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

Tags: Discernment, Fruit of the Spirit, Holy Spirit, Miracles, Spiritual Gifts, Spiritual Warfare, Strategy and Tactics, Supernatural

There is a whole lot of enemy activity going on right now. 

There is a movement that is intent on removing all vestiges of God from the public square.  Displays of commandments, the phrases mentioning God in the Pledge of Allegiance and on our currency, any public declaration of the name Jesus; all these are taboo, dangerous, and have to be gotten rid of.  Unless of course you are blaspheming or ridiculing God or Jesus.  Then you might become a celebrity.

The radical atheist movement is in league with the enemy.  They might not know it and logically could not if they are the atheists they claim to be.  I have a little experience as an atheist and this movement confuses me.  When I did not believe in God, I was not scared or threatened by Him or any of these displays.  You could go to church, pray, give away your money to the church or to the makers of all of these t-shirts, plaques, crosses, etc., and it did not bother me one bit.  It actually amused me, unless my saved wife was using our money. 

But these neo-atheists don’t portray an assurance of their conviction.  They, instead portray the opposite. They seem to be scared of something they supposedly do not believe in. 

There is a whole lot of enemy activity going on right now.  

We have an election coming up and are faced with the fact that there are no qualified, trustworthy, competent, CHRISTLIKE, electable candidates to choose from for the highest office in our nation.   As this nations government gets bigger and bigger, the broad way to hell seems to be expanding also. 

The war that probably never should have happened goes on and on and the only way to end it will seriously dampen every other nations opinion of us as a world power.  In the meantime, people die.

There is a whole lot of enemy activity going on right now. 

There is not a lot of good news coming from anywhere.  The economy seems to be heading in a direction that is simply scary.  There are people losing jobs and people with little work.  Gas is ridiculously high and impacting everything’s pricing.  Some are losing their homes.  Some are losing their stuff.  We are in an economy that is affecting most people in some way. 

There is no clear way to fix the problems.  So we are faced with many lifestyle adjustments. 

There is a whole lot of enemy activity going on right now. 

On a personal level, I have friends and family that are being devastated by attacks that seem to be intensifying.  Things such as marital discord, child rebellion and hostility, addictions in loved ones, antagonistic in-laws, and many other cacoetheses’ are affecting many families that I know personally. 

But we trust God.  Or do we?  Are our actions and reactions to these attacks displaying this trust?

As far as the atheist movement goes, I take the same attitude that I did as an atheist.  I don’t care.  Because I do trust God.  I do not need a plaque to declare to me the ten commandments.  In fact, I don’t even have to memorize them.  Jesus taught and the Holy Spirit impressed on me that they are all summed up in the two.  The two are, to love God and love everyone else, even my enemies. 

I don’t need my money to remind me that I trust God.  I am not even sure as a card carrying patriot of the Kingdom of God that I should even recite the pledge of allegiance.  I ask the same thing of all those Christians that rally behind a movement to legislate morality and have this worldly government recognize my God, what are you afraid of? 

Just look at the picture I used in this post.  It seems that almost every notion of trusting God in our culture has to be pictured as conjoined with this nation.  But I would dare say there are more outside this nation that truly do trust Him than here.   

As far as the election goes, I think I will let these words from the comment section of Cerulean Sanctum, by Dan Edelen say it for me. 

“Our responsibility in voting is to represent the Kingdom of God. We do not compromise. We do not support candidates who make concessions to evil. That may mean that we must vote for someone outside the two major parties. It may mean that we write in a God-fearing candidate. It may mean that we vote for no one in a particular race if a godly candidate has not been revealed to us by the Lord. Our focus is not in ensuring we vote for the winning side or that we cast our vote against someone wicked, but that we vote in a way that honors the Lord and shows us to understand that Christ has no fellowship with Belial.”

He says what I feel much better than I could.

As far as the economy goes, there is not much to say except, trust God.  And heed these words of our Lord.

Mat 6:19-26  “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal  “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

As for my friends and family that are close, I encourage you to embrace this season of trial and tribulation for what it is.  An attack of the enemy that has become so severe in your lives because of the attention you are getting from them.  You must be doing the work of the Lord to be hit with such an onslaught. 

Continue in prayer and love, for these are the weapons that make us victorious.  And know that I am praying with and for you.

So again I ask us all, In God We Trust?

I really hope so.

Love you all

Tags: Atheism, Election, Hope, Politics, Prayer, Spiritual Warfare, Trust, War

It’s time to get back to our discussion on warfare strategy that I started a few posts back.  I have been busy redesigning my page and in discussion, more than normal, in the comments on the last post.  Thanks everyone for your input.   

I originally talked about how it is time for us, the Church, to reassess our warfare tactics to bring them in line with the increasingly effective tactics of the enemy.  Then we looked at seven major strategies that our enemy seems to be using in this nation at the present time. 

Then I decided to expand the thought on our response and what is needed to combat each area specifically.  I hope some of you actually got something from it.  To date there are no comments, so maybe I am way off base.  I hope not.

