed in another article.   The bottom line of both the Arabic occultists and the Qabalists was this - the ability to create life. And, ultimately, that would lead to the imagination conceiving the creation of superior life.   The combination of the "panacea" and the dual concept of the taquin/golem creature are still foundational to today's more technologically-advanced efforts of the Transhumanists. Thus, it is still man trying to play god by manipulating the creative processes of life. Thus, it is a deception of Satan. (Other than the noted reference, other material was used and cited from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy)

The practices of the Qabalists and Islamic alchemists though paled in comparison to the 19th century, when a more blatant form of occultism, rooted in Eastern mysticism, arose in the form of the Theosophists. Theosophy is the progenitor of the modern New Age movement, and many New Age and occultic teachers and writers have been heavily influenced by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society. Among these are her direct disciples such as Alice Bailey, whose writings are essentially the foundation of the contemporary New Age movement.   In her main text, The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky succeeds in combining Darwinian evolution with Eastern mysticism when she talks about seven "root races" in various stages of development, and although the races exist simultaneously, some are more developed than others, and these earlier races will eventually be transplanted by a race called Homo Noeticus, or a sort of "superman" who exceeds in many ways the human race as seen now. Although there seems to be no indication that Blavatsky herself was a racist - a demon-worshipping occultist, yes, but not a racist - unfortunately her theories took root among a group of radical German nationalists called the Volkists, and out of that movement in the early 20th century grew two very radically anti-Semitic occultic brotherhoods, the Vrilists and the Thule Society. Both groups used as a symbol of their identity a Buddhist good fortune sign called the swastika, and in their hands this symbol (it portrayed the sun traveling across the sky) would forever be associated with the most evil regime the world had seen up to this point. The Vrilists and the Thulists had as their two main patriarchs notable German theosophists, Georg Lanz von Liebenfels and Guido von List.   One of the major architects of the Vrilists was one Karl Haushofer, the geopolitical theorist who influenced Hitler's later ambitions of Lebenstraum, which would be the driving force of the conquest of Europe by the Nazis during World War II.   And, the Vrilists also had a direct connection to notorious occultist Aleister Crowley as well (Joseph Carr, The Twisted Cross. {Lafayette, LA: Huntington House, 1985} pp. 105 - 107). The Thule Society, formed in 1914, was the brainchild of List and von Liebenfels, and was the parent of the Nazi Party, which was formed in 1920 as a mechanism for the Thulists to reach the proletariat for the ultranationalist, racist agenda. The name of the Thule Society speaks for itself - it was the mythical northern home of the Aryan super-race, and Thulists believed that Jewish and other foreign "inferior" elements contaminated that "noble" bloodline, and thus it was up to them to purge the "inferior" elements in order to rebirth the perfect Aryan super-race, something Hitler would carry to the extreme (ibid., pp. 107-108). In order to make this happen, many Thulists were also Darwinian and supported the eugenics movement, and since many of the elite membership of the Thule Society were doctors and scientists, they saw eugenics as a means of "reclaiming" their lost heritage.   And, of course, history bears witness to this in regards to Nazi atrocities, which were the ultimate experiment in this morbid ideology. Also, being occultists, these Thulists (as well as top Nazis later) saw the doctrine of reincarnation working hand-in-hand with Darwin's natural selection and evolution to rebirth the future "Master Race." And, today we see it mirrored in the fact that although Eastern bugabooery and rationalistic evolution seem to be odd bedfellows, the New Agers are also by and large evolutionists as well, hence their connection to transhumanism. Later on, we will see this has a prophetic significance as well. Add to that a healthy dose of Nietzsche to the mix, and the stage is set for creating a "superhuman" that many modern transhumanists enthusiastically look forward to "evolving" and making modern man extinct. It is thus dangerous.

Now that we have examined the pseudo-intellectual and occultic background of this movement, we now want to examine some Scriptural reasons why it is wrong, and then wrap up with a bit of commentary on the prophetic implications in the future of such teaching.

Scriptural Refutation, Commentary, and Prophetic Implications

The modern transhumanist movement is not the first time man has tried to play God with Satan's help - that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when Eve was coerced by the snake to eat from the Tree of Knowledge (which, come to find out after much study and research, may have been where the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is today, hence fulfilling that verse in 2 Corinthians 3:6 that says the letter (the Law) kills but the Spirit gives life, as well as Romans 3:20, which says the law is the knowledge of sin - the Tree of Knowledge is a picture of the Law in Genesis, and ultimately represents man trying to either be like God or reach God by his own means) in Genesis 3:5, when it coerced her to eat by honing in on a weak twisting of a command of God that Eve spoke when she says "He (God) told us not to eat or touch it" (Genesis 3:3). However, that is not what God said - He told them to just not eat it (Genesis 2:17) and said not a word about touching it! Satan, of course, in the form of a snake, seized upon this, and hence the first heresy was born - he knows Scripture too remember, probably better than many Christians do, and his strategy is to let man do the twisting and then he comes in and eggs on what develops, and in this case he used Eve's misquote to say in Genesis 3:5 that when Eve ate of this fruit she would become Godlike more or less, and supposedly have all the knowledge of the universe God had. However - and this is how Satan works - he failed to mention that what is meant by the knowledge of good and evil was the heavy price to be paid if one committed evil with that knowledge, and hence came sin into the world.   Only the shed blood of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, provided an escape from that curse. But of course, the damage was done and man continued on his quest to unlock the "god within" by continuing to either be like God, or to be a "god." The next manmade attempt at that comes in Genesis 11 with the tower of Babel, where man tried unsuccessfully to "play god" again by the tower. So, God created nations from that to prevent it from happening (this was a foreshadowing, incidentally, of the plan of the Antichrist, which of course God saw). These are but two Scriptural examples of what man's futility in trying to "play god" has as far as consequential results, but we humans tend to have short-term memory and not learn from our mistakes very well, do we?

A second aspect of this comes in regard to the demonic and satanic influence in man's aspirations to obtain divine priveleges, and that of course goes back to Lucifer himself, who also had an ego and sought to be God as well. We all, of course, know that story's ending, but it hasn't stopped him from trying. Many writers, among them Chuck Missler, Tom Horn and others, draw a connection here between the Nephilim (the fallen angels' offspring with human women) and the modern transhumanist movement.   That aspect warrants a whole other article unto itself, as it is a major subject with a lot of complexity, so sufficive to say it was an early attempt as well by Satan to create a "master race" of super-beings for the sole purpose of preventing the Messiah from coming and redeeming humanity of its sins. You see, the Nephilim were a bastard species - they were brought into existence by unholy means, and as a result their souls were cursed from the outset. So, when they died, their disembodied spirits became what we know today as demons - in other words, demons are not fallen angels. As I have been saying previously, many of these fallen angels, as well as their demonic offspring, also formed the basis of many pagan religions, meaning naturally that most pagan deities have some spiritual entity behind them inspiring their mythology.   That being said, the revival in the past 50 or so years of occultism, the New Age movement, and neopaganism is no accident, and neither is some of these bastardized forms of Christianity such as the "Emerging Church" movement that borrow heavily from the New Age and Eastern mysticism. And, that is why the Theosophists and other occultists are often a source of inspiration behind the transhumanism movement, because those religions teach things like the "master race" theories as well as reincarnation, which more or less says that through some karmic process you can "evolve" into godhood.   Transhumanism just takes this a step further by saying that modern technology and the veneer of science (in reality pseudo-science, as it draws heavily upon neo-Malthusian eugenics) can be used as means to achieve that end.   And, voila! - man becomes what God is, in their thinking.

The problem with their little theories and nonsense though is what is embodied in the Sh'ma - "Hear O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One!" (Deuteronomy 6:4). There is, as Ephesians 4:5 clearly states, only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. And, as far as our guarantee of eternal life is concerned, there is only one way to achieve that also - through the shed blood of Jesus Christ only! Jesus said in John 14:6 that HE is the the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him! Our own efforts are meaningless as a result - Romans 3:23 states that all of us are guilty of sin, and 3:10 says not one of us are righteous on our own merits either. In other words, we are not even close to being "gods," and those who embrace that nonsense delude themselves with one of the biggest weapons Satan uses against us - our own pride. In our pride over the centuries, we have done some dumb things, and we fail to see what God so plainly told us. I mean, yes, he loves us, and yes we are created in his image, but we are not created as "little gods," but rather in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). There is a major difference there obviously. And, due to our own pride, we fell by thinking we could be "God" ourselves by possessing great knowledge, yet it proved to be the ultimate deception. God says our righteousness is as "filthy rags" apart from His direction (Isaiah 64:6) and that our works mean nothing because they promote boasting in what we have done instead of what God accomplishes through us (Ephesians 2:9). Therefore, no matter how our earthly wisdom impresses men, it is nothing before God but mere foolishness - God even says that we who profess to be wise become fools (Romans 1:22) and that such fools despise true wisdom (Proverbs 1:7), not to mention that the fool deludes himself into thinking that he is right in his own eyes and wisdom (Proverbs 12:15 - Proverbs is a book to read on this, as it has a lot to say!). Today we see a lot of this going on, as evolution for instance says there is no need for a God because we all "evolved" out of pond scum in some primordial ocean somewhere and thus in their wisdom (read foolishness and pride) they say there can be no God and that we, in our "evolved" intelligence and wisdom, are more or less our own deities. Therefore, the evolutionist is not technically an atheist, because he exalts himself to godhood by saying that - hence, he becomes in God's eyes a fool (Psalm 14:1)! So, how does this fit prophetically into the scheme of things? Let's now talk about that.

One important tenet of occultism is summed up in an Aleister Crowley quote that has become the "golden rule" so to speak of most witches and occultists, and it is called also the "Wiccan Rede " - it says essentially "do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law." Putting that in modern, secular vernacular, what this more or less basically is constitutes the utilitarian "if it feels good, do it" philosophy that is so prominent today in many people's (even in the church - so many of Rick Warren's people may be horrified to learn that their "Purpose-Driven" philosophy has more in common with Aleister Crowley than it does the Gospel - that is a real shaker!) worldviews, but it is of no big surprise if you study Bible prophecy. In the latter days, many Scriptures foretell the state of man as he is conditioned to receive the Antichrist, and among those Scriptures are several in 2 Timothy talking about people having "itchy ears" and following after all sorts of crazy stuff. Also, Daniel 12:4 alludes to a time when people shall "run to and fro" (a lot of things could be read into this) and knowledge shall increase (computers, like the one I am typing this on, is a prime example). This increase in knowledge is particularly of interest because of several things. First, because we were created in God's image, we have been gifted by him with a creative mind and intelligence. Of that, there is no dispute, because in and of themselves they are a blessing and have been used of God to bless mankind with much better quality of life. We should always be thankful for the creative impulses and intelligence God gave us. The problem lies where man thinks his intelligence supersedes belief in the God that gave him that intelligence, and that is where a lot starts to go sour.   Computers, smartphones and other devices over the past 100 years - and, admittedly, knowledge has increased probably in the past 100 years more dramatically than at any other time in history! - are valuable tools that have created much opportunity for many things, but what has happened is that man has gotten on an ego trip.   Now, some among us - the transhumanists - believe they have the power to generate life in lieu of all this advanced technology, and this fact has not escaped Satan at all.   In the future, the scenario to be seen is this - man will, in his pride, try to "better" the human race by genetically enhancing DNA and such stuff as to create a "superhuman." It has been tried before - remember the Nephilim and the Nazis?? Tom Horn, as a matter of fact, has stated in many of his writings that there is a possibility that demonic wisdom coupled with modern technology could maybe result in the resurrection of a sort of proto-Nephilim DNA that attempts to engineer a "super-race" of beings.   And, this idea has even been talked about in Christian fiction writings - remember the Antichrist character, Nicolae Carpathia, in Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkins' Left Behind series, for instance? The backstory on that was that a fictional corporate banker, in league with an occultic secret society, bankrolled a project to create Nicolae by choosing the "ideal" DNA to program him with. If what I have researched myself is true, then this is not such a crazy possibility - after all, we already talked about the golem of the qabalists as well as experimentations by ancient alchemists to create a "fountain of youth" elixir, so the idea is under consideration. Also, demonic wisdom comes into play here as well - Mark Hitchcock, in his 2009 book 2012, The Bible, And The End of the World (Eugene, OR: Harvest House) talks about the advanced ancient civilizations such as the Mayas (who have a fairly accurate - to a point! - calendar that recently has spawned some secular doomsayers regarding the year 2012) being imparted demonic wisdom as a "reward" for their bloody and perverted rituals to worship the demons behind their pagan gods (Hitchcock, 41-42). Tom Horn, in his book The Gods Who Walk Among Us (Lafayette, LA: Huntington House, 1999) takes this theory a step further by saying more or less that Satan and his demonic "gods" allowed these pagan cultures to have this superior advanced knowledge to accomplish his own agenda of trying to exterminate the children of God through the engineering and creation of a race of super-beings (Horn, pp. 24-25).   Funny thing about that is that Satan seems to be trying the same thing again, although the Messiah, Jesus Christ, has already come and provided the redemption for those who choose to follow Him.   Question that arises is why would Satan be still up to this agenda? Quite simple really - some occultists believe that if the Christians and Jews are removed, then Christ would have no reason to come back to earth and thus they could take over and establish Satan's kingdom on the earth. The means of doing this have changed - alchemy and qabalistic rituals have been replaced with eugenics and nanotechnology - but the goal is still the same.   And, ironically, although man thinks he is ultimately the master of this, in reality he double-deceives himself because ultimately man is just a puppet being manipulated by Satan's puppet-masters (demonic principalities), as well as the fact that in God's eye's man's efforts are an exercise in futility anyway.   The occultic view also of the "removal" of those of us who stand in their way also inspires this UFO stuff, which in reality may also be demonic activity in the heavens, a possibility that Tom Horn, Chuck Missler, and others talk about at length. Therefore, how does transhumanism fit into this? Well, if you get a group of brilliant scientists to buy into some occultic principles such as the teachings of Helena Blavatsky, who actually propagated a "super-race" theory almost two centuries ago, and they are already more or less evolutionists with some leanings toward eugenics research, then that combination could be the elixir for producing this "super race" (or so they think!). However, it also has to be bankrolled from somewhere, and there are greedy corporate execs and bankers, many multi-billionaires (George Soros comes to mind) who are in complete sympathy with this agenda and would gleefully fund research like this a pet project. That really comes as no big surprise either, as that mentality on the part of bankers goes back at least to the late 1800's and the age of the "robber barons," most of whom were committed Darwinists and some of whom did bankroll things such as Margaret Sanger's Planned Parenthood organization (and still do today, I might add) - to read more about those characters and their modern descendants, I highly recommend G. Edward Griffin's 1994 book The Creature From Jekyll Island, which although written from a secular standpoint nonetheless falls in line with prophetic events. That too could warrant a whole article itself, so we will leave that for later. I know all of this sounds like some bizarre conspiracy theory, but in reality fact may be stranger than fiction - research on this stuff is going on now, and there are now transhumanist societies and organizations that can easily be researched with a simple Googling on the internet which are crystal-clear as to what their objectives are.   Also, in the spiritual realm, a lot of things would be dismissed by "enlightened" mankind as "folly," but remember that God is very real, the spirit realm is very real, and Ephesians 6 states that the ultimate struggle is for the souls of man.   These elaborate schemes of the enemy over the centuries are just more ways to wage that war, and they will not cease until the return of Christ, and ultimately that is where this will all culminate.

Essentially, that is all we can say today about the subject, and I want to now conclude by sharing the real issue here with you.

Conclusion

We as human beings are the main gamepieces in a struggle between two kingdoms - one of the one true God, the other of the forces of darkness.   Despite the technologies, theories, and other stuff on the surface, it must be remembered that, as Ephesians 6 states, this is not a war just about the physical - Satan is trying to usurp God ultimately by corrupting his creation, and his greatest booty is the souls of men. As time progresses toward that"Blessed Hope" of the return of Christ, the battle gets more intense - Satan knows well that his time is short, yet he deludes himself into thinking he can still prevail. However, God created the universe and its laws, and He has control of the outcome, which should comfort us who are redeemed by His Son, Jesus Christ.   For those of you reading this who may not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, let me say this now - you still have time to accept Him as your Lord and Savior, but time is short. And, although the world tells you that humanity is "god" and all such other nonsense, the reality is that there is only one God, and all of us are in need of his mercy because we have all sinned and fallen short (Romans 3:23). In other words, our future is pretty bleak if you look at it. However, God Himself provided the way out, and in John 3:16 He tells us that he gave His only begotten Son, and that whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life.   In Matthew 11:28, He gives us further comforting assurance that all of us who are in travail due to the curse of sin only need come to Him, and He will refresh us. I Timothy 1:15 though clenches it when it states that the ultimate truth of our redemption is this - that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners! And, we all fall into that category (Romans 3:23 again), but Jesus Christ is our Advocate (defense attorney, if you will) with the Father in heaven, and He is the propitiation for our sins (I John 2:1-2). These are verses that we who are traditional Catholics and Anglicans call the "Comfortable Words," and they are proclaimed by the priest at Mass every Sunday and constitute the ultimate purpose of the Gospel. In sacramental theology, Jesus is the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) who indeed takes away the sins of the world (and that includes yours, mine and everyone's) and by our acceptance of His grace extended to us in that sacrificial act of His Passion, we can truly be restored to what God intended us to be. Now, the stakes are higher than ever though, as a war in the heavenlies is taking place that will soon be played out on the earth - Jesus IS coming soon, although it is not our place to say exactly when, and time is of the essence. Dying without Jesus Christ redeeming you of your sins is a horrible risk - you will spend eternity in torment if you don't make the right decision, and that is no lie! God gave us each the free will to choose, and the intelligence to reason regarding our eternal destiny, but it is up to us to make the right choice. The gift God gave us through the precious Blood of Jesus Christ is for all, but only those who accept the gift will receive it - it is not universally handed out, but it is universally available to those who desire it.   Sin, hell, the Second Coming, and eternity are not subjects that churches like to discuss today, mainly because Satan has sent delusions such as greedy televangelists and fads like the "Purpose-Driven" and "emerging church" stuff to distract the Church from its mission of reaching the lost so he can implement his own agenda. The world, in fact, is going to hell in handbasket as the Church plays with carnality, and we do so to our peril. If you are a Christian, I challenge you today to reject and pay no mind to the stupidity you find in the local religious bookstore or on TBN, but rather read the Gospels and take what they say seriously - much blood will be on the Church's hands if we don't.   That is why issues such as the one addressed in this article are important to discuss, because ultimately it is about the message of salvation, and people need to hear that message due to what is developing out there now.   That being said, I will now go until next time, and my prayer for fellow believers is to wake up, and may we develop a greater burden for reaching the lost before it is too late.
God bless each of you until next time.

Today's New Face On An Old Heresy - Neo-Marcionism

2011-10-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of years I have had this blogsite going, I have addressed a number of heresies and other apostate developments I have seen happening in today's Christian arena, and the more I research them the more I am convinced that heresy is nothing new, despite the fact how "new" its perpetrators say it is. Many of today's issues are based on ancient heresies the early Church contended with, and as a result there is truly nothing new under the sun when it comes to this stuff.   In particular, a number of today's abhorrent teachings can be traced back to one ancient heresy in particular, and that is Marcionism. In the following, I will attempt to define the basic tenets of Marcionism, as well as showing how so many things being bandied about today can be concluded as being sort of Neo-Marcionist. Let us therefore begin.

Marcionism - Background and Major Tenets of The Heresy

The origin of this heresy goes back to a 2nd-century figure by the name of Marcion of Synope, who developed his system of belief sometime around the year AD 144. Although not technically a Gnostic himself, Marcion was heavily influenced by them in some of his radically-dualistic views, and the only difference between him and the Gnostics was that Marcion contended he got his "knowledge" out of Scripture itself, while the Gnostics believed in some "secret revelations." There are three basic tenets of Marcion's doctrines that I want to note here based on some research I conducted, and they are as follows:

1. Anti-Jewish - Marcion maintained that Christianity and Judaism were completely distinct from each other, and he rejected the Old Testament as Scripture

2. Dueling Deities - In Marcion's scheme of things, the God of the Jewish Old Testament was an evil demiurge who basically bungled earth's creation, and the Jesus of the Bible had nothing to do with him but rather was sent by something called the "Monad" to redeem mankind. In other words, God was a dualistic being similar to the theologies of such Indo-Iranian religions as Zoroastrianism and early Vedic Hinduism, where their deities were viewed often as both Creator and Destroyer.

3. Limited Scriptural Canons - Marcion basically not only rejected the entire Old Testament, but more or less redefined the Pauline Epistles to suit his doctrines and edited the Gospels to make them fit his views.

As you can see, Marcion's basic system of theology radically departed from orthodox Christianity in several areas. While Marcion did maintain faith in Christ as both deity and Savior of Mankind, in essence he also renounced the doctrine of the Trinity due to the fact he made God the Father almost like a devil (the proper term for this line of thinking is demiurge). And, while not advocating Gnosticism, Marcion nonetheless borrowed heavily from their dualistic theology to shape his own.   The Church officially excommunicated and condemned his teachings in the 2nd century, but as you will see, some things did creep into the Church anyway which more or less had roots in Marcionist doctrine.

