Young Adult Crisis Hotline

Knowing our identity

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:00:04 PDT

Knowing our identity in Jesus Christ is crucially important - a major key - to walking in ever-increasing spiritual victory. You will struggle to one degree or another your entire Christian life if you don't learn and believe WHO God the Father says you are IN Jesus Christ.

Any time a believer is in disagreement with what God says about them from the scriptures below, (there are more promises than what we've listed, by the way) they must quit believing the devil's lies, and start believing what God's Word says about them, which is Truth (Godly FACT!). In so doing, one is waging wise, effective spiritual warfare against the devouring attacks of the devil against them.

1 Peter 5:8-9 alerts Christian believers: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings (attacks to devour your joy, peace and faith, in one form or another - explanation ours) are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Our ongoing, daily confession of what God's WORD says about us is one of the most vital means of "resisting the devil" God has given Christian believers. If we don't confess the promises of God, once we know what they are, it usually means we don't believe them either...which only gives the devil greater influence in our lives.

Remember ... Satan has little influence over the Christian believer when we refuse to believe his lies. But if we do believe his lies, that gives him increased influence over us...giving him an opening to harass (oppress - devour) us in even greater measure.

Another important note regarding the promises listed below. These promises are ONLY given to us because of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross. We must never think of ourselves as so "wonderful" or so "deserving" that God gave us His promises because we are worthy to receive them. God makes it very clear in scripture that no human is worthy to receive the unfathomable riches He has given us in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ alone is the only One worthy to receive God the Father's eternal blessings, and once we come to agreement with that fact, it makes the eternal salvation Jesus Christ has secured and given us even more priceless!

God forbid that any one of us thinks we deserve this priceless gift of eternal salvation and all the blessings that come with it through eternity. We must always remember that what we really deserve is eternal punishment in hell because we are sinners. Yet in God's love and mercy, He provided a way...He provided an escape from eternal damnation. The miracle of the exchanged life is our escape. Jesus became our sin ... so we could inherit His righteousness - His holiness. Jesus took our punishment at the cross for our sins...so we could be freed from punishment.

Arrogance and boasting about our exchanged life in Jesus Christ has no place for God's people. As believers in Jesus Christ, you and I are nothing but sinners saved by God's grace. That's the first truth God wants us realizing. But God says we are also something ELSE! He says that in Jesus Christ, we are also Godly saints who occasionally sin now...but one day in eternity will never sin again!

God has given us His promises of our position in Jesus Christ for at least two reasons that I'm aware of:

1) To wage more effective spiritual warfare against demonic powers -- actively applying the Ephesians 6:16 "shield of faith."
2) To help us stay motivated to daily keep striving to live up to what God desires for us to become.

What does God the Father desire that we become? More Christ-like, in every way. God wills it to happen, but it's not going to happen by our just talking about it, or wishing it to happen. It will only happen as we make Christ-like decisions. That requires action on our part, doesn't it?

Therefore, let the promises from God below be the "ammunition" to fire back at demonic powers firing their poisonous bullets (fiery darts) at you ... using them wisely and appropriately for that reason, and secondly, use them as catalysts in striving to be more Christ-like:

IN and THROUGH Jesus Christ, this is what God the Father says about me ...

