"It was His death that was efficacious. . not His blood. . . Christ did not bleed to death. The shedding of blood had nothing to do with bleeding. . . it simply means death. . . Nothing in His human blood saves…It is not His blood that I love. . . it is Him. It is not His bleeding that saved me, but His dying."

John, in his book, The Truth War, make this accurate statement:

The war against truth is nothing new, of course. It began in the garden when the serpent said to the woman, “Has God indeed said . . . ?” (Genesis 3:1). A relentless battle has raged ever since between truth and falsehood, good and evil, light and dark­ness, assurance and doubt, belief and scepticism, righteousness and sin. It is a savage spiritual conflict that literally spans all of human history. But the ferocity and irrationality of this present onslaught seems quite unprecedented. ‘The Truth War,’ John MacArthur

The Bible says, Lev. 17:11, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

John, God has not said what you are claiming.

All men have holes in their theology. Some of these holes make little difference to the overall integrity of an otherwise safe vessel. But, other holes are of such consequence that if they are not addressed harbor great and serious results.

John has more than a few leaking seals in his theology, that have gotten the attention of quite a number of people. I do not bother myself with these that I call noncritical controversies. But, when the integrity of a weight bearing seam or wall is discovered to be faulty and dangerous by those whose job it is to look for such things, a warning needs to be sounded, even though the problem has lain dormant for three decades. Regardless of how much dust this issue has gathered, it is still alive, and is just one more gaping hole allowing the Church to take on water.

To call into question the very foundation of our forgiveness by reducing that foundation, the blood of Jesus, to a mere symbol is serious heresy. He has not retracted this belief, and in my opinion, stands in a very precarious position as a teacher, as do his followers. Can we have faith in a symbol or a metaphor? If so, maybe there is a Santa Clause; I'm just being silly here. Is reducing the very thing that God requires to a metaphor equate to having faith in the blood of Jesus?

In times past this question may not have gotten the attention that it deserves, and only barely appears on the radar at this late hour, and then only by those who thirst for truth and not the acceptance of men. Today a few are beginning to examine the statements of all the self appointed leaders who profess great wisdom by way of their institutionalized learning. This particular individual even mocks those kitchen table theologians who do not render the proper respect to schooled doctors of religion, “There is a vast difference, by the way, between the whimsical ‘kitchen table’ interpretations of laymen, and the teaching of skilled men who work very hard to rightly divide the Word.” It is primarily by way of these “gifted” teachers that we have now a dissected Body of Christ. The Church has been torn into a thousand sects and every doctrine reduced to gossamer shavings, and now, at the end of the age, is faced with this great apostasy. The revelation of Scripture is not enough for these highly educated types, they must have their opinions too. It is my guess that it is at least as much the fault of academia as it is the ignorant layman, but scholarship always trumps the un-schooled layman, who must rely on mere “revelation.”  The pride of education doesn’t stop at the pulpit.

If the blood is as important as the Bible seems to make it, then to trivialize it may spell disaster worse than the Gulf oil spill; the consequences may be eternal.

I think his error is that he has confused the blood with the Cross and made them into a single thing; it is to combine forgiveness of sins with deliverance from sin, the atonement with sanctification, and propitiation and the purging of a guilty conscience with emancipation from the sin nature. The purpose of Christ’s death had a dual result. The blood of Jesus, the perfect blood of Jesus, was the atonement for our sins. It was that perfect blood, offered to God, of which, He was wholly and completely satisfied. It is this blood that is on the door post of our hearts, that when God sees the blood, He passes over. The blood was for God.

But, something else is needed. Although the blood of Jesus achieves the entrance into the throne room of God by faith in the power of the blood, and washes away all the sins, past and present, God still has to deal with His sinner children. The death of Christ accomplished two things. His death not only atoned for our sins through the shedding of blood, it provided us with the solution to deliver us from the power of sin in our present lives, our sinful nature. We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. We were born with a sin nature, and it is our nature to sin, we cannot not sin, unless and until we change our nature, but we will never be completely free from sin as long as we are clothed with this flesh. We have gotten forgiveness for our sins through the blood, but how can we get deliverance from our predisposition to want to sin? Rom. 3:25,26 "God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. The cross is the answer. Rom. 5:9 "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!" The blood was for God, but the Cross is for us, Rom 6:6,7 "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.." Jesus did not go just half way. His death satisfied God’s need for absolute justice, and it provided us with the tool to defeat Satan’s goal to keep us sinning.