Modern Incursions Of Marcionism Into Today's Christianity - Neo-Marcionism

Although the Christian Church did officially renounce Marcion and his teachings as heretical, it is quite paradoxical to see that his influence came into the the Church, and some of his ideas have shaped the views of Christians today, which to me is disturbing. I want to now address a few of those here:

1. Revocationism/Replacement Theology

Anti-Semitism has raised its ugly head over the centuries among the ranks of the Church in various forms, and in large part it is due to this doctrine, namely that the Church is the "New Zion" and thus replaces natural Israel in God's covenant plan.   The glaring problem with this is that it ignores a lot of Church teaching that basically affirms that 1) the Jews will eventually embrace Jesus as their Messiah, and 2) the coming Apostasy of the Gentiles, in which many of these redeemed Jews will be grafted back into the Church and will lead it in the end times.   I have dealt with that subject in great detail already in previous articles, and if you are interested you can refer to those as it will explain in detail about the end-times Jewish Remnant Church that will exist. Also, people who come up with this "Replacement Theology" stuff are essentially part of an eschatological view called preterism, which basically says that all the Biblical prophecies in Revelation were fulfilled in AD 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem. If that were true, then an important question need be asked - why, then, were so many Saints and visionaries of the early Church teaching the salvation and restoration of natural Israel long after AD 70???? Also, the modern state of Israel is proof that the Bible is true and that the preterists are wrong. The final thought on this, and it also totally negates Marcion as well, is that the early Church not only embraced the Old Testament as canonical Scripture, but for its first several decades the OT was all the Church had, being the canon we call the New Testament was not even in writing yet. That being said, it is also important to note that 99% of the early Church was Jewish! Jesus was born Jewish, the first Apostles were all Jewish, and many of the early converts to the Church were Jewish as well - the Church and the Hebrew people are intrinsically intertwined with each other, and there is no separation. In the end times, this will become more pronounced as God does begin to restore more and more Jews to the covenant through the Church, and the Church will begin to look back to its Jewish roots, thus revealing preterists to be the fools they are.

2. Gospel of Inclusionism/Universalism

For some weird reason, the heresy of universalism is getting a lot of converts among proportedly Evangelical and Pentecostal ranks, as evidenced by people like Carlton Pearson, Rob Bell, and Don Earl Paulk, among others. This too goes back to Marcion's dualistic view of the Godhead, because Marcion did teach that Jesus was all good, while the God of the Old Testament was an evil demiurge who screwed up creation so Jesus could fix and restore it.   Universalism is the next logical step to that thinking and here is why.   In Marcion's view, the "God" of the Old Testament was defeated by Jesus, who more or less became the God of the New Testament and therefore replacing the "wrath" of the original creation with the love and mercy of a new God. As a result, Marcion maintained basically that humanity could escape the wrath of the "Old Testament demiurge" because Christ restored the earth, and the easy conclusion one would jump to who embraces this would be then that all humanity is saved. This is becoming an increasing fad now today even among "conservative" circles, and it is unfortunately contrary to Scripture.   Jesus says in John 14:6 that He, and only He, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and only through His atonement, which we have the free will to accept or reject, can we receive eternal salvation. Marcion errs, as do modern proponents of this "Inclusionism" stuff, by ignoring the fact that God created us with free will, and although He offers the gift, it must be accepted on our part too. And, that is why universalism in all its forms is a heresy.

3. The "Emerging Church" Movement

Although many would hesitate today to call the proponents of the Emerging Church heretics, unfortunately they fall into that category by the very things many of their proponents advocate. The Emerging Church can also be rightly called Neo-Marcionist as well because it shares a similar goal with Marcion - separating the Church from its roots.   Marcion sought to separate Christianity from its Jewish roots because he was a rabid anti-semite, while many in the Emerging Church movement have as their premise the "deconstruction" of Christianity as we know it because it is too "tradition-bound" and needs to be more culturally-relevent. By rejecting Christianity's past, the Emerging Church crowd also denies its witness, and thus the result is now that fundamental doctrines such as the primacy of the Cross, the reality of sin and the need for redemption, the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture, and the hope of the Second Coming are basically discarded because many proponents of the Emerging Church consider them too "negative" or "offensive."   Some of these Emerging Church proponents have even courted universalism (Brian McLaren is one such person) and have adopted outright New Age/occultic language (Eugene Peterson's The Message translation of the Lord's Prayer for instance, which replaces the words "On earth as it is in heaven" with the Wiccan/New Age verbiage "as above, so below," as one example). This deconstruction of Christianity is nothing new, as James Rutz, one of the first advocates of this stuff, advocated it in his 1993 book The Open Church long before the Emerging Church phenomenon came into vogue.

All of the above attest to the fact that although heresy may be rejected by the Church officially, tenets of it tend to sneak in from the most subtle of sources.   The Apostles in Holy Scripture did warn though that in the last days there would be much deception, and a great "falling away," and I believe we are seeing it now. Satan, though, is not original - he just has taken something from his arsenal he used years ago, tweeked it a little, and it is recycled as a new face on an old heresy today. And so it is with Marcionism - we today have Neo-Marcionism in many forms and in many sectors, and they overlap often.   I guess, as the old adage goes, there truly is "nothing new under the sun."

We must be vigilant to defend against this stuff, for it can be very subtle and deceptive to those not in tune with the Holy Spirit and read up in the Holy Word to see it. Too many Christians are running around today ignorant of even basic doctrine, and as a result, they truly are being carried about by every wind of doctrine that blows through the average Christian church. Sadly, there are too many false teachers making a lot of ill-begotten loot off that ignorance, and it speaks volumes of our own spiritual laziness in regard to being more disciplined and diligent in our Christianity.   Let these articles that I have written, as well as many other courageous heralds of truth out there, be a wake-up call to you - study to show yourselves approved (II Timothy 2:15), hide the Word of God in your heart (Psalm 119:11), and keep your armor on (Ephesians 6), as there are forces at work in these times that will destroy your faith if you are not properly educated as to what it is and properly equipped to discern false teachings.   God bless you until next time.

True Convergence - Establishing a Godly Heritage in Our Faith Communities

2011-09-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

I have been pondering for several weeks about how to tie several thoughts together into one cohesive thing, and today's study is the resulting fruit of that labor.   My laptop computer has actually been out of commission for several days as of this writing, so you will be getting this later than it was originally written. Therefore, here it is for this week.

The past couple of weeks have had me drawing a lot of things from a lot of material - I have finally given a good reading of Pastor Richard Crayne's history of the independent Holiness/Pentecostal movement entitled The Pentecostal Handbook, and I have also been re-reading some of my old Convergence movement material, notably a book by Canon Philip Weeks (of the Charismatic Episcopal Church) published in 1998 entitled Non Nobis Domine - The Convergence Movement and the Charismatic Episcopal Church, which was originally published as an instructional manual for new congregations in the Phillipines, where Canon Weeks served as a missionary with Barnabas Ministries for many years. Although I am personally no longer identified with the Convergence Movement per se - long story I will address briefly later - my exposure to this movement in its early stages still holds much value to me, and I came to appreciate the liturgical/sacramental dimension of my faith largely as a result of it.   However, for me the Convergence Movement did its duty, as it was my first stepping-stone towards my full embrace of my faith as a Catholic Christian. And, it's that which I am basically writing to address now.

I guess it would be a good idea for me at this point to explain to you exactly what the Convergence Movement is, as some of you may not be familiar with it who are reading this, and therefore the terminology may not be familiar either I will be using.   Sometime back in the mid-1970's, a number of Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Charismatic Christians - a large number of them being pastors and other spiritual leaders - began to embark on a journey and surprisingly it led them to some undiscovered territory, much to their shock. And, what they found rocked their world - the New Testament Church, they discovered, was a sacramental/liturgical entity! To get the full impact of this whole thing, you need to understand where many of these pastors came from - many of them were out of a very "free-church" tradition in which the highest authority was the local congregation for the most part, and they eschewed any and all expressions that even hinted at being liturgical as being "dead" or "formalistic." Many of them also were afflicted with a serious spiritual disorder called "Romophobia," which means basically that their hackles would go up at any mention of anything they perceived as "Catholic" in appearance.   Therefore, when the Holy Spirit started working a new thing in this group of Evangelicals, Baptists, Pentecostals, and Charismatics, he started revealing things to them in Scripture that not only spoke positively of liturgical worship, but in some areas even mandated it! The initial shock was somewhat overwhelming for many of these people, but they were also a people with a high regard for Scripture as well as taking seriously St. Paul's admonition in II Timothy 2:15 to "study to show themselves approved," and so they did just that.   Their yielding to the Spirit allowed the Lord to work something new in these sincere people of God, and they would not be the same! One particular group, formed out of a group of leaders of varied denominational backgrounds within the Campus Crusade for Christ organization, included Peter Gillquist, Gordon Walker, Richard Ballew, Jack Sparks, Jon Braun, and Ken Berven, among others, called themselves intially the New Covenant Apostolic Order, which later evolved into the Evangelical Orthodox Church (in 1987, the majority of the AOC was chrismated and received into the Antiochian Orthodox Church by Metropolitan Philip, but a small independent EOC group still exists today, and is in communion with my Synod - their story is in Fr Peter Gillquist's 1989 book, Becoming Orthodox, published by Conciliar Press of Ben Lomond, CA). Yet another individual was a former independent Baptist student who later became a professor at Wheaton College, Dr. Robert Webber - after being received into the Episcopal Church later, Dr. Webber wrote in 1985 a book entitled Evangelicals On The Canterbury Trail which became the foundational text of the Convergence Movement.   Many others followed suit, and that whole thing culminated in 1977 in Chicago, when a group of these like-minded people, many of whom were still on their search, met and drafted a statement called "The Chicago Call" that became the foundational document - officially or unofficially, depending on whom one talks to - of Convergence.   Now that we have given a historical background, it's time to discuss in a more detailed fashion what Convergence is all about.

The idea of "convergence" basically in this context involves the gathering together of positive aspects of varying Christian traditions in a balance, and in doing so the spirit of the New Testament Church would be on the road to restoration. Most teachers and proponents have called these variant traditions "streams," and generally there are three fundamental streams they identify:

1. Evangelical
2. Pentecostal/Charismatic
3. Sacramental/Liturgical

Those involved in the Convergence movement maintain that all of these streams contain vital elements of the New Testament Church as Jesus intended it, but over the centuries divisions and denominationalism have caused them to be played against each other rather than working in concord.   Therefore, the task of restoring New Testament Christianity is to separate out all the man-made legalisms and divisions, retain the Biblical aspects, and "converge" them together like the pieces of a puzzle coming together. This, they teach, would be the thing to restore the Church to its fullness.   There is much merit to this, which is what initially attracted me to this movement in the first place, and I personally have always supported those objectives.   However, even the most noble experiments, despite their sincerity and correctness, are vulnerable to man's agenda getting into the equation to muddy it up, and I feel some segments of the Convergence movement have failed because they tried to "converge" the wrong things based on the wrong directions. I want to address that now.

To have a truly "Convergent" Christianity, there are important standards that must be upheld and maintained in order to prevent worldiness and compromise from destroying the potential witness God would have for such an endeavor. First, ther is another very unscriptural movement out there now called the "Emerging Church" that has practically nothing to do with true Convergence and this is why - Convergence seeks to restore while Emerging Church seeks to deconstruct, and the two are mutually exclusive. By strict standards, the two movements should have nothing to do with each other, yet I have noted lines being blurred as some Convergence churches unfortunately have embraced such heretical practices as using rock bands (or CCM, as it is called) in "worship," advocacy of the "contemplative prayer" movement (which is more esoteric and New Age than Christian), and using writings of major proponents of the Emerging Church movement - Erwin McManus, Brian McLaren, Leonard Sweet, Richard Foster, and of course the "Purpose-Driven" nonsense of Rick Warren are some examples - as teaching material.   These things are not of God, as they are diametrically opposed to Scriptural teaching and the Tradition of the Church, and a truly Convergent Church should NEVER be part of the Emerging Church. This is why my prayer for my dear friends and brethren in the Convergence Movement is for a greater spirit of discernment.

Second, what Convergence leaders should be doing is looking back to old-time expressions of each of the "Streams," rather than trying to keep up with new fads.   A Remnant Church must be built on Remnant principles, and these include principles that are in harmony with Scripture, the Holy Tradition of the Church, and with the true discernment of the Holy Spirit.   All three of the noted "Streams" of Christianity all have rich reservoirs of these, and it is these legacies we must seek to preserve and incorporate. For instance, let's take liturgies and prayer books - a spiritually-sensitive Convergence leader should stay away from certain things: the post-Vatican II Novus Ordo Mass and the Episcopal 1979 Book of Common Prayer come to mind here, as neither represents the rich liturgical heritage of the Church. The more appropriate material for liturgy, if for instance the Convergence congregation chooses to follow the Anglican legacy, would be the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, which is more Scripturally sound and more faithful to Catholic practice. That is just one example worthy of serious consideration.

Third, an openness to the Holy Spirit does not mean "Charismania"!! I personally and fully believe in the spiritual gifts of I Corinthians 12, that they are relevant for today and are necessary in the life of the Church. I also believe in the experience of the infilling of the Holy Spirit as documented in Acts 2, and I myself have that experience - I received it on 21 June 1989 at a little Pentecostal Holiness church in Brunswick GA, and I did speak in tongues! However, being a former Pentecostal minister myself, I have seen more than my share (not to mention more than I could stomach!) of certain things, and therefore vehemently eschew such things as the "name-it-and-claim-it" stuff, the whole "Toronto Blessing" mess, and pretty much all televangelism (with a couple of sound exceptions) because none of that garbage is Scriptural. The Holy Spirit does do things decently and in order, and although spiritual vitality is essential, it should never be confused with spiritual anarchy.   This is why Convergence pastors and leaders should look to the old-time Pentecostals as well as to the earlier Charismatic renewal in the 1960's and early 1970's, and they should avoid like the plague the majority of stuff featured on Trinity Broadcasting Network and Charisma magazine these days. There are also two other important factors to consider relating to this. First, the Pentecostal experience didn't just pop up when some old woman spoke in tongues in 1906 at Azuza Street - the moving of the Holy Spirit has a long history in the Church, and much of its earliest activities were in sacramental/liturgical settings (ie: the Catholic Apostolic Church in the 1830's)! John Wesley, the man credited with much of Pentecostal/charismatic renewal these days, was in reality a high-church Anglo-Catholic priest who prayed the Rosary, believed in Mary as Ever-Virgin and the Theotokos, and was inspired greatly by the writings of St. Ephrem of Syria, one of the greatest Eastern Church Fathers who wrote extensively on the infilling of the Holy Spirit.   Also, A.A. Boddy, an early leader in British Pentecostalism, was greatly impacted by the spiritual legacy of St. Seraphim of Sarov, another spiritually dynamic Russian saint. More examples can be cited, and they all say the same thing - liturgy and the renewal of the Holy Spirit go together!   Second, the charismatic experience has an apocalyptic dimension to it as well - as it gets closer to the time of the Lord's return to this earth to establish His kingdom, the Holy Spirit will manefest himself in more profound ways in the lives of both individual believers and in the corporate life of the Remnant Church. That is Joel 2:28.   That being said, it is also important to emphasize that the Book of Revelation is also both a book of liturgy and a book of prophecy, and both go hand-in-hand as you have seen from my earlier teachings on that subject. True Convergence, then, is taught in the Bible, and it is something the Remnant needs to strive for.

That being said, I want to continue addressing subject matter periodically like this, as so much more needs to be said. However, God bless and be with you until we meet up again next time.

Some Thoughts on This Week's Church News

2011-09-20T05:11:00.000-07:00

Over the years, I have seen a lot of celebrity preachers do some dumb things and say even dumber stuff, and at times it just amounts to that - dumb! Recently, however, it has been getting serious, as some of the "dumb" things said are contradictions of the Bible itself, and for people claiming to be ministers of the Gospel making them, it is even worse.   This week one of the worst whoppers I have heard in a long time came from a high-profile minister, Pat Robertson, that I used to actually like to listen to, and what he said was unthinkable. I want to talk about that today as well as some other related things.

Back as a very young kid, I remember watching "The 700 Club," and it was always inspirational to hear testimonies of people's lives being touched as well as hard-hitting commentary on important issues that affected Christians. And, in his day, Pat Robertson was a great man who at one time stood for the Gospel. However, in the past 15 years or so, I have noticed a huge change in both the programming on "The 700 Club" as well as in Robertson himself, and I haven't liked what I have seen.   Yet, this recent thing of his really was chilling as to what he said - Robertson said, on the live "700 Club" broadcast this week, that a man would be morally justified to divorce his wife if she had Alzheimer's disease or dementia. An article I read from Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, that was published on September 15th said it best when he called what Robertson said "a repudiation of the Gospel," and indeed it is.   As Moore correctly pointed out also, marriage is an icon of mystical union of Christ with His Church (see Ephesians 5) meaning that a Christian husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the Church (Ephesians 5:25).   Although Moore is a Baptist, what he said is basically Sacramental Theology 101, and the reason why we Catholic Christians celebrate the matrimonial union as a sacrament, or Holy Mystery.   The matrimonial union also is a picture of the Second Coming, as all Holy Mysteries of the Church signify the heavenly kingdom to some extent.   That being said, Robertson is basically espousing heresy then by what he is saying, and in doing so, he places himself as an apostate - strong words, but the truth often can sting.

That being said, it is not the first time that Robertson or any other evangelists have made dumb deposits of word vomit upon the public - bizarre statements are actually a snare of the enemy that off-sets the true renewal of the Holy Spirit, and thus destroys or diminishes a witness.   Sometimes it isn't that the statement is wrong necessarily - Robertson, for instance, correctly pointed out that both 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina could be a result of God's hedge over America being lifted due to the widespread acceptance and propagation of homosexuality, and there is some historical merit to the fact that Haiti as a nation has had a bad go of things over its almost 3 centuries of existence due to the voodoo religion and the demons it worships as gods, but even there the problem is not so much in what was said rather than in the timing in which it was said. Some people just don't know how to use the common sense God gave them to keep their mouths shut until the proper time to share such things comes.   On other things, Robertson and Paul Crouch, the controversial founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (that is a whole story of its own!) have done the unthinkable - supporting the communist government of China in order to get a few "perks," often at the expense of the true believers that have been persecuted there for decades - Crouch, for instance, had the gall to say in 2003 that the "underground church" in China needs to be registered with the government because it is "breaking the law" and being the ignorant boob he is, Crouch failed to realize that the "official" churches in China are actually propaganda mechanisms that compromise at will any part of the Bible that speaks out against the atrocities of the Communists. Ironically, Crouch is the same guy who produced the film China Cry, which was the phenomenal testimony of Nora Lam, a Chinese Christian woman whose life was at risk during the early part of Mao Tse-Tung's evil regime due in part to her strong faith.   I wonder what Nora Lam, still a phenomenal woman of God, thinks of this?   Robertson too has decided to play the whore with the Red Chinese now (a regime he once decried as "godless" until he found out he could make a fast buck off of them, I might add!) by giving his blessing to their barbaric one-child abortion policy - and, this from a man who claimed to be "pro-life" all these years! The whole thing just literally disgusts and nauseates me.

Again, as we have noted in other cases in earlier articles, this is what I believe is the beginning of the Apostasy of the Gentiles that both Scripture and the Holy Tradition of the Church have taught for centuries, and unfortunately we will see more of it - from Joel Osteen acting ashamed of Christ on Larry King, to Don Earl Paulk and Carlton Pearson's embrace of universalist heresy, to Jay Bakker's open acceptance of homosexuals as "created by God" - it goes on, and on, and on....what times we indeed live in! And, for those of us who champion traditional orthodoxy, we have the task of defending the faith against these apostates, even unto death.   One thing that intrigues me about Robertson though is that he is an ordained Southern Baptist minister, and as such he has officiated over dozens of marriages over the course of his career - did the vows he led all those couples to repeat to each other have any meaning for him?   That is a hard question he needs to be faced with, and I pray someone does face him off with it.   Same with Crouch - as TBN becomes more Warrenized and politically corrected these days, what of his ministerial vows when he was ordained in the Assemblies of God as a minister all those years ago?   Maybe these guys need to have a Charles Dickenseque experience much like that of Ebenezer Scrooge in the classic Christmas Story, as it is time they were haunted by their pasts.

There is so much to say on this subject yet, but I am sure that in coming weeks another high-profile minister is going to do something equally stupid and outlandish, and thus will provide more material to talk about. God bless you until next time.

Have We Left Rome, Or Has Rome Left Us?

2011-09-16T05:23:00.000-07:00

For some time now, I have been monitoring the situation in the Roman Catholic Church as I see a growing concern and apostasy happening in its ranks. I say that as a concerned person who loves the true Catholic faith, and I am a validly-chrismated Catholic myself. However, I choose at this point in time not to attend a Roman parish because of what I am about to share, and as you will see, it isn't looking good. However, it is also not a big surprise, as we have mentioned before, because many ancient visionaries and saints in the Church saw it coming, and Scripture too foretells of the apostasy we are seeing today. Several things have prompted me to write this today, and I want to address those subjects first.

Over the past week, I have read about two faithful priests in the Church who have been more or less blackballed by some bishops with fragile egos for different reasons. Both of these godly priests are wonderful men of God whose ministries I have supported for many years, and to be honest the Church needs more of them. The first is Fr. Frank Pavone, who is the national director of Priests For Life, a wonderful organization that has done more to champion the pro-life cause with the possible exception of Operation Rescue. Fr. Pavone is a conservative priest with very traditional values, and he is a godly man with a heart for saving unborn babies from the evils of the abortion mills. Yet, on September 9th, Bishop Patrick Zurek of Amarillo, TX, decided to suspend Fr. Pavone's ministry activities outside his diocese, and the reason the "good" bishop sought to do this was of course one of the easiest to try to hang people on - money! However, upon closer examination, the real reason for Zurek's actions came to the light quickly - he says that Fr. Frank's "fame" has caused him to "see priestly obedience as an inconvenience to his own ministry" which if interpreted means the bishop has a fragile ego, is a control freak, and cannot seem to understand that the pro-life cause is something that is a national issue, and Fr. Frank is doing what God called him to do. As I progress with this, I am going to show how Bishop Zurek, as well as other bureaucrats in mitres sitting in dioceses all across the country, are hypocritical in doing what they are doing when they have issues in their own backyard that they casually close their eyes to and are potentially more serious than the godly work that Fr. Frank and others are doing. However, another priest has made headlines recently for similar reasons, but it has been far more uglier due to the fact the attacks were vicious and unfounded against a man of God who is a great priest and defender of the truth.