In Jesus Christ, God's child for I am born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever. I Peter 1:23
Through Jesus Christ, able to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 2:3
In Jesus Christ, forgiven of all my sins and washed in His shed Blood. Eph 1:7; Heb 9:14; Col 1:14; I John 2:12, I John 1:9
Through Jesus Christ, I have eternal life. John 3:36
Through Jesus Christ, I have passed from death into life. John 5:24
Through Jesus Christ, out of my innermost being will flow rivers of living water. John 7:38
Through Jesus Christ, the truth shall set me free. John 8:31-32
Through Jesus Christ, if I ask what God has promised, in Jesus name, He will do it. (As long as it is the Father's will for me, of course. What we can miss in reading John Chapters 14 & 15 is that God desires above all things that we make it our number one purpose as Christians to strive to allow the Holy Spirit to grow Christ-like fruit in our lives. [See: Galatians 5:22-24 to know what these "fruits" are]. Because God above all else is looking for Christ-like character growth in our lives, we sometimes struggle wondering WHY God doesn't grant us whatever we ask of Him. Though many will disagree with me, which is their right, I have yet to find one ironclad guarantee in the Bible that will motivate God to answer every prayer I pray the way I want Him to answer it. God desires that we have confidence when we pray to Him, but He also desires that we honor Him by our acknowledging that we accept however He responds to our prayers, simply because He's the only one who knows all things, understands all things, and knows what is BEST for each of us at any given time, and for others we pray for). John 14:14; John 15:7-8
I am in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is in me. John 14:20
In Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ, peace is mine. John 14:27
In and through Jesus Christ, I am loved by the Father. John 16:27
In Jesus Christ, I belong to God. I am His. John 17:9
In Jesus Christ, I am protected from the evil one. John 17:15 (As I implement Ephesians 6:10-18. This is not to assume I am exempt from demonic attacks. The Apostle Paul wasn't, and he is the one the Holy Spirit used to write the book of Ephesians, among other Books where Paul speaks of the persecution of Satan he faced through the religious people who opposed Jesus. The Apostle Peter also experienced spiritual warfare, which fully qualified him to write by unction of God the Holy Spirit: "Be sober, be alert, because your adversary, the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." [See: 1 Peter 5:8]. Peter is not writing this to the unsaved. He is writing it to the Body of Christ, the Church - born again believers. As the balanced counsel goes forth from mature believers: Christians are never to fear what Satan can do them, but neither are they ever to become complacent, nor ignorant of his devices and strategies to rob them of their peace and joy and life (love for God) in Christ Jesus).
Through Jesus Christ, I am being sanctified by the truth of God's Word (as I believe it and obey it). John 17:17
I am in Jesus Christ and loved by the Father. John 17:23
In Jesus Christ, I have forgiveness of sins through Christ. Acts 13:38; 1 John 1:9
In Christ, I am among the called of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:6
In Christ, I am beloved of God, called to be a saint. Romans 1:7
In and through Jesus Christ, I have been justified by faith, and I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1
Through Jesus Christ, I am saved solely by God's grace and the faith God gives me to trust Him for my salvation. Beyond trusting, there is absolutely nothing I could possibly do to earn that salvation, nor must I ever think that I somehow deserve this salvation. Salvation is the gift of God, from God. Ephesians 2:8
In and through Jesus Christ, I have perseverance, character and hope, when I purpose to glory in my tribulations, (rather than constantly complain about them, or become angry and bitter at God for allowing them to happen to me, which is what demonic spirits serving Satan delights seeing happen to you and I!) Romans 5:3-4
Through Jesus Christ, the love of God has been poured out in my heart through Jesus' death. Romans 5:5
In Jesus Christ, I will eventually reign in life through the obedience of Christ Jesus to the Father. Romans 5:17
In Jesus Christ, I have been made righteous through the obedience of Christ. Romans 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5:21
Through Jesus Christ, because I have been given the righteousness Christ had and has, I now am commanded of God to diligently strive daily to live up to this righteousness that Christ secured for me. (Not giving into temptations to sin, in other words, walking in obedience to the Word of Truth). 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22
In Jesus Christ, I died with Christ when He died. Romans 6:2
In and through Jesus Christ, because Christ rose from the dead, I have been raised from the spiritually dead to walk in newness of spiritual life through Christ. Romans 6:4
Through Jesus Christ, I no longer need to be a slave to sin, because God has given me His power in Christ to became a vessel to holiness and obedience. Romans 6:6
In Jesus Christ and through the strength and power of Christ, I AM an overcomer. Philippians 4:13; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
In my own strength and own power, I can accomplish nothing that pleases God. John 15:5
Through Jesus Christ, what I purpose to do daily is seek the help of the Holy Spirit to help me understand when I am sinning; help me understand why God doesn't want me committing that sin; and then help me overcome that sin(s) in my life. Romans 8:13
In Jesus Christ, I am not under law, but under grace. Before Christ died for sinners on the cross, I was under the law. To be saved, I was to try to obey the 10 commandments (which the Bible says no one can do, though Christ did). After Christ died for sinners on the cross, I was under grace. Under grace, I no longer had to try to obey the 10 commandments to become saved, but rather, trust that Christ paid full penalty for all my sins, taking my full punishment for them. And because I'm now under grace, I realize there is nothing to lose and everything to gain by my keeping the Ten Commandments, but without the resurrection power that is imparted to us in Christ and by the help of the Holy Spirit, we won't be able to faithfully obey the Ten Commandments anyway for very long. Yet I must always remember lest the devil try to deceive me as the book of Galatians addresses, trying to keep the 10 commandments will not, and will never, save me from my sins, nor will it save anyone else. Neither will restoring any daily sacrifice as was practiced in Old Testament times by the Jews save me or anyone else from my or their sins. Romans 6:14; Galatians 5:18
I once was a slave to sin before I was saved, but now that I am secure in my salvation in Christ, I desire to be a slave of righteousness (addicted to righteousness; right-relationship with God, in other words). Romans 6:18
In Jesus Christ, I have now no condemnation because of who I am in Christ, Romans 8:1
Through Jesus Christ, I have been set free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:2
In Jesus Christ, I have spiritual life in my mortal body through His Spirit who indwells me. Romans 8:11
In Christ Jesus, I am a child of God. (When I wasn't in Christ Jesus, I was a child of Satan). Romans 8:16
Through Christ, I am an heir of God and fellow heir with Christ. Romans 8:17
In Jesus Christ, all things are working ultimately together for my good, as I walk in God's purposes and His will, in love. Romans 8:28; 1 John 5:3
In and through Jesus Christ, I have been justified and glorified in the mind of God, and I now strive to walk in obedience to the Word of Truth to glorify the One (Jesus Christ) who secured my justification and glorification. Romans 8:30
Through Jesus Christ, I have a measure of faith. Romans 12:3
In Jesus Christ, I have been given gifts, though I also know that I'm to desire supernatural gifts at all times imparted by the Holy Spirit, to glorify God. Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 14:1
In and through Jesus Christ, I am to desire spiritual gifts, but diligently PURSUE love, because it was love that motivated and keeps motivating God to pursue me and you. 1 Corinthians 14:1
In and through Jesus Christ, whether I live or die, I am the Lord's. Romans 14:8
In Jesus Christ, I am a sanctified saint, (but living it out daily is a different matter, though it is God's will that I eagerly strive to do so, with the help of the Holy Spirit and God's Word!) I Cor. 1:2
In and through Jesus Christ, I have been given the grace of God. I Cor. 1:4
In Jesus Christ, I have been enriched in every way. I Cor. 1:5
In Jesus Christ, I am called into fellowship with God. I Cor. 1:9
In Jesus Christ, I qualify to be given wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I Cor. 1:30
Because of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and my choice to identify with Him, I have been given God's Spirit so I can understand what God has freely given. I Cor. 2:12
Through Jesus Christ, I am God's fellow worker, I am God's field, God's building. I Cor. 3:9
In Jesus Christ, I am a temple of God in which the Spirit of God indwells, though I also realize that I can grieve the Spirit of God by giving place to ongoing sin...disobedience...teaching false doctrine...twisting scriptures out of context and/or proper scripture application. I Cor. 3:16; Ephesians 4:30
In Jesus Christ, I am a holy temple of God I Cor. 3:17
Through Jesus Christ, I am one spirit with God's Spirit, (though my flesh begs to differ far too often!) I Cor. 6:17
In Jesus Christ, my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in me, and because God says it is His temple, I strive to make it a holy temple daily through the help of Christ's strength in me to walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh. However, as a word of caution, no matter how much a person conquers areas of sin in their life, this is not, nor will it ever, be what saves them from their sins. BELIEVING what Christ accomplished for us on the cross is what saves us. Nothing less. Nothing more. I Cor. 6:19
Through Jesus Christ, I have been bought with a price, and I desire to honor God with my body, (which encompasses my spirit, my soul, and my physical body). I Cor. 6:20
Through Jesus Christ, I am Christ's slave (though I'm not so arrogant nor naive to believe that my selfish and fleshly carnal nature has been stripped fully of its power to keep me from being a slave to it's sinful desires, which is why I need to daily purpose to walk in the Spirit, so I don't fulfill the lusts of my flesh). I Cor. 7:22; Galatians 5:16-17
Through Jesus Christ, I will be raised from the dead imperishable. I Cor. 15:52
Through Jesus Christ, I will put on immortality. I Cor. 15:53
In Jesus Christ, I am comforted by God, so I can comfort others. 2 Cor. 1:4
Through Jesus Christ, I am delivered from the peril of spiritual death, providing I'm willing to give my ALL to God in obedience to maintain my deliverance. 2 Cor. 1:10
In and through Jesus Christ, He anointed me, and put His seal of ownership on me. 2 Cor. 1:22
In Jesus Christ, I am a fragrance of Christ to God among both the saved and the lost, as I behave like Christ would behave. 2 Cor. 2:15
In Christ, I am a letter of Christ being written. 2 Cor. 3:3
Through Christ, I am a minister of the new covenant of the Spirit of life. 2 Cor. 3:6
Through Christ, I am being transformed into the likeness of the Lord Jesus ever increasingly with glory from God the Father by the help of the Holy Spirit as I walk in obedience to His Word of Truth. 2 Cor. 3:18
In Jesus Christ, I have received mercy, and do not lose heart through Christ who strengthens me and by the help of the Holy Spirit. 2 Cor. 4:1
Through Jesus Christ, I have the Holy Spirit in my body. 2 Cor. 4:7
Through Jesus Christ, the life of Jesus is manifested in my body, as I diligently work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit to help me. 2 Cor. 4:10 See: Romans 8:13
Through Jesus Christ, my inner man is being renewed day by day. 2 Cor. 4:16
In Jesus Christ, I have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 Cor. 5:1
Through Jesus Christ, I live by faith, not by sight. (That is, I live by faith in God's wisely applied promises in His Word, and any rhema word(s) God has imparted to me. Otherwise I may be living by presumption and/or assumption without even knowing, which can give demons an open door to trip me up). 2 Cor. 5:7
In Jesus Christ, I am a new spiritual creation; old things have passed away, and all things have become new. 2 Cor. 5:17
Through Jesus Christ, I am reconciled to God, and I have been given the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Cor. 5:18
Through Jesus Christ, I am an ambassador for Christ, imploring people to be reconciled to God. 2 Cor. 5:20
In Jesus Christ, I am the righteousness of God. 2 Cor. 5:21
Through Jesus Christ, I have grace from God so I can abound in every good work. 2 Cor. 9:8
In the love of God, I am Christ's. 2 Cor. 10:7
Through God's love and mercy and grace, Jesus Christ is in me. 2 Cor. 13:5
I am crucified with Jesus Christ, as the Apostle Paul was qualified to state, so I too in Christ want to be able to confidently proclaim this. I no longer live but Christ lives in me, and the life that I live now, I live by faith in Christ." Gal. 2:20
I am a son of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Gal. 3:26
I am one in Christ Jesus with all believers. Gal. 3:28
I belong to Jesus Christ. I am an heir through Christ according to the promise. Gal. 3:29
In Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ, I am a son of God. Gal. 4:6
Through Jesus Christ, I am no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. Gal. 4:7
Through Jesus Christ, I have grace and peace. Eph. 1:2
In Jesus Christ, I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. No matter how difficult life may have been for me up to this point, or how difficult it might get in the future ... nothing changes the fact that I am blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Once I'm in "heavenly places," my faith will become sight - halleluiah! Eph. 1:3
Through Jesus Christ, I am chosen in Him. Eph. 1:4
In and through Christ Jesus, I am holy and blameless in God's sight. Eph. 1:4
I am a son through Jesus Christ. Eph. 1:5
In the beloved (Christ) I am accepted by God the Father unconditionally, which also means that I am loved unconditionally by God the Father in the beloved (Christ). Eph. 1:6
Through Jesus Christ I have redemption and forgiveness. Eph. 1:7
Through Jesus Christ I have obtained an inheritance. Eph. 1:11
I have been sealed in Jesus Christ with the promised Holy Spirit. Eph. 1:13
I am seated positionally with Jesus Christ in the heavenlies because of all that Christ accomplished for me by His going to the cross; fully realizing how secure I am in my relationship with God, but again, in and through Christ. Eph. 1:20
In Jesus Christ, I am loved by God, and because I am loved by God, I demonstrate my love for Him and others by earnestly striving to keep His New Testament (New Covenant) commandments. Yet keeping God's commandments does not motivate God to love me more. In Christ, I have all of God the Father's unconditional love. Obeying God's New Testament commandments will bring God's increased favor one way or the other, not His love. Eph. 2:4; 1 John 5:3
Through Jesus Christ, I have been made alive together with Christ. Eph. 2:5
In Jesus Christ, I have every right to feel confidently secure that I have been raised with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly places. Eph. 2:6
Through Jesus Christ, I have been saved from my sins by grace through faith -- this salvation of His forgiveness for my sins is a gift of God. Eph. 2:8
In and through Jesus Christ, I am God's workmanship created for good works. Eph. 2:10
I have been brought near to God by the (shed) blood of Christ. Eph. 2:13
Jesus Christ is my peace because He is at peace with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and He IS peace personified. Eph. 2:14
Through Jesus Christ I have access in one Spirit to the Father. Eph. 2:18
In Jesus Christ, I am no longer a stranger and alien, but I am a fellow citizen with the saints. Eph. 2:19
In Jesus Christ, I am a fellow heir and fellow member of the body of Christ. Eph. 3:6
In and through Jesus Christ, I am a fellow partaker of the promises of God. Eph. 3:6
In Jesus Christ and through faith in Him, we have boldness and confident access to God the Father. Eph. 3:12
Through Christ Jesus, I am strengthened with power through His Spirit in my inner man. Eph. 3:16
Through Jesus Christ, I have a power source within me which is able to do abundantly beyond all that I ask or think. Eph. 3:20
In and through Jesus Christ, I have been given grace. Eph. 4:7
In Jesus Christ, I have been forgiven, so I forgive others through the strength (ability) Christ provides when I need it. Eph. 4:32; Phil. 4:13
Through Jesus Christ, I am confident that He who began a good work in me will perfect it until the day (return) of Christ Jesus. Phil. 1:6
Through Jesus Christ, God is at work within me both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Phil. 2:13
Through Christ Jesus my Savior and Lord, I am a spiritual light in the world. Phil. 2:15
In Jesus Christ, the peace of God guards my heart and mind as I pray with thanksgiving in everything. Phil. 4:6,7
In Jesus Christ, I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me. (In accordance with the Father's will, of course) Phil. 4:13
In Jesus Christ, God shall supply all my needs (not necessarily all my wants) according to His riches in glory. Phil. 4:19
In Jesus Christ, the Father has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Col. 1:12
In and through Jesus Christ, I have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Col. 1:13
In and through Christ Jesus, I have redemption and the forgiveness of sins. Col. 1:14
Jesus Christ is in me, the hope of glory. Col. 1:27
In Jesus Christ I have already been made complete, yet until I reach heaven, I'm to live UP to that completeness! Col. 2:10
In Jesus Christ I have been buried with Him in baptism. In and through Christ I have been raised up with Him through faith. Col. 2:12
In Jesus Christ, I have been made spiritually alive together with Him. Col. 2:13
Through Jesus Christ, all my sin debt was paid in full at the cross. Col. 2:14
I have been raised with Jesus Christ, and I set my heart on things above (things that are most important to God). I have died (to my carnal, fleshly sinful nature), and my life (whatever pleases the Father) is hidden with Christ in God. Col. 3:1-3
Through Jesus Christ, I have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of the Creator. Col. 3:10
I am rescued by Jesus Christ from the coming wrath of God that will be poured out upon Earth. I Thess. 1:10
Through Jesus Christ, I am taught by God to love others (treat others the way I want to be treated, in other words). I Thess. 4:9
I will meet the Lord Jesus in the air and be with Him forever. I Thess. 4:17
I am loved by the Lord. God has chosen me in Christ from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 2 Thess. 2:13
The faithful Lord will strengthen and protect me from the evil one because of who I am in Jesus Christ (but I must also use my Ephesians 6:10-18 weapons of warfare that God has given me to use...not to let them sit in some dark corner of a closet to collect dust.) 2 Thess. 3:3
In and through Jesus Christ, I have been called to eternal life. I Tim. 6:12
Because of who I am in Jesus Christ, God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind -- which happens to be nothing less than the very mind of Christ. 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 Cor. 2:16
The Lord has saved me and called me to a holy life, not according to my works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted me in Christ Jesus for all eternity. 2 Tim. 1:9
I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day (He returns to earth) because of what God secured for me in and through Christ Jesus the Word. 2 Tim. 1:12
Because of what Jesus Christ accomplished for me at the cross, The Holy Spirit dwells in me. 2 Tim. 1:14
In His love for me, He has purposed to redeem me from every lawless deed and purified me for His own possession as I purpose to walk in obedience to His commandments, yet knowing full well I may fall short of doing that from time to time. Titus 2:14
The Holy Spirit has been poured out upon me richly through Jesus Christ my Savior. Titus 3:6
I have been justified by His grace in Christ and made an heir through Christ in having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:7
Through the help of the Holy Spirit, I fix my thoughts on Jesus (what is important to Him), the apostle and high priest who I confess. Heb. 3:1
Through Jesus Christ, I am a house of Jesus Christ. Heb. 3:6
I have become a partaker of Christ through the divine will of the Father. Heb. 3:14
As God has rested from His work, I have rested from my works (not trying to somehow be "good enough" to earn salvation (forgiveness for my sins), in other words, or be "worthy enough" to receive salvation), knowing that in Christ, I can feel secure that all the work necessary was accomplished by Christ on the cross to qualify me to stand in the presence of my Holy God this very moment without fear of eternal condemnation. Heb. 4:10
Through Jesus Christ, I have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Heb. 4:14
Through Jesus Christ, I have a high priest who can sympathize with my weaknesses. Heb. 4:15
In and through Jesus Christ, I can approach the throne of grace with confidence, so I may receive mercy and find grace to help me in my time of need. Heb. 4:16
In Jesus Christ, I have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Although I realize that as long as I'm on this planet prior to Christ's physical return, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit will be ongoing in my life). Heb. 10:10
Through Jesus Christ, my heart has been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and my body washed with pure water. Heb. 10:22
Because of Jesus Christ, I have a great cloud of witnesses surrounding me who are also in Christ. Heb. 12:1
Because I belong to Christ Jesus, God disciplines me for my good that I may share His holiness (this is referred to as the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit). Positionally, in Christ, I have already been made holy and righteous. Because of that truth, I am now to pursue holiness and righteousness, seeking to imitate the character of Jesus Christ in every way - daily. Heb. 12:10; 2 Cor. 5:21
In Jesus Christ, I have received a kingdom which cannot be shaken, and I am thankful and worship God. Heb. 12:28
Because of the security I have in and through Jesus Christ, God will never desert me nor forsake me. Heb. 13:5 (Although I realize I'm not exempt from God's testing, and the test of feeling forsaken is perhaps the most difficult test to go through, though God strongly desires that we pass it.) Heb 13:5
Through the sacrifice Jesus Christ gave for my sins on the cross, I am made holy through Jesus' own blood shed on the cross. (Although I have not obtained a state of sinlessness either; until I receive my glorified body, I'm still fully capable of sinning). Heb. 13:12
Jesus has equipped me in every good thing to do His will, working in me that which is pleasing in His sight because I have chosen to identify with Him. Heb. 13:21
In Jesus Christ, God generously and without reproach gives to me wisdom if I ask Him, but I must be patient to get it sometimes, and I must be willing to seek Godly counsel from others at times or it may not be given to me. James 1:5
In Jesus Christ, God has promised to me the crown of life when I persevere under trial. James 1:12
In His great mercy, I have been born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. I Peter 1:3
In and through Jesus Christ, I have obtained an inheritance which can never perish, spoil, or fade away, reserved in heaven for me. I Peter 1:4
I am protected by the power of God through faith until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time because of who I am in Christ. I Peter 1:5
Because He is holy, I am holy. (Positionally speaking, I am holy in Jesus Christ, which was given me as part of the eternal gift of salvation, accomplished on the cross for me by Christ. Experientially, I daily yield with the Holy Spirit to not give in to sinful temptation and believe lies about myself in Christ). 1 Peter 1:16
I was not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. I Peter 1:18-19
I have been born again in and through Jesus Christ, not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding Word of God. I Peter 1:23
In Jesus Christ, I am a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a person for God's own possession, that I may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called me out of (spiritual) darkness into His marvelous light. I Peter 2:9
In Jesus Christ, I am part of the family of God, and I have received mercy. I Peter 2:10
Through Christ Jesus, and by His wounds I am healed (the day He went to the cross for you and I and received the punishment for our sins), and have every right to trust Him for healing. This promise first addresses my Spiritual relationship with God, because our spirit man is what God is more concerned about than anything else - where we will spend eternity.
In Jesus Christ, I have been made alive in the Spirit. I Peter 3:18
The Spirit of glory and of God rests upon me because of who I am in Christ. I Peter 4:14
Through Jesus Christ, His divine power has granted to me everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3
Through Jesus Christ, He has granted to me His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them I might become a partaker of the divine nature, purposing to escape the corruption that is in the world by lust. 2 Peter 1:4
In and through Christ Jesus, I have been purified from my former sins. (Any future sins I commit, I appropriate 1 John 1:9 and strive diligently to obey Romans 8:13 as I am temped to sin after that, yet fully realize that no one living on this planet obtains a state of perfect sinlessness - for any length of time that is - prior to receiving their glorified bodies at the resurrection of the just). 2 Peter 1:9
If I confess my sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive me and purify me from all unrighteousness, but I realize that I'm also to repent of my sin(s), which means to diligently strive to stop committing that same sin(s) in the future. I John 1:9
In Jesus Christ, I am now a child of God. I John 3:2
Because I keep His commandments through the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God, and do the things that are pleasing in His sight, whatever I ask, I receive from Him.
As Christians, you and I have the privilege of claiming this promise. God wants us to be confident when we pray to Him 1 John 3:22

Who are you?

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:28:27 PDT

I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15 )
I am united with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17 )
I am bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt.5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation (Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil.3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31 -34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor.5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom.8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor.1:21-22)
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8: 28)
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16 )
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12 )
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16 ). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's coworker (1 Cor.. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1). I am God's workmanship(Eph. 2:10 )
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected. (Phil 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven(Col.1:14).I have been adopted as God's child(Eph 1:5)
I belong to God
Do you know
who you are?

Grace

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:13:37 PDT

Of Grace

"The believer is now, by faith in the Lord Jesus, shrouded under so perfect and blessed a righteousness, that this thundering law of Mount Sinai cannot find the least fault or diminution therein. This is called the righteousness of God without the law."

...As sound old Bunyan said

Romans 3:21-25

21But now the righteousness of God (1)apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even the righteousness of God, (2)through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on (3)all who believe. For there is no difference; 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 (4)being justified (5)freely by His Grace (6) through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God set forth(7) [as] a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).
The most obvious and striking division of the Word of Truth is that between Law
and Grace.... It is vital to observe that Scripture never mingles these two principles.

Law is God prohibiting and requiring;
Grace is God beseeching and bestowing.

Law is a ministry of condemnation;
Grace is of forgiveness.

Law curses;
Grace redeems from that curse.

Law kills;
Grace makes alive.

Law shuts every mouth before God;
Grace opens every mouth to praise Him.

Law puts a great and guilty distance between man and God;
Grace makes guilty man nigh to God.

Law says "do and live";
Grace, "believe and live."

Law never had a missionary;
Grace is to be preached to every creature.

Law utterly condemns the best man;
Grace freely justifies the worst.

Law is a system of probation;
Grace, of favour.

Law stones an adulteress;
Grace says, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."

Under law the sheep dies at the hand of the shepherd;

Under grace the Shepherd dies for the sheep.

Everywhere the Scriptures present law and grace in sharply contrasted spheres. The mingling of them in much of the current teaching of the day spoils both, for law is robbed of its terror, and grace of its freeness.

THE BELIEVER IS NOT UNDER THE LAW

Romans 6, after declaring the doctrine of the believer's identification with Christ in
His death, of which baptism is the symbol (verses 1-10), begins, with verse 11, the declarations of the principles which should govern the walk of the believer-his rule of life. This is the subject of the remaining twelve verses. Verse 14 gives the great principle of his deliverance, not from the guilt of sin that is met by Christ's blood, but from the dominion of sin-his bondage* under it. "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."

Lest this should lead to the monstrous Antinomianism of saying that therefore a godly life was not important, the Spirit immediately adds: "What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid" (Rom. 6:15). Surely every renewed heart answers "Amen" to this.