So, do you see why the blood is more than just fluid and why it is important? The blood of bulls and goats would not do, it had to be the perfect, untainted blood of a sinless person, Jesus.

The “blood” was not just a metaphor for the death of Jesus, it had intrinsic value that no other fluid possessed, and it was that very fluid, flowing in the veins of Jesus, His life blood, that alone would be adequate to satisfy His Father and atone for the sins of the whole world. He not only opened the way into the presence of the Father through His blood, but He opened the way to freedom from sin through the Cross.

The big question at present is not, “how does the Cross help us to overcome the sin nature,” (that is a subject for another time), but rather, if we trivialize the blood of Jesus, that God has put such high value on, by the application of our scholarship, and reduce it to just the fluid in the veins of Jesus, of which the only value was to point to His death, can we still appropriate the efficacious qualities of what that blood accomplished? Can we reduce the blood from its atoning value, through the misapplication of words, and still claim to have faith in the blood of Christ? And again, will those who uphold this teacher in this belief and follow him share in the effects of his error?

If the blood is just a metaphor for something else, then maybe we shouldn’t trust anything we read in Scripture, and we should just join the liberal camp of creative, personal interpretations.

Any novice coming to the Bible for the first time, without a doubt, would conclude that “blood” plays an important part of our understanding of the Bible, and our relationship to God. Also, this same novice would not conclude that  “blood” and “death” were synonymous. It is only through critical analysis and scholarship that intelligent doctors of theology have come up with a new view, by way of there fallen ability to “reason” there way to a proper understanding of the mind of God. 1Corinthians 1:20, 2:13: “Where is the wise man (the philosopher)? Where is the scribe (the scholar)? Where is the investigator (the logician, the debater) of this present time and age? Has not God shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world's wisdom?”. . . “And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit].”

I do not question John MacArthur’s sincerity in wanting to deliver truth to those who follow him, but on this point of the blood of Jesus he is wrong, and it is a serious error. I have no personal axe to grind with JM, only that he has trivialized the very thing that effects our forgiveness, and I cannot be a part of that. It is the duty of the watchman to expose error wherever it presents itself, even if it comes from the camp of the watchman himself. We are to be seekers of truth, not followers of men.

The Bible also asks the same question but states it this way, “is Christ divided?” or is, “Christ the author of confusion?” The obvious answer to that is, NO! Then why all the divisions? The Church, over the last couple of millennia, has given up even looking for an answer, assuming that what they see, and what their experience dictates, is O.K. with the Lord, and that what they have read in the Bible doesn’t mean, what it appears to say. But, any amount of common sense should cause us to step back and ask the question, why the divisions?, if we believe the plain words of the inspired Scriptures. With all the divisions, someone uninitiated to “orthodoxy” would venture to answer that Christ is divided, and that He is the author of confusion, because that is what we see in the Church today, and for many, many, hundreds of years.  So, we must question the validity of Scriptures or the validity of those who are causing the divisions, namely the universities, the colleges, the ecclesiastical organizers, the preachers, the bishops and elders and deacons, and the pope. Either they are right or the Bible is right. Somebody is either ignorant of what the Bible says or they are just plain lying for the sake of self aggrandizement.

The organized Church cannot answer the question, because they are part of the problem, but, as stated last post, the answer is quite simple, FAITH, is the solution, “from faith to faith,” just as the Bible declares. But, you ask, simply stating that faith is the answer seems rather complicated to the mind reared on reason and study, and theology and doctrine, and creeds and councils, and pastors and popes, but, nonetheless, it is faith alone. The question must be answered on an individual basis, and not influenced by familiarity, friendship, or family. If the “seeker” is interested in truth, then he/she must deal with these honest questions.

What Are You Eating?

Let me try and explain. It has to do with our diet, the stuff we are eating, and the tree from which we harvest “wisdom.” Remember this verse from Solomon? “There is a way that seems right to man, but the way thereof is the way of death.” From where cometh the “way that seems right” and the wisdom of man? It is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A Little History

The history of man upon the earth is the history of failure. Why did he fail? Because he depended on his own knowledge of reason, sense, rationale, mixed with a generous helping of brute force, worldly talent, and the gift of verbal manipulation. In essence he did things the way men do things, these were the ways that seemed right unto man, and he had access to nothing else, almost! There were a few in those days who understood what God wanted, and learned to please Him by trusting Him. We remember the great examples of Abraham who trusted God and it was counted unto him as righteousness, and David who was the apple of His eye, because of his great trust in his Savior; and we compare this with the great failure of King Saul, who did things that “seemed right,” and all the other failures, up to and including, the great “Church” debacle of today. This is the unending story of men doing things they “reason” will please God.

