There was a time in my life, not too long ago, that I did whatever seemed right in my eyes.  In other words, whatever I wanted.  If I wanted to watch a vampire movie, or movies filled with profanity, nudity, violence, gore, destruction, or read a book or listen to music with the same things, then I did and thought nothing of it.  And I am sad to say that I didn’t keep much of it from my kids either. 

Then I got saved.  I accepted the call from our Lord to follow Him.  So everything changed, or did it?  This is a response about the discussion from Tuesday. 

1Co 6:12  “All things are lawful for me…”All things are lawful for me,”…

1Co 10:23  “All things are lawful…. “All things are lawful…

According to Paul, in these verses, I can pretty much still watch, read, and listen to what I want.  This whole concept known as the grace and mercy of God has freed me from a legalistic definition of the Law in an attempt to reach and serve God.  And some certainly do live a life, even after “accepting” the call of God, that show us that they believe what Paul said here wholeheartedly.  Paul even repeated this four times in only two verses. 

I, as an atheist, watched people for a lot of years do exactly what I did and called themselves Christians.  So naturally I concluded, along with a lot of other observations, that God was not real.  But this was a large part of the conclusion.  Christians and atheists were doing so many of the same things so, what was the big deal about a supreme being.  But look at the following verses in their fullness.

1Co 6:12  “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.

1Co 10:23  “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.

I left the emboldened parts out originally to point out how it seems that Christians read the verses, based on their perceived lives.  Based on the choices of countless Christians I have watched both before and after I joined their ranks, I have to conclude some have never paid attention to the three concepts Paul stated about all things. 

In the first verse Paul has been talking about different types of sinners, not sin, but sinners.  And he has concluded that the believers at Corinth used to be these sinners but are now washed clean by Christ.  Then he does let us know that all things are lawful because of that cleansing. 

Looking at the next verse in context we find Paul again concluding that whatever he does is lawful.  But in both cases he is quick to let us know that it is not really good for us, because all things do not help us in mission, in our freedom, or in our witness.  Read chapter 6 and 10 of 1 Corinthians with this in mind.   

A real relationship with Christ brings change.  We become new creations and I stand as a witness to this.  When I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ, some of the things I did for entertainment became vile to me.  So I knew instinctively that they were vile to the Holy Spirit because His taking up residence in me was the real change that had occurred in my life.  Dee concluded that Jesus being in the room would decide her choices and she is right.  We just have to remember He is in the room.

The questions we really have to ask ourselves about entertainment choices are; does it help us in our mission?  Does it help us in our freedom?  Does it help us in our witness? 

Does it help us in our mission?  Probably not in most cases.  As Laura stated about Seventh Heaven and such shows, they may actually hinder us because of the false gospel that is being presented.  Our mission is to reach the lost with the good news and make disciples of them.  The very idea behind entertainment implies a suspension of mission. 

I do not think it is terrible to take a break from the warfare and work we are to be doing for the Kingdom, but God gave us an example of six days work and one day of rest.  But it seems most Christians do the opposite.  They might actually do something for God on one day by going to church but then they take six days to relax from the real work by ignoring the things of God. 

Does it help us in our freedom?  Jesus freed us from our slavery to sin.  But many of us are so willing to visit it again and again like some really exciting, fun, and enjoyable relative.  The implications beneath the quote that Heath provided point to the reality of the intoxicating hold that ungodly things can have on us. 

Most of the comments had some suggestion of the idea that we need to be conscience of the effect on our spirit that our choices have.  We can become addicted to entertainment and addiction is the exact opposite of freedom.

Does it help us in our witness?  The very heart of the whole matter is how our choices can affect our witness.  Reread what I used to think about Christians.  People who see absolutely no beneficial difference in the narrow path and the wide highway are not going to creep along on the narrow.  Why should they. 

Finally, if you love your children, you have to filter what they watch, read, and hear.  There is absolutely no way that the correlation between the rise of violence, sexual promiscuity, death, the demeaning of women, and other things that are accepted in all the mediums of entertainment and the rise of the same in real society today, can be dismissed.

So to conclude I am offering these thoughts to ponder.