Then Romans 7 introduces another principle of deliverance from law. "Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye
should he married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we
should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter" (Rom. 7:4-6). (This does not refer to the ceremonial law; see verse 7.)

A beautiful illustration of this principle is seen in a mother's love for her child. The
law requires parents to care for their offspring and pronounces penalties for the willful neglect of them; but the land is full of happy mothers who tenderly care for their children in perfect ignorance of the existence of such a statute. The law is in their hearts.
It is instructive, in this connection, to remember that God's appointed place for the tables of the law was within the ark of the testimony. With them were "the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded" (Types: the one of Christ our wilderness bread, the other of resurrection, and both speaking of grace), while they were covered from sight by the golden mercy seat upon which was sprinkled the blood of atonement. The eye of God could see His broken law only through the blood that completely vindicated His justice and propitiated His wrath (Heb. 9:4-5).

It was reserved to modernists to wrench these holy and just but deathful tables from underneath the mercy seat and the atoning blood and erect them in Christian churches as the rule of Christian life.

Should this meet the eye of an unbeliever, he is affectionately exhorted to accept the true sentence of that holy and just law which he has violated: "For there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:22-23).
In Christ such will find a perfect and eternal salvation, as it is written: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:9); for Christ is "the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Rom. 10:4).

Christ Incarnate in the Culture?

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:10:42 PDT

Are we Going to engage our Culture?

In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and He was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make. Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”. So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.” (John 1:1-5; 14 NLT)
..."having a form of godliness but denying its power" (2 Tim 3:5).

ARE WE STUCK ON LIVING Christian PRINCIPLES?

God never called us to to live by Christian principles. He calls us to live in relationship with the Living God, Jesus Christ. We are to literally live an incarnate life moment by moment. Asking God to help us when we fail to get up quicker than the last time we have failed. Incarnation living is to live life from not our own self or our own desires. Incarnation living is to represent in a bodily form Christ who is supplying our life from within as our source. When we embody Christ to those around us we are representing the pierced hands, feet, and speared side of Christ. We are helping people to the heart of God through in living form being who Christ is and all that he has done by Grace not representing oneself, we represent a Kingdom here on earth because Christ who is our King reigning and ruling from our hearts as a channel of His kingship to those of another kingdom. We make the subjective,objective and through having God's interests, thoughts and feelings live them through our Human spirit that has been regenerated inwardly to outward representation of the Throne of God that is with in us now. When we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit, who is our Source that has internally transfigured us from within. We are by every moment the reality of Christ to the world by manifesting the Glory from within our very lives demonstrate plainly, relevantly, and practically the bodily form of God upon this earth from our new hearts and new nature. Our new nature with in us was birthed from above and from within ourselves so it does not depend upon our own effort to have God be channeled or flows out from us. God the Holy Spirit is the Living Water that will flow through us to make obvious and apparent who God is and what He has already performed and accomplished. The unfinished work of God is to emerge the Finished work of God to the Lost and depraved world around us through our lives as we are the manifestation of the invisible God. We are the visible and external embodied truth of God for God's Truth lives within us we can be the personification of Christ who has preeminence of our lives. This means that we live the personal qualities of God's nature that lives within our new hearts and by our new Christly minds.

What is Incarnational Living ?

Incarnational living finds its source in the love and concern of God for His creation. God proved, in a real way, His care for humankind by becoming human being. It must be this love of God that embraces us and motivates us, in turn, to care for others.

Without giving up His divine character, Jesus became fully immersed within the culture of the people to whom He brought the excellent News. He was part of the culture, yet transcended it. He lived contentedly surrounded by the culture, yet was a representative of transformation. The incarnation is a difficult to comprehend and exist within the world of the un-churched culture. We must make the Great News culturally relevant to them, and take it into their world.

Outreach to the un-churched must consider the issues of incarnation by going where people go, and living in their world. The methods we use to reach them must be based upon developing authentic relationships that are living. We must model a lifestyle of Christ-likeness in the context of friendship and serving people as Christ has served us. The church must meet the needs of the un-churched within the world in which they live, instead of confrontational evangelism, practicing servant evangelism and living an incarnate life as living epistles that can be easily read, overflowing with the life of Christ from within as a follower of Christ.

Because Jesus is love incarnate, He chose to leave the glory of heaven and dwell among men. Think about this… God the eternal Son became man to dwell side by side with each of us that he created! Now we must prove through our lives that man can still dwell eternally side by side with God.

Incarnational living is not just about remembering an event in the past but the events of the future as well. We must come to realize that the best days are ahead of us, not behind. The Kingdom of God is just around the corner. We must stop yearning for the good old days and begin to look forward with joyous anticipation and excitement that the best is yet to come. God is yearning to be incarnate in your life...today and in all your tomorrows. The Kingdom of God is just ahead of us. It is time for us to look farther down the road. The fullness of His Glory is still yet to be revealed !!

Jesus, the God who became man, is our example. Without giving up His divine qualities, He nevertheless became fully immersed within the culture of the people to whom He brought the Great News. He was part of the culture, yet transcended it. He lived happily within the culture, yet was an agent of transformation. Are willing to be also agents of transformation today with our lives and engage culture.

Incarnate Defined:

Incarnate can be defined as:

To represent in or as if in bodily form; to embody: To represent in bodily or material form to include; to integrate: represent; materialize; externalize: make external or objective, to turn outward; To direct interest, thoughts, or feelings into a channel leading outside himself or herself. make external or objective, or give reality to, make manifest: To show or demonstrate plainly; reveal, exhibit, make plain, clear, obvious To make manifest or apparent to represent in or as if in bodily form: body forth Readily seen, perceived, or understood materialize : emerge To take physical form or shape. To cause to become real or actual , objectify: To make objective, external, or concrete, make external or objective, or give reality to, personalize: To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. To attribute human or personal qualities is to personify Make personal or more personal, personify: To think of or represent as having personality or the qualities, thoughts, or movements of a living being from within

One of the weaknesses of the Church today is that we preach and teach people principles without the relationship. We teach so much head knowledge and bible doctrine on one extreme or on another extreme share stories that contain little or no biblical truth nor how to apply it relevantly in practical Christian living through the Word of God. These extremes are so prevalent in the American or Western church that we have disengaged from the culture and put bars on our churches to keep the sick or those that don’t dress like us, act like us, talk like us, behave like us, or who really doubt and are just as skeptical as Apostle Thomas, which Christ came to seek and save out of the religion to bring them into a relationship. The church mostly has become institutionalized or become so established in organization it has lost its organic nature. The church is Christ's Bride and is living we can try through religion to over program, make it consumer friendly, or become a movement of together through the organism of the Body of Christ here on earth. Instead it has become a refuge from the World, as an alternative to Changing the world by turning the World upside down by operating within the world but not of the world through living Christ incarnate to the lost and dying world.

The western church is big on ten step programs, "how-to" methods and acrostics to illustrate memorable ideas. There is a place for establishing principles to change negative behavior. However, we are not called to have a relationship with principles, but a living God. Living by principles is the equivalent to living by the law in the Old Testament. It is rooted in the Greek system of learning and is dependent upon our strength instead of being led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Principle-based living is powerless living. This makes our Christian experience a religion instead of a relationship. "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law" (Gal 5:18).

We read about principle-based followers in the book of Acts, "The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people" (Acts 5:12-14). There was a group of followers who liked being taught but never entered the game. The prophet Jeremiah tells us about the nature of God and His desire for every believer.

This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

When are we Going to Engaging our Culture?

When the church embraces this mandate, how does it engage the culture around it? On the one hand, everyone within the church interacts daily with the culture in which they live. On the other hand, the church exists as a subculture that is out of step with larger Western society. We as the Church have tended to be reactionary rather than missional. We are known for building high walls around our churches and doing in-reach really well with programing our people like prisoners are programmed in institutions. We have our unspoken rules in the church, that sound like prison programing instead of freedom and Grace. This lack of missionary spirit has contributed to the churches mass marketing approach and consumerist culture. Every culture that has no missionary presence will eventually become a secular society. We are loosing ground every day with thousands of churches closing or declining in attendance rapidly. If we do not wake up and sound the alarm we will look around ten years from now and wonder what has happened to the CHURCH.

Instead of engaging the culture in which we exist, we have been prone to long for the return of 1954. Rather than incarnate the body of Christ within our present culture, we tend to stand against the culture and chastise the deterioration of society.

Should the church seek to be relevant to the culture in which it exists? On the one hand, the Church must always be distinct from the world in which it exists. We must, for instance, be distinct in the way that we treat one another, as our love for one another is a witness to the power of Christ within our community. On the other hand, we can not be the body of Christ incarnate to this culture if we do not become part of this culture. Christ came into our world and entered a particular time and place. So we as the church becomes Incarnational, the body of Christ manifested within the culture of our missionfield which is everywhere we are in the culture.

One might argue that the church should be wholly distinct from culture, that the culture within the church should be formed only by scripture. This argument would be stronger if it were possible for any church to remain distinct from its culture.

Friend, have you been guilty of living a life based on principles instead of knowing the One who authored the principles? Invite Jesus to be Lord over your life and begin to spend time with Him every day. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you through every moment of your day.

In His Grace Forever,
Pastor Teddy Awad, CMHP
Young Adult Crisis Hotline
and Biblical Counseling Center
410-808-6483
theodoreawadjr@comcast.net
http://yacrisishotline.tripod.com/
http://youngadultcrisishotline.blogspot.com/
youngadultcrisishotline@comcast.net

People are not perfect and neither is the Church!

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:45:29 PDT

According to research conducted by Lifeway and North American Mission Board, people seem to like Jesus, but not His church...

Seventy-two percent of the people interviewed said they think the church is full of hypocrites.
Seventy-one percent of the respondents said they believe Jesus makes a positive difference in a person’s life.
Seventy-eight percent said they would ‘be willing to listen’ to someone who wanted

Here’s the church, and here’s the steeple, open the door and see all the people.

Is that what people actually think of the Church?

Is it a building with a bunch of people who use big words and have crazy doctrines?

The people are boring, the worship service is blah.

The sermon is condemning and you leave church feeling the same way you came, now condemned and a little confused.

Why do I even bother going in the first place?

Is this why people stay away from church?

All of these are vital questions for us together to honestly address our poor image as the church. Our image to the world around us. Our job is to bring the Bride home. We have been a great task, that is, a passionate love for the Bride of Christ, and the working with all our heart to bring her home and present her spotless and chaste. To this we give our lives, that Jesus Christ might be pleased with the one upon whom he has pledged His love. I believe we must work with the church of Jesus Christ, because the only way to do biblical missions is to through a biblical church. We must do everything according to Scriptures. It is true. The door is open more than ever before. I think about the countries that have not been reached, but if we are going to walked through the door, we must do it biblically. We must return to Scripture, not the methodologies of men. First, I want to talk about finding the church, in other words, stopping the slander. If you want to be endeared to me, then treat my wife with the greatest respect. If you want to be on my bad side, then slander my wife.

These references and stories below are not to slander the Bride of God. They are to Awaken us to the Gideon call to let God use you. The least expected person and filling it with the power of God as instruments of His Glory. We are just ordinary men and women who can lead the Revolution. The Cross-cultural revolution is burning in a few places. Let us find these places and become ablaze by the Word of Grace. The Grace Revival always begins when we look at ourselves with honesty and then repent when we are made aware where Grace is not working in our life. Look to Grace to do the work in our lives which will overflow to others. The revival will only come if the Bible is the explanation not human performance or man made solutions. Our Part is not to be critical abut God's Bride, we are to make the changes necessary that we think need to be changed. I ask God is this just my opinion or is this your opinion Lord. If it is the Lord Jesus's Opinion then I champion the cause of Christ. I place myself in the Flow of God and allow him to use me to make a impact in the church I attend.

I believe the church has a responsibility to be a shining light for the world to see, reaching out to those people who are lost (Philippians 2:15). The church should be the first source for those that need the love of God in their lives. But what is the driving force behind most young people’s attitude against the traditional church? Is it fear? Do they believe in God less now a days? Are they looking for answers instead of just behavior modification?

It’s all too much when all God wants is just you.

I have talked to friends who don’t think they need to go to church to be a “Christian”. Many have been hurt by Pastors; they feel that they don’t know how to preach to their situations and problems or having to dealing with pre-marital sex, dating, drugs and peer pressure. Or they’re concerned with pastor’s begging for money, believing every time they come to church they'll be badgered to open their wallets and give them something that folds not jiggles. Although this maybe true for some churches–meaning that it’s not the church for you–every church is different.

The one thing that is abundantly obvious to me is that church should be a place of worship. It should be a place that every one will experience the presence of God whether they realize it or not. It should be a place where you feel welcome. It should be a place where you feel at home. It should be a place where the refreshing Word of God is taught–not what the preacher saw happening in the hallway or some manmade doctrine, prohibiting makeup or pants. It should be a place where God is always present. It doesn’t matter what you wear. God wants your heart. Now if all of these things embody your church than you have a great church, if this is not the case, especially teaching the Word of God, then run, and run fast.

What does the bible say about going to church? Is this a must for “Christians” to attend a local church? I believe that it is essential as a believer to fellowship with others in a setting that allows you to grow in Christ (Hebrews 10:24-25) to be in an environment that is suitable for your personal growth. People are not perfect and neither is the Church. I think people forget that as children of God. We too have problems and situations that frustrate us, disappoint and even sadden us. The church needs to reestablish itself as place to build people up and not tear them down, there needs to be a new paradigm within the Church. Many churches have realized this, but many have not as well. They continue playing church and only reaching those that are in arms length, sitting in their pews.

Times have changed and the Church has to change right along with it, based wholly on God’s word.
I remember having this conversation while in college, concerning the problems with churches. I learned about God, I learned His word, but I never learned to love this place called church. I learned that it was very ritualistic and some people believed in order to go to heaven you needed to go to church. Or in order to be a good “Christian” you had to be there every time the doors opened.

Now as a Father, I am overcome with the responsibility of teaching my children the value of being a “child of God” and not someone who goes to church every week. I want them to have a personal relationship with God that transcends the ideal of church and its doctrine and all that it entails. I want them to see the imperfection as well as the Godly attributes that people have. I want them to learn to study and read God’s word for themselves and not to wait for Sunday morning to hear the word.

For me, the Church is a place of fellowship, experiencing corporate worship in unity with other believers (Psalm 133:1). I don’t know about you, but I feel going to church is an important part of my walk and I don’t ever want to miss hearing a fresh new word, but I don’t feel guilty if I don’t make it every Sunday morning or Wednesday night, because the idea of church is not about the building, it’s the body of Christ as a whole, expanding His kingdom.

