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.’

Molech worship today!

The Alter of Molech today

"And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:    Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people" - Leviticus 20:4-5

"Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them" - Romans 1:32

To Party or not to Party ...

I recently had to consider whether going on a night out dancing with my wife is okay or not okay.

The issue is tricky even though the answer is CLEAR. It's one thing to follow ones convictions on these things but expressing the decision based on ones conviction is something else entirely.

I realized quickly that the only way to understand this is to have a genuine Biblical understanding and then a strong conviction to carry out that decision . So I had to break it down.

#1- Night clubs and dancing ARE NOT FREE OF SIN.

-What happens in night clubs and what exactly is DANCING?

Night clubs are places where people go out to entertain themselves, free their minds, dance, meet people, get together with friends, ...etc.

On the surface, it doesn't seem like there's inherently anything wrong w/ any of that. but bottom line, this is the MAIN thing WRONG with "clubbing" and dancing.

MY INDIVIDUAL TESTIMONY. What does it say to celebrate in public, dance to lyrics that don't glorify God, and make myself a part of an atmosphere that doesn't glorify God but instead is by and large a haven for people to meet, hook-up and celebrate sensuality and free sex largely with unmarried counterparts? And then you have the serving of alcohol and people getting high and drunk, etc. I can't be a part of that.

It's not exactly like taking public transportation. It doesn't necessarily glorify God either but also not a melting pot of sinful and Godless expression.

#2- My history w/ Clubbing and dancing is TODAY a stumbling block for me. It's probably where I most blasphemed and misrepresented Christ. It's a place where people without knowing it, literally thumb their noses @ God; saying to Him that they don't need Him in their lives b/c they can enjoy their lives w/out Him. Not everyone has to have that type of background or ill intentions BUT I did, people do ... and I'm reflecting on my convictions here.

#3- To me, it's similar to drinking, tattoos and smoking. Once you've become NEW in Christ, how you walk needs to represent Christ. Although you won't find "Clubbing" in the Bible or much about "Dancing", there are so many scriptures in the Bible that describe how holy God is, how much we need to represent Christ, and how we should walk in Him and be sanctified for growth that the true Christian's conscience on these things can ONLY lead one NOT to engage in them. It just can't be ignored.

Some people argue regarding FREEDOMS within our individual conscience while being Christian and I agree to an extent. But you also don't want to take the chance at making anyone stumble in their faith or people who look to you to represent Christ. There is strong language in the Bible regarding Children of God separating from this world and a lot of mistakes have been made when the church has tried to attract new converts by trying to mimic the world. This type of comfort has too many times produced FALSE CONVERTS. The truth is that Christ and His Church will NEVER look like the world so those who try and balance their stand between God and this world, will only end up drifting back towards this world (World system).

And this is because everyone born has a carnal nature not a Godly nature. Only by the Spirit of God are we attracted to God's ways but balancing our worldly nature with a Spirit-nature will always result in drifting back to our original nature. People tend to disagree with this because they have a hard time fully understanding how ungodly we actually are. And they have a problem seeing how ungodly and sinful we are because they don't have the right concept or understanding of exactly how HOLY God is. Most people think they are somewhat "good" people, and that of coarse is wrong; deadly wrong.

"No one is good but God" - Matt. 19:17 (Also Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23)

God deserves to be represented and worshipped appropriately, and He isn't vague about this reality.

(John 4:23; John 14:17; 1 Peter 1:16; Lev. 10:1-8)

The Bible teaches that we're a NEW creation in Christ; His Spirit lives within us, and our bodies are the temple of His Holy Spirit. We are to glorify God with our bodies by being a living sacrifice unto God in holiness.

(1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 2:17)

Worship isn't just going to church. The Bible teaches that OUR BODIES ARE THE CHURCH. If we are the temple of God, then collectively, believers are the church and holiness must be an everything and everywhere thing.

Therefore, we're worshipping in everything we do and everything we say.

This kinda slows down the turn table on the music to a halt doesn't it? ... Well, it is what it is. It's the truth. But when the Bible verse says "All things have become new", this is also referring to change in a person's character.