Do you watch The Shield but would never watch Charmed?  Do you watch Friends but would never watch Will and Grace?  Would you read Jeff Lindsay but never Stephen King?  Is country and western music okay but gangsta rap taboo? 

If you answered yes to any of the above, you might want to ask Jesus which one he would rather enjoy. He is right there with you.

Love you all

I was two years old when my parents divorced.  The man that I cannot call father didn’t care enough about me to stay around and I have never met him to this day.  My mother met another man, married him and he adopted me.  His name was Bill and he is who I call father. 

I hope this does not sound bitter because I am not and have never been.  The man who adopted me could not have loved me any more if he was my biological father.  I actually am grateful in a way that all of this worked out this way. 

Now I have been adopted by another Father.  My heavenly Father.  I am blessed more than some because I can truly say I have three fathers.  One did not really love me.  One loved me as much as man can.  And the last loves me more than any man can.  My Father, God, wants the best for me.  He wants me whole, and healthy.  He wants me fed and sheltered.  He wants me to rest in peace and to find joy in all things.  He wants me to prosper. 

In this ongoing series in which I am trying to develop a battle strategy against our adversary, I have presented some areas that I believe he is deceiving us.  This is the next one I will address.

A false gospel of the pursuit of happiness and wealth.  I just listed some things that I truly believe our Father wants for us all but as I said here, I believe the enemy has twisted and distorted Gods word and has either deceived or collaborates with many people who teach the so called ‘prosperity gospel’.  I think this is very dangerous weapon the enemy has unleashed.  This ‘gospel’ teaches that God wants us, above all else, to be happy, healthy, and prosperous. 

We are being taught that God is my father and as a ‘Kings Kid’ (Fred Price, Kenneth Copeland, and others) there is just no way He wants anything less than the best for us.  What does the Word of God say?

3Jn 1:2  Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

These guys teach from this that God wants us to prosper financially.  Is that what is being said here?  When I read that short letter that John wrote I find that it seems to be about Gaius being commended for his walk, his ministry, and his love.  His soul was prospering and I believe John meant that he wanted him to prosper in his work and walk with God.

Joh 10:10  “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

They want us to believe that Jesus was telling us that we all should live in mansions and drive Rolls.  Is this the abundant life?  I thought life lived in joyous communion with God through the Holy Spirit was the abundant life. 

Luk 6:38  “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure–pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

This is the part of the lie that is the most dangerous and for anyone with any degree of discernment, it should be obvious.  Everyone of the leaders that claim that this verse teaches that giving money will get you more money in return, also tell you how much it will take and who is supposed to get your money.  And it is always them.  Not a missionary in your church.  Not a charity that feeds starving children.  No, you have to send them your $999.00, and you have to do it in the next twenty minutes or the windows of opportunity for this special blessing will be closed in heaven.  At least until next week. 

But did you notice that this verse is right in the middle of a lengthy discourse on true LOVE.  Love is what we are to give.  Love is what we are to sew.  Love is what will be poured back in our laps; pressed down, shaken together, and running over. 

Mar 10:30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age

Here is where we get that hundredfold blessing.  Send in ten dollars and receive one thousand.  Wow.  God is so good.  But wait, is this really happening every time we give?  It doesn’t in my life.  God gives me back a hundred fold blessing all the time.  But it is not money very much at all.  Look at that verse again in context.

Mar 10:29-31  Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. “But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

Those that forsake all for Christ’s sake will be blessed a hundred fold with a lot of what they forsook.  Even persecutions.  Did you hear that from the televangelist? 

I could keep on and on.  Every scripture used to propagate this deceptive message can be proven to be taken out of context.  We are ‘Kings Kids’.  And God does want us to prosper.  But He wants us to prosper in the mission laid out for us.  And that is to advance the Kingdom by invading and overthrowing the enemy’s territory.  This false ‘gospel of prosperity’ is a major stronghold that we must take down.  We can only do this by rising up against this false teaching and exposing those who proclaim it for who they are. 

If we do not, someone is going to lose their standing as a ‘Kings Kid’.

Love you all

A few years ago, if anyone had told me that I would speak in tongues, dance around in church in front of all, weep when reading the bible or a story of someone overcoming hardship with grace, or hurting for others, or rejoicing when someone came into the Kingdom, or just having the peace that I have now in spite of some tough personal situations, I would have told them they were crazy.