Do you want to expand HIS KINGDOM?????

Inward Transformation

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:29:23 PDT

Stages of Inward

Transformation

It is important to remember that you can be at different points in Inward Transformation for different issues. That is, you may be further along with one problem than another. Also, please remember not to let one problem that you are either not ready to deal with or are discouraged about stop you from receiving help for others you are willing to face.

"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise."--Proverbs 12:15

Releasing feelings only reinforces feelings.

1. Unaware of need for Inward Transformation

2. Aware of need for Inward Transformation

3. Consider Inward Transformation

4. Decide against Inward Transformation

5. Decide for Inward Transformation

6. Motivated to seek Inward Transformation

7. Seek Inward Transformation information precisely in God ‘s Word

8. Seek Inward Transformation resources

9. Discouraged about seeking

10. Stop seeking: Inward Transformation is short-circuited

11. Motivated to persevere with Inward Transformation

12. Make plan for Inward Transformation

13. Mentally motivated to work plan for Inward Transformation

14. Work at Inward Transformation plan mentally

15. Discouraged about working mentally

16. Motivated let God to finish plan of his Work of Inward Transformation

18. Inward Transformation occurs

19. Motivated to let God maintain Inward Transformation

22. Motivated to prevent relapse with God’s Word

23. Seek relapse information precisely in God’s Word

24. Make relapse prevention plan

25. Rethink with rational thoughts a maintenance plan

26. Discouraged about working rationally

27. Stop thinking rationally: Inward Transformation is short-circuited

28. Relapse: temporarily halt Inward Transformation

29. Motivated to recover Inward Transformation

30. Apply relapse plan

31. Recover Inward Transformation

32. Motivated to maintain Inward Transformation

33. Revise maintenance plan (e.g., include more motivation)

34. Revise relapse plan if needed (e.g., add new resources)

35. Work at revised maintenance plan

Discouragement

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:54:37 PDT

I Got this devotion from a Rick Warren Devotional.

Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, ‘The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!’ So we continued the work with half the men holding spears, from the first light of dawn till the stars came out. Neh. 4:19-21 (NIV)

Discouragement is a disease unique to human beings, and it's universal - eventually everyone gets it, including those in ministry. I have no doubt you've experienced discouragement at times, maybe many times. You might even be discouraged at this very moment.

So here's what I've learned about battling discouragement:

WHAT CAUSES DISCOURAGEMENT?

#1 Cause - FATIGUE

When you’re physically or emotionally exhausted, you’re a prime candidate to be infected with discouragement. Your defenses are lowered and things can seem bleaker than they really are. This often occurs when you’re halfway through a major project and you get tired. This also can occur after great accomplishments where you know that God used you individually.

#2 Cause - FRUSTRATION

When unfinished tasks pile up, it's natural to feel overwhelmed. And when trivial matters or the unexpected interrupt you and prevent you from accomplishing what you really need to do, your frustration can easily produce discouragement. Frustration root because is fear, when we are living in fear we are not living in Faith. Only faith pleases God so we feel overwellmed and discouraged from our own fears that has slowly replaced our faith.

#3 Cause - FAILURE

Sometimes, your best laid plans fall apart - the project collapses - the deal falls through - no one shows up to the event. How do you react? Do you give in to self-pity? Do you blame others? As one man said, Just when I think I can makes ends meet - somebody moves the ends! That's discouraging!

#4 Cause - FEAR

Fear is behind more discouragement than we'd like to admit. The fear of criticism (What will they think?); the fear of responsibility (What if I can't handle this?); and the fear of failure (What if I blow it?) can cause a major onset of the blues. when we are living in fear we are not living in Faith. Only faith pleases God so we feel overwhelmed and discouraged from our own fears that has slowly replaced our faith.

WHAT'S THE CURE FOR DISCOURAGEMENT?

There's a fascinating story in the Bible about how a guy named Nehemiah mobilized the residents of Jerusalem to build a wall around the entire city. Half way through the project, the citizens became discouraged and wanted to give up - because of the FOUR causes I've given.

Here's what Nehemiah taught about defeating discouragement (Nehemiah 4):

REST YOUR BODY

If you need a break - take one! You'll be more effective when you return to work. If you're burning the candle at both ends, you're not as bright as you think!

REORGANIZE YOUR LIFE

Discouragement doesn't necessarily mean you are doing the wrong thing. It may just be that you are doing the right thing in the wrong way. Try a new approach. Shake things up a little.

REMEMBER GOD WILL HELP YOU

Just ask Him. He can give you new energy. There’s incredible motivating power in faith.

RESIST THE DISCOURAGEMENT

Fight back! Discouragement is a choice. If you feel discouraged, it's because you’ve chosen to feel that way. No one is forcing you to feel bad. Hang on! Do what's right in spite of your feelings. No feeling lasts forever.

Recommended Site :

http://www.gracewalk.org/

Addictions Are About Behavior

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:43:26 PDT

Addictions Are About Behavior, Not Disease

When it comes to thinking about addiction, opinions converge. Having bought into the addiction industry's mantra, so-called social progressives But perhaps the greatest error made in the attempt at humane formulations about addiction is to cast as a disease what is essentially a problem of behavior.

The dangers of gathering more and more behaviors under the disease label is not something pharmacology moguls, politicians or health care professionals ruminate about, despite the ramifications for a society already committed to a morality lite and to diminished personal responsibility. In his book Diseasing of America, addiction researcher Stanton Peele breaks with this tradition. Disease conceptions of misbehavior are bad science and morally and intellectually sloppy, argues Peele. "Once we treat alcoholism and addiction as diseases, we cannot rule out that anything people do but shouldn't is a disease, from crime to excessive sexuality to procrastination."

While the application of the medical disease model to addictions was developed to "remove the stigma from these behaviors", there is NO genetic marker for alcoholism or drug addiction. Still, the misconception that these behaviors are linked to a genetic vulnerability is aired repeatedly by the media, in the absence of evidence. The rationale for using the disease model to describe addiction even though it is intellectually dishonest is that medical treatment is effective.

Yet another deception. An overview of controlled studies indicates that "treated patients do not fare better than untreated people with the same problems." Of note is a 4500-subject-strong 1996 US epidemiological study conducted by the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiological Survey. Treated alcoholics, it was found, were more heavily alcohol dependent on average than untreated alcoholics. Clearly a behavioral problem cannot be remedied by medical intervention. Addicts are cured when they decide to give up the habit.

The disease conception of addiction acts to isolate the noxious behavior from the person. Thus when we claim that drugs, much like the flu, "get a hold" of you, we conveniently deflect from that which mediates behavior: personality, values, character or lack thereof. Once someone becomes involved with drugs, we explain everything they do by saying it was due to the drugs, forgetting, in the process of this circular argument, that the source of the addiction is the person and not the drug. An honest look at drug-use means we cannot separate it from the person.

As Peele explains, addictive disorders are known only by the behaviors they describe. In the absence of the ongoing behavior there is no way of telling whether the person is, or will be addicted. "By claiming that alcoholics are alcoholics even if they haven't drunk for fifteen years, alcoholism is made to seem less tied to drinking behavior and more like cancer," but "a person does not get over cancer by stopping a ... behavior"... while "the sole and essential indicator of successful remission of alcoholism is that a person ceases to drink".

Any overdue blitz of the disease theory of addiction owes a great deal to Stanton Peele. So, here is an interview conducted with the author of Diseasing of America (1989). A psychologist and an attorney, Peele is an addiction expert with an international reputation. The author of 120 articles and eight books about chemical and relational addiction, Peele is a recipient of the Mark Keller Award from the Rutgers Center for Alcohol Studies, and the Lindesmith Award for Career Achievement in Scholarship from the American Drug Policy Foundation.

Q: Dr. Peele, do you believe addiction is a disease?

A: No. Most emphatically not. It has become the style to call negative behaviors, which people often experience as compelling motivation, "diseases." As though nail biting, overeating, and wife beating were like the malignant growth of cancer cells. Many self-defeating and anti-social behaviors have a common thread. People engage in them because they feel degraded and disapproved of, which feeds into their motivation to continue the negative behavior. But how ultimately do people stop drinking too much, overeating, and biting their nails? They feel, internally, that the balance of their desires and rewards is not to act this way; people make positive choices when they feel they have the opportunity to engage -and are supported - in more positive choices. The toughest addiction to quit is smoking. Right now about 50 million Americans have quit smoking, over 90% without a patch or formal therapy.

Q: How have we progressed to thinking about addiction as a disease?

A: We have developed a faith in medical advances that is steeped in the legend of the "microbe hunters", the generation of researchers and physicians who identified the bugs that cause many of the major killers of humans. This worship of medicine has become a fetish in North America. If we can describe a malady in medical terms, we feel we have somehow conquered it. Yet with psychological disorders and problems of behavior, namely addictions - such labeling and accompanying medical mumbo jumbo have not led to improvement in treatment outcomes. In many ways, turning our sense of ourselves over to medicine seems to be making things worse. Surveys repeatedly confirm that a generation of education about addiction has led to people's spiraling out of control now more than ever.

Q: What is the science on which the disease proponents of addiction base their demand for considering addiction a disease?

A: There is no inherited mechanism that leads a person to be unable to control their substance use, to go on tremendous binges, or to leave off their connection to people and environments in order to consume a substance. Genetic theories, being the modest things they are, can never explain the experience of loss of control. An overview of the research on alcohol and drugs NEVER supports the wild claims made by some proponents of the disease model. These claims reflect fundamentally antiscientific attitudes and a lack of understanding of the confluence of human motivation in response to experience, biology and external stimuli.

Consider this example: A 1996 headline in The New York Times, declared that brain images of addiction in action show its neural basis. The article reviewed research showing that many different drugs -- namely heroin, alcohol, amphetamines or nicotine -- activate common neural pathways. Its author surmised that these drugs bathe the neurons at these sites so as to reduce natural supplies of dopamine, and thus stimulate a craving for more of the drugs to compensate for this depleted supply of the neurotransmitter. And this was taken to mean that addiction is purely brain driven.

In my critique of this folly I explain that a wide range of activities stimulate the same pleasure centers in the brain -- including sex, eating, working, consuming chocolate. This should alert us to the fact that these brain theories tell us nothing about differences in behavior, let alone addiction. Apparently, stimulation of a pleasure center is only one small component in the entire addiction syndrome. Moreover, if any activity can be pleasurable -- from work, to sex, to parenting and so on -- identifying activities as stimulating the pleasure center fails to explain why people find different things pleasurable and why different people react in destructive, addictive ways to some of these things, while others incorporate them into a balanced overall lifestyle.

Peele's position is at odds within the drug reform movement. He is a proponent of harm reduction policies such as needle exchange, but is a strong opponent of a treatment industry that relies, for the most, on coercing addicts into rehabilitation.

Goals

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Sat, 31 May 2008 13:04:33 PDT

Goals provide direction in your life and nurture your motivation

1. The purpose toward which an endeavor is directed.

2. The specific target towards which is an objective

3. An objective or desired outcome

DEFINE YOUR GOALS

Develop a written plan of your purpose in life. If an individual has no purpose in life they will lack the significance of motivation and when they lack motivation hopelessness is the result. When God created us, he created us with purpose, destiny, significance, and a sense of belonging. Then why do I feel empty, like there is a huge void that I am attempting to fill with other things, but God. This is because we were created to belong to God. We also were created to have a free volition or will, we have chosen to walk in independence from our source of life. Living naturally instead of spiritually is a choice. Independence comes from self-sufficiency and self- reliance. Our source thereby becomes our own self instead of God. This is what I Call the God shaped soul in our soul.

Joshua a five-point strategy

God gave Joshua a five-point strategy

1. Be clear in your direction.

In the first four verses of Joshua 1, God specifically outlines when and where Joshua is going. He knew exactly what God wanted him to do. If you’re going to be a leader that God can use, you must first be clear in your direction. We all need a goal, a dream. But those goals must be clear and specific. Nothing becomes dynamic until it becomes specific. And the more specific you are in your direction, the more you’ll find a magnetic pull that’ll take you along.

2. Be confident in your desires.

Once you know the direction that God wants you to take, you must have the confidence to move ahead. You can’t doubt what God’s called you to do. Doubt is the opposite of faith. The Bible says, “Whatever is not of faith is sin.”

Once you’ve set your goal the devil will get you to start questioning it. Is this really God’s will? What if I’m wrong? Do I really deserve this? Am I just being selfish or prideful?

Evidently this was a real problem for Joshua. He lacked confidence. He felt inadequate in his leadership. Sound familiar? I’ve identified with Joshua many times. God had to keep giving Joshua a pep talk. Four times in Joshua 1, God says, “Be determined and confident.”

Why? It isn’t the obstacles that keep you in the desert. It’s fear. Fear keeps you from being all that God wants you to be. It’s fear that keeps your church from growing how God wants it to grow. You must be confident in your desires.

3. Be committed to your decisions.

Once you’ve started, don’t look back. Joshua 1:9 says “Do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” God says stick with it. To be a success in life, you must outlast your critics. An oak tree is a little nut that refused to give its ground. Commitment is a key to accomplishment. If you don’t have commitment to your ministry, you’ll never finish anything.

What are you committed to? What are you willing to die for? Many people in your church are afraid to commit to anything. They begin one job and when it gets tough, they switch to something else.

When high achievers make a decision, they die by it. You can’t just jump across a canyon with several baby steps. You have to commit yourself to your goal. If you’re going to cross a canyon, you’ve got to go for it with gusto. It won’t work until you commit to making it work.

4. Be corrected by your defeats.

1. In chapter 1, verse 7, God tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous. Be careful to obey all the law. Don’t turn from it to the right or to the left that you may be successful wherever you go.” He tells Joshua not to get sidetracked. When you have a failure, get back on track. Let God’s Word help you reorganize your ministry and your priorities. Mistakes are a part of life. You’re not perfect. The pencil eraser industry was built on your mistakes. If there weren’t such things as mistakes, we wouldn’t have any need for erasers.

The difference between successful and non-successful people is not that successful people don’t fail. They do. It’s just that successful people learn from their failures. Corrections after defeats are the key to the future. Thomas Edison once said, “Don’t call it a failure; call it an education.” At Saddleback, our staff is highly educated! We’ve done more things that didn’t work than did. We’re not afraid to admit it when we’ve made a mistake and to learn from it. The road to success is paved with failure. But we’ve learned from those failures.

