If you can't say the Truth...

... Then tickle me instead! 

If you're not Christian, I can understand.  If you're part of a "works for righteousness" religion, it also makes sense to me..    But if you call yourself "Christian", you claim to read your Bible, and are offended by the preaching of REPENTANCE for the forgiveness of sins ...  then shame on you.
 

Because the Gospel of Christ preached to a sick and dying world is found entirely throughout the scriptures; old and new testament.  In fact, it's the central message of the scriptures in its entirety. 

If you're embarrassed by someone exposing the evidence of aberrant sin so as to bring to light the shame that should be resident among people in our society, then shame on you!  You're a coward!

Why?  Because you're more embarrassed about the Gospel of Christ than you are about where the culture is heading. 

Shame on you if you think that a true Christian preaching repentance on the corner is more concerned with his/her self-righteousness than on meeting the spiritual and eternal need of the perishing.    This is evidence of the state of  your cowardly heart.

"EXAMINE YOURSELF" to see if you're even in the faith or more concerned with tickling people's ears while you shut your eyes to the reality in which Christ died for us on the cross.   

And then REPENT and read The Word to truly learn what Christ's message is.     I assure you, if Christ where to be preaching the message of Joel Osteen today, He wouldn't have been crucified.

But remember, this isn't entirely about the message you're sending out but about the state of your heart before Jesus Christ.

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions," - 2 Tim.4:3

INCINERATED BABIES...

For me personally, this is the "straw that broke the camel's back".   I am more than ever convinced that we're living in the last days.  

But even MORE SICK, SAD AND TRAGIC than the above news is the fact that many will see this, and say "Pass the salt"!   They won't ponder any more on this and other abominations than what clothes they're going to wear tomorrow.     Their consciences are seared and dead to these things happening around us. 

There's nothing else to say but "Come Lord, Jesus... Come quickly"!


The Bible instructs us to say that in the book of Revelation.   It instructs us to love "The Appearing" of The Lord, and to continue to look up, and wait for Him with patience.     And truly He will come quickly.  "A day is like a thousand years to The Lord and a thousand years like a day".  



And yet people cannot see what's going on around them and right before their very eyes!  
I'm convinced that there is a SUPERNATURAL BLINDNESS over-taking people everywhere.  They're mesmerized by what's on TV, entertainment, music, the cares of this world, technology, etc. ...
And this spiritual blindness is in fact, the judgment of God towards an indifferent and unholy people.

They compromise their relationship with God by keeping silent in the face of evil.   They stay quiet while the wolves enter into the midst of the flock and scatter.   And then they themselves end up drifting away from the holiness of God because they can no longer hear or see God.   They can't identify holiness because they've harkened too long unto the lies of the enemy.   They didn't obey the command of God when He said "SEPARATE FROM THEM MY PEOPLE", and  "DON'T TOUCH THE UNCLEAN THING", and because they didn't seek His face in His Word so as to gain knowledge of Him and His instruction, they've become unprofitable and useless to God.

The only thing that will turn things around is REPENTANCE, and a turning to God.   But these are the last days, and God's will be done regardless.    

We can only pray for our country, our families, and pray for strength while we continue to watch and love the appearing of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

 God's free gift of salvation is through genuine REPENTANCE for the forgiveness of sins; freely offered to all those who want to place Christ FIRST in their lives - above all things.    Because the one who will judge the living and the dead in all righteousness is on His way coming as a thief in the night to those who aren't looking for Him.   And anyone who isn't looking for Him has proven to be Spiritually blind and under judgment already. 

 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.    He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.       And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.       I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.    Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city". - Rev. 22

Grace and Peace be multiplied!

The price of Refusing knowledge

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6 KJV)
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Whenever we step off the line of Truth, we risk losing God's protection for us; we risk going at it without His strength, and wisdom.

This is why we need to search the scriptures for the Truth of God's direction.

Man's wisdom is no wisdom at all in comparison with God's wisdom. And that is why all the wise men of the past are now buried and gone, and God and His words remain. In fact, Jesus said...

"Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words will never pass away".


Many believers struggle in their walk with God because they've been taught to expect God to continually GIVE but they never give of themselves. The Scriptures teach that we are to give OURSELVES as a "living sacrifice" to God. We belong to Him and were bought with a price. ....

Despite the utopia being preached in today's mega- churches about all you can EXPECT from God, what are we giving Him every day as our appropriate worship?

May God bless us with Biblical understanding.

Noah Movie Commentary -

Multi-Million Dollar movie created and targeted towards Christians by atheist producer for the sole purpose of mischaracterizing God and His message, and confusing a younger generation of children who won't be lead to God's Truth by their parents.  Oh, and becoming richer as a result of it.

There it is ... I said it! 
My message to Hollywood is "Continue finding your fiction from your creative mind and leave the Bible alone".   Or better yet, go mischaracterize Mohammed and the Koran if you will. 