This brings us to the next topic in this discussion.

Entertainment.  Let me start by just reiterating what I said before.  What we need here is a return to personal introspection and Godly reflection.  These seem to be from another era for most.  I believe we must constantly look at God and to God to appreciate who He really is, and who we really are.  Then we can look at ourselves and actually begin to like ourselves.  When we actually truly like ourselves, we won’t need as much outside entertainment. 

Boredom.  We all need something to do.  We work hard in jobs we despise.  We spend time with people we do not like, for various reasons.  We go places for our loved ones that we really can’t stand.  We poke and we plod through most of life and we get bored. 

So we go for it whenever we can.  Entertainment.  Something to take away the dull pain that is existence itself.  Football, baseball, basketball, pro, college, little league, even t-ball.  Races, boxing, wrassling and wrestling.  All types of sports at all levels.  And if you think the enemy is not involved, just look at how popular women’s beach volleyball is getting. 

Let’s go on some more.  Movies, television, DVDs, music, 15 different gaming systems that we just must have.  Bowling leagues.  Game nights.  Parties.  Dancing.  Dining.  Internet.  Blogging.  And a whole lot of things that people do that I would never mention here, just to pass the time.

I could go on and I am sure you could also.  We are all just looking for something to do.  Why is life so dull and painful that almost all of us succumb to this enemy tactic that is simply designed to keep us from our God? 

The enemy wants us to be occupied with anything but the things of God.  Even when we do not have a thing to do or that we can do, where do our thoughts go?  Usually they become preoccupied with finding something to do. 

Our strategy is simple.  We need to send that demonic boredom away and make doing the work of the kingdom a constant driving force in our lives.  If we will truly grab hold of what God has done for us and the enormity of the task He trusts us with, we will see the urgency and realize how little time we have to accomplish our work.  And if doing His work does not bring joy to you, then maybe you are not where you should be.  I actually hate to say what I just said.  But it needs to be done. 

True joy comes from helping someone see the need for salvation.  True joy comes from spending time with our Father.  The angels in Heaven throw their parties every time someone gets saved.  (Luk 15:10) 

Now that’s entertainment!!

All the rest is just wasting time. 

Love you all

***Your comments are welcome***

Tags: Boredom, Entertainment, Strategy and Tactics, warfare

I believe at the fall, when Adam turned everything over to the enemy, it somehow affected all of creation.  How that could possibly be so, I haven’t got a clue.  But in Romans 8:22  we are told that creation groans and is either working strenuously or as if in the pain of childbirth.  And according to what the ladies say, there might not be much worse pain than that. 

What is creation waiting for?  It is waiting and groaning and screaming out in pain to be released from the bondage of corruption.  (Romans 8:21)  So our sin corrupted all of God’s perfect creation. 

That last statement has a problem though.  Was creation perfect?  I know I have thrown that statement out in a lot of different applications.  I have even thought about saying to cabinet customers that complained about knots and mineral stains in wood doors that it was Adam’s fault.  When creation was perfect, there weren’t any knots.  I must ask for forgiveness about that. 

There is only one perfect.  He is the creator.  And could He create Himself?  Note the title. 

God never claimed a perfect creation.  He did say it was good.  He even proclaimed it to be very good when He was done.  But it was not perfect.    We probably even know this.  But we do not express it in our thoughts or words very well. 

The point I am trying to make is simple.  A lot of the time, in thoughts and words, we believe there is nothing that God cannot do.  We throw around the word omnipotence like it means that there is nothing outside of Gods capabilities.  I believe that is wrong.  And I do not see this view as belittling God either. 

Take this spiritual battle that I believe God to be in.  To say that it causes God no strain or stress is to actually make it out to be nothing.  If God is not genuinely fighting, then the battle is not real. 

When my boys were little, in a few of my less self focused moments, we would wrestle around.  It was not a real battle between my five year old and me.  But today, with their ages ranging from 20 to 30, it would be a real battle.  There is nothing wrong with the implications that God is in a serious struggle.  He limits Himself from using the power He does have at His disposal because of his love. 

I also believe God has to work at maintaining creation.  I think it is probably a little like running machinery for us.  For any of you that make your living this way, think about how it seems to get harder and harder the older a machine gets.  Well, creation is getting a little age on it. 

Everything wears out.  Our cars wear out.  Our clothes wear out.  Our toothbrush wears out.  Our body wears out.    Creation seems to be wearing out. 

At the end of the book of Job, God asks Job a series of questions.  These questions are rhetorical, with the intent of letting Job know exactly how much bigger God is than any of us could imagine.  But we can also ascertain that God is actively on the job also.  He is not just lounging around in the throne room.  

There is nothing perfect about creation.  And it is not even very good anymore, thanks to us.  But we can thank God that He is still at work.  Managing and maintaining and fighting to keep creation going for us all. 

Next time your job seems to be too much, thank Him that you do not have His.

Love you all

***Your comments are welcome.***

Tags: Childbirth, Creation, Creator, Fall, God, Good, Perfect, Spiritual Warfare, War