Joshua did too. Remember the story of Ai, the little dinky town that the Israelites came upon after their great victory at Jericho. They’d just taken on the greatest, most fortified city in the land (Jericho) and God had given a tremendous victory. They were getting a little confident and cocky. Then they began to presume upon God’s grace. When they had to take the little city of Ai, Joshua said, “Go out with a small battalion of troops.” They went out and were absolutely wiped out. When the news came back to Joshua, he threw himself onto the ground and prayed. He asked God what happened.

God tells him to get up, dust himself off, and get the sin out of the camp. Don’t just pray – do something. They later discovered that Achan had stolen three things even though God had said not to take plunder. Because he hid those things, his sin was causing the entire camp to suffer.

But Joshua had to discover the problem and take appropriate action. He learned by his defeats.

5. Be conscious of God’s dependability.

God promises enormous benefits in his Word as we trust him and follow him. Joshua 1 is full of God’s promises. He specifically promises Joshua four things:

a. Power: In verse 5 God says, “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses so I will be with you. I will never leave you or forsake you.” God tells Joshua to trust him and he’ll provide all of the power he could ever need.

b. Protection: He tells Joshua that nothing can harm him. In verse 5 he says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” He’ll be with him always and protect him.

c. Prosperity: God says in verse 8 “Don’t let the book of the law depart from your mouth. Meditate on it day and night. Be careful to obey everything written in it. Then you’ll be prosperous and successful.” Prosperity is being everything God wants you to be, having God’s blessing your life, and using the talents he has given you. God guarantees that you’ll have more than you need if you trust in him.

d. Presence: That’s the best promise of all. In Joshua 1:9 God says, “I will be with you wherever you go.” Many times I’ve felt lonely in ministry, but God always gives me a new sense of his presence when I trust him.

Quotes on Goals

George Shinn: Goals Quotes
There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.

Scott Reed: Goals Quotes
This one step - choosing a goal and sticking to it - changes everything.

Orison Swett Marden: Goals Quotes
We advance on our journey only when we face our goal, when we are confident and believe we are going to win out.

Maxwell Maltz: Goals Quotes
We are built to conquer environment, solve problems, achieve goals, and we find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve.

Henry David Thoreau: Goals Quotes
We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal and then leap in the dark to our success.

Zig Ziglar: Goals Quotes
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.

Nido Qubein: Goals Quotes
When a goal matters enough to a person, that person will find a way to accomplish what at first seemed impossible.

Napoleon Hill: Goals Quotes
When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.

Greg Anderson: Goals Quotes
When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing -- then we truly live life.

Denis Waitley: Goals Quotes
When you are in the valley, keep your goal firmly in view and you will get the renewed energy to continue the climb.

Les Brown: Goals: Motivation Quotes
You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.

Edgar A. Guest: Goals: Motivation Quotes
You are the person who has to decide. Whether you'll do it or toss it aside; you are the person who makes up your mind. Whether you'll lead or will linger behind. Whether you'll try for the goal that's afar. Or just be contented to stay where you are.

Les Brown: Goals: Motivation Quotes
You cannot expect to achieve new goals or move beyond your present circumstances unless you change.

Mark Victor Hansen: Goals: Motivation Quotes
You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about. By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands - your own.

Tracy Brinkmann: Goals: Motivation Quotes
You must have an aim, a vision, a goal. For the man sailing through life with no destination or "port-of- call', every wind is the wrong wind.

Les Brown: Goals: Motivation Quotes
Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life.

Ralph Marston: Goals: Motivation Quotes
Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality.

Bo Jackson: Quotes about Goals
Set your goals high, and don't stop till you get there.

Tom Landry: Quotes about Goals
Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.

Herodotus: Quotes about Goals
Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before.

Paul J. Meyer: Quotes about Goals
Success is the progressive realization of predetermined, worthwhile goals.

Mack R. Douglas: Quotes about Goals
The achievement of your goal is assured the moment you commit yourself to it.

Brian Tracy: Quotes about Goals
The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move.

Francie Larrieu Smith: Quotes about Goals
The most important thing about motivation is goal setting. You should always have a goal.

Cecil B. De Mille: Quotes about Goals
The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication.

Denis Waitley: Quotes about Goals
The secret to productive goal setting is in establishing clearly defined goals, writing them down and then focusing on them several times a day with words, pictures and emotions as if we've already achieved them.

Edgar A. Guest: Quotes about Goals
The timid and fearful first failures dismay/ but the stout heart stays trying by night and by day/ He values his failures as lessons that teach/ The one way to get to the goal he would reach.

Richard Bach: Quotes on Goals
Here is a test to find out whether your mission in life is complete. If you're alive, it isn't.

Jim Valvano: Quotes on Goals
How do you go from where you are to where you want to be? I think you have to have an enthusiasm for life. You have to have a dream, a goal and you have to be willing to work for it.

Og Mandino: Quotes on Goals
I am here for a purpose and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply all my efforts to become the highest mountain of all and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.

Robert Townsend: Quotes on Goals
If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's ok. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot.

Alberto Salazar: Quotes on Goals
If you want to achieve a high goal, you're going to have to take some chances.

Mary Lou Retton: Quotes on Goals
I'm very determined and stubborn. There's a desire in me that makes me want to do more and more, and to do it right. Each one of us has a fire in our heart for something. It's our goal in life to find it and to keep it.

Norman Vincent Peale: Quotes on Goals
It takes struggle, a goal and enthusiasm to make a champion.

Mary O'Connor: Quotes on Goals
It's not so much how busy you are, but why you are busy. The bee is praised. The mosquito is swatted.

Unknown Author: Quotes on Goals
Knowing your destination is half the journey.

Vince Lombardi: Quotes on Goals
Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.

Dechurched?

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:06:40 PDT

There are 12 million Dechurched people in America right now.

I wanted none of the language to or Labels to stereotype anyone who may be reading this article who is either unchurched or de-churched. This is absolutely not US verse THEM mentality, the purpose for discussing this matter is my personal burden and passion for young adults in crisis. Discovering the systemic causes of their needs and to discover practical methods to help them effectively. I am simply using these descriptors for the purpose of clarity and amplify the topics. Furthermore, these both topics have been researched in a more in depth way than I could ever give it justice and encourage you to research these both topics more fully on your own time.

I briefly will introduce the topic of the unchurched to clarify they are not the DE-cHURCHED. The latest statistics report 12 million dechurched people in America right now. I have researched this topic and have listed numerous sources for your own private study and research.

BARNA ARTICLE on The term “unchurched” has become quite popular in missional efforts to re-evangelize and re-church North America. To be sure, there are a lot of unchurched people in the U.S. In fact, no county in the US has registered a greater percentage of church persons over the past decade. Church attendance has declined over the past few years by 10%, and the US is the only continent where Christianity is not growing! With these kinds of statistics, I wonder if “unchurched” language and perspectives are falling short of adequately describing the challenges facing the American church (more Barna stats). Perhaps we should pick up the language of missiologists who have used the term “resistant.”

The resistant are those who have or are receiving an adequate opportunity to hear the gospel but over some time have not responded positively (Pocock, “Raising Questions about the Resistant”). The resistant are NOT unreached, though they are often unchurched. What constitutes “some time”? More importantly, should we shift our strategies and discourse to approach unchurched Americans as resistant peoples?

Not unlike the term unchurched, defining the resistant is has its problems; however, Timothy Tennent has helpfully pointed out that peoples can be resistant in at least four ways: culturally, theologically, ethnically or politically (Tennent, “Equipping Missionaries for the Resistant”). Depending on what area or peoples of the U.S we are considering, any one or combination of the four areas may apply.

If your town is average, thousands of recently dechurched people live near your church.1

Craig Bird, in a recent article at www.faithworks.com, called these dechurched “postcongregational” Christians.

Jamieson, who studies the quest of these post-congregational Christians, compares them to “travelers who abandon a luxury liner in mid-cruise. They grow tired of the endless buffets and entertainment, the carefully designed activities, or the captain who makes all the decisions about the ship’s speed and direction. They are longing to experience what is not on the itinerary. They sell all they have to buy a small boat and leave the welltraveled sea lanes for uncharted waters.”2

“George Barna noted two years ago that large numbers of American adults regularly participate in faith activities – prayer, Bible reading, use of the religious media – even though they haven’t attended a church service in six months. They are ignoring church, not faith, he said. Relatively few unchurched people are atheists. Most of them call themselves Christians and have had a serious dose of the church life in the past.”3

Is your church designed to reach the “leavers”? Michael Johnson, in an article titled “If We Can’t Reach the Dechurched, Can We Really Reach the Unchurched?” suggests the following:

· Would it make more sense to first become the kind of church that is highly

effective in reaching the dechurched?

· What we can learn from the dechurched may be more important than what they

can learn from us.

· Collaboration, rather than assimilation, may be a more appropriate goal to set with regard to the dechurched.

· Understand that dechurched people are probably closest to the solutions needed to reach and transform your city.4

· It is important to take a second look at those people leaving the institutional church. Rob McAlpine, in his article “Detoxing from Church,” reminds us, “…these are people who are in love with Jesus, and who want to be a part of the healthy functioning Body of Christ. If they didn’t care, there would be no issues. They wouldn’t be upset. They would either leave altogether and never again seek out fellowship with other believers, or they would passively go through the motions week after week and never give their spiritual status second thought. It is far too easy for the church to make these people the enemy when in fact they are not.”5

When people leave our church fellowship, it is easy to write them off and never seek to find out “Why?”

The trouble with the Church today?

A perception of irrelevancy. There is a vast number of "unchurched" people in the World who see the Church as irrelevant. Some of the people are Christian believers who once attended an institutional church, but no longer attend; some are Christian believers who attended, but infrequently; and some are unbelievers.

Their reasons for abandoning the institutional church vary, but behind those reasons is one commonality: They believe the institutional church is irrelevant. It is perceived as irrelevant to their life, in that it cares little for them, or their situation, except for wanting to add another name to the church roles; and it is perceived as irrelevant to their community, in that churches only care about those people who are "like us."

That is not a new revelation, but it is one that the Church must meet head-on if it is to meet the mandate of the Great Commission -- that of going into the world and making disciples of Christ, for the sake of Christ. Churches who make the gospel relevant to the hungry, to the hurting, and to the disenfranchised will meet the mandate; those who do not, will not.
Think of this: A church can grow in membership, launch building programs and increase the budget exponentially and still be irrelevant.

How? By focusing on membership, building programs and the budget, while neglecting the hungry, the sick, the naked, the imprisoned, the disenfranchised ... Jesus Christ among us.

A reality of immobility. While the focus of the past decade has been on establishing new worship services -- first targeting baby boomers, then targeting twentysomethings, Millenniums, or whatever is the demographic of the moment -- the Church seems unable to move what appears to be a vast army beyond the sanctuary doors.

Why is that?

If you believe that what we call discipleship has its roots in worship, then the fruit of discipleship is correlative to the degree in which we worship in spirit and in truth. Superficial attempts at worship (whether in contemporary or traditional settings) will result in little or no fruit -- an immobile congregation. Those engaging in true worship -- worship in spirit and truth -- will naturally produce a bumper crop of discipleship. They will look for ways to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned and sick, and focus on being disciples of Christ, for the sake of Christ and others.

Finally, the Church is in trouble because of ...
A resistance to change. Again, that is not a new revelation, but this is the most dangerous foe of all in postmodern Christianity.

Much has been written and said in recent years concerning the "emerging church" and "postmodern" faith, but if you find someone who claims to be an expert, keep looking. Still, one constant component in what is being said and written is that doing things the way we've always done them because that’s the way it’s always been done will no longer get it -- if it ever did. Another component is that those working the field of the emerging church are uncovering what some might find as an unexpected surprise: Therein lies a fertile field of faith.

But, to mix a metaphor, the field of faith today is as fluid as the ocean. The Church has to catch the wave, and for some of us there’s some hard paddling to do.

The bad news: Some believers are already worshipping outside of our doors, because they believe the institutional church will remain irrelevant, immobile, and unable to change.

Jesus says that he "was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Likewise, when he sent out his apostles he said: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." This restriction is a very important consideration because it tells us that his primary mission was to reclaim those who were by birth included in the promise to Abraham. But they were lost, he said. Why did he call them lost? Anyone who has read through one of the gospels knows that Jesus went to the sick and afflicted. He himself went to Samaria where descendants of Abraham lived cut off from the Temple of the Jews. His detractors accused him of associating with those they considered beneath their piousness to even acknowledge on the road. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them. I tell you that this Jesus would be unwelcome in some of today's churches.

This is the way that Mary Tuomi Hammond defines unchurched.

The word dechurched is hardly adequate in describing the variety of individuals in question. Any term that utilizes "church" as its root can easily be misunderstood due to the myriad of popular conceptions and definitions applied to it. Does the word dechurched include those who simply neglect to make time for public worship or those who drift away from Christianity out of disinterest and distraction? Does the term primarily refer to individuals who have left mainstream denominations due to serious concerns? Can one be considered dechurched by virtue of simply attending a church and leaving it, regardless of whether that person ever made a genuine commitment to a life of Christian discipleship?

With these very valid questions in mind, I wish to clarify my use of the word dechurched for the purposes of this article. I use this term to describe those who have lost a faith that they once valued or have left a body of believers with whom they were once deeply engaged. I limit my exploration further by focusing on those who have felt damaged and alienated amid this process. I cannot judge the authenticity or a person's prior experience with the Christian faith; I can only listen to the pain and disappointment, the questioning and confusion, the anger and even rage that the stories of the dechurched often embody.

With the risk of sounding melodramatic, I must say that the last sentence above affects me deeply; it breaks my heart. And that's why my own anger and even rage sometimes bubble over when I read the attacks of one professing Christian against another. These dechurched are the collateral damage of these battles for power. They, and those attacked, are the ones who suffer when church leaders fight among themselves and when they abuse their positions and pompous titles.

But who will stand and speak out for the unchurched and dechurched? Who will go beyond theological and denominational squabbles and continue the job that Jesus began? Who will lay aside their pride, put their trust in God rather than doctrine and dogma, and humble themselves for the good of others? And who will give up their human notions of worthiness and give up their pride for the unworthy? Who?