Where we were once indifferent, we now pursue with passion, and where we pursued in passion, we now lose interest. When we're "born again" (John 3:3), all those things that don't glorify God start to shed away. And if it hasn't,

perhaps you have to ask yourself "Are you born again"? This is considered the fruit that bares witness of true discipleship; a new life and a new character.

Everyone has to follow their personal convictions and although it's not good to be legalistic about many things, a true Biblical conscience will always bust out on the surface within our decisions as we grow in The Lord.

His peace to you, Amen.

"Well you did it"! ....

 

Is usually the bad argument used to speak against teaching "Abstinence" to your children.

Another flawed thinking is "Well, you have to allow your children to make mistakes".  As ridiculous as it might seem, people still say this. 

Imagine allowing your children to make mistakes they could have avoided via your fatherly/motherly instruction.  Mistakes that for them, might end up being a lot more traumatizing and hurtful than it was for you.  Inevitably, we're all going to make mistakes but people always look back on their mistakes and prefer that they would have had something diverting them from them. 

Without question, the problems in our society concerning abortion, broken families, divorce, child abuse, single parent households, child abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.., could be avoided by teaching children to think critically about consequences, how to respect themselves and being accountable for themselves.  

And since the bottom line and foundation is what is taught in the Bible; "Your bodies are not yourselves, but the temple of the living God".   It teaches that when we sin against our bodies, we sin against God.   "Your bodies were bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:12).  


It takes a lot more self control, strength, courage and knowledge of self, and God to go against the crowd than it does to follow the crowd.  

But today, even in some states what we're seeing is "condom and contraception" vending machines in the high schools, which is the total opposite of teaching discipline, and encouraging empowerment.  Instead the message that it sends is that "We know you're not strong enough or disciplined enough".  Ironically, the public school system expects kids to be disciplined and take their studies seriously, but not their own minds and bodies. 

But as "political" as people have made this argument, it's more of a moral argument, and has absolute ties to your children's relationship with God - which they themselves will need to cultivate.  

Our children's moral decisions, mistakes and outcomes will of coarse, be as personal and individual to them as their own personalities but laying down a Biblical foundation  for them that they see you live out in all major decisions at home, will determine what will shape their identities, and what will be their source of strength as they need it throughout their lives.   

And God is the ONLY source of strength in a world where people are grasping at straws in the dark.  The statistics on the crumbling family within our culture demonstrates this, and it's only getting worst

Not to teach abstinence is not only ignorant, it's disobedience to God, and taking the lives of your children which are the "heritage" God has given you, and disregarding them.     It's also not giving  your children a chance to cultivate discipline of the most precious gift God has given them on earth - their own bodies. 


 Parents who fear God raise children who fear God.

As the world groans ...

Romans 8:22 -   " For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now".

We're created to worship God.  So we can either worship God, worship something else, or worship self. 

Either way, deep within humanity, we seek answers.   We seek to know who we are, and nothing explains that better and more honestly than The Word of God, The Bible. 

Until we find what we're looking for, there is inward conflict, frustration and groaning for truth, fulfillment, answers, and reality. 

The further away a culture drifts away from God, the further away from the Truth they'll be.   But the natural human needs remain the same, and thus, the groaning remains.

Notice how Hollywood always has to come out with dozens of Bible-based movies. 

We recently had "The Bible" series that came out a few months ago, a God movie from the same Bible series; there's a Noah movie coming out with Russel Crowe, I hear a new Moses movie coming out, and now there's even a cable series premier coming out on ABC entitled "Resurrection".    This is coming out right before Easter.  

Hollywood wants to capitalize on the groaning our culture has deep within to satisfy itself in Truth.   But no doubt as usual, the Biblical portrayals of these historical accounts in the Bible, if not presented honestly, historically and Biblically, won't lead people to Truth but instead, "religion", and false holiness without the True God. 

There is a cure for the pains and the groaning, and that cure is Jesus Christ.  

" The secular worldview relativizes morality, and our society has progressively compromised the moral system upon which it depends. A living body that has a compromised immune system will soon fail. A society that subverts its own moral immunities sows the seeds of its own destruction".   - Albert Mohler

" Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls"  - Matthew 11:29