But they would not have been, since all of these things and others have and do happen to me now.  They just do not happen as often as they seem to do to others.  I know that the Holy Spirit has come to live in me, guide me, comfort me, teach me, and love me.  I know that the ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit’ is real and for this ‘day’ and that Jesus has baptized me in Him. 

But what spirit is this we see all around us today? 

If you read any of these theological blogs or forums much at all you will find this topic being discussed.  This Holy Spirit baptism is misunderstood and much maligned.  Most Christians on the internet seem to vociferously denounce the workings and gifting that we, the Pentecostals, know as certainty.   And forget about the non believers ever accepting or attempting to understand what is going on. 

You might wonder why all this is so. 

I believe a lot of things lend themselves to this mind set.  But I believe it is mostly our own fault.  We sometimes in our zeal add to the unbelief.  We do this by presenting what I have termed false manifestations and manipulations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  There is just no way that everything that is happening and being displayed is really from God.  Instead, I believe it to be another enemy tactic.  He just loves to take the things of God and pervert them, so we can be deceived and ultimately killed. 

I know this is harsh and it is not easy for me to write.  I have both friends and family that will probably get a little mad at what I am saying here.  But the truth has to be put forth if the enemy is to be defeated. 

Why do I think this is happening?  No, why do I know this is happening?

It is because I am inherently a skeptic.  I spent most of my life doubting or in unbelief, so one of the main things I have asked God for is to experience everything He is, does, and has for us to experience.  I also continuously ask for the wisdom and gift of discernment.  And He has given me these things. 

When I see a person that I know is not living for the Kingdom but at just the right moment manifests a gift, I know it is not the Holy Spirit.  Some are just deceived and some are probably fully aware of what they are doing.  Why would someone fake the gifts of the Spirit?

There are probably many reasons but, I believe at the top of the list is the need to be accepted, loved, part of something.  If someone is not saved then they are naturally not filled with the Spirit of God.  Still, there are a lot that, although not willing to submit to our Lords leadership, want desperately to belong. 

Then there are the deceived.  They have just never spent enough time with God or the Word to fully comprehend what is sent from Him and what is not.  They jump from one revival or movement to another; seeking a personal emotional experience that the enemy has them convinced is not only good, but good for them.

Those that are deliberately faking the things of God are the most detestable and will probably suffer the most someday for their alliance with the enemy.  If you do not believe they can easily deceive, then look up Marjoe Gortners younger days as a “healing evangelist’.  Then look up some of the modern movements and see if there was any fruit.  I am going to stop there and be nice, for now. 

So what are we to do?

Counter attack strategies against false manifestations and manipulations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  The first step towards defeating this enemy tactic is something called discernment.  Paul told us to test everything and keep only the good. (1Th 5:21) Good is from God and bad is from our enemy.  A really simple test is therefore, the aroma and the flavor of the fruit coming from all spiritual manifestations.   If God is involved in any experience, some good should come from it. 

Gal 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…

Are any of these coming from those observed? 

For the second step we must go way back.  All the way to Mt Sinai.  We have been given a commandment to never covet what anyone else has.  (Exo 20:17)  This goes for spiritual gifts also.  Stop faking tongues because someone else has that gift.  Stop falling down because everyone else is.  Stop pretending to talk for God just because the prophet is getting all the attention.  God already has something special in mind just fro you, if you submit.

My third suggestion would be to never, ever exalt a man for doing the work that only God does.  No man heals.  No man prophesies.  No man imparts gifts.  God alone does these things.  Sometimes through a man.  But He doesn’t have to.  He can and will do it for you.  You do not have to chase a prophet, or an evangelist, or sell the car to get to a certain revival, to have God work the supernatural.  If He is going to do it for you, He will do it where you are.

I believe that there are probably many leaders today displaying bad fruit now but they didn’t always.  They started out with Christ like motives and pure Godly hearts, but we lifted them up on pedestals with our adoration so high that they couldn’t help but lose sight of the narrow way. 

Mat 7:22-23  “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

Deceivers, deceived, and the improperly motivated are treading on dangerous ground.  Let’s do our part by not fueling ‘strange fire.’

Love you all