Fr. Frank Pavone, Director of Priests for Life

Fr. John Corapi is a powerful minister of the Gospel and probably the closest thing I have ever seen to a "hellfire-and-brimstone" preacher in the Catholic tradition, and regular viewers of EWTN often can hear his messages - many of which pull no punches when attacking some of the moral ills that plague our society today - and benefit from his sound teaching on the Gospel. Yet, Fr. Corapi, like Fr. Frank, has come under fire from some ungodly bureaucrats in the ranks of the Church, and some of the allegations leveled against him (which I do not believe personally are true) are reminiscent of the attacks against some Protestant ministers over the years who took a stand, such as Mike Warnke and Bob Larson, against things that made some church stiffs feel uncomfortable. Of course, this too comes as no real surprise - in his 2002 book Goodbye Good Men (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing), journalist Michael Rose notes that orthodox candidates for the priesthood these days are often screened out by those he dubs the "Gatekeepers," who are by and large secular psychologists who may not have any Christian convictions whatsoever, much less Catholic, and in general they have a liberal agenda (Rose, 31). Rose notes a couple of pages earlier that often if a postulant for ordination or seminary applicant even expresses the slightest view of orthodoxy, they can be blackballed from the priesthood. Apparently, this does not just extend to seminarians and candidates for Holy Orders, and I cite a couple of examples. The first, of course, is the way some fragile-egoed bishops are going after godly priests who are doing the Lord's work, while the second is much more personal. Back in 2005, I was considering the possibility of becoming a permanent deacon in the Maronite rite (my chrismated rite of choice in the Church). My priest was very supportive of this and tried to put a good word in for me, but unfortunately the eparchial vocations director, a man of Roman-rite background by the name of Fr. James Root, said I was "too conservative," which I thought was ridiculous. You would think that a Church as staunch on dogma and Holy Tradition (or at least it's supposed to be) would welcome people of staunch convictions, yet they don't because of a deeper problem that came to light very recently, and now let's address that.

Fr. John Corapi, the "hellfire-and-brimstone" warrior of orthodoxy!

Vatican II, for better or worse, opened up a lot of things in the Church. Some of them - particularly acknowledging other Christians outside the Roman Church - were good, but others were not so great. Many liberals in the Church, seizing some ambiguities in the Vatican II documents, took great liberties to redefine what they viewed as the "Church," and the results were catastrophic, in particular regarding seminaries. Many diocesan seminaries today are hotbeds of homosexuality and apostasy, and many who end up graduating from them are now in positions of authority in the Church as parish priests, religious, and even bishops in some cases. One seminary in Ohio, I believe, as even been dubbed by its detractors "The Pink Palace" due to the rampant homosexuality that is going on behind its doors, and this is to me unthinkable as it defies Church teaching and Biblical injunctions against such behavior. Unfortunately, even like some in the Pentecostal Bible college I went to, many of these people don't have a calling of God on their lives, and many of them do not know the Lord personally as their Savior either - they are, in essence, "mama-called and daddy-sent" brats that are too lazy to commit to anything, and only seek to use college to indulge and justify their own lusts. What I find ironic though is that bishops, such as this Zurek fellow in Texas that is crowing on Fr. Frank, are strangely silent about that, yet they are so insecure that when one of their diocesan clergy does something truly for the Lord, Satan enters these bishops' hearts and uses their authority to destroy men of integrity, while at the same time turning a blind eye to the real issues. And, due to that hypocrisy, the fruit reaped from that filthy harvest culminated in the priest scandals that happened back in 2001-2002, many of which were covered up, bought off, and hushed by those who were supposed to be in spiritual authority in the Church - Cardinal Bernard Law, for one, will have a lot to answer for on Judgement Day due to his complicity in such activity. Yet, again, this is a sign of the times, and here are a few Scripture references to show that.

II Corinthians 11:14-15 talks about the deception of Satan, who often transforms himself into an "angel of light" to deceive, and in verse 15, it mentions that "his ministers" (here, meaning earthly counterfeits among the clergy as one type) do the same. Matthew 25: 32-34 states the various contrasts between the Remnant and deceivers, such as sheep/goats, good fish/bad fish, wheat/tares, etc. Other verses in II Timothy speak of deceptions, "itching ears," and not enduring sound doctrines, and these are just a few to note. Bottom line is, there will be a falling away from the faith in the latter days - the Bible foretells it, and over the centuries many great men of God have seen it as well. What we see happening in the Catholic Church is but one example of this, as the Church is rapidly apostasizing - we see that also among the laity, as I work with several professed Catholics who often shock me at the unbiblical things they say that contradict the official teachings of the Church. However, God is preserving a Remnant Church, and thankfully I have chosen personally to be part of it - and, I believe men of God like Frs. Frank and Corapi are part of it too, because as the Bible says, "by their fruits ye shall know them." That being said, I urge you to seek out orthodox men who uphold the truth, and give them your prayers and support, because they need that more than ever; the enemy is working overtime to destroy those who truly serve the Lord, and he even uses his "angels of light" and "gatekeepers" within the ranks of the Church to do that. And, we as the Remnant must stick together. God bless you until next time.

Ethiopia in Bible Prophecy Part II

2011-09-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Introduction

After a long delay between Part One and this due in large part to limited access to my library as a result of our recent move, I am presenting the second part of the study on Ethiopia in prophecy, and in this part we will deal with the specifics of Ethiopia, in particular the connection with the Ark of the Covenant. In my readings of Holy Scripture, I see this as playing a significant role in end-times events, which I will show as we progress. Before beginning however, I have a couple of opening observations I wish to share with you.

First, and foremost, whether or not you agree or disagree with what I am presenting here poses no issues or problems, as what I will be sharing is a personal belief and conviction on my part. It is not something on which one's Christianity is contingent upon agreeing with, nor is it a cardinal doctrine of faith that will force one to be branded a heretic for accepting or rejecting it. Therefore, there is no condemnation from either God nor myself if you happen to see this differently. Nonetheless, I do hope it will be something you will see of interest and I hope you will examine it with an open mind.

Secondly, I want to address a common fallacy that many Christians fall into when it comes to this sort of subject matter.   Some people, although definitely Christians and sincere in their faith, often seem to have the impression that if it is not mentioned specifically in Holy Scriptures, then it isn't important or cannot be true.   I want to first state up-front that I believe passionately in the inerrancy and infallibility of the Holy Scripture, as it is God's Word and as such everything in it is completely true.   However, there are two clarifications I wish to make. There are some things that are mentioned in Scripture that are often overlooked as minutia, but in reality they are there for a reason and lend credence to the authenticity of their reality.   We will be showing some of that in this study.   Secondly, it must also be understood that the Holy Scriptures were never meant to be a general history of the world, although the history they do present is 100% accurate because God is a God of truth.   Rather, the Holy Bible is a record of God's testimony of redemption of mankind, and as such often that plan of redemption takes place within the context of actual historical events.   This is why subjects such as the Ark of the Covenant are often only mentioned as they relate to the divine plan of redemption, but there is always more to the story. Just because the Scriptural relevancy of the story ends doesn't mean the story itself ends, and indeed, often some of these things make a repeat appearance in Scripture later on. The Ark itself, for example, no longer plays a role in our redemption, as Christ and His sacrifice on the Cross took care of that aspect, but as you will see the Ark takes on a different role as the end-times scenario begins to play out. This is why it is important to see small, seemingly insignificant details in Scripture in a totally different light in many cases, for the plan of God is often right there in front of our noses, but it may not be the time for it to be fully revealed. The future role of Ethiopia is one of those small details that fits this, and as events of prophetic significance unfold on a daily basis with increasing frequency, some of those seemingly minor footnotes in Holy Scripture are now leaping off the page at us, and scholarship is taking them more seriously. Henceforth, now we have the foundation of this study.

Let us now begin talking about the role of Ethiopia in regard to the Ark of the Covenant, and there are a couple of important traditions we will examine largely from the Ethiopians themselves.

A.   King Solomon, The Queen of Sheba, and King Menelik

Sometime around the 9th century AD, an Ethiopian document called the Kebra Nagast (Ge'ez language meaning "The Glory of Kings") came into existence that more or less provided documentary support for the Solomonic origins of the Ethiopian crown, and it is this book that touches on a pivotal tradition of that heritage - the first Ethiopic king, Menelik I, as the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Holy Scripture spends little time talking about the visit of the Queen to Solomon's court, although in I Kings 10 it is documented. The Queen was enamoured of Solomon's wisdom and wealth, and sought to see for herself this great leader of the ancient world and to seek his counsel. The Kebra Nagast takes that story and elaborates upon it, filling in what I believe are some details of that visit. First, how did the Queen know of Solomon?   Well, according to the Kebra Nagast, an Ethiopian merchant who served as advisor to the Queen, Tamrin, was one of the main suppliers of material for building Solomon's Temple, and as it is written in the book Tamrin gained the confidence of Solomon himself as a trusted friend and advisor. When he returned home, Tamrin told his Queen about Solomon, relating to her his great reputation as a leader of unparalleled wisdom.   This naturally piqued the Queen's interest, and for both diplomatic and personal reasons she decided to embark upon a personal mission to meet with King Solomon, and that is the same meeting we read in I Kings in Holy Scripture. An important facet of this to note occurs in the translation of the Kebra Nagast I am currently using for reference, which says, " And her heart inclined to go up to him, for God made her heart to desire it." (Miguel Brooks, trans. The Kebra Nagast (Lawrenceville, NJ: The Red Sea Press, 1995) p. 22). In other words, God was working a plan in this dear lady's life - not part of his redemptive plan yet for mankind in general, but a divine plan nonetheless in the life of an individual - that involved her potential conversion to the worship of Him! We call that today the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, and that is Scriptural! And, through the obedient action of the Queen the nation would later come to know the one true God, as evidenced later in Acts 8:26-38 when the Apostle and deacon St. Philip would baptize a eunuch of the court of another Ethiopian queen centuries later, Candace, whom he found reading Isaiah 53! Now, the mystery is how on earth would a court official in a far-away land like Ethiopia had gotten a copy of the Holy Scriptures had not a witness of the true God been there in the first place?? Bob Cornuke, in his book The Lost Ark of the Covenant (Nashville, Broadman and Holman, 2002) notes on pages 176-177 that the eunuch's arrival in Jerusalem was no mere accident; rather, he insinuates that the Holy Spirit sent him on a mission to identify the Messiah! And, as we will note shortly, that ties back into Isaih 18 in a profound way.

Now, the problem with the account in the Kebra Nagast is not so much in what it presents - I firmly believe that the monarchs of Ethiopia, even to the present time, are descended from Solomon and I also firmly believe the Ark is in Ethiopia today - but rather in the manner it presents them.   There is a historical problem with the Kebra Nagast's scenario, in that the Ark was still in Jerusalem in the Temple at least up until the time of the reign of Manasseh a couple of centuries later, so there is no possible way Menelik had the genuine Ark in his time. The Ark disappears from the Scriptural record sometime around the reigns of Manasseh and his son Amon, both of whom are described in Scripture as wicked kings and apostates, and from that point there is no actual record of the Ark being in the Temple. Cornuke, as well as Graham Hancock in his book The Sign and the Seal (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992), record a more probable scenario of the Ark's disappearance as well as where it ended up.   According to Cornuke (pp. 30-32) and Hancock, a contingent of Godly priests who were appalled at Manasseh's idolatry and wickedness spirited the Ark out of Jerusalem so that it would not be defiled, and there is strong evidence that the Ark may have been taken to Egypt.   Way in the southern part of Egypt, there is a place called Elephantine Island that once had a Jewish Temple almost in proportion to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, and although it was later destroyed sometime around 410 BC, it nonetheless demonstrates that a huge community of Israelite expatriates settled there, probably escaping the abominations of Manasseh and Amon as well as for commercial interests. Strangely, Cornuke and Hancock both record that the Ark somehow showed up on the island of Tana Kirkos on Lake Tana in Ethiopia sometime around 470 BC, but as one looks at the evidence it is of no great mystery.   There had been Hebrew migration into Ethiopia, as well as probably some proselytism and intermarriage among the local tribes, since at least the 10th century BC, and some possibly earlier - escaped Hebrew slaves from prior to the Exodus come to mind also. Therefore, due to this infusion of Hebraic influence, the Ethiopians would have been receptive to the arrival of such a holy treasure as the Ark, and it would have been in good hands. It is worth noting that the early heritage of these Hebrew exiles to the Ethiopian highlands as well as the conversion of local people to the God of the Patriarchs produced a community whose descendants, the Falashas, survive to this day. Also, many of the indigenous Ethiopian Christians have this bloodline as well, which in a bit will shed light on something prophetically significant. It would make sense for the Ark to have been obscured for its own safety in a friendly, isolated area like the Ethiopian highlands, and as I see it, God may have sent it there to protect it due to something we are about to see shortly in Isaiah 18. After the Christianization of Ethiopia sometime around the 4th century AD, when the Assyrian monk St. Frumentius brought the Gospel to these people, the Christian kings of Ethiopia them moved the Ark to the city of Axum, where today it still resides in the tiny church of St. Mary of Zion.

Saint Mary of Zion Church in Axum, where the Ark is.

B. Isaiah 18 And The Future

In addition to the Hebraic origins of a significant percentage of the native Ethiopian population, the Ethiopians (at least a number of their tribes) are cousins of the Hebrews from the beginning. It is a common - and dare I add stupid! - assertion to say all people in Africa are Black, and in the case of the Ethiopians, nothing could be further from the truth. All of the major languages of the Ethiopia - Anharic, Tigre, Tigrignya, and others - are Semitic languages, a fact verified by linguists and ethnologists. That being said, these Ethiopians are more closely related to the Arabs and Hebrews than they are to the Bantu and Yoruba peoples of western Africa. Their ancient language (still used as a liturgical language in their churches), Ge'ez, is actually one of the oldest Semitic tongues in existence. That being said, the people of Ethiopia tie into redemptive history probably more than many of us realize, for they are descendants of Shem just like Israel is. Additionally, their land is within the historical boundaries of the ancient Garden of Eden, as I related in Part 1. Thus, they are front-and-center on the prophetic stage. All that being established, let us now look at an important series of passages in Isaiah 18.

Looking specifically at verse 7 of this chapter, I want to talk at length about a "present," or gift, coming to the Lord of Hosts from a people said to, in verses 2 and 8, come from a land "that the rivers divided." Let us now take a look at Ethiopia on a globe:

Ethiopia, if you look at the above map, lies at the confluence of three major continental plates, and that confluence has created a huge fault line through the country called the Rift Valley. Many geologists are saying that this fault is getting wider, and one day it will create an inland sea as a result. If that happens, it would effectively split modern Ethiopia in half. Another aspect of the "land where the rivers divide" also exists just north of Ethiopia, and that is the division of the Nile into two branches - the Blue Nile has it source in the eastern Ethiopian highlands at Lake Tana (remember this place? The Ark of the Covenant was at one time said to be on Tana Kirkos, an island in the middle of the lake!). Either way you look at it, there are dividing rivers in the land!

Lake Tana in Ethiopia, the source of the Blue Nile, and the island of Tana Kirkos.

My theory of this is quite simple - the "present" coming from Ethiopia, with a procession of great pomp and ceremony, is the return of the Ark to Jerusalem during the Millenial reign of Jesus. In Isaiah 19:23-25, a highway is described as linking the land of the Assyrians (I believe this to refer to the present-day remnant of Assyrian Christians) to Egypt (the land of the modern-day Coptic Christians, which I believe this verse refers to), and this great highway has Jerusalem at its center. People will travel this great highway to worship the Messiah in Jerusalem, attending the required feasts, etc., and the highway I believe continues into the land of Ethiopia, thus the route of that procession it talks about in Isaiah 18:7. Now, that being said, let us now tie these things together and I will give you what I believe will be the sequence of events.

Unifying the Priesthoods

If you will refer back to my earlier articles, you will see that I invest a lot of discussion on the subject of a future "Apostasy of the Gentiles" that many ancient Church Fathers and saints, as well as Scripture itself in several places, seen happening. The result is that natural Israel will be grafted back into the Church, and Hebrew leadership will be assumed over the Body of Christ as a result (read Fr. Elias Friedman's book, Jewish Identity, which I refer to often as a reference, for more information on that). This is a natural course of events, as Jesus Himself was born a Hebrew. In the new Temple. where Jesus shall reign both as High Priest and King, a new priesthood will arise that I believe will merge the earthly priesthood (Levitical) with the spiritual priesthood (Melchizedek) of the Church, thus bringing into fulness both Covenants as one. The new priests I believe will be ethnically Hebrew, yet be validly ordained Apostolic Church clergy, and will constitute the 144,000 of Revelation 7. Now, by Hebrew, I also mean ALL of Israel, as the Scriptures attest, meaning all twelve physical tribes. They will of course be drawn from all corners of the globe and will speak a number of languages based on the lands many of them were born into, but their bloodline is definitely to be Hebrew. Ethiopia at present has a significant population of these now, as does India, and at the place where the Ark of the Covenant is said to be housed - Saint Mary of Zion Church in the city of Axum - a guardian is appointed who is the only person allowed to even set eyes on the Ark itself. That being said, here is what I propose - the guardian of the Ark is a Levite by blood, and is also an ordained monastic in the Church at present, and it is he I believe who will lead that glorious procession of Isaiah 18:7 in the future. As Saint Malachy, the 12th-century Catholic bishop and prophetic voice, also saw the "glory of the olive," I see the last leader of the Remnant Church as being of a similar heritage too, just as a side note. Any rate, it will be a spectacle to behold, as it would be one of the greatest historical events to ever take place.

There are of course many who still dispute the claims of the Ethiopians regarding the Ark, and they have legitimate reasons for doing so - one independent Orthodox archbishop I met with some years back basically told me he'd be convinced when the Ethiopians produced an Ark, a sentiment shared by some others of my friends. My reply to him was this - all in good time! As I have said, I firmly believe it is there, and if that belief is proven correct, God will definitely make it very well-known when the time is ready. And, I believe that some who doubt now will be pleasantly surprised when it happens, and personally it is an event I look forward to seeing one day. However, as we shift gears here, it will not be a joyous day for all people, and as a side note I want to discuss next as to why that will be.

My good friend, Pentecostal evangelist Perry Stone, wrote a very interesting book entitled Secrets From Beyond the Grave (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2010), in which he discusses based on a lot of research the location of hell and the underworld. One thing Perry talks about is the coming fate of the Dead Sea, and he states that it will be split into two parts - one part in the north will be healed by fresh water from the Jordan, while the other part will be more dead as it clogs with salt and chemicals. Between the two parts of the sea, there will be a chasm that Perry believes will be a portal to the underworld, and will serve as a reminder to those who are born during the Millenium of the consequence of sin and disobedience - he bases this on a Scripture passage in Isaiah 66:23-24. The Assyria/Egypt Highway of Isaiah 19:23-25 will pass over this area as it proceeds into Jerusalem, and as the Ark comes up from Ethiopia, the sinners in the pit will see and regret bitterly their separation from God as they see the celebration of His glory. This area will serve as a sobering reminder of what sin does - separation from God and eternal torment. The Ark itself will serve to remind them that the mercy of God was always there for them, yet tragically they refused to accept it. And thus, bitter wails of torment will ascend from that portal, which now leads me to conclude by talking about something important with you.

Subject matter like this is very interesting, and it reinforces the fact that God's Word is true and His promises will come to pass. However, exciting though these things are, the important aspect of our faith is much more simpler - God sent His Son, a perfect and sinless being, to die for our sins on a blood-stained cross. It was a gift God gave to all of us because he loved us, but it is up to us to accept that gift. Remember, God doesn't need us, but we need Him; yet, He desires us to be with Him for eternity. Today, if you haven't made a commitment to follow Christ, this could be your last chance, and I urge you to let the Holy Spirit move through you now and convict you of your sin, driving you to the foot of the Cross. Let His shed blood wash away your sins, and you too will be able to witness and partake of the great pageantry of these things one day with the Lord Himself. This is the most important decision you could ever make, and the hours grow short as we approach a time when the Lord shall return in glory to judge the living and the dead, and of His Kingdom then there shall be no end. If you wait too long, you may find yourself at the wrong judgement, and eternal torment is not something you will want to inherit - the horror of such eternal punishment is unfathomable for our limited human understanding except to say it never ends!!!! God loves you, and does not want you to stay in that evil, horrible place for eternity - He wants you to be with Him. So, make that choice today, as it is an eternal choice. God bless you until next time.

Persecuted for Righteousness' Sake

2011-08-31T05:19:00.000-07:00

In this day and age we live in, a lot of things are assaulting our culture, and more now than ever before we see some things happening among professing Christians that would have been unthinkable only 20 years ago even.   As a result, many sincere believers who have made a strong stand against some things that are contrary to Scripture are all of a sudden finding themselves in violent firestorms of attacks coming from "friendly fire." However, this should not be surprising, as Scripture itself has foretold some of this, and therefore I feel it needs to be addressed.