IDEAS:
1. Dispel the stereotypes. Research points out that the growing portion of this group, are not weak in faith, but in fact are strong Christians. Many are former church leaders, many have years of ministry experience, and some are even former pastors. They are not disillusioned with God, just the organized church they’ve known; and many are experimenting with the house church movement or pursuing other creative formats like marketplace or community missions. In fact, for the most part it is because of their strong faith, not the lack of faith, that they have the courage to step beyond the known comfort zones of their traditions and face the misunderstanding of other Christians.

2. Avoid Simplistic Definitions. If someone is part of a house church, mission group, marketplace fellowship, or even on a temporary sabbatical, they are still part of THE Church. We say the church is not a building or an organization, it’s the Body of Christ, but we tend to forget this when we attach labels.

3. Listen to the Dechurched. Seek them out, know who they are, listen to their perspective. Focus groups and one-on-one interviews with the Unchurched are good to get a broad, uninitiated, community perspective so important. But the recently Dechurched will have the most informed and intuitive perspective, the kind that can uncover great insights and ideas for change.

4. Partner With The Dechurched. Sound strange? But think about it. The Dechurched are probably the closest people to the creative solutions needed to really reach and transform your city. But, you say, isn’t that like reward-ing independence? Would that not legitimize them? What if all my people took their path? Stop for a minute and unpack that line of thinking. Don’t we want all of our people to be independent, to stand confident in their gifts and calling, follow the call of God, to meet the needs in the community they are uniquely meant to fill? They should not have to leave the fellowship to do that, only if we’ve made it necessary. We may have to admit that if people have to leave to follow their calling, or for that matter if they are that easily drawn away by outside influence, there is something inherently wrong with the way we’ve wired our organization. Could it be that the reason they are disconnected from much of the Body the result of church institutions that fail to provide a wide birth for creativity, imagination, risk, and missional ideas? We also must admit that God may have these people where they are for a reason, to experiment, venture into new areas, cross-pollinate with different cultures, or take a sabbatical to process or work through something important with God in a way which a high level of church activity would be a major distraction. But they still might be open to collaborate or partner for specific reasons. Whatever relationship that might be, can you see the mutual benefit?

5. Create Community Idea Factories. In almost every case, the reason people leave the church, is not a relational problem in and of itself. At its base it’s a failure to channel inspiration and imagination. If dreams and ideas keep bumping up against walls and internal obstacles, sooner or later they will find their way outside the enclosure. A better way would be to take the proactive position and actually stimulate ideas. But, facilitating ideas is not the same as endorsing or funding ideas. Read some of Tommy Barnett and his son Matthew Barnett’s experience with the Dream Centers (The Church That Never Sleeps) for effective ways to create and channel an idea movement. Remember, the path to transformation goes through dreams.

There are 12 million Dechurched people in America right now. That means if your town is average there are thousands of recently dechurched people living near your church. With a little openness and creativity put into it, what could an intelligent outreach strategy that effectively connected with them mean to your church, and in turn, what impact it could have on your city?

Yet in these deep longings of the urban youth, the voices of the streets seem louder than the faint cry of a church stuck in institutional patterns of the past. A growing "non-church Christianity" is growing up where God-talk is hip but church is out.

Hood Kids

hood kids
but good kids
not bad kids
just misunderstood kids
watch mom shoot up
and dad shoot bullets
and combat the words
that scream that I'm useless
I'm not
just hot
and mad at dad who split
and mom who took him back
even though he split
her lip the third time
I watch from the sidelines
and grow full of hate
from parents' guidelines
and you, pastor
push me faster
to hate
taking our crumbs to fill
your already full plate
your frock is stained
you mock the name
of He who commissioned
cuz you're more concerned
with titles and pensions
than the mission to save me
don't forget the babies
don't be so lazy
cuz I need you greatly
it's not about parking spots
and who pays a lot
but who gives a lot
and who prays a lot
for me
the lost sheep
but nobody's looked for me
don't you know God made
the Good Book for me?
but I need direction
some protection
much affection
not rejection
I...NEED...YOU
man of God
woman of God
be of God
and keep your eyes peeled
for real
we're crying
and dying
but still trying
though momma ignores us
and daddy abuses us
I'm sure that God still
wants to use us
when momma doesn't hug us
and daddy slugs us
I'm confident that God
still loves us
cuz I'm a hood kid
but a good kid
not a bad kid
just misunderstood kid
and I need your help
before it's too late
and I walk the same path
that my parents made
look at us
behind the chain linked fence
pain wrenched kids
such tainted kids
who were struck
but never fainted kids
we live hellish lives
but can be saintly kids
if you just try TRY!
until then
we'll continue to die
continue to cry
the hood kids
that no one really cares about
it's so obvious that no one
really cares about 'em...

mms://media.kybaptist.org/Man on the street256k.wmv

1 Mindstorm Idealetter, June 7, 2005, breakthroughchurch.com

2 A churchless faith, Craig Bird, June 7, 2005: www.faithworks.com

3 Ibid

4 Mindstorm Idealetter, p.1 breakthroughchurch.com

5 Detoxing From Church, Rob McAlpine: www.robbymak.org

Why Does God Allow Evil?

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:28:22 PDT

"If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand" (Psalm 130:3).

Traditionally, there are three main categories of evil: metaphysical, moral, and physical or natural. Blindness, deafness, and lameness are examples of metaphysical evil; cruelty and malevolence are examples of moral evil; and earthquakes, droughts, and tornados are examples of physical evil. All moral evil is the direct or indirect result of moral agents' free wills or ability to choose. Physical and metaphysical evil may or may not be the result of moral agents' choices.

One of the most common questions every person wrestles with in life is this: "God, if You are loving, just, and all-powerful, why do You allow good people to suffer?" Many choose not to believe in God because they cannot adequately explain this question. Evangelist Billy Graham addressed this question in his book Answers to Life's Problems:

We do not know all the reasons why God permits evil. We need to remember, however, that he is not the cause of evil in this world and we should therefore not blame Him for it. Remember that God did not create evil, as some believe. God created the world perfect. Man chose to defy God and go his own way, and it is man's fault that evil entered the world. Even so, God has provided the ultimate triumph of good over evil in Jesus Christ, who on the cross, defeated Satan and those who follow him. Christ is coming back and when He does, all evil will be ended forever and righteousness and justice will prevail.

Have you ever thought about what would happen if God suddenly eliminated all the evil in this world? Not one person would be left, because we are all guilty of sin.

Whenever we suffer, we should remember that the Son of God went before us, drinking the cup of suffering and death to the dregs. Because Christ is fully man and fully God, we know that God understands our fears, sorrows and suffering. He identifies with us. Most important of all, the Father has given us the gift of His Son so that we don't have to die and suffer forever in eternity.

Because Jesus suffered and died for us, our suffering can be made like His -purposeful and meaningful. Evil, suffering and death came into the world when the first man and woman listened to Satan and committed the first sin. Evil was never part of the Garden of Eden. The moment Adam and Eve crossed the boundary of God's command, evil became the terrible reality of this world.

There are some questions that will remain unresolved until we are able to meet face to face with our Creator in Heaven.

The answer lies in both our greatest blessing and our worst curse: our capacity to make choices. God has given us a free will. Made in God's image, he has given us the freedom to decide how we will act and the ability to make moral choices. This is one asset that sets us apart from animals, but it also is the source of so much pain in our world. People, and that includes all of us, often make selfish, self-centered and evil choices. Whenever that happens, people get hurt.

Sin is ultimately selfishness. I want to do what I want, not what God tells me to do. Unfortunately, sin always hurts others, not just ourselves.

God could have eliminated all evil from our world by simply removing our ability to choose it. He could have made us puppets, or marionettes on strings that he pulls. By taking away our ability to choose it, evil would vanish. But God doesn't want us to be puppets. He wants to be loved and obeyed by creatures who voluntarily choose to do so. Love is not genuine if there is no other option.

Yes, God could have kept the terrorists from completing their suicidal missions by removing their ability to choose their own will instead of his. But to be fair, God also would have to do that to all of us. You and I are not terrorists, but we do harm and hurt others with our own selfish decisions and actions.

You may hear misguided minds say, "This must have been God's will." Nonsense!

In a world of free choices, God's will is rarely done! Doing our own will is much more common. Don't blame God for this tragedy. Blame people who ignored what God has told us to do: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

In heaven, God's will is done perfectly. That's why there is no sorrow, pain or evil there. But this is earth, a fallen, imperfect place. We must choose to do God's will everyday. It isn't automatic. This is why Jesus told us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."

The Bible explains the root of evil: "This is the crisis we're in: God's light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness ... because they were not really interested in pleasing God" (John 3:19, Message Translation). We're far more interested in pleasing ourselves.

There are many other questions that race through our minds during dark days. But the answers will not come from pollsters, pundits or politicians. We must look to God and his Word. We must humble ourselves and admit that each of us often choose to ignore what God wants us to do.

We were made for a relationship with God, but he waits for us to choose him. He is ready to comfort, guide and direct us through our grief. But it's your choice.

Energy-Sappers: Smoldered Wick

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Wed, 28 May 2008 09:06:44 PDT

These statistics below are for pastors and their wives. However the energy-sappers are for everyone.

STATISTICS ABOUT PASTORS

Pastors today are faced with more work, more problems, and more stress than any other time in the history of the church. This is taking a frightening toll on the ministry, shown by the (North American) statistics below:

Pastors:

· Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.

· Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.

· Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

· Eighty-five percent of pastors said their greatest problem is they are sick and tired of dealing with problem people, such as disgruntled elders, deacons, worship leaders, worship teams, board members, and associate pastors. Ninety percent said the hardest thing about ministry is dealing with uncooperative people.

Pastors' Wives:

· Eighty percent of pastors' spouses feel their spouse is overworked.

· Eighty percent of pastor' wives feel left out and unappreciated by the church members.

· Eighty percent of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.

· Eighty percent of pastors' wives feel pressured to do things and be something in the church that they are really not.

Pastors' Relationship With the Lord:

· Seventy percent of pastors do not have a close friend, confidant, or mentor.

· Ninety-five percent of pastors do not regularly pray with their spouses.

· Eighty percent of pastors surveyed spend less than fifteen minutes a day in prayer.

· Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.

Now... take a moment and give us your energy-for-God sappers. What have you found that depletes your desire to get up and serve the Lord?

Here are ten energy-sappers:

10. Compromise.

You're doing something displeasing to the Lord and you know it. The guilt lingers and weighs you down. When you try to read your Bible, pray, or worship, the fog is so thick you could cut it. God seems far away, and you know without being told it's because you moved. You're being torn down the middle and it's a miserable feeling. The greatest compromise, I have found is not only in doing obviously sinful deeds. It is when we are operating in our own goodness and works based on our own performance. This births a cycle of defeat, frustration and utter failure. We must come to end of ourselves and stop trying to operate in self-salvation. We can never save ourselves, ever be good enough or do good enough deeds to please God. Only our Faith Pleases GOD.

Isaiah 59:1-2 comes to mind. "Your sins have separated you." Confess them and move back closer.

9. Nay-sayers.

The discouragers around you are constantly pointing out that you cannot do this, you are not the Christian you ought to be, the Bible cannot be understood, your prayers never go beyond the ceiling, and your pitiful offering amounts to nothing. To make matters worse, sometimes that negative voice hounding us is our own. You lose heart and want to give up. I listen to words very carefully to make sure that they are coming from the proper source. The source of Grace and Truth. I stop listening of speaking when I am sensitive to recognize that the Word's of Grace and truth are not present. This takes years of Practice and development by the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 103:1-5 comes to mind. "Bless the Lord, O my soul." Speak to yourself words of faith. Believe your faith and doubt your doubts.

8. Nit-pickers.

A family member, a colleague in the office, or a so-called friend has taken it as their personal calling to remind you of your failures in living up to the standards you claim. Your clothes do not match, you need a haircut, why do you waste your time on those books or that writer or that church, why aren't you exercising more, you're putting on weight, and I don't think you're right for this. Of course, he tells you this for your own good. You leave your friend's presence feeling worthless and hopeless. I have been on both sides like many who have been the unkind friend to the Hurting and not deeply caring enough to take time to be a hope-bringer of God's wonderful Peace and grace. I have been on the receiving end of harsh criticism when I was sick for an extended period of time. Either has changed my personal character for the better and changed the words I chose to use. If my words will not edify and build an individual I keep them to my self. Words are very powerful and need to be used carefully. Even when words of Correction are sometimes needed, I take the opportunity to have the word's be of encouragement that help an individual be able to be convinced of the Word of God in their personal capacity.

Philippians 4:8 comes to mind. "Whatsoever things are true, think on these things." Choose where your mind will land and come to rest and what it will feed upon.

7. Time-wasters or Bloodsuckers.

A few years ago, we would have named television as the biggest time-waster. It still is for many, but these days, the tube has lots of competition: the computer, computer games, the telephone, worthless reading materials, shopping, mall-crawling, and such. Each person has his own battlefield in this regard. But it's not just the time; the problem is that it robs you of your energy for God or service to His will for your life. It weakens your discernment in relating to other people. Be AWARE that their are many bloodsuckers in the Church who will sap the strength out of you if you let them. I always want to remain tender to weak individuals in the church and make my self available to loving them where they are in life. This is ultimately Christly time management and requires being lead by the Holy Spirit. Some pastors that I have spoken to who are extremely successful church planters Have stated that they do not do any counseling anymore nor do any thing but invest in this future generation's leaders. They focus on building the next generation of leaders in the Church so they can in turn invest in weaker individuals. I personally have done both and not been overwhelmed by caring for those who are poor in spirit and weaker members of the Body of Christ. I never want to become a man who forgets where he came from, I was once one of those weaker individuals who was definitely poor in Spirit. God sent a Man of God to me to teach me to walk with Christ moment by moment. I needed plenty of Biblical Counseling, Nurturing, Grace and practical love when I came off the streets homeless at 19 years old.

Luke 18:1 comes to mind. "We ought always to pray and not to lose heart." The old hymn told us to "Take Time to Be Holy." It takes time.

6. Starvation.

When you're really hungry, instead of pausing for dinner, you gulp down a soft drink and a bag of chips. Now, you have stopped the hunger but you're starving your body. A few minutes later, your wife or mother calls you to dinner. You beg off; you're not hungry. You dare not admit what you just did. That foolish scenario happens spiritually, too.

Try this experiment. After watching two hours of television--especially sitcoms of the type the networks are running these nights--get up and go get your Bible and read a couple of chapters. You'll have to make yourself do it. After a steady diet of mental junk food, you have no appetite for real nourishment. I also am carefully monitor what I am allowing to stimulate my mind. Plenty of things and images bombard our mind in billions of parts per second that we are not conscious or aware of the stimulation. These stimulations seem to dull the ability for us to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit through the Word of Life the Word of God.