There are enough stumbling blocks to Biblical Truth being produced by our society already.

Wishy-washy believers compromise right before they drift away from God and fall out of the faith.

Today, there's no fear of God; not even by those who call themselves "Christian".   But again, if Jesus didn't intend for us to judge, discriminate, assess, discern, etc., why would He say "A tree is known by its fruit"?   A bad tree produces NO Godly fruit.     

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RESURRECTION DAY MESSAGE!!

It is so important to READ The Word of God daily. So many distractions, so many things that come and steal the day away.

But with all that is going on in the world today; the changes taking place, and the signs of the times as spoken of by The Lord, all around us ...

We have to SEIZE the time alone with God in prayer, reading, and meditation in The Word.

If we haven't kept up to now, lets start fresh; obeying the commands found in The Word to pray, to read, and to seek His face diligently. And very important; finding a church that teaches Biblical Truth. This too is a command. This is indeed the hardest thing to do today - because of all the deception out there. More today than ever before, God's Word has been altered, attacked, abused; and sometimes in a very subtle but evil way. And we know this isn't "innocent" ignorance more than it is spiritual deception because of its origins from as far back as the book of Genesis, when the evil one subtly altered God's Word in the garden.

We know this deception has to take place because Jesus warned us that false prophets would be one of the signs of the last days. The Bible also warns, "They will not endure sound doctrine" and that all these things would be in the increase. People will fall away by the masses!

It's going to take a lot of prayer that God place us in congregations that practice, preach and teach the TRUE Word. But my faith is that praying diligently to the Father for Truth and discernment, God will direct our paths just as He has promised.

Only then will we find the KNOWLEDGE of the Truth to KNOW HIM, and in knowing Him, we'll be able to identify and discern sound doctrine from false doctrine.

"For lack of knowledge, my people perish".

ONE RULE that we ALL have to adhere to: NEVER get offended regarding scripture, advice or correction. The Truth is the Truth, and there is only ONE Truth. If someone is teaching something questionable from the Bible, simply GO and check for yourself to see if it can be Biblically defended. The book of Proverbs teaches that we should never despise correction. If we're wrong, it's okay, we're human - being corrected is a good thing.

Always remember that there are contextual ways to understanding the Word. In other words, the literal understanding of what is read isn't always the true context in which to understand any particular verse. One has to take into consideration the verses before and after the passage in question, as well as cultural norms of those times, and who was the verse referring to at that time, etc. Unfortunately, many have made very bad interpretations of certain scriptures and a lot of them are now leading thousands of followers into ditches along with themselves.

Other people suppose that they can be a church all to themselves and so they won't listen to studies or interpretations of anyone other than themselves; and that's wrong also. There's nothing wrong with listening to a study or commentary, and then studying the scriptures later on for yourself.

One of the main obstacles in learning sound doctrine is the stubborn approach we have to TRUTH. People have a hard time accepting Truth because #1, it's up to God to unveil it to us, and only a humble heart and a heart willing to change can change. #2, they think that they can't continue learning but what they believed cannot possibly be misguided. But we have to remember that all of us were headed in a different direction when the Truth captured our attention from the start of our faith. That supernatural power continues on in our lives learning and growing in Christ.

The scriptures never need to defend themselves. God's Truth is eternal. When we correct false teaching, we're not defending the scriptures, we're lovingly guiding a brother or a sister away from false teaching, and pointing them back to the scripture to reevaluate, and it is the best way to do that.

　

Today, with so much false doctrine and so many false Christian gospels out there, how can one know what is truth? ... I believe the true "compass" is a person's true broken and humble heart before God (Psalm 51:17). Because the knowledge comes from God, revelation comes from God, sanctification comes from God, and God's Spirit is what draws us; therefore, He is the one who opens up the Truth to us. And once you know the Truth, you can also know the lie.

Jesus said "My sheep hear my voice"... "The voice of another they will not follow".

SECOND RULE: Don't be proud. We already know that it's nothing about US that holds Truth, it's about God. We aren't and never have been smart enough, enlightened enough or spiritual enough to have ever known about His Truth unless He lets us have it. Therefore, STUDY The Bible, study and search the scriptures to continue learning. Never believe that there isn't anything else to learn about God.

We all know that verses that we've read hundreds of times, sometimes enlighten us all repeatedly when we go on in the faith.

KNOW THE TRUE MESSAGE OF CHRIST AND THE GOSPEL: Far be it from what too many people want to accept, the message of the cross is NOT romantic, it's not meant to fit into a positive-motivational, and shallow sermon of self empowerment. But it's a message to the world of God's MERCY and JUDGMENT on mankind.

If it tickles the ear too much, you have to wonder WHY.

But the message of God striking His beloved, perfectly sinless, and only son for OUR sins! What does that say? ... again, "MERCY AND JUDGMENT".

MERCY (out of love) and JUDGMENT (out of perfect sovereign justice).