I have a very good friend, Johnny Lee Clary, who is a wonderful man of God and a great warrior for the faith.   Johnny has quite a turbulent past, as at one time before the Lord transformed his life he was involved in one of the most evil groups of people, the Ku Klux Klan, and even was a high-ranking member of the organization in his home state of Oklahoma. However, through the fervent prayers and intercessions of a godly Black Baptist minister, Rev. Wade Watts, Johnny Lee was touched by God and was born again. And, when Johnny was born again, he gave up that horrible past and became truly a new creation - today he is a vibrant minister of the Gospel and is an ordained elder in the Church of God in Christ. And, Johnny is a voice of truth against some of the apostasy and false teaching that has infested the Church today, which has of course brought him some opposition from some of the apostates who try to drag up his past and discredit his ministry.   Yet, I have known Johnny as a friend and brother in Christ for about 4 years now, and I can personally say he is a man of great integrity and sincerity, and God indeed will have great reward for him one day for standing for the truth. I too have endured slander, persecution, and outright hostility for standing up for the truth, and at times it can wear you down.   It isn't enough that the world around us often hates us, but with this laxity in the American Church today, it seems like there are many accusers among the brethren who, for some reason or another, find it necessary to accomodate the world and sin, "baptize" it into the Church, and then try to compromise the truth of God's Word to fit their image.   These people honestly make me sick - I expect, and even at times am thankful, for the fact the non-Christians do that, but for a professing Christian to do and say such things is unthinkable yet it happens. There are so many other cases of this too - recently, a number of good prophecy teachers were blackballed from the Trinity Broadcasting Network for taking a stand against Islam and the heresies perpetrated by false teachers like Rick Warren, and the "officials" in the Catholic Church - mainly so-called "directors of vocations" - have been denying orthodox Catholic postulants the privelege of studying to pursue the calling God laid on their hearts to be priests. And there are others whose ministries have been attacked, misrepresented, and maligned because they stood for the truth - men of God such as Bill Keller, Mike Warnke, Bob Larson, and others come to mind here.   Yet, as I read Scripture, this is unfortunately a sign of the times, and I now want to examine some of those verses to show what I mean.

Matthew 5:10 is the first verse that comes to mind, as it says that those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness are blessed of God.   John 16:2 states that many of the persecutors will put people out of the churches and think they are doing God a service (sounds like Rick Warren's "Purpose-Driven Church" program don't it - read up on that some more and you will see what I am talking about). I Thessalonians 2:1 talks also about a "great falling away," or an apostasy, taking place in the latter times just before the Antichrist "("man of sin") appears on the scene, and a lot of Catholic saints and visionaries over the centuries, including Pope Leo XIII, noted this happening in the future.   That "falling away" is also alluded to in Revelation 3, where Christ addresses the Laodicean Church (which is also a picture of the latter-day Church) and rebukes their lukewarmness - I have been saying in my teachings for many years that the Laodicean church of Revelation 3 is the precursor of the "Mystery Babylon" religion it talks about in later chapters, and complacency is indeed the road to apostasy. Take all of these Scriptures now, tie them together, and then compare it to recent trends you see in the American Church - the similarities will scare you. It is amazing, for instance, at how things that were once preached against in many churches - meaning conservative ones too - are all of a sudden not only tolerated, but embraced! You have heard me talk before about these things, as I mentioned the New Ageism that courses through both Rick Warren's material as well as this new "Emerging Church" movement, and therefore you can reference that from my earlier articles. What I didn't go into however was how many of the forces behind that are the same people who persecute the Remnant Church - the splits, divisions, and general mayhem caused by churches of all denominations adapting this Rick Warren nonsense cannot even be covered in the course of a short article like this, but the stories testify to the fact that many faithful, Spirit-filled people who are the pillars of what used to be strong and vibrant congregations are now being forced out of churches they have invested time, resources, and sacrifice into all because of some faddish, stupid Rick Warren crap (excuse the veracity, but this is a sore subject with me) that attempts to deconstruct Christianity, re-create it in its own image, and then use it to boost butts in the pews and bucks in the minister's pocket (not to mention boosting Warren's book sales - talk about the ultimate con job!!). Lord help us all! But, especially help those of us who, in standing for the truth, have found ourselves fired upon by those who are supposed to be our fellow brethren.   However, the reality of the situation is this - if they hate the truth and those who proclaim it, they are not our brethren, but are rather apostate and the "wolves in sheep's clothing" the Bible talks about.   And, we as true believers are to have no fellowship with them - we love them, pray for them, but they are not fellow believers and cannot be treated as such (remember, Satan believes in God too, so believing in God is no litmus test of true Christianity).   That being said, let me now offer up some encouragement to those who are being persecuted for righteousness and standing up for the truth.

First, we who do believe in the truth of God's Word need to mutually support each other and give encouragement, because the battles we face can burn us out quickly if we try to go them alone.   We need to work - see Romans 12:4-5 - together as a Body of the Remnant Church, and support financially and spiritually those ministries who are laying it on the line for God's Word every day.   The Holy Spirit is the tie that binds us all together, so we need to stay strong in the Spirit in order to stand our ground. If we do that, one day Christ Himself will reward our faithfulness.   Therefore today, if you are one of those warriors for the truth, be encouraged that you are not alone - there are more of us out there, and we will stand with you.   God bless you all, and until next time may God Himself endow you with His strength and peace in Christ's name. Amen.

Thoughts on Continuing Anglicanism

2011-08-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

I have for the past couple of months been posting some articles on other subjects than I originally planned, but at the present time we are in the process of a move, so unfortunately most of my library is packed up at home at this point.   Once moved and settled I plan on doing the second part of the Ethiopia in Prophecy study I promised, but until then I wanted to address a few other things that are of interest as well as having some relevance as current issues.   Therefore, please bear with us as we get settled into a new house and all, and in the meantime enjoy these other articles.

One of the interim issues I wanted to address today is actually something really encouraging, as it relates to our local parish we attend and the communion it belongs to.   Although Barb and I are actually part of a small independent Catholic jurisdiction, we attend what is called a "Continuing Anglican" parish near our home as we don't have any parishes of our own diocese close by, and the "Continuing Church" is pretty much one in faith with us anyway (plus, Saint Philip's in Pinellas Park, FL, where we currently attend, is a fantastic parish, and we love the people and the parish priest there like family). I have been involved in the "Continuing Church" movement before, and I must say that as a Christian community they are small in number but abundant in faithfulness, and the stand many of these churches have made for the truth is commendable. As I have gotten to know this particular group of churches over the past 20 or so years, I have learned much about them, and today I want to share with you some of that as well as some recent developments that I personally see as a good thing with them.

The "Continuing Church" movement started in the late 1970's as a reaction against a lot of apostasy and liberal politics going on in the Episcopal Church USA (hereafter we call ECUSA for short), and in 1977 a group of these concerned clergy met in St. Louis and drafted a strong statement called the "Affirmation of Saint Louis" that upholds traditional Anglican belief and practice and affirms Biblical doctrine. As a result of that meeting, a number of jurisdictions were formed that, unfortunately, often had more splits over the years due to personality conflicts, etc.   Some of the major groups of the movement today include the Anglican Catholic Church (or ACC), the Anglican Province of America (APA - this is what the parish we attend is part of), and the Anglican Church of America/Traditional Anglican Communion (ACA/TAC) - there are many others, but these three are some of the larger and most visible ones.   All of these groups have in common the 1928 Book of Common Prayer as the basis of faith and liturgy, a Catholic understanding of that faith, and a fidelity to traditional Biblical and Church teaching on the fundamentals of doctrine and practice.   If you wish to read more on the history of this movement, I highly recommend Douglas Bess's book Divided We Stand (2006, Apocryphile Press) which is one of the most comprehensive studies on the movement.   Any rate, I guess the bottom line is that as a movement, the Continuum has its positives and negatives, the positive being faithfulness to historical and Biblical teaching while the negative being its splintering and division, as well as also a number of people I have encountered who are more interested in maintaining the "status quo" of preserving the heritage while not being infused with the life of the Spirit. That being said, I want to share some thoughts on a couple of recent things that got my attention.

A couple of years ago, there was a bit of furor among the Continuum when a number of their Churchmen began to petition to be accepted into communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The result of that was a Pastoral Provision initiated by Pope Benedict XVI called Anglicanorum Coetibus, which more or less proposed an Ordinariate being established by Rome itself for the purpose of receiving these Anglican clergy and Churchmen into the RCC. One of the major players in this is a personal friend of ours, Bishop Louis Campese, who as of the beginning of this year has departed from the ACA, of which he was formerly the diocesan bishop in this area, to establish what is called the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family in order to transition to full communion with Rome.   Many Continuing Anglican parishes and people joined in this effort, and to be honest, I have reservations about it.   I myself am a validly-chrismated Catholic (I was chrismated Maronite-rite on Easter 2000 by Bishop Robert Lynch) and as a Catholic myself I very much am a traditionalist in many aspects. However, I also have not liked what I have seen happening to the Roman Catholic Church in recent years, and the reason I don't attend a Roman parish now is very simple - Rome left us in faith, rather than we leaving it.   Many Continuing Churchmen are staunch in being traditionalist and conservative, as I am, and I feel the ones who are pursuing Anglicanorum Coetibus may be setting themselves up for a disappointment, for Rome is not the same Church she was even 40 years ago - it says one thing officially, but in practice its clergy and laity are often at odds with both Scripture and the teachings of the historic Church as Jesus established it. As a matter of fact, Rome now has more in common with ECUSA in many cases than it does with the Continuum, and that is alarming in itself - that is not to say that there are not wonderful Roman Catholic priests (Frs Norman Weslin, Frank Perkovich, Mitch Pacwa, and Frank Pavone, among others, come to mind, and there are great organizations such as the Association of Hebrew Catholics and Priests for Life that are making great stands for the truth) who really do stand for the Word of God and the Holy Tradition of the Church, because they are in great number, but the overall state of the Catholic Church in the US is sad to say the least - that is why I don't think that Bishop Campese and other Churchmen - although of good intention - are exactly making the best decision on this. That being said, an official split has occurred as a result - 20% of the ACA, which Bishop Campese formerly served as local bishop, is now pursuing this course.   But, out of it some good has come, and that is where we are going next.

I got word yesterday that in November there is going to be a World Consultation on the Continuing Anglican Churches being held in Boston, and participating in it are the largest jurisdictions in the Continuum - ACA, ACC, and APA.   And, recently, the APA and ACA have agreed on an Intercommunion covenant with each other, which is also a promising sign (very promising, considering that about 15 years ago the APA and ACA split over some personality conflicts which, in retrospect, were rather petty).   This call for reconciliation among the various groups in the Continuum is an encouraging sign, for as a united witness they could do so much more. The Continuum is small in number, true enough, but it is also made up of a lot of faithful, staunch people who uphold the historic Catholic faith and wish to preserve it for generations to come.   Those of us who are of "like precious faith" with the Continuing Anglicans also need to give our support to these efforts, because we are the Remnant, and we need each other for spiritual support in this day and age when society as a whole is particularly hostile against Christianity and its message.   It is my hope and prayer that in good time the various jurisdictions of the Continuum will lay aside petty matters (all of them are of one faith, but they are divided over petty issues that really don't mean a hill of beans in the greater scheme of things) and work together as one church, united under one Lord, and baptized by one baptism (Ephesians 4:11) into one Holy Spirit. And, for those of us outside the Continuum who share the same faith, may we also forge closer bonds with our Continuing Anglican brethren in order to be the one Body of Christ we are called to be.

That being said, I conclude by saying we need to give our support and prayers to the bishops of the Continuum - Bishop Grundorf of the APA, Bishop Marsh of the ACA, and Archbishop Haverland of the ACC, as well as many other faithful bishops and clergy of other Continuing Anglican jurisdictions - as well as praying God's protection over Bishop Campese and others who chose to be in communion with the Roman See, that they would stay steadfast in their faith and not let forces in the RCC influence or destroy them. Therefore, I watch now with interest as things begin to unfurl, and maybe will update you all on this issue from time to time.   God bless until next visit, and hope that this article was informative to you.

The Paradoxical Paradigm Shift of Pentecost

2011-08-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

Trends come and trends go, and often some strange evolution of circumstance results from the influence of such trends. The Church world - fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the situation - is no different. In some reading I have undertaken recently, I have felt led to reflect on a couple of issues I have been reading up on.   I have mixed feelings on some of the stuff I have read, as I can see both positives and negatives, but nonetheless this whole subject does interest me and that is why I feel the importance of addressing it.

Two recent articles I have read in Christianity Today chronicle some shifts that are occurring in the Pentecostal/charismatic tradition of the Christian faith.   I have a personal interest in this, for although I am a Catholic myself now, I was raised in an Appalachian Holiness/Pentecostal environment, as well as graduating from an Assemblies of God college and ministering several years in another Pentecostal denomination, the Foursquare Gospel Church.   And, although I am now Catholic, there are many facets of my Pentecostal upbringing I still hold to spiritually if not theologically, so I guess if I could be categorized by terminology, I would be what is called basically a "sacramental Pentecostal/Primitive Catholic." The changes and shifts discussed in both articles I have read affect me in many aspects, albeit in different ways, and that is another premise for my own address of this subject.

The first article of note was from the current (August 2011 as of this writing) issue of Christianity Today entitled "A New Kind of Pentecostal."   Written by Dr. Robert Crosby, a professor of theology at my old alma mater, Southeastern University, he establishes his premise by noting the following trends that have taken place in Pentecostalism over the past several years, and they are as follows:

1. A marked decrease in the public practice of glossolalia (speaking in tongues) in the public worship of the typical Pentecostal church.

2. "Fresh" developments in eschatology (some of this is not so good, but I digress...)

3. A broader engagement in compassion ministry and social concern.

In regard to the third trend, Dr. Crosby devotes a considerable amount of attention in the article itself, and what he writes has both positives and negatives.   Another thing he notes in th article too is that Pentecostalism's center has shifted more to the Third World, an observation I feel is valid.   The same thing is pretty much happening across the board with all Christian traditions, and one of note aside from Pentecostalism is the mainstream Anglican Church, which at this point is both doctrinally more conservative and numerically stronger in what is called the "Southern Cone," encompassing Africa, the Middle East, and south Asia (many disaffected Episcopalians, correctly assessing the apostasy of the Episcopal Church in the US, are seeking out bishops now in Rwanda, Uganda, and Nigeria for spiritual covering, resulting in a whole new communion of Anglican conservatives in the US) . This is ironic, as we in the "enlightened" West often call these people "backwater" and "under-developed," yet apostasy is rampant among European, American, and Canadian churches, which are emptying - even conservative churches, as noted in one of the articles I have read, are starting to level off in membership in the US and other "developed" nations. Although the situation is not as dramatic as among American Episcopalians, Pentecostals have been affected by this too - as Crosby notes, there is a leveling-off of membership in many larger US Pentecostal groups, although minority/ethnic churches are experiencing a growth trend. As he continues, Dr. Crosby sees this trend being a result of ethnic/minority churches ministering more to temporal needs as well as being more urban in demographic - I beg to differ here with a couple of points of my own.   First, the reason numbers are leveling off in predominantly White Pentecostal (as well as other Protestant Evangelical) churches is due to the fact many of them have lost their spiritual vision, and a spirit of entertainment (thanks in part to this Emerging Church/Purpose-Driven/Seeker-Friendly movement) has taken over many churches and their people are hungry for the truth.   And, as a result, many are starting to seek out a more sacramental/liturgical form of worship that re-introduces Christ as the center rather than chasing fads - that is my own story as a matter of fact, and there are thousands of others with similar experiences. As a matter of fact, if any of you were asked which Christian denomination has the most effective outreach to people dispossessed by Evangelicalism, what would you say it is? I can tell you exactly what it is actually, and it has been something this body has been doing for close to 30 years - the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese! The disaffected are also finding new homes and spiritual growth in the Continuing Anglican Churches, as well as independent Catholic communions that have arisen over the past several decades.   THAT is where people are getting fed and ministered! And, for those of us who are former Pentecostals, it has both restored something we have lost as well as giving us a renewed vision for God's plans in our lives.   Many Pentecostal and Evangelical denominations will not admit this fact too readily, but the evidence speaks for itself.   The other thing that Crosby may have overlooked - although to be fair he may not have thought of it, which I can concede - has to do with the focus on urban growth.   People who focus too much on urban ministry and trends tend to neglect that in certain areas of the country, classic, traditional Pentecostal and Baptist churches are not only alive and well, but they are thriving! I am a native of West Virginia, for instance, and am part of the whole Appalachian Holiness/Pentecostal ethos, as that is how I was raised and many of the convictions it gave me I still hold dear today.   According to some very credible Appalachian scholars - Deborah Vansau McCauley, Dr. Loyal Jones (a personal mentor of mine), and Dr. Howard Dorgan - the Holiness/Pentecostal tradition, by plurality, is the largest Christian denominational presence in the mountains, and is the product of rural, agrarian communities.   Although consisting of small congregations (a significant percentage don't even average a membership of 100 parishioners) they are numerous nonetheless - megachurches and church growth techniques learned at expensive seminars don't always apply, as God's Holy Spirit tends to measure success differently from us.   And, this despite the stereotypes, condemnation, and assaults by generations of "agents of uplift" trying to "evangelize and civilize" (interpretation - trying to cookie-cut us in their image) our people while they themselves often did not have a vibrant faith in the Lord.   My fellow Appalachians, as a matter of fact, are very much on par with the non-White "Developing world," yet it is us and the "developing world" churches that are alive, vibrant, and growing while a lot of the White urban demographic is apostasizing.   Yet, excepting the good efforts of capable scholars of Appalachian studies (most from a sociological rather than a theological perspective), it seems as if the Appalachian Holiness/Pentecostal traditions have been largely ignored, snubbed and deemed not worthy of scholarship yet subject to unfair stereotypes (this despite the fact one of the largest Pentecostal denominations, the Church of God, has the same roots!). This is something I would love the chance to sit and chat with Dr. Crosby over coffee about sometime, as I feel it would be a stimulating discussion.

The other article of interest was published in April 2006 and entitled "Pentecostals: The Sequel," and was penned by noted Pentecostal scholar Dr. Grant McClung, whose work I am very familiar with and have a high regard for. He notes that Pentecostalism is on the verge of crossroads as it enters its second century (2006 was the centennial of the Azuza Street meetings, which in 1906 was where many Pentecostal denominations trace their heritage). McClung more or less corroborates Crosby's article of previous note with a considerable amount of statistical/demographical data, and also noting Dr. Cecil Robeck's observation of the centrifugal growth of the movement from Azuza Street to the rest of the world.   At the conclusion of his article, McClung shares some of his concerns for the future of Pentecostalism, which he shares in the form of prayer - I especially was interested in his petition that the Pentecostal movement continue to have Christ at the center of the movement, as well as anacknowledgement that Pentecostals don't have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit and His work or His giver (Jesus Christ) - in other words, there are other Christians with the same spiritual passion who can proclaim the Gospel to the nations (see Acts 1:8).   That all being said, time to share my thoughts on these issues.

McClung is a highly capable Pentecostal scholar whose books and other writings I have read and I acknowledge that his caliber of scholarship is high. I express the same admiration for Dr. Crosby whom, although he was not at Southeastern when I went to school there, nonetheless is a man who knows his material and has a good perspective on the issue, although on some points I would surely differ. Again too, as a former Pentecostal myself I can still appreciate much good that came from the movement, as it has offered much to me personally and I am indebted to it for a lot of things.   That being said, here are my observations.   Dr. McClung expresses, in so many words, a desire to preserve the best of Pentecostal distinctiveness while moving forward, which I also feel could benefit the movement as a whole.   That being said, I wish to build on both Crosby's and McClung's thoughts as I realistically note a couple of things that concern me. Over the past few weeks, Barb and I have been unable to attend Wenesday Bible study at our parish due to the fact our vicar is recovering from bypass surgery and the service has been cancelled until September.   In lieu of the formal Wenesday study at the parish, Barb and I have been either listening to a CD teaching or watching some teaching DVD's I have in my library, as it is important to keep the spirit fed. Any rate, many years back I had gotten a series from a teacher/evangelist named Roberts Liardon called "God's Generals," which focuses on the lives of about a dozen Pentecostal/charismatic pioneers and evangelists from ages past. I have long since given away the VHS copies of this I used to have, and a few months back I got one of the best ones of the series, on the life of Kathryn Kuhlman, on DVD.   Many of these great evangelists of the past, though not without shortcomings, did have a tremendous calling on their lives, and Kathryn Kuhlman has always been someone I have admired and respected for the unique ministry she had.   Back when I was very little, Mom used to listen to her on the radio when she had a show many moons back, and even then I found her fascinating - her speaking style sounded funny to me, but once I became older and understood the power behind the speaker, I grew to appreciate her unique mannerisms and also came to identify with many of them - she was a person who believed the Holy Spirit was her best friend, and the meetings she conducted were always first-class by even worldly standards because she didn't want to make the Holy Spirit's presence offended. That is something, as a sacramental/liturgical Christian, I can understand and identify with well - and, I am about to address this as a point shortly.   Another thing about her ministry that really impressed me was a quote she often repeated - "God doesn't want gold or silver vessels, but yielded vessels!"   These things about Kathryn Kuhlman's ministry, as well as viewing the DVD the other day, basically got me thinking about something in relation to these two articles - it is tragic that many of today's Pentecostals and charismatics have lost this unique but very real dichotomy; a simple Gospel message of salvation acompanied by signs and wonders, something that often followed many of the earliest Pentecostal and charismatic pioneers. The great evangelists of the past - Kuhlman, Oral Roberts, H. Richard Hall, and many others - were really not necessarily people who "claimed" special gifts, but rather they did what the Spirit told them and things happened. This was also true at the Azuza Street meetings, where it was said that William J. Seymour, the pastor of the Mission, often spent most of the services kneeling with his head inside the pulpit, yet great things happened as a result.   Today, it is as if most Pentecostals are ashamed of this heritage, and even Dr. Crosby notes that there has been a decrease in public practice of glossolalia and other traditionally Pentecostal manefestations in the public worship of the average mainstream Pentecostal church today. A good friend of mine, evangelist Perry Stone, has noted this as well, as he has stressed in many of his books that affluence and comfort have brought as sort of staleness to many Pentecostal churches.   Unfortunately (I should say tragically) as a result strange things have happened.   Many churches in the Western world, for instance, seem to be hell-bent on adapting rock music, tactics from the corporate world, and even outright New Age/occultic practices (via Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, the "Emerging Church" movement, and James Rutz, to name a few), yet they are ashamed of healings, deliverances, and the display of prophecy or tongues in their churches!! And the results are dramatic as to what has happened to the average Pentecostal church in recent years - there are high percentages of divorces, adultery, homosexuality, dabbling in occultic practices (horoscopes, for one thing), and alcohol abuse among Pentecostals that rival even their secular counterparts at times.   The correlation between the demise in Holy Spirit presence and the rise in unbiblical behaviors cannot be overlooked, and although some would deny it, the evidence speaks volumes.   Another area Crosby notes is a "fresh" perspective in many sectors on eschatology - many Pentecostals today are so worldly that they don't even preach about the Second Coming anymore, and even TBN has censored prophecy teachers on its network.   However, they forget something - Pentecostalism is an apocalyptic movement, and its early proponents saw the supernatural move of the Holy Spirit being tied into the soon-coming of Jesus Christ in glory; as a matter of fact, a whole discipline called the "Latter Rain Teaching" grew up around that.   And, it is Biblical - the Church has taught for centuries that one sign of the Lord's coming would be Christians being gifted in supernatural ways by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel, in particular heralding the soon coming of the Lord.   More importantly, early Pentecostals paid a hefty price for that message - many of them were persecuted, their churches burned, their persons egged, and they were often denounced as "cults" and as being heretical by the established churches of their day.   Many of their early missionaries were martyred too - they share much in common with the early Church of the first four centuries.   Again, we go back to Kathryn Kuhlman, who often said that to accept the call of God, there is a great cost - everything! To be great in God is to be humble in self, dying to self, and diverting attention from self, and a true servant of God who moves in supernatural signs of the Holy Spirit will understand it, because ego can be boosted thus opening the temptation for us to take credit for the Holy Spirit's work. And, that is the big problem with the Rick Warren movement and the "seeker" churches - in their arrogance, they think they can do the Holy Spirit's job better than he can, and that is where they make a fatal error.   Unfortunately, that is an error many Pentecostal congregations have become caught up in, and that is going to be the undoing of the movement in latter years, should the Lord tarry. Ambitious programs and megachurches may draw people, after all, and rock music with a "Jesus" or two thrown in may make people jump up and down to its seductive rhythms, but in the long run the question must be asked - does it truly reach people?? As Dr. McClung points out, we need to look back to Zechariah 4:6 - "not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord."