Matthew 4:4 comes to mind. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." And Psalm 34:8 "O taste and see that the Lord is good." You need to feed your soul if you expect to have any energy for God.

5. Fatigue.

You're doing good work; you're just doing so much of it that you're exhausted. When tired, you get irritable and are no fun to be around. You end up having to force yourself to do your spiritual activities. It's not an admission of weakness to confess you have physical limitations, that you need 8 hours of sleep at night and maybe a little rest in the daytime and a vacation once in a while. Many of men have burned out because they failed to spiritually disciple themselves to take a Sabbath day per week to renews and be strengthened by God. This is not a mandatory for we are under Grace. I believe in strong work ethics and long Hours. What is the use of working hard and not being sharp. What is the use if God decides to use you for a task and you are so exhausted you fail to hear the whisper of His Voice. We can Work Hard by Working Smart. Working Smart is to take any day of the week to be our Sabbath day for renewal. I also have counseled numerous burned out pastors who in over thirty years of ministry never took a single day off, not even a well deserved biblical sabbatical. They are not walking with God today nor are they finishing the race well. They started very well and even impacted my life personally when I first became a Christ-Follower, they are now left the ministry and are drifting daily farther away from God.

Mark 6:31 comes to mind. "Come ye apart and rest for a while." And Matthew 11:28-30: "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden."

4. Depression.

You are a Christian, one who believes your Bible and has the Holy Spirit, so how could you be depressed? Ever say that to yourself? The roots of depression (mental, emotional, whatever) are many and complex. You might need to remind yourself that some of the finest Christians ever to walk the planet have battled depression. You have good company. Those believers made the same discovery you have made, that sometimes you just have to get up and go on with your day while depressed, that you don't dare give in to it. Missionary leader and inspirational writer Elisabeth Elliot has said that when she's depressed, her method for dealing with it is: "Do the next thing." She does not make a long list of tasks to accomplish that day, but does the next thing before her, then she looks around and decides what is next, and so forth.

Habakkuk 3:17-19 comes to mind. "Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines... yet I will exult in the Lord." Praise Him anyway.

3. Rebellion.

Compromise is one thing; you rationalize a sin and turn a blind eye toward a practice you know is not wise and is hindering your spiritual life. But rebellion is another matter altogether. In rebellion, you drop all pretense about wanting to do the right thing. You enthrone your self and devote your life to pleasing only you. This really gets scary when you're in the Lord's service and draw a paycheck from a church or religious organization and yet are in rebellion against the Lord. I've been there; I know. People are looking to you for spiritual direction and expecting to hear God's voice through you, but what they are receiving is shallowness and staleness, negativism and putdowns, all bubbling up from the acid eating away at your soul.

Revelation 3:4-5 comes to mind. "I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember... and repent." The prodigal son story of Luke 15 applies.

2. Laziness.

Sloth. Idleness. Lethargy. Listlessness. Dullness. Slackness. Find yourself in any of these? You just can't make yourself get up and do anything spiritual such as reading the Bible or praying meaningfully or volunteering for a service project. You "just don't feel like it." Sound familiar? There's a law of physics you may be familiar with. Inertia is the tendency of an object at rest to remain there, and a moving object to continue moving. Now, it takes energy to get the object moving and it takes energy to stop it once it's in motion. Like priming a pump, we use energy to get energy. This pertains, whether speaking of the physical or the spiritual.

Proverbs 6:6-11 comes to mind. "How long wilt thou sleep, O thou sluggard?" Wake up. Get up.

1. Satan. The enemy himself.

You wondered if we would get to that? The unholy trinity of the world-the-flesh-and-the-devil are always at work to discourage believers from living the life Christ commands and we profess. The devil has had longer to study human nature than we, so he knows methods we have yet to discover. He uses detours, overloads, and even good works to keep us from doing the best things. He uses our diversions to sap our time, people to sap our joy, and work to sap our energies. Our time gone, our spirits depleted, and our energies sapped, we decide not to read our Bible tonight, to skip on our prayer time, and to get our rest tomorrow by sleeping late and skipping church. Chalk up another victory for the roaring lion who walks about.

I Peter 5:6-9 comes to mind. You know what it says. "We are not ignorant of his devices." 2 Corinthians 2:11

Now... take a moment and give us your energy-for-God sappers. What have you found that depletes your desire to get up and serve the Lord?

Soul Scars

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Sat, 24 May 2008 06:39:07 PDT

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth (lives) no good thing (that is my sinful nature): for to will(desire) is present with me; but how to perform(carry out) that which is good I find not.

Rom 7:18

“For the word of God is living and operative, and keen above any two-edged sword, and penetrating up to the parting of soul and spirit...”

Heb.4:12

Soul Scars

· Scar tissue of the soul leaves a debilitating loss

· Scar tissue of the soul is also called hardness of the heart and stubbornness of heart. The Lord Jesus Christ quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 as the reason for teaching in parables to the Jews of His day who had hardness of the heart (Matthew 13:13-16; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:40)

· Scar tissue of the soul that restricts capacity for life and love.

· Scar tissue only cure for such problems is a divine solution, which requires application of Bible Doctrine which brings in The Mind of God in to the categories of our Mind. Our unconsciousness after we are saved still has residual effects of irrational thought and hardness. The Word of God will till the hardness of our thought life. How we think will transfer into how we believe, how we believe, translates into faith action.

Scar tissue of the soul, however, is not the same as the Old Sin Nature, which is the motivation to sin. Every cell of the body contains the Old Sin Nature or the flesh. In the absence of the Filling of the Holy Spirit, the Old Sin Nature our Flesh will motivate irrational thinking and sin will control the our outward life from within our minds that are naturally bent towards a temporal value system. Scar tissue of the soul will add fuel to the fire of the soul under the control of the Old Sin Nature. However, the power of scar tissue of the soul will be thwarted by the Filling of the Holy Spirit. The Zoe life of the Holy Spirit will convince us in our the battle Ground of the mind. We are not to fight our own battles, not fight our own thoughts. God will fight them for us if we just live in faith rest in receiving the Holy Spirit of Grace, through Mercy, and by the Word of Living Truth.

We have a lifetime of habits and wounds that have caused soul scars over the many years our minds we not merged with a Christly Mind. A scar is a natural part of the healing process. The worse the damage is, the worse the scar will be.

A soul scar is SCAR TISSUE: unhealed wound,unresolved pain, deeply seated doubts, hidden chambers of idolatry, and any other initiations from our senses or impressions from the cosmic world system that have marked us in the past or present. The combinations of these have caused numerous residual effects such as to have mental blocks, spiritual blindness, and mental darkness. We need more than salvation we need illumination. “Illumination may be defined as the divine quickening of the human mind in virtue of which it is enabled to understand truth already revealed.” It does not reveal new truth, but makes the old truth understandable. Someone said, and I don’t know the source of this, “What light is to the eye, illumination is to the mind.”

"BEING CONVINCED" - ILLUMINATION

· REMOVES BLINDNESS IN OUR MIND

· GIVES INSIGHT

· PREPARES ACTION IN THE WILL

Illumination brings deliverance which promotes spiritual harmony with in our mind which in turn will heal the soul by the Holy Spirit .

Our lives are full of unwelcome behaviors and overwhelming emotions. The fact that we still feel the pain from our past is not a sign of a failed relationship with God. The presence of the pain does not lessen the impact of the salvation in our lives. This is a signal that we need to begin the process of moment by moment inner-healing. God will make the necessary interior healing and transfiguration. To admit to pains and problems may seem to be a contradiction of our claim to salvation, but it is not. The bible is a masterpiece of men and women who struggled continually to overcome past mistakes and present temptations. This is the evidence that God is at work in lives to conform individuals into His Image.

Look at the Apostle Paul , he wrote about this matter clearly and proves the bible is true. He wrote about his uncontrollable life and behaviors as proof of his separation from God. Yet, his admission does not interfere with his commitment to do God’s will. Paul’s will got in the way with God’s will. This is part of the pride complex that is in every man. The pride of the old man that cries with in us for his own will and works against us to frustrate God’s plan for us.

We have a culture that places a high value on individual accomplishment and success. There for we want to have our own Human remedy for our own problems. We want to follow our spiritual father the FIRST ADAM who operated in independence, self-sufficiency, relative righteousness and preoccupation. These aspects of personality are in various degrees of impression on every person. So it is very common to bring in the Cosmic world system in to our new found faith and return back to the way of self-performance. These human remedy's will leave us frustrated and experiencing constant defeat. This is right where the we get debilitated and usually remain not moving forward through life, If we think that we are defeated failures, be will begin to act like defeated failures.

Most of us from birth have been bombarded by our self the old sin nature, the devil, and the world system the ideal of high achievement and performance. Being successful and competitive is viewed by society as important. We are taught that if we compete hard enough we will be “winners” and, therefore good people. If, however we don’t measure up to what is expected of us we are losers, we believe of ourselves as failures. This combination creates a poor self-image, desperation, frustration, and utter despair. Due to the absence of good role models, during childhood, many of us are confused with these ideals and the biblical definition of a Victorious Christian life. We don’t know where we fit in. We continue to allow our worth and self-esteem to be determined by what we do and what others think about us, and not by who we are in Christ and what he has accomplished upon the Cross. We have conditioned ourselves to fail and learned anxiety from our much confused and misguided lives.

Surrender to Grace, we admit defeat and recognize that our obsessive traits manipulate the affairs of our lives to ease inner pain of our separation from God. Thus making our lives uncontrollable and will continue to be until we surrender our own will.

Romans 11:6-7

6 But if it is by grace (His unmerited favor and graciousness), it is no longer conditioned on works or anything men have done. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace [it would be meaningless].

7 What then [shall we conclude]? Israel failed to obtain what it sought [God's favor by obedience to the Law]. Only the elect (those chosen few) obtained it, while the rest of them became callously indifferent (blinded, hardened, and made insensible to it).

AMP

[And if grace ...]

If the fact that any are reserved be by grace, or favor, then it cannot be as a reward of merit. Paul thus takes occasion incidentally to combat a favorite notion of the Jews, that we are justified by obedience to the Law. He reminds them that in the time of Elijah it was because God had reserved them

Romans 11:6

[Otherwise grace ...]

If people are justified by their works, it could not be a matter of favor, but was a debt. If it could be that the doctrine of justification by grace could be held and yet at the same time that the Jewish doctrine of merit was true, then it would follow that grace had changed its nature, or was a different thing from what the word properly signified. The idea of being saved by merit contradicts the very idea of grace. If a man owes me a debt, and pays it, it cannot be said to be done by favor, or by grace. I have a claim on him for it, and there is no favor in his paying his just dues.

[But if it be of works ...]

"Works" here mean conformity to the Law; and to be saved by works would be to be saved by such conformity as the meritorious cause. Of course there could be no grace or favor in giving what was due: if there was favor, or grace, then works would lose their essential characteristic, and cease to be the meritorious cause of procuring the blessings. What is paid as a debt is not conferred as a favor.

And from this it follows that salvation cannot be partly by grace and partly by works. It is not because people can advance any claims to the favor of God; but from his mere unmerited grace. He that is not willing to obtain eternal life in that way, cannot obtain it at all. The doctrines of election, and of salvation by mere grace, cannot be more explicitly stated than they are in this passage.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved ( delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;

9 Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]

AMP

Galatians 5:4-6

If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from grace (from God's gracious favor and unmerited blessing).

5 For we, [not relying on the Law but] through the [Holy] Spirit's [help], by faith anticipate and wait for the blessing and good for which our righteousness and right standing with God [our conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action, causes us] to hope.

6 For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love.

AMP

Romans 4:1-7

Chapter 4 1 [BUT] IF so, what shall we say about Abraham, our forefather humanly speaking — [what did he] find out? [How does this affect his position, and what was gained by him?]

2 For if Abraham was justified ( established as just by acquittal from guilt) by good works [that he did, then] he has grounds for boasting. But not before God!

3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed in (trusted in) God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (right living and right standing with God). [Genesis 15:6.]

4 Now to a laborer, his wages are not counted as a favor or a gift, but as an obligation (something owed to him).

5 But to one who, not working [by the Law], trusts (believes fully) in Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (the standing acceptable to God).

6 Thus David congratulates the man and pronounces a blessing on him to whom God credits righteousness apart from the works he does:

7 Blessed and happy and to be envied are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered up and completely buried.

AMP

Ps 6:6-7

6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.

7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.

(KJV)

1) What keeps you from recognizing your unrestrained life?

2) What area of your life is causing you the most sadness?

Our pride cries out against the idea of being not in control and giving up power. We are accustomed to accepting full responsibility for all that happens in our lives and in the lives of others. The dysfunction of the environment of the world system that surrounds us teaches us reaction and we learn to become overly responsible. Liberation and renewal of strength will come from total surrender.

3) What events in your life caused you to realize the extent of your pain?

Deut 30:19-20

19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land

(KJV)

4) Pain is a signal to act out your addiction, obsession, or compulsion. Now pain can be a signal to acknowledge your lack of control and to choose life. What specific pain is your strongest signal?

As we begin to accept and surrender the reality of our condition, we naturally reach out to others for answers. There will be no true relief for us until we, by ourselves, in our own minds ands hearts acknowledge our lack of control.

1 Cor 8:2

2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

(KJV)

5) We think that life is working when we rely on our old survival techniques. How has this blocked you from seeing your real problems?

The ongoing commitment to surrender, we remember that our damaging traits, habits, and behaviors are a part of us. They are unconscious reactions to the scars that are in our soul. The unhealed wounds are these soul scars. We observe our behavior patterns for the appearance of destructive tendencies. As we notice self-defeating behaviors and reactions surface, we can surrender and seek rescue from God. God will open new courses for action for us.

6) In what area of your life do you experience the strongest need to be in control?

7) What are the results of self-defeating habits?

Mark 4:35-40

35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.

37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

(KJV)

8) The apostles felt fear and doubt, because of the situation of their personal powerlessness. What do you fear the most? What causes you to doubt?

Recovery from Scar Tissue of the Soul

By your patience possess your souls —Luke 21:19

When a person is born again, there is a period of time when he does not have the same vitality in his thinking or reasoning that he previously had. We must learn to express this new life within us, which comes by forming the mind of Christ (see Philippians 2:5 ). Luke 21:19 means that we take possession of our souls through patience. But many of us prefer to stay at the entrance to the Christian life, instead of going on to create and build our soul in accordance with the new life God has placed within us. We fail because we are ignorant of the way God has made us, and we blame things on the devil that are actually the result of our own undisciplined natures. Just think what we could be when we are awakened to the truth!