Despite what Oprah says, Jesus came to earth to die for our sins and He died for OUR sins so that we don't have to go through God's wrath. Therefore, what did Christ SAVE us from??? .....He saved us from GOD'S WRATH.

Therefore, those that do believe in Him won't have to go through wrath. But those that don't. .... The Bible says are ALREADY CONDEMNED...

Well, now you know THE MISSION of the Christian here on earth. To proclaim to those who are perishing. And who are the perishing??? ... Those that aren't putting Christ FIRST in their lives like Christ Himself commanded.

Knowing the perishing from the ones being saved is actually pretty easy to spot but we can ONLY start identifying WHO IS WHO by asking ourselves first,

"AM I PUTTING CHRIST BEFORE ALL THINGS IN LIFE"?? ... The answer to that question will tell you where you fall in relationship with Jesus Christ, the one who will judge the earth in righteous judgement.

So what is the news about Christ that every Christian should be heralding??? ............. REPENT!!! ... REPENT!!! ... REPENT!!!

If we only tell them "Jesus loves you", we're kinda leaving out something pretty important about the Gospel aren't we? ... Yes, we are.

Most people believe they're lovable, "good" people, and pretty swell, etc. But the Bible teaches quite the opposite about the human heart. Therefore,

the "love only" message is mercy without JUDGMENT, and it's incomplete, and NOT the full Gospel of Christ. Throughout the Bible, if a prophet or a "man of God" did not preach the "full counsel" of God, he was held responsible for those souls and couldn't have a clean conscious before God. Giving half a truth ISN'T Truth at all. And in Matthew Chapt. 28 we're commanded to "Go" make disciples of all nations" .. Therefore, WE are that man or woman of God in our age. And God has placed that commission upon us in a dying world where people all around us are moving on into eternity without knowing the FULL and TRUE Gospel of our savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Every one person who has been RENEWED and BORN AGAIN in Christ has a testimony to tell, and we can confidently begin with the miracle God has done in our personal lives when He put His Spirit within us.

God bless, seek Truth, and be bold.

HAPPY "RESURRECTION DAY"!

He has risen, and so have we - from death unto life eternal!

Amen. 

"Words of LIFE" ...

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible I'll post here.  John Chapter 6 beginning on verse 22-69.
So much teaching can come from these verses spoken here by The Lord.  A commentary too long for me to start now but all I can say is ...

"He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying...".  
Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me".  
Let us humble ourselves and pray that God's grace will allow us to hear so that we can then see; as Christ said "I have come to give sight to the blind". 

Romans 10:17 - "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ".

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JOHN CHAPT. 6: 22-

On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.  Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.  So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.    When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”  Jesus answered them,  “Truly, truly, I say to you,  you are seeking me, not because you saw  signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.    Do not work for the food that perishes, but for  the food that endures to eternal life, which  the Son of Man will give to you. For on  him God the Father has  set his seal.”   

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”  Jesus answered them,  “This is the work of God,  that you believe in him whom  he has sent.”    So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?  Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”  Jesus then said to them,  “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.    For the bread of God is  he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”    They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”    Jesus said to them,  “I am the bread of life;  whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.    But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.    All that  the Father gives me will come to me, and  whoever comes to me I will never cast out.    For  I have come down from heaven, not to do  my own will but  the will of him  who sent me.    And  this is the will of him who sent me,  that I should lose nothing of  all that he has given me, but  raise it up on the last day.    For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who  looks on the Son and  believes in him  should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”   

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said,  “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”    They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say,  ‘I have come down from heaven’ ?”  Jesus answered them,  “Do not grumble among yourselves.    No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me  draws him. And  I will raise him up on the last day.    It is written in the Prophets,  ‘And they will all be  taught by God.’  Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—    not that anyone has seen the Father except  he who is from God; he  has seen the Father.    Truly, truly, I say to you,  whoever believes has eternal life.    I am the bread of life.    Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and  they died.    This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it  and not die.    I am the living bread  that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give  for the life of the world is  my flesh.”   

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  So Jesus said to them,  “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of  the Son of Man and drink his blood, you  have no life in you.    Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood  has eternal life, and  I will raise him up on the last day.    For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.    Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood  abides in me, and I in him.    As  the living Father  sent me, and  I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.    This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”    Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.    

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”  But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them,  “Do you take offense at this?    Then what if you were to see  the Son of Man  ascending to  where he was before?    It is the Spirit who gives life;  the flesh is no help at all.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.    But  there are some of you who do not believe.”  (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)  And he said,  “This is why I told you  that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”    

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.  So Jesus said to the Twelve,  “Do you want to go away as well?”    Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,  and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”...
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The Apostle Paul quoted the Prophet Isaiah in The Book of Acts:

"... From morning till evening he (Paul) expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.  And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.  And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement:

“The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:  

 “‘Go to this people, and say, 
“You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”     For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’