The bottom line here in this whole discussion is simple - in order to move ahead, we need to look back to the landmarks that have guided us as Christians over the centuries.   We need to rediscover them, know what they are about, and then restoration will happen.   Our witness is measured by what we remember, not by what we abandon.   May we take this as a valuable lesson and begin by really seeking the face of God in our churches, and thus by allowing members to be yielded to the Holy Spirit, God can be revealed in us.   Therefore, his revelation in that way will empower us to reach the world with the Gospel and its life-giving truth.   Our time is short, and may we begin to get back to our roots - that is my prayer for you today. God bless until next time.

The Sanctity Of Marriage - An Informal Discourse

2011-08-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

I was going to concentrate this week on doing the second part of my Ethiopia in Bible Prophecy series, but a couple of things have gotten my attention and need to be addressed.   This is a highly-loaded subject, and therefore it may stir some emotions if read, but what must be said, must be said, and therefore it is worth the risk.

At the large lawfirm I work at in Tampa, there are a number of paralegals and legal assistants who, during my lunch hour, often sit at an adjacent table and engage in a lot of meaningless conversation - one woman thinks Charlie Sheen is the most perfect man since sliced bread was invented, and the same woman and a couple of others obsess over the recent Casey Anthony trial so much that you can easily tire of hearing about it.   There are a lot of crazy things that get said in that meaningless banter, in other words, and for the most part it isn't worth the time to take seriously.   However, a couple of weeks back something really disturbed my spirit in regard to three of these people, and it regarded the recent hullabaloo over "gay" marriage. It is that conversation that really inspired me to write this.

The people in question who were espousing some of the stuff I am about to share were two women, one a supposedly professing Catholic and the other a member of a Southern Baptist church of some nature, who more or less by their opinions defied the teachings of their own churches on traditional marriage, and it was distressing as it was yet another sign of what II Timothy talks about as a "great falling away." Basically, they more or less unilaterally condemned conservative Christians as 'lunatics" while espousing the "do not judge" mentality, and both said that they think gays are "created by God as gay" and therefore they also supported openly the ideas of so-called "gay marriage" and other absurdities. Now, both the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention have come out as officially condemning "gay marriage" as unbiblical and against human nature as God created it, and both denominations affirm the traditional Christian (and Biblical) view of marriage as a monogamous union between one man and one woman. Yet, these supposedly active, professing church members defy the teachings of their own churches on this issue!! The Catholic lady in particular was very offensive in her attitude, and ironically she makes a big deal over eating meat on Friday during Lent yet she defies every other teaching of the Church - my advice to this woman is to just go out and indulge in a T-bone steak during Lent, because church and fasting are vague exercises in futility for such people. Unfortunately, this woman represents something I have talked about before and was foretold by many great visionaries, saints, and Fathers of the Church, both East and West, over many centuries - the apostasy of the Gentiles. Many people, whom my spiritual mentor Fr. Eusebius Stephanou rightly calls "baptized pagans", are in this mentality these days, and it is scary to see the true Remnant of Christ dwindling in the Western world so fast, yet it should not be surprising.   However, despite these people attending church, going through the motions, etc., they are still tares in the wheatfield, and are not truly born again in Christ.   It takes a discerning eye these days to tell the difference, and even many good Christian folk are being deceived by this stuff, and many more are being seduced into accepting what the world and man's reasoning see as "good" over what God's Word says.   Tragic. And, that leads to the "meat" of our discussion.

Marriage, as recognized by the Church and the Bible, is a sacrament. and a Catholic priest by the name of Fr. John Hardon states there are four elements common to natural marriage:

1. It is a union of opposite sexes.

2. It is a lifelong union, ending only with the death of one spouse.

3. It excludes a union with any other person so long as the marriage contract exists.

4. Its lifelong nature and exclusiveness are guaranteed by contract (covenant is the more appropriate word here)

In other words, Biblical, traditional, natural marriage is a spiritual as well as a conjugal union, and is for the purpose of procreation and mutual love.   And, it is an icon of the divine union of Christ and His Church, and thus a picture of the Second Coming of Christ in a prophetic sense too.   That being said, any deviation from the above, including so-called "gay marriage," polygamy, adulterous relationships, whoredom, or so-called "group marriages," is a sin against God and defies His divine order of things.   That is why no Christian should be advocating for homosexual marriages, because a Christian who does is compromising with the world and its standards.

Likewise, the state has no right to dictate or define marriage, being that marriage is a sacramental union and thus is under the jurisdiction of the Church, and not the state.   When homosexuals and others try to impose their flawed views of marriage and family on the society, they are acting in defiance of the Church and its teachings.   And, when the state tries to define what marriage is, it oversteps its bounds as well - I find it curious that atheists and others have such a big issue with crosses displayed in public, but they have no issue with asserting their agenda in the Church's realm of influence as many of these godless people advocate "gay marriage."   Marriage is not something an atheist needs to assert authority on, because it is a sacramental concept and beyond their worldview and beliefs and thus they need to stay out of it. The same needs to be made clear to our government - the Church over the centuries has said that "gay marriage" is against God's laws, and God's laws are beyond the scope of man-made authority and they supersede it. It is one thing, for instance, for the state to recognize marriage with a license, etc., but quite another when government thinks it can define what the institution of marriage is.   Our government today then, by advancing these agendas, is contrary to the Founding Fathers of this nation, God's natural order, the Bible, and the Holy Tradition of the Church on this issue. Politicians are not paid to be priests, pastors, rabbis, or bishops - that being said, they need to butt out of the arena when it comes to the definition of marriage, because they have no authority to speak on the subject; only God, through His Church, does.   Enough said!

That being said, this does not give us license to persecute gays - gays are sinners in need of deliverance, just like the drunkards, drug addicts, and others bound by the nature of sin and death. Jesus died for gays too, and He loves them and will always receive them with open arms if they choose to deny themselves and profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior.   However, compassion does not mean acceptance of their sin or what they do, and when their activists do something in defiance of the Church and God's laws, it is our duty as a Church to make a stand for the truth.   A lot of what gays are doing they do in a misguided attempt to reach out for acceptance and love, as their unnatural desires and lusts are not fulfilling them. Only one thing can fulfill that need for them and anyone else, and that is the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross for our sins.   Only through the Cross can we receive true love, acceptance, and fulfillment, and only in the sacramental union of Holy Matrimony - monogamous, enduring, and Christian marriage between one man and one woman - can true conjugal love be found. All other attempts are foolish and lead to destruction, because they are not the will of the Lord.   That being said, our prayer for renewal and reform in this nation must be first started with prayer for the renewal and restoration of the traditional family unit, for its restoration will lead to the healing of our society. Amen.

Ethiopia in Prophecy Part I - Africa, The Bible, And The Church

2011-07-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

Introduction

With the recent emergence of South Sudan as an independent nation (a cause I have personally advocated for years, I must add), it brought to mind the importance of the African Christian heritage that is often underdocumented and misunderstood due in large part to liberal theologies, Islamization, and Arabization (the last go hand-in-hand).   The primary emphasis of this two-part study is on Ethiopia and the Biblical Ark of the Covenant, and its prophetic role in the future.   However, I want to first give a background as to Africa's Christian past, which is actually a rich heritage that needs to be given more attention.

I.   Biblical References to Ethiopia

Although the primary Scriptural background of this study will actually focus on Isaiah 18, there are deep Scriptural roots and a number of references to this unique nation in the Bible, and they can be found in both the Old and New Testaments. Therefore, I am going to now take some of these passages and briefly discuss them.

A. Genesis 2:13

One of the earliest Biblical references to Ethiopia involves the Garden of Eden from the very beginning, as it is included in the traditional boundaries of this location at the very outset. The River Gishon in the passage, for instance, is cited by the Church Fathers and believed by traditional scholarship to be a reference to the Nile. An aspect of this refers to an "opening in the earth" which I believe could be a reference to the Rift Valley, and the same reference actually says the Gishon (Nile) encircles Ethiopia, and geographically this has some merit, as the Rift Valley/Nile and the Arabian Sea do surround the area. An interesting side note to this is that some Church Fathers gave an allegorical symbolism to the Nile as the figure of chastity (Andrew Louth, ed. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Vol. I - Genesis 1-11 {Downer's Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 2001} p. 57). The chastity part has a spiritual significance too, as it could possibly symbolize the faithfulness of the Ethiopians over the centuries to the Judeo-Christian tradition and the one true God, a fact that actually dates back until at least the time of King Solomon. However, that could be over-reaching a bit, so we will leave that for now.

Bottom line is, the Garden of Eden was actually a massive geographical region, as it pretty much encompassed everything between the Nile Valley and the Ganges River in India, and this would have definitely included Ethiopia in the equation.   Other factors, since as the antediluvian positioning of continents, etc., may have factors involved as well in this hypothesis, but that is the focus of a whole other study.

B. Daniel 7:8

This familiar passage in Daniel talks about the "plucking up" of three "horns" (meaning in this context kings) by the "little horn" (generally agreed by most scholarship to be a symbol of the Antichrist). What this traditionally can be interpreted as is this - the Antichrist comes to power and subjects most of the world to his rule, but three nations resist this control and rise up against him unsuccessfully.   St. Jerome interprets this verse as identifying with Egypt, the Africans (alluding to the old Roman province of Africa, centered around Carthage in what is today Tunisia), and Abyssinia (Ethiopia) (Desmond Birch. Trial, Tribulation, and Triumph. {Santa Barbara, CA: Queenship Publishing, 1996} p. 483). Note that all three of these "horns" are in Africa, and all three have one thing in common - they were all fertile strongholds of Christianity with a deep and rich tradition.   With the exception of North Africa, which until fairly recently was predominantly Islamic and Arabized, these areas to this day still have a significant Christian presence.   The Berbers, who are the true natives of North Africa, have in recent years experienced a renaissance of their culture and heritage, and as a result a growing population of Christians (some miraculously converted through personal visions of Jesus coming to them Himself with the Gospel message) is being re-established among them.   Even the name "Berber" is perjorative, as most of these people identify themselves by the term Amazigh. Remember, the ancient Amazigh Christians, centered around the ancient see of Carthage, were the same people that had among their native sons such great champions of the faith as St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, Tertullian, and other major Church Fathers and saints. Most of the dumbed-down "churchianity" of today ignores this fact, as the general belief is that somehow these great soldiers of the faith were all transplanted Romans or something.   That ignorance is the height of bigotry, as it denies the true diversity of the Christian Church, which encompasses all cultures and has from the beginning. Read the New Testament, people - the Church of Acts 2 has at least 14 different nationalities represented at the first Day of Pentecost!! Racism and ethnocentrism have no place in the Body of Christ, and its origins are demonic - yet, it has infected the thinking of the Church for decades, especially among American Evangelicals and Catholics (a lapsed Catholic I talked to, as a matter of fact, failed to comprehend that Jesus was born an observant Jew, as all he saw all his life were those stupid pictures of some blonde, blue-eyed, bearded hippie wimp, which by the way is not the Jesus I know!). Anyway, forgive my soapboxing, but it is important to remember that Christ died for all people, and that fact is included in the constitution of the early Church as well.

Conclusion - The ABC's of the African Church

Based on Daniel 8, it is concluded then that the "three horns" refer to three African nations, which we call the ABC's:

1. Abyssinia - This is a generic term for Ethiopia and the surrounding regions, and in modern geography it includes also I believe the South Sudanese and Eritreans. It is here we will pick up with in Part II of this study.

2. Berbers - Although I personally prefer the correct term Amazigh, the remnant of Christians among these people, I believe, will grow into a strong church as they rediscover their roots.

3. Copts - The native Christian Egyptians, who are actually prophetically referred to in Isaiah 19:23-25, which also is the whole focus of another study. Sufficive to say, these are the blood descendants of the pharaonic Egyptians, and are not Arabs, as most of the ignorant American public seems to think.

This concludes my introductory part of this study, so we will move on in the next section to the specific study of Ethiopia in prophecy.

From the Archives - Epilogue

2011-06-20T09:41:00.003-07:00

This post officially ends a series of my old sermons from years back, and these stretched over a period of 7 years approximately. It is my hope that you enjoyed my sharing them with you.

As you may have noticed, the previous messages reflected an evolution of sorts as I have grown and matured in my spirituality over the years. Some things I used to advocate from my earlier days I later have found to be in error and have now refuted, but that is all part of the growth process. Mind you, I have by no measure "arrived" spiritually, as I continue to grow and learn, but II Timothy 2:15 tells us to "study to show ourselves approved," and in the end I hope that anyone will be able to see that. However, I must also confess that I, in re-typing these old messages, have fallen into a common trap - often with theological orthodoxy can come spiritual stagnation, and I went through a 7-year period where I was so dormant that I had no spiritual activity whatsoever, save just going to church weekly and maintaining a daily devotional practice. That ensured my spiritual survival, but I didn't thrive as I once did. Although I later did re-establish my direction spiritually, and am now more spiritually in-tune than I have been in a long time, I fondly remember the zeal and passion I had back when I preached many of these messages, and do miss that. However, they have motivated me to seek to get back into God's will over the past couple of years, and this blog site is the fruit of that effort. The internet does provide more opportunities for a ministry like this, and I truly thank God for that every day.

I want to take a moment also to apologize for some things in those early messages that may have been a little off-base, and I have taken effort on some parts of these messages to insert editorial notes to rectify the issue, although the sermon manuscripts themselves are presented as they were given in their original forms. Spiritual growth can be painful at times, as often you have to re-evaluate some of your beliefs in lieu of Scripture and Holy Tradition of the Church, and sometimes we can be wrong. I myself take responsibility for those errors and assure the reader that those convictions are no longer something I personally espouse. For instance, years back, I was involved to a degree in a couple of Charismatic schools of thought, one being the Word/Faith teaching and the other being an association with the likes of Bishop Earl Paulk, a man I used to consider a mentor until I began to discover that a lot of what he and others I used to endorse were teaching was unscriptural, and also their personal lives ended up being less than exemplary for the spiritual leadership such people wielded. I also used to be involved in advocating the prophecies of a Greek Orthodox laywoman by the name of Vassoula Ryden back when I was in college, until I began reading her material more closely and finding out that much of this "revelation" she received was not of God. I realize I may have been responsible for introducing others to this stuff, and may God forgive me for any damage or harm done to them via that activity. It is my prayer that these folks may have also grown in discernment to understand error from truth, and I also pray that they have grown as vibrant Christians today and are in tune with the Holy Spirit rather than with the "vain and profane babblings" of others, regardless of intentions.

A second regret I have is that I could not share the manuscript of every message I presented, as I spoke in a lot of churches in those years - these covered 6 states, as well as representing a lot of different denominations and ethnic groups. A couple of them I wished I could have included were the messages I preached in California back in December 1995, one at St Nareg Armenian Church in Montebello, CA (pastored by my dear friend, the late Dr. Krikor Haleblian) and the other being the Assyrian Pentecostal Church in Turlock, CA. That was a wonderful experience for me, and I also appeared then on KBES-FM Assyrian Radio in Modesto, CA, at the same time. Another church where I preached was in June 1990 at my Uncle Teak Turner's church in St. George, WV, the old Sycamore Grove Full Gospel Church (Rev. Pat Cassidy, pastor). Many in that particular congregation were actually my relatives, as that church is only a few minutes outside my hometown of Parsons. Another unique little church was one I spoke at in March 1991, located on a back road at the edge of a cotton field outside Ashford, AL. The name of the church was Faith Holiness Tabernacle, and it was pastored by an elderly lady then by the name of Sis. Edna Enfinger. The night I spoke there - on a Thursday - my audience was a full five people, and I remember receiving an offering there of $2.50. I did supplement my income preaching in those years as well, but then I was not as interested in money as I was in the opportunity to preach and share God's vision I believed he gave me to anyone who gave me opportunity to do so. I do really miss those days of itinerant ministry, as they were some of the best memories of my life and I got to meet and know a lot of wonderful people of many backgrounds and ethnicities. Many of them are still dear friends to this day.

If per chance God would allow me to itinerate again in the future, I know for sure I would do some things differently though. For one, I would make sure I recorded my messages on tape, and also would take the effort to take pictures of the churches I spoke in for projects like this, as I want you to see what the churches I have been in look like.   I feel that would help the reader share in the experience better.   My good friend Perry Stone talks about this a lot as well, as he mentions the essential task of preserving a spiritual legacy for others, and this is my legacy, flaws and all.

After 1996, I entered the spiritually dormant period I talked of earlier until I took up a brief publishing venture with my magazine, The Present Truth Trumpet.   However, due to the financial strain, I was unable to keep it going, but as part of the whole legacy I will be presenting some of the best material from those old issues of my magazine on occasion.   More so than speaking, I love writing, and have found that my written messages have carried more impact than my preached ones! And, at times, they have stirred up things too as I have had to make unpopular stands on issues in which my enemies have launched attacks against my faith, character, etc.   However, when the enemies of the message God has given you come against you, brush off their poison darts and move on, and that philosophy has kept me on course for many years.

Starting this new "Sacramental Present Truths" blog, which I launched in December 2009, has proven to be my most fruitful endeavor yet, and it will continue to be published with both archived and fresh material for hopefully a long time to come.   It is also a very affordable ministry option, as the greatest investment is the research and data entry of the information I share here.

God bless each of you who read this site regularly, and hope you will stay tuned for more interesting and enlightening articles that I pray benefit both spiritually and intellectually.

From the Archives - A Series; Part XII

2011-06-20T05:13:00.000-07:00

This is the last in the series of my vintage messages from many years back, and this one dates to May 16,1996. It was the homily I gave when our vicar, Fr. Baker, asked me to officiate at Morning Prayer that Sunday due to the fact he wasn't going to be there. The parish was Holy Trinity Anglican Church, a new mission work then of the Anglican Church in America, a "Continuing"Anglican jurisdiction that uses the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and is in general more conservative than the apostatized Episcopal Church. Unfortunately, the mission was short-lived due to some bad leadership and the fact it just wasn't meant to be there.

This message also marks my first as a liturgical/sacramental Christian, because by this point I was thoroughly ensconced in the Catholic faith, and from this point there would be no going back. Of course, my viewpoint in this homily, as in several of the previous, was somewhat different than it is today because I have grown much since then. That is especially true during the timeframe of this message, because then I was actually going through some bad trials, being I had just graduated from college and some other issues had come at us then, and this would be one of the last messages I spoke for a number of years due to the fact my ministry and spiritual life would lie dormant for almost 12 years after this. Thank you again for being with me in this series, and stay tuned to the next blog post, which will serve as a conclusion/epilogue to the archived message series too.

Pride and Prejudice: Our Sin

1. Premise: Pride and prejudice go together: a person having a false sense of pride, rooted in insecurity, comforts himself by saying he is "better than those people."

2. Luke 10:29-37: The Parable of The Good Samaritan

A. In the story, a Jewish man is robbed on a journey - make this Jewish man a white, successful Southern man who owns the small-town business and is making a business trip to Atlanta. Please note three things in this scenario:

The man is an evangelical Protestant Baptist who listens to Rush Limbaugh religiously
The man is considered an American grassroots patriot who votes straight Republican in every election.
This man is pro-life, NRA, and distrustful of Blacks.