Scar tissue has been around throughout history. It is a common problem. Our Lord dealt with it in those he tried to teach, and through his teaching the recovery process can be learned. When teaching people with scar tissue, our Lord taught them in parables. After teaching the Parable of the Sower, his disciples asked him why he had taught in parables. His answer was because his audience had scar tissue of the soul. He quoted Isaiah 6:9-10 in Matthew 13:14-15. Since most people with scar tissue aren't going to learn Bible Doctrine anyway, because their internal capacity is very minimal and their mind continually wanders therefore He taught them with symbolic messages, or parables, to illustrate the Spiritual principles. The parables served two purposes: (1) They hid the true doctrine from those who would never learn it anyway, and (2) they required analysis to understand just like the application of Bible Doctrine that would be required to handle the testing associated with scar tissue of the soul.

The Recovery Process

The recovery process from scar tissue of the soul was taught by our Lord in Matthew 13:14-15. Recovery is complicated by the problems that characterize scar tissue. The person with scar tissue of the soul is his own worst enemy; and what's more, he doesn't understand his own problem. There are certain things in life that we need not pray about— moods, for instance. We will never get rid of moodiness by praying, but we will by kicking it out of our lives. Moods nearly always are rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self. It is a continual struggle not to listen to the moods which arise as a result of our physical condition, but we must never submit to them for a second

"And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
'You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
And you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; (Matthew 13:14)

People with scar tissue of the soul may see the Scars of their soul but not be able to understand what it means spiritually. Although they have heard doctrine taught, they are unable to make application. They keep on hearing Bible Doctrine taught, but they do not understand how to apply it to their life individually. Thus, scar tissue of the soul hinders the metabolization of Bible Doctrine and the execution of the Spiritual Life. The only solution and hope of recovery is to stop Trying and begin Trusting that God's way and power is the only deliverance of our Soul Scars. The divine recovery procedure must be received by Grace not by our own strength no performance; otherwise, there will be no recovery from scar tissue. The Scar Tissue will only be more deeply engrained and habitual failure becomes our frame of Reference. This old frame of reference energized by our own performance and frustration of defeat forms a cycle of failure. The only divine remedy to break this cycle of Failure is to stop trying in our own performance and receive the Grace of God which will cause us to trust in God's performance even when we do not immediately see results. God works in the invisible not in the visible. That is why we need to look through faith eyes not though our own perception and opinions of our own mind which is conditioned by the comic world system, our flesh, and from the Devil.

For the heart of this people has become insensitive,
And with their ears they are hard of hearing,
And they have closed their eyes
Lest they should see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I should heal them.' (Matthew 13:15)

You have become estranged from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have run aground from grace. (Galatians 5:4)

The word for running aground is the Greek ejkpivptw (ekpipto), which means to drift off course or run aground. Those who run aground cease to advance in the Spiritual Life.

Scar tissue of the soul makes it more difficult to stay on course. In addition to ignorance, which makes navigation in grace difficult, scar tissue of the soul may add the additional lure of lust and lasciviousness or legalism to go astray.

Ephesians 4:18-19
18 And they have been darkened in their way of thinking, and they have been alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance which is in them, because of the scar tissue in their heart. 19 Who, because they have become callused, they have given themselves over to licentiousness resulting in the practice of every kind of immorality with insatiable lust

The believer with scar tissue of the soul is alienated from the life of God and easily tempted by lust to go astray from grace. Scar tissue of the soul is an added burden to those who are trying to advance in the Spiritual Life.

¹ Strong, James, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, Crusade Bible Publishers, Inc., Nashville, TN, pp. 1340, Dictionary of the Hebrew Bible, pp. 127, Dictionary of the Greek Testament, pp. 79.
² Kittel Gerhard, and Gerhard Friedrich (Editors), Theological Dictionary Of The New Testament Collected Dialogues Of Plato Including The Letters, Abridged and translated in one volume by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, MI, 1985 (Reprinted 1992), ISBN: 0-8028-2404-8, p. 1342-1353.

The SOUL

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:22:03 PDT

Rom 7:18

“For the word of God is living and operative, and keen above any two-edged sword, and penetrating up to the parting of soul and spirit...”

Heb.4:12

SOUL AND SPIRIT SEPARATE

The distinction between soul and spirit is no less pronounced. Besides the passage in Hebrews 4:12, which gives the Word of God the monopoly on this distinction, we have the list “spirit and soul and body” (1 Thess.5:23).

Now, instead of the soul and spirit being the same, they are put in striking contrast in the discussion of the differences between the first man, Adam, and the last Adam, Christ Jesus. The first became a living soul, the last a vivifying, or life-giving Spirit. This same contrast is even more apparent in the adjectives “spiritual” and “soulish.” In the second chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians this distinction is obscured by the rendering “natural.” Not the “natural,” but the soulish man is not receiving those things which are of the spirit of God (1 Cor.2:14). Such perception is reserved for the spiritual man (v.12). So, too, in the fifteenth chapter. The body is there called a soulish, not a “natural” body, in contrast to the spiritual body of the coming resurrection (1 Cor.15:44,45,46).

THE SOUL SPEAKS OF SENSATIONS

The truth that the soul refers to sensation or conscious experience is really acknowledged by the translators themselves, though they have concealed it from their readers by their renderings. Many who think of the soul as the seat of our highest spiritual faculties would be surprised to know that it finds its fitting place between such words as “terrestrial” and “demoniacal.”

In James 3:15 we have “terrestrial, soulish, demoniacal.” The translators rendered it: “earthly, sensual, devilish.” Here, however, if we take the word sensual in its present day acceptation, they have overshot the mark. But in their days it probably meant very nearly what soulish means—one who is swayed by physical sensation. The crowning proof of its antipathy to spirit lies in its last occurrence. There we read of those who are “soulish, not having the spirit” (Jude 19). Here again the translators rendered it “sensual.”

THE SOUL, AND THE SENSES

Plants have life as well as animals, but it is not a conscious life. They do not see and feel and hear and taste. This is the force of being a “living soul.”

The connection of soul with the senses is evidenced by a selection of interesting passages. We will give the renderings of the Authorized Version. The taste is especially intended in such scriptures as “whatsoever thy soul lusteth after” (Deut.12:15,20,21), “thy soul longeth to eat flesh” (Deut.12:20), “eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure” (Deut.23:24), “Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat” (Psa.107:18), “a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul” (Prov.6:30), “eateth to the satisfying of his soul” (Prov.13:25), “an honeycomb, sweet to the soul” (Prov.16:24), “if thou be a man given to appetite” (Prov.23:2), “The full soul loatheth an honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.” (Prov.27:7), “should make his soul enjoy good” (Margin reads: “delight his senses,” Ecc.2:24), “the appetite is not filled” (Ecc.6:7), “to make empty the soul of the hungry” (Isa.32:6). In all of these cases the point lies in the sensation accompanying the use of food, the physical satisfaction which the soil furnishes when we partake of its products.

A CONVINCING CONFIRMATION

This is amply confirmed by our Lord’s words: “Do not worry about your soul, what you may be eating, or what you may be drinking...Is not the soul more than nourishment” (Matt.6:25)? These creature needs are what the soul craves, yet true satisfaction is not to be found in them. Even as He said on another occasion: “For what will a man be benefitted, if he should ever be gaining, the whole world, yet be forfeiting his soul? Or what will a man be giving in exchange for his soul” (Matt.16:26)? This is the evil which the wise man saw: “A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it...” (Ecc.6:2, AV).

OUR SOULISH BODY

In perfect accord with all this we are told that there is a soulish body and there is a spiritual body (1 Cor.15:44). The last Adam became a life-giving, or vivifying spirit, in contrast with the first Adam who became a living soul. Flesh and blood, indeed, is not able to enjoy an allotment in the kingdom of God, for the blood is the badge of a soulish body, while flesh and bones is in accord with a spiritual body (1 Cor.15:50). The statement that Christ’s flesh was not acquainted with decay (Acts 2:31) in the tomb is enough to show that it was the very same flesh which endured the suffering of the cross. And this is put beyond question by the nail prints and the spear wound. And the further fact that His body is bloodless reminds us that a propitiatory shelter, for the pardon of Israel’s sins, as well as those of the whole world, has been accomplished (1 John 2:2). The “blood” that is “making a propitiatory shelter” has been poured out.

The Soul and Related Biblical Terms

Old Testament

Soul (nephesh, neh'-fesh, נפש) Strong's Number 5315 from 5314; properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental). ¹

the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (nephesh). Genesis 2:7 (NIV)

In his hand is the life (nephesh) of every creature and the breath (ruwach) of all mankind. Job 12:10 (NIV)
Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation. Psalms 35:9 (NIV)

Spirit (ruwach, roo'-akh, רוּחַ) Strong's Number 7307 from 7306; wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions).¹

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Genesis 1:2 (NIV)

Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" Ecclesiastes 3:21 (NIV)

and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:7 (NIV)

New Testament

Flesh (sarx, sarx, σαρξ) Strong's Number 4561 probably from the base of 4563; flesh (as stripped of the skin), i.e. (strictly) the meat of an animal (as food), or (by extension) the body (as opposed to the soul [or spirit], or as the symbol of what is external, or as the means of kindred), or (by implication) human nature (with its frailties [physically or morally] and passions), or (specifically) a human being (as such)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NIV)

Body (soma, so'-mah, σωμα) Strong's Number 4983 from 4982; the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively.¹ The biblical definition of death is found in James 2:26 where it says that death is the separation of the spirit from the body.

As the body (soma) without the spirit (pneumatos) is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26 (NIV)

Soul (psyche, psoo-khay', ψυχη) Strong's Number 5590 from 5594; breath, i.e. (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely (the animal sentient principle only; thus distinguished on the one hand from 4151, which is the rational and immortal soul; and on the other from 2222, which is mere vitality, even of plants: these terms thus exactly correspond respectively to the Hebrew 5315, 7307 and 2416).¹

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Mark 8:35-37 (NIV)

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11 (NIV)

Spirit (pneuma, pnyoo'-mah, πνευμα) Strong's Number 4151 from 4154; a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; by analogy or figuratively, a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, demon, or (divine) God, Christ's spirit, the Holy Spirit.¹

God is spirit (pneuma), and his worshipers must worship in spirit (pneumati) and in truth." John 4:24 (NIV)
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit (pneuma), soul (psyche) and body (soma) be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Thessalonians 5:23 (NIV)

Mind (nous, nooce, νους) Strong's Number 3563, probably from the base of 1097; the intellect, i.e. mind (divine or human; in thought, feeling, or will); by implication meaning.¹

So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 1 Corinthians 14:15 (NIV)

Conscience (suneidesis, soon-i'-day-sis, συνειδησις),Strong's Number 4893 from a prolonged form of 4894; coperception, i.e. moral consciousness.¹

So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. Acts 24:16 (NIV)

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds (nous) and consciences (suneidesis) are corrupted. Titus 1:15 (NIV)

But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification [intellect] and exhortation [will] and consolation [emotion]. 1 Corinthians 14:3 (NAS)

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart [kardia] and with all your soul [psyche] and with all your mind [nous] .' Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

Our new proclamation:

2 Cor 5:17

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (KJV)

We took control to protect ourselves, but the results frequently have ended uncontrollable and unreliable. We now don’t want to give up control and release ourselves from the torment. This now is a great opportunity to face reality and admit that our life is not working with us in control. We stop pretending, we admit that we can’t continue the illusion of control. The way we have managed our own lives brings us to this point. We prepare ourselves towards the walk of wholeness.

This may seem overwhelming to most of us until we begin to see our lives as they really are. It is threatening to realize could be uncontrollable. Our life experience testifies against us and reminds us that our behaviors did not produce peace.

Ambassador of Christ Profile Of A Disciple

theodoreawadjr@comcast.net (Teddy Awad) — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:07:24 PDT

So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ's personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20 (Amplified Bible)

If you read the epistle from the beginning you can see that in chapter 5 verse 20 the "we" and "us" is himself and Timothy, and the "you" refers to the Corinthian Church. Christians are no more automatically ambassadors for Christ than they are disciples of Christ on the level of discipleship in Luke 14, unless they have met the three conditions set forth in verses 26, 27, and 33.

Moreover, it is inconceivable that one would be an ambassador for Christ if one is not even a disciple (learner) on the discipleship level of Luke 14. Sad to say, that most Christians today in this country are not only not ambassadors for Christ nor disciples of Christ (according to Luke 14), but rather are yet carnal like the Christians in Corinth whom Paul rebuked in his first epistle to them (1 Cor. 3:1-4).

Would Christ send someone to be His ambassador who is carnal rather than spiritual, who is not even a disciple according to the conditions of Luke 14?
The purpose in this study is to make clear what is involved in being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. We will do this by looking at Jesus' own words. There are seven statements about discipleship that Jesus makes in the gospels.

These statements give us a :
One statement that tells us the goal of discipleship.
Three statements that tell us the marks of a disciple.
Three statements that reveal the cost of discipleship.

Are you are a disciple of Jesus?

An ambassador is…

· Ready. An Ambassador is attentive for chances to represent Christ and will not back away from a challenge or an opportunity.

· Patient. An Ambassador won’t quarrel, but will listen in order to understand, then with gentleness seek to respectfully engage those who disagree.

· Reasonable. An Ambassador has informed convictions (not just feelings), gives reasons, asks questions, aggressively seeks answers, and will not be stumped by the same challenge twice.

· Tactical. An Ambassador adapts to each unique person and situation, maneuvering with wisdom to challenge bad thinking, presenting the truth in an understandable and compelling way.

· Clear. An Ambassador is careful with language and will not rely on Christian lingo nor gain unfair advantage by resorting to empty rhetoric.

· Fair. An Ambassador is sympathetic and understanding towards others and will acknowledge the merits of contrary views.

· Honest. An Ambassador is careful with the facts and will not misrepresent another’s view, overstate his own case, or understate the demands of the Gospel.

· Humble. An Ambassador is provisional in his claims, knowing that his understanding of truth is fallible. He will not press a point beyond what his evidence allows.

· Attractive. An Ambassador will act with grace, kindness, and good manners. He will not dishonor Christ in his conduct.

· Dependent. An Ambassador knows that effectiveness requires joining his best efforts with God’s power.

http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5188