B. Let us say now that this man is walking in downtown Atlanta, probably near Peachtree Plaza Tower. He is on gang territory, and is all of a sudden jumped and messed up pretty badly.

C. As he is lying there, he is approached by three different individuals:

The first is the pastor of the nearby Baptist church, a congregation of some five thousand with a syndicated TV program, etc. He knows the businessman lying before him in the gutter very personally, but fails to recognize him due to the severity of the man's appearance after being subjected to all that violence. Instead of helping matters, the prominent pastor mutters some comment about "sinful Southern white trash" lying around in the streets being a burden on good tax-paying citizens like himself. You can really feel the love coming from this man of God, can you not??
About ten minutes later, the next pedestrian is a well-known Bible scholar from the local theological seminary. He is in a rush because his next class on the life of Christ starts in ten minutes. Seeing the unfortunate man lying in the ditch, he says "Jesus loves even your kind," and tosses him a tract preaching hellfire and damnation to those who are "fond of the glass." (Keep in mind that this poor guy has never touched alcohol in his life!) With a quick "God bless you," the "Professor" heads off to class.
At around a half an hour later, a soulful female voice is heard humming "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" a little ways down the street. Upon coming into view, it is a young Black single mother of two, who lives with an abusive boyfriend and a meager monthly ration of foodstamps. However, she has recently been born again in Christ, and is a new creature in Him. Seeing the man, she sends her oldest child, who is approximately 5 years old, to get help from her elderly uncle, who works as a hotel porter at a prestigious downtown resort nearby. While waiting, she takes some "Baby Wipes" out of the bag she is toting, and begins to clean the man's wounds with them. She then reassures the man that everything is going to be all right, and pretty soon her uncle comes and gets the man, putting him up in a hotel room he paid for himself (This elderly Black man probably makes a quarter of the annual salary, it must be noted, that the unfortunate victim he is helping makes). Getting the number of the businessman's wife, the elderly gentleman contacts her and she flies up to drive him home to recover. Every year afterward, the grateful businessman sends the elderly Black porter a nice gift.

______________________________________________________________________________________

If this story shocks you, it should. Take the word "Samaritan" out of the Biblical account and replace it with the "n" word, and you will get the point our Savior was trying to get across in the parable. Prejudice often keeps us from being fully blessed, for we do not love one another in the love of Christ. Jesus condemned this trait in the Jewish religious leadership of His day, and that same condemnation is held over the head of so-called "Christian America." WE MUST BE CAREFUL OF THIS SIN, and as Christians, we must be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10

Peter had a similar enlightenment on this subject of prejudice. You see, Peter was a rabid Jewish nationalist, and despised the "dagos" that had conquered and ruled his beloved home in Israel. In other words, he would have been a bigot who prided himself in being a fantastic and devout Jewish religious man. God forbid, therefore, that he would defile himself by cavorting with an unclean Gentile; I mean, for heaven's sake, they still had foreskins! However, Peter was now an Apostle of the Church, and as a leader he needed to set a good example of Christlikeness. Jesus was about to rock his world by using a Roman named Cornelius.

Cornelius was not the stereotypical, bullying Roman military officer: On the contrary, he actually loved and respected the Jewish people and their God, and was probably more reverent in serving God than most who were self-professing religious Jews. Jesus saw the faithfulness of Cornelius, and sought to reward it. At the same time, He wanted to do a little work on Peter's attitude. And, some work He was to do, but in the strangest way - through the gut! Talk about your hit below the belt; do not mess with a man's grub!

Peter was at Simon of Joppa's house doing his morning prayer service on the roof. However, God knew it was about lunchtime, and had planned on treating Peter to a nice little lunch. So, He set a fine spread before Peter which probably included such delights as shrimp scampi, oysters Rockefeller, and roast loin of pork, among other things; God is the best ten-star chef, you know! Despite how good it all looked (not to mention how wonderful it must have smelled!) Peter had a slight problem; his rabbi would have skinned him alive for just looking at such such non-kosher fare. Peter therefore, ever the good Jewish boy, refused to partake, and God became a little insulted with him refusing His hospitality. After all, Peter ended up refusing three times! Peter, however, was in fear. I mean, after all, first it was hanging around that weird Nazarene carpentere that proclaimed Himself the Son of God, and now this; it didn't look good, that is for sure! What next?

Well, if that wasn't enough, God commanded Peter to go visit a Roman! That was the ultimate! However, luckily he listened and went, and as a result, Cornelius and his whole household came to the Lord. Now, Peter was eating crow, but in the end he learned a valuable lesson: God is not a respector of persons, and Jesus died for all men and not just the Jews. Talk about radical!

Conclusion.

The story of Peter and Cornelius makes a good point: Jesus died for all sin, including racism. In order to be an effective witness, we must convey the character of our Lord. Bigotry and hatred are not part of that character. Therefore, if they are not, then perhaps we should not have them to begin with.

Today, if you have this sin with you, God wants to deliver you from it. Prejudice hinders, like any sin, the potential God has for His people. It has no place in His kingdom, for it is of hell. The very people we are prejudiced against may be the ones we are to be held accountable for someday. We must ask ourselves if it is worth it to have their blood crying out from our hands, and if so, how will we answer for it? In God's eyes, Black is beautiful, but so is white, red, yellow, olive or whatever - God created them all. Because he loves them, we must love them too. His death on the Cross was for them as well as us.

From the Archives - A Series; Part XI

2011-06-17T05:20:00.000-07:00

The following message was given at the Prayer Mission Fellowship Foursquare Church, pastored by Rev. Gwen Williams, in Lakeland, FL, on October 23, 1994. This little congregation, which shared a building with Bishop Cordell Allen's Pure Love United Faith Ministries over on Combee Road at the time, was pastored by a very dear friend of ours, an African-American lady minister who had a real heart for her people. Gwen's little congregation was an interracial fellowship, and among her parishioners were a number of elderly and handicapped folks that she reached out to at local retirement centers and convalescent homes.

Preaching at tiny churches like this were some of my best experiences doing itinerant ministry, and something I really miss today. Hopefully the following message will edify your spirit.

Why No Revival?

Intorduction

Today we have seen a lot of interesting things happening in the church world. People are experiencing revival in the most unexpected places: Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican churches, etc. As of now, a close 75% of all Southern Baptist foreign missionaries stationed overseas profess the gift of speaking in tongues, and even the head of the SBC Foreign Mission Board is a charismatic! Not only this, but hte Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, is a charismatic. A very anointed Roman Catholic priest by the name of Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa is now the official preacher to the Pope's house. The Pope himself has issued a decree called The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity which calls for each individual Catholic to exercise his or her spiritual gifts, and to partake in biblical evangelism. More? A Greek lady from Switzerland, Vassoula Ryden, has recently published volumes of written prophecies she has received from the Lord Himself calling the Church to repentance and holiness (editor note: Since giving this message many years ago, I have since then discovered that Vassoula was NOT operating in the Spirit of God, as much of what she wrote contradicted Scripture and the Tradition of the Church. I apologize for my lack of knowledge of the fact at the time). 85% of Mennonite missionaries overseas are also professing Charismatics as well. Finally nondenominational charismatic megachurches are exploding. What is going on?

As this is what I feel are the last days, God is pouring out a mighty anointing of His Spirit upon all flesh, as Joel 2:28 states. However, it is missing in one area, and that is where it started in the first place - the classical Pentecostal denominations. As other dead churches stir to life, it seems like Pentecostals are withering on the vine. I am concerned about this, for we as Pentecostals should be encouraging the outpouring. Instead, we suppress and persecute it. There are reasons behind all of this. The Bible mentions beforehand both of them, and though for the sake of time I will not get into all of it, I do want to capitalize on a major point here. Please open your Bibles and follow along. May the most blessed Holy Spirit use this message to prick your hearts, and may the fires of renewal be kindled in you through it.

I. A Great Falling Away

Let us turn to II Thessalonians 2:36:

For that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin may be revealed, the son of perdition.

Now let us turn to Romans 1:22:

Professing to be wise, they became fools

Finally, let us look at Exodus 33:3b:

For I will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiff-necked people.

The modern Pentecostal Church is in deep trouble, for it has abandoned its first love: the Lord Jesus Christ. I know this is a serious indictment but it is true. I heard recently for instance that almost 40%

of Assemblies of God pastors do not even believe in tongues, and the same number have never been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Instead, they have compromised their identity in order to seek prestige and respectability. Granted, the unfortunate thing is that this seed of death has been reflected in the early legalistic attitudes about dress, TV, etc.: therefore, the revival was bound to die sooner or later. Today, it is with great boldness that I say the Baptists are probably more on fire than Pentecostals are, and are probably living more by the Spirit. Says something!

Paul warned in Galatians about what legalism leads to, and he also talks about that in Romans 7. Those that set up a rigid, ascetical spirituality devoid of the Holy Spirit end up falling on their faces. In other words, they become spiritually dead, cold, and self-righteous. II Thessalonians 2:36 talks of this as a "falling away," and collectively as a movement denominational Pentecostalism has done this. Instead of proclaiming a full Gospel, many of our churches are full of gossip. Fads sweep the Church like tides on a beach, and true revival is dead. Many of the Pentecostal leadership, achieving respectability withing the Evangelical Protestant plethora, have died spiritually. There are even some in Pentecostal colleges who deny teaching on the Second Coming. In other words, as Romans 1:22 states, they profess wisdom but have become fools.

Are they willing to change? No, but they try to ride on the coattails of past revivals, and seek to "whoop up" a rerun performance every Sunday. They cannot be changed, and are as Exodus 3:33 states, a stiff-necked people. As a result, the anointing of God's presence in the typical Pentecostal church is absent: I think such places nauseate Him, to be personally frank about it. Something needs to happen.

Is there true revival anticipated, or are we all fooling ourselves? What if we miss it and die? I believe the Holy Spirit wants to answer that for us, and here is what He says: "Revival has come, but you have sought it in the wrong places. Go to where the hunger is." May we be so sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

II. Renewal and Resurrection

Finally, we get to our passage in Ezekiel 37. I am certain you all know the story here. Ezekiel has a vision of a valley of dry bones, and is commanded by God to prophesy life into them. He obeys, and the bones whip together, all the organs, muscles, skin fly into place, and as a result they live. Though the context here is for national Israel, is there a lesson for the Church? Absolutely, and here it is.

In recent years God has been restoring His apostles and prophets to the Churches, and in those that have been dead, people are being raised up, and a lot of dry bones in those places are now alive. People are getting right with God, being baptized with the Holy Spirit, and I have even heard of some reports of people barking like dogs, laughing hysterically, while some others weep, crow like roosters, etc. (editor note: This is in reference to the so-called "Holy Laughter" phenomenon of the time, which I have long since disavowed as it has had a lot of unScriptural excesses and has produced bad fruit. Many views of the past have matured in my personal convictions, and I ask you again to please excuse some of this from the time period) "Where has this been going on?" you may be asking now. In Lutheran, Episcopal, Catholic, and Orthodox churches! How about the Assemblies of God and Foursquare? To answer that, God moves where He is wanted, and where people sincerely cry out for Him, He is there. What have we as Pentecostals done about this? Rejoice and join with them, offering our encouragement and support? HA, HA, HA!! Are you kidding?? Instead, it is more like ridicule and sarcasm we hand them instead of support, because we in our infinite wisdom know how to REALLY be, and of course the Holy Spirit will not move any other way unless we dictate, and then of course He only moves within the four walls of the local Assembly of God church. Since when does the Assemblies of God, Foursquare, Church of God, or any other Pentecostal group have a monopoly on defining what the Holy Spirit moves like: even the Apostles couldn't do that! And, the Apostles wrote Holy Scripture as God's hands! God help us in our vain self-righteousness.

Maybe our prophets need to be bold enough to prophesy to dead Assembly of God bones to live, eh? Oooh, I am preaching now!!

Conclusion: A Challenge

Please read vv. 12-14 of Ezekiel 37.

In verse 12, there is a word that comes forth that says we will come up out of our graves and live, and the implication here implies obedience. We must desire renewal in order to get it. We must seek after a restoration and a renewal. As verse 13 says, we can only know God when we come alive to Him. Then, as it says in verse 14, He will indeed indwell us with His Spirit, and place us in our own land. Where is that? "Our land" is the status spiritually where God originally created us for: total restoration. Do not let Pentecost die in you, for it is too wonderful.

I want to challenge you today. First, I know that there is the possibility that some who are receiving this message are spiritually dead. Maybe you have never received salvation, or at one time you knew God, but your Christian witness died and rotted. If you desire to have new life in Christ today, and are willing to respond, the Holy Spirit through me as He did through Ezekiel, prophesies life to you, and I say, by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, receive life!! Now, also for those that desire it, there is a living person that can empower you, and He is God the Holy Spirit. You need the Holy Spirit in thes last days in order to stand against the traps of the enemy, and I challenge you to receive it. This will be something you will not forget once it happens to you. If you wish to receive the Holy Spirit, and are willing, do it now. Unexpected things may happen to you, but just let them, because they are Scriptural manifestations. God loves you, and wants you to have the joy of a Spirit-filled life in Him. It is much better than anything you may presently be involved in, and it will not only be the most important choice of your life, but will be the best. God be with you as you seek Him today. Amen.

From the Archives - A Series; Part X

2011-06-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

The following message was given by me at the Indian Pentecostal Church in Highland City, FL, on September 17, 1994, pastored then by Rev. Jacob Koshy. This was one of my favorite congregations to visit for several reasons. First and foremost, they were one of the warmest and friendliest groups of people I have ever encountered, and the sincerity and depth of their Christianity was without question.   Second, I have a personal interest in these people, as they are all from a St. Thomas (Mor Thoma) "Syrian" Christian background - most of these folks were originally from Kerala in southern India, an area with strong Apostolic roots as this is where the Apostle St. Thomas visited and established a vibrant Christian community which today boasts some 15 million people. Later, they were taken under the wing of the Assyrian Christians and formally became part of their Church tradition.   A significant population of these folks though, the Khanayas, were also of Hebraic origin too. There were a number of them in this particular congregation as well.

This particular congregation belongs to a denomination called the Indian Pentecostal Church of God, which predates a lot of the American Pentecostal denominations and was formed indigenously and independently of them. The Holy Spirit has been at work in Kerala for many decades, when even in the late 1800's a Syrian Christian lay evangelist, Vidwan Kutty, led a revival that touched the lives of many of these people.   Even today, among all branches of the "Syrian" Christian churches there, a vibrant and deep spiritual legacy can still be found.

I also say, with both sorrow and rejoicing, that I lost a dear friend from this congregation a couple of years back, Mr. Philip Joseph.   Philip was an elder in the congregation, and he was a wonderful human being. The night I preached this message, I had the privelege of visiting Philip's home and sharing a meal with him and his dear wife, and that was an added blessing. I still think a lot of these folks and miss visiting with them, as they are still a wonderful church to this day.

Purification Produces Renewal

Introduction

In the Holy Scriptures, we see that God calls us unto Himself as a holy people. He desires us to be complete in Him, for He has a lot in store for us. However, there are those times when He needs to prepare us to receive from Him, and it is often at this point that we are caught unaware.

God is calling His Church to prepare for the great outpouring of His Spirit He tells us about in Joel 2:28. Evne though the power of the Holy Spirit is good and to be desired, are we able to receive it? Are we cleansed enough before God to receive those things He has for us? This is something that every believer must ask of themselves.

I am going to propose a way for us to receive the power of God in its fullest capacity. However, the preparation part of it is not so pleasant, yet it is the preparation that will eventually produce the fruit of great texture that will characterize the Spirit-filled life. Therefore, let us listen to the voice of God as He speaks to His people, and calls us unto Him.

I. The Fire of God: A Purifying Flame (Deuteronomy 4:24)

For the LORD THY GOD is a CONSUMING FIRE, even a jealous God.

This verse in Deuteronomy describes a God that demands total obedience of His people to Him, and if we allow Him this total obedience, He will burn away anything that gets in the way of Him receiving it from us.

God loathes competition, and does not want us to be fence-straddlers. Instead, He expects total obedience from those of us who are of His kingdom.

Sometimes the cleansing fire of God can sting, for we have a hard time prioritizing our allegiances to other things. However, because God calls us to do it, we must allow for a purging of those impurities in our lives. As a matter of fact, we should desire Him to do this work in us. Our desire should always be to have closer communion with God, whatever the cost. St. Isaac of Nineveh, in his writings, says this in regard to seeking God:

Leave the things of no value that you may find precious things.

What is more precious than being at the feet of our Lord and Savior? Nothing is as valuable as this. May we have a desire to seek a closer walk with Him.

II. Becoming Worthy (Isaiah 6:1-8)

In this passage we see Isaiah being ushered into the presence of the Lord, and he encounters a scene of the Holies; beautiful liturgy, with much pomp and ceremony. Many of my friends who are part of the Armenian, Assyrian, or of the Indian Mor Thoma traditions of the Church (out of which many of you hearing this have come) note the beauty and reverence of their liturgical worship. The Der Vorgoormya of the Armenian Church, to name one example, basically says "oh Lord have mercy upon me a sinner!" This is but a small illustration of how the prophet Isaiah felt in the actual presence of God: it was overwhelming for him. One would gather from reading the passage that the furthest thing from Isaiah's mind was patting himself on the back because he felt so honored! Let us read his reaction in the passage:

Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips...

In other words Isaiah was not by any means on an ego trip! The glory of God convicted him, a mere human, for he was not complete. In our circles, we have a tendency to take spiritual experiences ever-so-lightly and in a flippant way: we want the "warm fuzzies" but do not want to pay the price to receive a lasting change. There is nothing at all wrong with spiritual experience; God can move in whatever way He chooses with His people. However, there is a greater blessing in being able to fall before the throne of God, despite our unworthiness, and letting Him wrap His love and healing around us, cleansing unrighteousness, healing hurts, and releasing us from bondages. When we are honest with ourselves and God, vv. 6-7 of the passage assure us of our cleansing. Praise God for the cleansing coal of His Holy Spirit! Isaiah was cleansed because he was open: this should be an encouragement for us today who are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, humility before God brings fulness to us.

III. Accepting the Holy Mandate (Isaiah 6:8; Acts 2:3-4)

When we are purged by God, we are more ready to be used by Him. As a result, He kindles a fire in us, the fire of a divine call. God wants a person who is refined by His fire, in order that He may kindle a fire in them. This is a high honor, to be a chosen vessel of the Most High God for His service. As a result, we are now not only prepared, but also willing, as Isaiah was in 6:8.

Isaiah's call in this verse, as well as his affirmation of it, are powerful. Do you ever notice that when the Holy Spirit genuinely touches us, we want to jump up and do something? This is the zealous and blazing fire of service God has anointed us with. For those of us in ministry, we know it well. It is a feeling similar to a horse chomping at the bit to start the race. However we have to wait for yet something else: the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:3-4 says that the Church could not even organize until this ingredient was added. The Pentecost experience described in this passage did not just happen, but preparation was a necessity. When the wind of the Holy Spirit came upon those in the upper chamber, it filled them, and strange things began to happen. Passers-by thought they were nuts! The Apostle Peter however received the anointing and proclaimed in 2:16 that this is that spoken by the Prophet Joel (see 2:28).

Today, we see it happening also. This is what is called the "latter rain," and indeed as more people submit to God, we will see a revival unprecedented in the history of Christendom. Therefore, let us be the ones to set the example first.

Conclusion

In this short homily, we have learned several things:

We are unclean vessels in and of ourselves, and must be cleansed by Christ if we are to be used of Him.
When we submit ourselves to His purifying fire, we feel a call to serve the Kingdom of God.
With that heartfelt zeal for God that consumes us comes an anointing for service that empowers us to do God's work.

I have a challenge for you today. First, how many of you want to be renewed in spirit? For you to do so, how many are willing to pay the price? If you're serious about what you have asked for, be sure to understand the price. God will prepare you, but it will not be the best feeling. He will send a spirit of repentance on you that will wrench your innards. Also, the devil will throw things at you to test your endurance. However, if you submit yourselves to God and stand fast, you will receive something beyond your imagination. If you want this today, now is the time to respond.

I challenge you, if you are serious about following the Lord, to submit yourself to Him. There is so much more He has to offer you if you will only accept it. And, it is all good! So, I beseech you to respond today. Amen.

From the Archives - A Series; Part IX

2011-06-15T04:35:00.001-07:00

The following message was preached on July 24, 1994, at the Wauchula Revival Center Foursquare Gospel Church in Wauchula, FL. That week, I was filling in for a classmate of mine, Randy Leonard, who pastored the congregation then. I remember that well, as a preached to a grand total of 4 people, Barb included!

The Wauchula Revival Center was originally part of an independent fellowship of churches that was based in Lakeland founded by the late Rev. Charles Myers and his wife Novella. In 1993, Novella Myers, who pastored the Lakeland Revival Center church that was the "mother church" of these congregations, decided to bring her entire group into the Foursquare denomination, and this particular congregation was one of those churches. At the time I preached here, I was still in college, and was more or less preaching as part of my supplemental income that summer. Although we attended Cornerstone Christian Center Foursquare Church in Auburndale, FL, at this point, I itinerated all over the area as a part of my own ministry.

How To Be Grounded In Discernment

(II Timothy 2:15, 4:3-4)

Intruduction

Often, we as Christians tend to hear a lot about many things, and often it can confuse us. Some have become so confused that they either turn their backs totally on the Church, or have sought unsuccessfully to find the truth in false cults. With all the speculations and doctrines floating around, what are we to do? How are we to know what is Scriptural and what's not? It is a delicate issue to dissect, and must be dealt with the skill of a brain surgeon.

My purpose here is not to blast or polemicize doctrinal distinctions, but rather to see where we all fit, as individual Christians, into the corporate Body of Christ. Therefore, please do not interpret this as a license to castigate our Catholic and other Christian brethren, for though they may differ with us on some distinctions, they as we are happen to be part of the greater Body of Christ. Therefore, let us, as the following epithet says, practice this:

In Essentials, Unity

In non-essentials, Liberty

in all things, Charity

In a nutshell, this message has a two-fold purpose:

To warn against some excesses in our own Charismatic circles.
To show that though there may be distinctives in opinion, we must be one in Christ.

I. Warnings Against Excesses (II Timothy 4:3-4)

Often, in our own Charismatic/Pentecostal circles, we have a few eccentrics who, while well-meaning, take a solid Biblical truth to unscriptural excesses. We must be careful not to necessarily label these individuals as "heretics" but instead realize the fact that they have a noticeable lack of structure in the system that leads them to such extremes.

We often tend to accuse such individuals as being false teachers without really examining them in the love of Christ. Often, we tend to do the opposite - that is, we throw out a strong Biblical principle and reject it because of a little bit of extremism. We often don't realize that some of the things we reject on that premise are usually things God wants to do in His Church. In other words, to use the old cliche, we tend to "throw out the baby with the bathwater." We need to be a bit more discerning and understanding with these well-intentioned but over-zealous people, and learn to rightly divide the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15). I personally feel that if the Church would learn this important principle, maybe we could perhaps re-define our definitions of "heresy." Let us now examine II Timothy 4:3-4.

A. They Will Not Endure Sound Doctrine.

In our modern American society, we have a tendency to be "cafeteria Christians," picking up a little of this and a little of that from this teacher and that teacher. In and of itself, there is no harm done. The problem is that in some cases we pick up the wrong things from the wrong teachers.

At times Biblical truth is presented in such a manner that it can get to us, and when it does, we like to find ways around it.   In other words, we cannot endure sound doctrine, and tend to seek something more pacifying.   This is characteristic of human nature.   And, God's ways can conflict with our human nature.
The direct result of this is that we tend to "water the Word" a little so that it might be a little more palatable to digest in our wonderful American "quick-fix" mindset. To use the American colloquialism, what the Apostle Paul is trying to tell us is that we are after a "cop-out." The result is that with less Word, we get less blessing.

Let us consider a delicious bowl of South Indian curry. It is best, as most of you who have eaten it will agree, when it cooks down to a hot spicy stock.   That is what gives it the character of its flavor.   Of course, to the unaccustomed American palate, it can be a little pungent, and therefore we make it more bearable by watering it down. Yes, it may still have a reasonably good flavor, but it has lost its distinctiveness and is now little more than a watery soup. Yuck!

Like good curry, the Gospel in its original undiluted form is the best. However, to the untrained palate, it can sting in its purity, and therefore some tend to water it down to make it more "digestible." However, a diluted Gospel loses its original power and therefore is unable to do what it was intended to do. Look at our passage and you will see why.

The alternative to all this is simple: why don't we, instead of watering the Gospel down, break it into smaller chunks? This would be so much more effective, for the person is getting a pure Gospel this way but in digestible bites.   Try it pastors - it does work!

B. According To Their Own Desires.

This part of the passage is telling us that some seek a "feel-good" message because they can't intellectually comprehend a "full Gospel" message.   That's too much - so they seek something easier.

However, our desires are not always healthy for us.   God wants us to desire what He desires for us:   that is, to be whole in Him through the principles of the whole Word of God, and not just the parts that make us feel good.   Sometimes, even the little digestible parts of God's Word are like cough syrup - very distasteful to our tongues, but therapeutic to our spirits.

The truth in God's Word is that it requires an action on our behalf, and possibly even some more sacrifice.   Unless we willingly take that action or make that sacrifice, we cannot receive the full spiritual blessings of His Word. However, if we do them, we have liberty in Him.

C. They Have Itching Ears.

Some Charismatics don't just want a "feel-good" Gospel, but they also want it to sound good. The Word of God is both good and good for us, but it won't always appeal to our auditory faculties. This is a fact we must accept sooner or later.

Please understand that our God is not just a God of "quick fixes," but is a PERMANENT FIX in our lives! However, we must put some commitment behind this if we desire him to abide in us permanently.   Unfortunately, our human nature doesn't want to hear about commitment, but rather we desire to have our ears tickled because they are itching to hear about where and how to obtain the quick fix.   Many ministers need to realize that they have a three-fold task in this regard - to convict souls, edify the spirit, and ultimately to change lives.

D.   Heap Up For Themselves Teachers.

Almost every Christian ministry has good teaching to some degree or another , but a lot of Christians seem to indulge in setting up "fan clubs" and personality cults around certain teachers and evangelists.   The underlying problem here lies not with the minister in most cases but with the individual believer, and here is why.

Televangelism is a good thing, and many people's lives have been reached through it.   However, I tend to be disturbed by some of the brethren who won't touch a Bible but will sit in front of a television set and soak up everything they hear on it.   Some even think they can substitute the "electronic church" for the local church, and inevitably end up spiritually undernourished.

I will make it understod that I wholeheartedly support TVevangelism, for it has great potential as a ministry tool.   However, it should never replace the local church as a source of spiritual nourishment.   Also, it should never take the place of one's devotional life.   This doesn't mean it is wrong to watch TBN or whatever, but it does mean that we must be spiritually balanced.

E. They Will Turn Their Ears Away From The Truth.

As we mentioned earlier, the truth of God's Word on occasion can be a hard pill to swallow.   Therefore, we tend to seek something more accomodating to the flesh.   As a result, we can turn away from the guidance of the Holy Scripture and the truth it teaches.

When one is exposed to subtropical climate like we have here in Florida, he would naturally desire cooler temperatures if he is a newcomer to the area. So it is when we are faced with a new Scriptural truth that tends to make us uncomfortable.   Our human nature hates change, yet God's Word requires change for the better, which sometimes isn't easy.   As a result, we sometimes turn away to avoid the new experience.

As God has commanded us to perservere, however, we need to do our best to hang on.   The assurance that God won't put anything on us we are not able to handle should help us, and as a result, we can better face change. The bottom line is that we need to trust God to give us the abiltity to accept change, and if we turn away, we're not looking to him for our help.   Then, we tend to end up in worried messes that we sometimes can't get out of. So, isn't it easier in the long run to accept change?

F. And Be Turned Aside To Fables

When we only hear what sounds good, water down the truth, or turn away our face from God to something more desireable, we are turning from the truth and heeding fables. If you'll notice, those who turn from God have a tendency to give heed to some type of delusion, be it alcohol, sex sin, or following after some false prophet who is endowed with some "new revelation." All of these fables have just one source - the devil himself. He's a good storyteller; he convinces our flesh that something is what it is not. We can be deluded into thinking that we can find true happiness by believing it, only later to realize that it will destroy us instead.

It's the same old trick in new wrapping. Eve was its first sucker, and multitudes have followed her since, sometimes more than once. However, we are told in James 4:7 to RESIST the devil and he will flee from us. Perhaps we need to start doing this by resisting and rejecting the fables he snares us with.

God's Word, on the other hand, is eternal. It is also realistic and won't deceive us with easy roads out. God wants us to be free of bondage, and the Father has sent his Holy Spirit to help us obtain that freedom. All it requires of us is obedience to His Word. Though the water may be choppy, God is piloting the boat, and we don't need to rely on stupid fables to guide us when we have a real God on our side - we don't need them.

II. Conclusion

Now, we can summarize our premise.

First, Satan creates fables to divert our attention from the liberating truth of God's word so that he can put us in bondage to his tactics. He makes these fables look appealing to our carnal nature, and as a result they can hook us. Some people Satan uses are anointed men of God, who may actually be teaching the full truth of the Bible. However, one little word can be twisted by the listener, or it can dilute its effectiveness, to where it becomes a snare to those who are caught off-guard. The result is always disastrous, be it long-term or short-term.

Secondly, as a result we tend to "pass the buck," usually on the TV preacher, when the light of God's Word hits that thing in our lives. As a result, we turn from God and follow a delusion, based usually on the way we misconstrue the right words into the wrong meaning.

However, there are ways to either avoid the extreme in the first place, or even to overcome it after it happens. Here it is.

Be Grounded in God's Word - We should be studying it daily anyway.
Unite Yourself With a Local Body of Believers - This is so we might draw strength from one another.
BE DISCERNING!! - It is important to check out everything you hear out with the Scriptures, and not with what some popular minister who writes a book or has a TV program says.

Also, don't blame some TV preacher for your own lack of discernment. You had the choice to turn him off if you didn't agree with him. Therefore, you need to use your own God-given discernment.

Here's the bottom line: God equips us for our own good, and it is up to you to put this to use. If you are not sure how to go about using this gift, then all you have to do is seek an answer from God, for He will always be faithful to show you. God has also ordained pastors to equip you for His coming kingdom, and they are supposed to be there for you as God's servants. Overall however, it is imperative for each of us to be grounded in God's Word, and it is the prevailing standard against Satan's fables. Therefore, we should be challenged to ground ourselves in it continually. If we do this, we cannot fail. Amen.

From the Archives - A Series; Part VIII

2011-06-14T05:05:00.000-07:00

This message was given on July 7, 1994, at the Freedom in Christ Assembly of God in Lakeland, FL (Jesse McNeal, pastor). Pastor McNeal was one of my professors for a term at Southeastern, and he always provided his students opportunities for ministry at his church. He started the church when he was a student at Southeastern himself, after coming to the Lord out of a very violent past, and it was located in an area called "The Bottoms" just off of North Florida Avenue, a very low-income area. In a short time, Pastor Jesse grew a small but vibrant interracial congregation, and they were a very warm and welcoming group the night I spoke to them.

A Listening Ear Brings a Restful Spirit

Introduction

Many times we as believers come to a place where we are "burned out." This happens to all of us at some point in our lives, and can be a hard fact to swallow if we are not prepared. God desires for us to seek Him when we are in such a state.

"How?" you may ask. First, you need to do as Psalm 119:11 says: hide the Word in your hear, and make it a part of you so that it will keep you from falling into trouble. Ephesians 6 also tells us to be armed with Biblical principles when we face such battles (principles such as salvation in Christ, the truth of His Word, His righteousness, His peace, and most importantly using His Word).

The bottom line is this: we can trust in God through knowledge of His Word. Therefore, when we are heavy-laden with the cares of this life, we need to seek the Lord through His Word.

I. Coming To God Through Listening

Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. How do you listen to God? Isaiah 55:2 gives us an idea, so let us turn there to see what it says.

The passage exhorts us to do three things:

A. First, it tells us to listen to God.

Many Christians in our high-tech American society of microwaves, money, minivans, and more, more, more for me, me, me do not have the gumption, to use an old Appalachian colloquialism, to sit down and actually listen to the voice of God. God wants us to spend time with him so that we can commune with Him personally; He is a real person who, because He created and endows us, seeks to know us personally. We need to motivate ourselves to take time out for Him, for He is always there.

B. Second, it helps us to be open to the Holy Spirit

Psalm 46:10 tells us to be still and know that he is God. If we are still, we are open to His Holy Spirit to minister to us, and will be in a better position to receive what He has for us. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman, and will not impose upon our distractions but expects more time for Him on our initiative. Therefore, let us open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, and invite Him to minister to us.

C. Third, we must come to God.

God is already there for us, but we must come to Him in the right attitude and spirit.

It is difficult to do this sometimes when we are desperate for answers, and often we think we come to God when we really do not; we are in reality demanding Him to come to us, on our terms, and do not have the openness to move ourselves because we are on a hamster wheel of confusion. I speak this from experience.

What will happen if we do come to God in the right spirit? St Isaac of Nineveh, in his Third Discourse on the Ascetical Life, gives us an idea when he writes the following:

"To the soul endowed with reason (meaning God's Word) the words of God are sweet, like succulent food which fattens the body is to those which are healthy."

What does this mean? He is saying that those who seek the face of God and listen to His words will receive spiritual nourishment. In other words, when you seek the face of God in times of distress, you will be strengthened. This is encouraging!

II. God's Results He Will Give To Those That Come to Him.

We mentioned that God strengthens the soul, but what else does he do? Let us examine Matthew 11:28 and 30. In this passage, there are two things to be noted:

In verse 28, God is exhorting those who are, to put it in modern vernacular, "burned out" to come to him.
When we do come to God, He will give us a rest from those cumbersome burdens.

In verse 30, we note one thing further:

In exchange for giving God these cumbersome burdens, He gives us a liberating burden as it were: this means he calls us to be obedient to His Word, and in doing so we are delivered. The spoken word of God we know of as the Holy Scriptures require of us something, but in return we will gain freedom.

Conclusion

God wants us to come to Him, and He desires to commune with each and every one of us on a personal basis. It does take some discipline on our part, but it will rejuvenate our spirits if we will study the Word and meditate upon it for a regular basis. That is the easy yoke of Matthew 11:20 - it is quite a task to seek the face of God, but it is also a privelege.

Think about it. Would you rather give a part of your day to God in prayer and study of His Word to receive strength and peace, or would you rather go about the routine drudgery of a day without God and be loaded down with the pressures that Satan can use to destroy you?

This message is for you if you are under stress and bondage, and God desires to see you free from it. Therefore, if you desire to be free, seek His face; that is all you need to do. James 5:16 says that the prayers of a righteous man avail much. If you are in Christ, you are covered with His righteousness, and therefore the privelege is now yours. Seek His face, and lay those things that have you bound at the foot of the Cross.

Perhaps you do not know Christ and wish to, yet feel you are unworthy to do so. If this describes you, then you're carrying a bondage you need to lose fast! God DOES think you are important, as He loved you enough to die for you. He wants to have an intimate relationship with you and wants also to take those bondages and cast them away. In Acts 2:21, it is assured that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and Isaiah 40:31 states that they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. If you need your strength renewed, God is there, so please accept what He has for you. Do not carry this bondage around with you. Instead, accept the easy youke of the righteousness of Christ, and indeed you will have "Freedom in Christ." Amen.

From the Archives - A Series; Part VII

2011-06-13T05:17:00.000-07:00

The following message I preached on June 12, 1994 at the Pure Love United Faith Ministries Church in Lakeland, FL, pastored then by Bishop Cordell Allen. This was a very vibrant African-American Pentecostal church, and one of the most loving congregations I have had the privelege of ministering to. Hope you enjoy it and it blesses you.

What Role Does Missions Play In the Church?

I. Introduction

In recent years, there has been a new emphasis in Full Gospel circles on missionary evangelism, and as one called to missions myself, I am glad to see this. However, there is much work to be done in this area, as we have many potentially called people in our churches that haven't the foggiest idea of what missions is - their image is of some preacher in African garb and a pith helmet showing boring slides once a year, thus making a good excuse to stay home for the Superbowl. However, they fail to realize that missions is a very personal issue that should affect the entire Church; therefore, it needs to be emphasized.

II. Matthew 28:18-20

      A. "All Authority Has Been Given Unto Me In Heaven and on Earth..."

            What do these introductory words of the oft-quoted Great Commission mean?

             1. They state Christ's authority over evil forces of this world.
             2. It gives Christ authority to delegate that authority to the Church.

             Ephesians 6 tells us that we battle against a lot of spiritual forces, but we are given power over
             them.   This power comes from the Lord Himself, as he has given to us the responsibility to
             establish His Church - we must be bold to take it.

      B.   "Go Therefore..."

              This is our command to take the above-mentioned authority, but what do we do with it?   Read on.

              1. "Make disciples of all nations..."

                    This means that besides being won to Christ, the nations must be grounded in His Word. That
                    is why God has raised in our midst teachers.

                    Also, let it be noted that God does not want all of His workers going to just Africa or India, but
                    into ALL NATIONS! According to a book published by Wycliffe Bible Translators, there are
                    some 20,000 language groups worldwide, and of these some 11,000 or so tribes have no
                    Christian witness. Therefore, it is not necessary to go on a trail already blazed, for God may
                    want you to be a trailblazer!

            2.     "Baptizing them..."

                    Though one does not have to be baptized for salvation, it should be the desire of every believer
                    to be baptized, as it is the sacrament of initiation into the Church Catholic.

                    I will not get into modes and methods for that is a completely different subject altogether that I
                    have my own clearly-defined views on. However, though baptism is not salvific, it is very
                    important.   Therefore, if you know of a believer who is not baptized, encourage him or her to
                    partake of this sacrament of the Church as soon as possible.

           3.      "Teaching them to observe all those things that I have commanded you..."

                    Once new believers have been saved and initiated into the Church through Holy Baptism, they
                    must be instructed in the teachings of the faith so that they may fully understand their new life in
                    Christ.   This is important for two reasons:

                     a. It guards against the development of heresy.
                     b. It keeps the new believer strong in Christ, that he may not fall into sin.

III.    Romans 12:4-8

          It is important for each believer to know where they fit into reaching the world, for some may feel confused and intimidated on the issue because of pressure to fall into a man-made mold. Assure those who are like this to listen to God's Word first.

          A. Many Members In One Body

                Though we are all part of the Body of Christ, this does not mean we are all alike.   In other words,
                God creates individuals, not clones.

         B.   All Members Do Not Have The Same Function

               Because we are individual members, God gifts us with talents and ministries in order to do that
               which He has called us to do. We must not be in competition with another of differing calling, for
               ours is just as important. The Holy Spirit will show us where we fit in.

        C.    One Body in Christ, members unto one another

               This means we are to compliment each other and use our ministries together in order to further the
               Kingdom of God.

               Some are called into the five-fold charismatic ministries of Ephesians 4:11, while others of us may
               be called into the three-fold ministries of bishop, presbyter, or deacon. Even the church janitor is a
               type of ministry, for it is a service to the Lord's house.   Therefore, do not be under the false
               impression that the pulpit is the only place of ministry in the Church, as there are a lot of others.

              We are each one ministers, and as such, we each have the duty and anointing to serve others in the
              love of the Lord. This is also a mandate from God himself. Therefore, we need to get busy, for the
              time is short.

      D.    Joel 2:28, Mark 16:15,17; Acts 1:8, II Timothy 2:15

              How can we do our function of ministry in the Body of Christ? Well, I am glad you asked!

              We, of course, are not equipped of ourselves to carry out this mandate, for we are finite beings.
              We are limited in resource.   However, God has a plan for us.

              1. Joel 2:28

                   God has promised to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh in the last times.   We see this beginning
                   to happen in Acts on the day of Pentecost in the upper room.

                   I am not familiar with everyone's personal view on this issue, but it is quite obvious that there is
                   something going on in the Church today.   I personally feel that the Lord is coming back soon,
                   and that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit Joel talks about is happening now.

             2.  Mark 16:15, 17

                  In this passage it talks about how the Holy Spirit will accomplish this task of filling believers to do
                  His work, and a number of signs are mentioned in relation to this. Among them are mentioned
                  healings, raising dead men to life, tongues, casting out devils, and a number of miraculous works.
                  Those who attempt to relegate these things to the first-century Church exclusively need to
                  recognize a few facts:

                 a. God does not change (Hebrews 13:8)
                 b. God is restoring His truth, as documented in His Word, to the Church which by and large has
                      not had the fulness of His Word.

                 God is real, and His power is real.   So, let us be glad in the fact that we serve a mighty and
                 sovereign God, and let us seek after His will for us.

           3.   Acts 1:8

                 This is a very wonderful and powerful promise of the Holy Spirit being sent from the Father to us
                 through Christ.  What is the function of the Holy Spirit?   He empowers us to witness of course,
                 but where?   IN ALL THE EARTH!! Therefore, the Holy Spirit is who empowers us to minister
                 to others, and He manefests this power through signs and wonders.   This is important, as humans
                 are by nature a "believe it when we see it" race. Therefore, God provided these signs.


         4.    II Timothy 2:15

                We must seek diligently to prepare ourselves for the service God has called us to. The approach
                with which we do this is to study His ways, and make application of them to our own lives.
                However, we must do this within the boundaries of the Word of God.

                James 2:17 tells us that faith without works is dead. In other words, we can sit and listen until we
                are blue in the face, but without the practical application of what we hear then we have not done
                anything.   James 1:22 likewise exhorts us to be doers as well as hearers.

                All we say and do, in other words, requires preparation. Preparation comes from knowing God's
                Word, which produces spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). However, it takes actual work to
                produce quality fruit, and this work aids in its maturing process.   Nevertheless, despite the
                hardships, we all must go through the process in order to endure; if we do so, it will pay off
               handsomely in eternity. Therefore, let those of us especially called into missions submit, prepare,
               and apply ourselves to strive for the high calling God has given us.

III.   Conclusion

The whole purpose of all this is to increase awareness of missions in the Church, and provide tools to help those of you who do feel the call of God to missions. However, this is what it all boils down to.

God wants willing vessels.   He can equip someone who is submissive and patient to go through the learning process.   God wants all nations to come to know Him, and He expects those of us who do know Him already to introduce them to Him. In order for us to do this however, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, grounded in the Word of God, and apply the things we learn in God's Word to our lives.   God can and will use anyone He chooses to use; the question is will we allow ourselves to be used of Him? He does not care about where we fall short so much as he desires us to develop what we have to serve Him. If we consecrate ourselves to Him, He will take the little bit we have to offer and do a lot of things with it. All we have to do is surrender it to Him to do just that. You are special to the Lord, and He has just the right place in His service for you to fill that no one else can.   Therefore, if the Lord is dealing with you to serve His kingdom, please respond.   Time is too short, and you cannot afford to be discouraged about your weaknesses; instead you must focus on your strengths so the Lord can use them.   Yield to God today, for He needs you to reach some lost nation somewhere for Him. Amen.

From the Archives - A Series; Part VI

2011-06-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

The following message was preached by me on December 22nd, 1991 at my home church, New Life Tabernacle Foursquare Church in Midland City, AL (Everett Rowe, then pastor). It was one of two messages I gave at my own church that year, and with this one it was given just before I left BBI in Graceville, FL, for a short adventure in San Dimas, CA, where I was going to attend LIFE Bible College out there. However, it didn't work, so I eventually headed back east.

Childlike vs. Childish

Introduction

Did you ever wonder about what it means to "enter heaven as a child?" I, like many other Christians, have gotten misconceptions of this because of human ignorance. However, how do we become little children in Christ? The best explanation for this comes from the Holy Spirit himself: so, let Him minister it to you as you study this subject.

I. Background

On this particular day as Mark 10:13-16 recounts, Jesus was going about ministering unto people. Mothers, especially, were present because of the way their little ones were attracted to Him. It was comparable to sitting on Santa's lap at Christmas only much better because this was God incarnate. He would take each child upon His lap and cuddle them a little, perhaps even teaching them little songs and prayers before He let them go. However, the job of ministering, albeit rewarding, was strenuous, and the Apostles were starting to feel the effects of the long day in their cranky dispositions. After all, their feet ached and their tummies were empty. As a result, they began to let the crowd know that the party was over. However, even though they were ready to call it a day, Jesus was not quite ready to close shop yet. He was grieved in spirit with their attitudes, and told them in the vernacular of His day to "chill out." It would not have been so hard on those boys had not Jesus drove His point to them in the way He did; He called a little child to Him, and told them that they would have to be as obedient and as trusting as this little child in order to make it into the Kingdom. Oh, what pride that broke in them! Leaving them to chew on this a while He went on doing as before.

II What Does It Mean To Be Childlike?

If any of you receiving this lesson have children, consider the traits of your earthly child. What are they? First of all, a child is noted for his trust. Children will accept without a doubt what their parents tell them, and likewise this is the type of trust our heavenly Father wants us to have with him. If the Lord shows us something, we must accept it as true, for he is a God of truth, and He only will advise us on what is good for us. Children can sometimes get into trouble by accepting too much, however, and like an earthly child must accept the guidance of their parents, so also must we do likewise of our heavenly Father. If we obey his voice and let him guide us, we will be able to steer clear of spiritual trouble. However, like earthly children, how well do we pay attention? We as Christians crawl into some impossible messes, and a lot of times only our God can get us out of them. Unfortunately, unlike the earthly child who learns the first time, we sometimes get ourselves into the same old mess again. We humans are an unruly bunch, are we not?

III. What Does It Mean To Be Childish?

Children in the flesh are a challenge sometimes, so you can about imagine what God's spiritual children can be like! Yes, we are disobedient quite often, and below are some common fixes we get ourselves into.

A. Getting Ahead of God

Sometimes we do things before our Father wants us to, and as a result we tie his hands. Barbara, my fiancee (now wife) had an experience like this with her mother when she invited all her friends home for a birthday party several months before her actual birthday. When we did this to God at several points in our own lives, we end up disappointed because we did it in our own strength, and the wrong way to boot. Let us be ever cautious of doing this.

B. Thinking You Can Get Away With Anything Because You Are Saved

The children that are often "pets" of their parents usually hone the skill of wearing them down to get what they want to an art form. The do exactly the opposite of what they are told because they feel they can get away with it. That same concept is true in the spiritual realm as well, and especially among those who belie the heresy of "once saved always saved" or its twin, the gnostic-based "health and wealth gospel." These are the people that you usually find coming in on Sunday morning with a hangover, or who cave in when real tests encounter them. They are also the same people who say that because smoking is not mentioned in the Bible, they can "smoke unto the Lord," as our friend Dr. Gene Scott out in Los Angeles likes to teach. The theological term for such warped thinking is Antinomianism. God will let you get a way with it, go figure, but in the end you will also pay for it. Therefore do not be deceived: you are destroying yourself in the name of Christ, and He wants no part of such work contrary to His character. It will also destroy your witness for Him. Therefore, if you have fallen prey to either of these heresies, please repent, lest you be eternally secure someplace else.

C. Thinking That God Owes You Something

Did you know that you are being spiritually disobedient when you buy into this "name it and claim it" doctrine? Yes, indeed! The reason is because you treat God as some big "sugar daddy" who owes you sizeable reward because you supposedly serve Him better than anyone else. For those of you that espouse this damnable doctrine, I have a couple of questions. First, have any of you ever read Romans 3:23? Second, do you not realize that Jesus already has given you the greatest thing He had, being His life, for we who do not deserve it? You and I are nothing but sinners worthy of hell, but are saved by His grace. Therefore, we really need to watch throwing around these ridiculous claims, thinking of God as some kind of genie. Who are we to demand of God anything?

IV. Conclusion

Using the Biblical mode described in Mark 10:13-17, I hope I have clarified to you the true meaning of this text, and it is my prayer that the Holy Spirit minister to your needs with it. We are children of the King, and therefore must be obedient as such. Unfortunately, too many in our ranks are spoiled brats that need a good slap upside the noggin in order to get the picture here, and instead of being childlike, they are childish. The rest of us need to be careful so that this does not happen to us.

With the rise of child exploitation in America today, perhaps it must be understood that there is a spiritual parallel. Satan is sending out an army of spiritual child molesters in order to ensnare the children of God. He does this through false heresy in the Church, as well as through worldly values - Rush Limbaugh to name one - that are being sown in the church. It is time that the saints of God stand up against this in a united voice, and may we be led back into the safe fold of God's Word, and follow its principles instead. Like the children of the passage in Mark 10, Jesus wants us to sit upon His lap and receive His blessings. Therefore, I invite you to draw near to Him today - you will be glad you did in the long run. Amen.

From the Archives - A Series; Part V

2011-06-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

This was my second Homiletics class sermon I persented in class when I was at Florida Baptist Theological College in Graceville, FL, on October 3, 1991. My professor then was Dr. Jerry Windsor, who had just joined the faculty that year after spending several years as the pastor of First Baptist Church in Graceville. I also have the privelege of this sermon being on video as well.

Marks of True Exhortation

Outline of Text:

1. They are without error

2. It is a work of faith, labored in love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 1:3)

3. It is pure (I Thessalonians 2:3)

4. It does not please men, but glorifies God (I Thessalonians 2:4)

5. It does not use flattering words (2:5)

6. It must be in truth, grounded in love (Ephesians 4:15)

a. If more truth than love, it becomes legalistic

b. If more love than truth, it becomes a shattered dream

7. It must be without anger

8. It must be grounded in the Word

The subject of exhortation is a major part of my personal ministry. It is something that the Lord has been training me in for a long time. The reason for this is simply that the Church has lost the value of exhortation, and we do not practice it out of fear that it might offend someone. However, I will tell you right now that the modern Christian community has become lax and compromising, and as a result sin and compromise have invaded a lot of church sanctuaries. The Full Gospel is not being taught. If we as believers love the people we serve and want them saved from hell, we have to tell them like it is. Like physical children so often need correction from their parents, so also do we need chastening from time to time from our Father in heaven; those of us in the ministry need it a lot! Therefore, I can identify with this message personally.

I want to share with you eight traits of true exhortation, and as some of you may move in this gift, I encourage you to develop these. The first trait of true exhortation is that it must be without error . This means that when you exhort someone, you do not do it with the purpose of blanketing an ulterior motive that is vain and selfish. This mistake is common of so teachers that the Bible describes as "having itching ears." There are too many ear-ticklers out there today telling people what they want to hear rather than what they should hear; therefore a lot of opportunities for the Holy Spirit to work in people's lives are lost. This is why we, as ministers, must base anything we tell anyone on God's Word, or else it is false teaching, prophecy, etc.

The second trait is that exhortation is a work of faith, labored in love and patience. Most exhortations are like a good dose of castor oil in that they are severely disagreeable going down, but do a cleansing on us inside. It takes faith to deliver a true exhortation, and a person must really be in tune with God delivering it. It is also a labor of love, for if you truly love your brother or sister in Christ, it will cause you to go to great lengths to do the right thing for them, even if it costs a friendship or marriage. It is also a labor of patience, because in many cases an exhortation will knock its recipient off their high horse, and therefore the reaction may not be as favorable as it should be. By using the formula in I Thessalonians 1:3, we can make life a lot easier for those we exhort, because eventually the person will understand what's going on, and God can then deal with the individual.

In the same verse above we find the third trait. An exhortation does not come from deceit or uncleanliness, nor is it in guile. Instead, it comes out straight, undiluted, and pure. The words of a man or woman often reflect their spiritual condition. Therefore, if we are used of God to exhort someone, we should perform a self-examination first, so that we do not do the Lord's work with sin or personal bias. A word of God given in hypocrisy, despite the truth of it, will damage a personal testimony; therefore, we must be extremely careful in the way we handle things.

Another extremely important trait is to be found in the next verse, and this concerns our tendency to give men what they want rather than what they need to hear. Our duty is not to please men, but it is to please and glorify God who tests our hearts. After all, was it a man that saved us by grace through faith? Would that buddy at work or school have the power to save you? Absolutely not! Therefore, we are to do what the Father wants and not our own whims.

In verse 5 we have a related issue, which is far-fetched flattery. Oh, how we love to have those pats on the back telling us how prosperous and successful we will be because God will bless us. True enough, He will do that according to our needs, but how do we handle the trials and attacks of Satan? Are we too afraid to share that this also is a promise? God does indeed bless us, no doubt; however He will also test us, and those with a gift of prophecy cannot afford to be fortune-tellers for charity and neglect the rest of the story. If we believe all the good things as truth, then we must also accept some of the bad, for some of those bad things work for God's good also. Therefore, let us preach the whole Gospel and not just what sounds good.

In Ephesians 4"15 we find a very vital balance that we must achieve when we exhort one another in order that the end result may be edification. To illustrate what happens when these are not in balance, one can look at the Pharisees and Saducees in the Bible. The Pharisees had the truth, but did not have the love; the result of that was a rigid legalism that left no hope. The Saducees had the concern for their fellow man, but failed to back it up with the Word of Divine Providence. The result of that was a man-centered religious system that depended upon personality. When the one being looked up to passed away, the idea died with him, thus solving no problems. Through these two examples we must realize that truth and love are inseparable and must be used together to make things work. The consequences are too great to neglect one and not the other.

The seventh of these traits is learning to discern between the Holy Spirit and the spirit of anger. Too many times there are those in the Church who use their gifts as a defense mechanism, and as a result they hurt people because they minister with the wrong attitude. I know, for I have made this error myself on one occasion involving a friend of mine. Because I spoke out in anger to him in the Lord's name, I caused the guy to go into counseling for several days to heal the wound I inflicted upon him. If you are upset with someone, do not use your spiritual gifts to take it out on them; this is what is knowm as "charismatic witchcraft" and we had better be careful of it.

Finally, all exhortation must be grounded in the truth of God's word, and must bear witness of Jesus Christ. If it does not, then throw it out. This point is directed at those who receive the word rather than those who give it, and it serves as a warning not to accept everything that is said until it is tested by God's Word first. There are a lot of false ministers in the flock, and in order to expose them one has to be knowledgeable of the Holy Scripture. I always advise everyone I teach or exhort that they are not to take my words to literal excess, but to check things out for themselves. If something does not measure up, it needs to be disposed of. All ministers must do this for the sake of those they are charged to minister to. If they do not, then I would suggest not giving them the time of day. A minister should let his or her life be totally guided by the principles of the Scripture record, for if so, they will bear much fruit.

In closing, I would like you to be encouraged. For those that know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, are you doing His work the way He showed you? If not, then you need to spend a little time with Him, for if you don't, the blood of those you could have reached will come back to haunt you someday, and it won't be a pretty sight! For those of you that do not know the Lord, you have two choices: accept Him and receive peace and joy eternal, or reject Him and He will not know you, thus giving you first-class accomodations in Hotel Hades for indefinite eternity. The choice is yours, and only you and not Mama, Daddy, or anyone else can make it for you. While you still have time to make the choice, make the most of it. There is not much time left. The Lord could return at any moment, and if He did, you would be left to the mercy of the coming Antichrist, who has no mercy. So come now, while there is still time, for it is the most important decision you will ever make. Please listen to the Holy Spirit as He moves upon you today. Amen.

From the Archives - A Series; Part IV

2011-06-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

This was a message given at my old home church, Evergreen Baptist Chapel, in Terra Alta, WV, on June 24th, 1990. I was at home during the summer, and this particular Sunday was tragic as we were also mourning the death of Mrs. Myrtle Masters, an elderly lady Mom stayed with and took care of for years. I was filling in for my former pastor although by this time I was a member of the Foursquare denomination, but in the hills of West Virginia church affilliation is not quite the issue it is elsewhere, as we all knew each other anyway. In addition to the church service, I was also conducting services that Sunday at Hopemont State Hospital, where Frank was also chaplain. It was one of many speaking engagements I had at home that summer

Effective Prayer Life

As Christians, and more so as charismatic Christians, we often stress the need for a strong prayer life. However, several hindrances may prevent us from practicing what we preach. I choose this message because of the things the Lord has brought about this week in my life as a result of prayer, and I hope that in some way the Lord will speak to those who will hear.

For prayer to be effective, one has to have two things. First, one must have faith. The reason for this is that it is faith that causes us to pray in the first place. The second thing that is needed is knowledge of the Spirit's direction, or to put it in layman's terms, a burden. With these two things in order, now we will discuss further.

Praying in agreement, as Matthew 18:19 says, brings about a result from the Heavenly Father. This does not apply to just "holy" things, but it has to do with ALL things. That covers a lot of territory, for if two or more believers have this power, then what would happen if the whole world would agree? Satan would never want to bother us if this would happen, and he knows it all too well. Therefore, this is why he has split us up into so many factions over rather stupid premises, such as eternal security vs. falling from grace, and we humans have chosen to fall for it. We as a result go off chasing rabbits instead of doing what we are supposed to. However, when two do agree in prayer, mighty things happen. Therefore even though personal devotions are important, we must come together in unity of Spirit and make a stand against things which we alone are powerless against.

The second thing a Christian must do is to be consistent in his prayers, and Biblical support for this can be found in Acts 12:5. Galatians 5:22 likewise states that longsuffering is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. A lot of times we lose out on the things God has for us because we fail to have patience. We expect the Lord to answer our prayers here and now, and He may not will to do this. 99.9% of the time God's will concerning our prayers will work out better for us in the long run anyway. To summarize, we must pray without ceasing, and as Matthew 6:33 clearly states, we must seek God's kingdom and His righteousness first. When we are ready to receive His answer, He will always be faithful to give it to us in His time, not ours. No matter how much you think you need something, God always knows your needs better than you do. So, He will meet them accordingly.

The results of our prayers being petitioned to God are always fruitful, but we may be surprised at His answers. One result of fervent prayer is that it will come to pass (John 5:15). God will never fail His own, and if we are truly His, we can be comforted in this. He does know our needs obviously before we tell Him; however, He wants us to trust in Him. When we do this, we start to see results.

As mentioned earlier, unity in the Body of Christ is what brings about His favor on our needs. Romans 12:4-5 mentions that we are many members in one Body, but in order to keep that body healthy, we must work together. Satan and his legions are the germs that infest the Body of believers, and when the Body is sick it cannot function. Satan infects its parts with false doctrines in divisive spirits, and as a result there is conflict. However, we do have a cure for this, and this is the refining baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. We need a fire of the Spirit in our churches today that will disinfect the germs of sin and division, and according to Joel 2:28 this will come to pass. After all, time is too short for us to fight amongst ourselves, and Satan is working overtime in these last days because he knows the facts. We should really dump any excess theological baggage and take up the Cross of Christ, and until we do it in one accord, we are in big trouble. Therefore, as Christians let us always lift one another up, for the Lord is waiting to release a spiritual renewal upon us when we do, and we must all prepare for it.

In conclusion, the power of prayer is not just limited to Christians, for the Word of God says that "all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!" Today, if you wish to make such a decision, you have people around you who love you and will agree with you in prayer. Not only that, but they will stay so consistent that they will be with you until you do decide to ask Jesus into your heart. The Bible says that the angels rejoice in heaven over the salvation of a single soul, and this includes anybody. "Why is this so?" you may ask. Well, you are making the most important step in your life, and by doing htis you will have eternal life. Therefore, I urge you today to take God's form of communication seriously, for it could be your only chance. Amen.

From The Archives - A Series; Part III

2011-06-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

This was a more formal message I did for my Homiletics class I was in at Florida Baptist Theological College in Graceville, FL, back in April 1990. This was more formal because it had to be done in stages and then presented in class after doing a homiletic study, creating the script, and then the delivery of the message, which was evaluated by my classmates.

Anyway, here it is, my B-grade message, for your reading pleasure and spiritual edification.

Lovers of All and Respectors of None

(Acts 10:10-15, 34)

Did you ever wonder why the church is getting such a bad rap in a world that is getting worse every day? Some Christians say the church has been weakened by demonic oppression; others say it's just laziness because of rampant worldliness in our churches. Whatever the case, our modern church has suffered two major ills. The first is that, due to prosperity and compromise with the world, we have lost our zeal for getting folks saved. The second reason is that instead of evangelizing the masses, we choose to sit around and flap our gums off about theology and legalistic hogwash, causing division in the Body of Christ. If you wil read Acts 10:10-15 with me, you will see that the Apostle St. Peter was in a similar mess, but in our key verse of Acts 10:34, we find out what the Lord says about this. (I would ask you to read that verse aloud when you reach it, because the central truth is found there.)

Now, I will give you a brief overview of the situation at hand to present a Scriptural example. Cornelius, a Roman centurian who lived in Caesarea Maritima, had been a dedicated proselyte of the Jewish faith for some time. In a time of prayer, he sees a vision of an angel who assures him that God has indeed heard his prayers and was about to answer them. In the process of doing this, God sends Cornelius to Peter in the city of Jaffa. In the meantime, Peter has been praying also, and the Lord sent a great hunger upon him. After he requests food, he all of a sudden falls into a deep trance and sees this vision of a great vessel with many clean and unclean critters on it. A voice (the Lord's) commands him to kill and eat three times, but Peter, still thinking himself a Jew, refuses because of Jewish law. Then, it comes. Peter is promptly told that what GOD has cleansed is not to be called unclean. In this vision, God is preparing Peter for a ministry to the Gentiles, and Cornelius was to be the "chosen first" as it were. In short, He was telling Peter that the Church of Christ accepts all nations without regard to any humanistic barrier. That is documented in our key passage, which records Peter's revelation of God's will for His Kingdom.

Even though I haven't gotten to the "nitty-gritty" of the matter yet, I think you will see what I'm talking about. The Church today, for one thing, has gotten legalistic on us. One of the most absurd things I have seen since I have been a part of the Body of Christ is this nonsense of reserved pews in churches, for one example. Who does man think he is, anyway? We are supposed to be Christ-like yet although Jesus loved all and respected none, as our key verse emphasizes, we play favorites. We go out and try to "win the Trumps and trash the tramps." A close example which - praise be to God! - was corrected before it got out of hand was the case of David Wilkerson. In 1958, when an invalid by the name of Michael Farmer was murdered by severn members of a street gang, it appalled Wilkerson so much that he was shocked when the Holy Ghost laid a burden on his heart to help the murderers. Like Peter, he disobeyed several times before doing the Spirit's will. As a result of his obedience, one of the most dynamic witnesses to indigent youth was born in Teen Challenge. This should prove something to us in that we are chosen sometimes to do things we don't like, yet obedience brings blessing. If the Church would recognize that fact and start winning the lost to Christ, what a force we would be to reckon with. Oh, how ignorant Satan wants us to be!

Now in addition to not having a concern for the lost because of our snotty carnality, we have another equally disturbing problem. The problem is that we, as Christians, cannot even cooperate to win souls anyway. I heard a song just recently about these uncooperative brethren, comparing them to concrete - thoroughly mixed up and too well-set. As John Shirley (one of my classmates in this particular class who had previously spoken) said in his message the other day, there is a serious problem on our campus here with this. Many students are walking out of fellowship with us because we gave them the "left foot of fellowship," that being we ostracized them because they use a different translation of the Bible, lean too far to one extreme, or come from the North instead of the South. However, do they not believe the same fundamental doctrines all true? Do they not have salvation by faith in the risen Savior as we do? And most important of all, are we to judge a book by its cover, or rather obey the command in Luke 7:1? Think about that, for believe it or not, we are all guilty of that sin of judgementalism in some way or another. Peter was likewise, for when he saw the vision, he let his flesh rule instead of God's Spirit. We cannot judge a book by its cover, for it is the words within we look at. Likewise we don't measure a Christian by how "religious" he acts, but by the condition of his heart. However, since only God knows that, then we should bite our tongues and shut up, for that person's spiritual condition is between him and the Lord, and is none of our business.

In closing, I perceive humanity, as consumed by the flesh, and our favoritism in church and between churches results from the flesh. However, as God was not a respector of persons, then don't let us be. If we are truly filled with the Spirit of God, we should see to it that our church be filled with harlots, drunks, orphans, hustlers, and the lowly, for the church is not a convalescent center for lazy Christians, but a haven for the have-nots and spiritually sick. Also, the Body of Christ, as it says in Romans 12:4-5, is made up of many members. When we bicker and fight with a bunch of theological hogwash, it is like a man cutting off his right arm with his left hand, and is just as painful. So please, brethren in Christ, don't do this, for our voice is one of sanity to a hell-bent world ruled by that conniving snake of hell himself. I'm weary of fighting, and I want to see love and fellowship. God help us and grant us grace as we seek spiritual unity one unto another. Amen.