The Old Testament is a story of how man has failed, and why he failed. Every time the Jews turned from God and did things there own way, there was failure, and when they “believed” that God would return to them, when they relinquished their own vain attempts, according to His faithful promise, then things would turn around, and so goes the see-saw life of the Jews all the way through the Old Testament. Then, we come to the New Testament, and we find that we must exercise faith and trust in God, just like the Old Testament believers; that it is “faith unto faith, the just shall live by faith,” then, now, and forever.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

We all know that there is only one “Christianity,” so why all the diversity? The challenge of that question has been the cause of many sleepless nights. I have studied many of the different sects, and read large portions of Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Phillip Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, read the works of Luther and Calvin, but the question remained, why all the division? The very closest I have come is by taking a closer look at what happened in the Garden of Eden.

The desire for the fruit of the knowledge concerning good and evil has taken men far from the truth, in pursuit of the fulfillment of an appetite created by the adversary of God, and man, Satan. We now live in a world that feeds that appetite on foul fruit, that never satisfies, or leads to truth.

This is where faith comes in. In the Garden of Eden we are told to eat of any tree except the forbidden tree. Now that we are outside God’s Garden, we are for the duration of this life, in the Garden of Satan, and here we are told by Satan, to eat of any tree in the garden, except the one he forbids, the Tree of Life, which is now contained in the inspired words between the covers of Scriptures. Granted many will read the Bible, but do they eat it? Have they really ingested that wisdom, and incorporated the words of God into the fabric of their life and soul, and trusted God to complete His task through them, and not just rubber stamp their own plans and goals by presumptuously claiming God’s blessing? All that we see around us is the production of our accumulated knowledge obtained from our many sources of knowledge, the knowledge of men, not God. Quite simply Jesus tells us to not trust our own thoughts; that we cannot even think a sinless thought. Paul tells us that it was not by knowledge that we came to know Christ, but rather through revelation. This is why “faith” is so important. We must take at face value the direction given to us from the Bible, the inspired words of God.

Christian men call themselves “believers.” Basically, we claim to be believers in what we read in the Bible, as “from God.” In this Book we are told to believe many things, and we readily exercise a superficial faith in the things which appeal to our self interest and flesh, like getting things from God: job security, good health, and a home in Heaven. The Bible has become like a good luck charm, and the cross a talisman, but there are other things in the Bible we are told to believe also.

So, here we go again, Why, so much difficulty? Why so many divisions? And, why so much failure and feuding in the Church? At the core of this answer is a lack of faith. At the core of this answer is a lack of understanding of what faith is. And, at the core of this answer is the fact that we are not believing the things required by God. This is where the element of “faith” becomes powerful.

Fellowship with God, and other Christians, will come to us as we just believe, and eat the Flesh of Jesus, and drink His blood. He is that Tree of Life.

Trusting Jesus will contradict every fiber of knowledge we have gathered on our journey through life, because it is contrary to what we experience in the garden of Satan; it is the knowledge of two totally different kinds of life. Most times we are not asked to figure it all out first, but to just trust Him, then He will confirm it us His own way. You see, that is the way of faith. But, Christians today think they must have the teaching of men, and traditions, and creeds, and councils, and techniques of worship, candles, ambience, labyrinths, choirs, stain glass, and all the other stuff that goes into building something learned from eating from the wrong tree. Simple faith is really just “simple faith.”

Take away all that the tree of un-belief (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) has added to the body of Christ (marketing, church growth, organization, ritual, titles, costumes, programs, etc.) and you would find how rapidly believers would find themselves in agreement on most issues. But, that is not going to happen because the stool of pride would have to be knocked out from under them, and they have a vested interest in keeping that stool upright.

God’s plan is a mystery because the minds of men cannot figure out what God is up to through their own knowledge; His ways are only understood by faith. Since the day that Eve ate that fruit and shared it with Adam man approaches every inquiry, question, or problem, with the goal of reasoning and weighing the odds, in his mind, as to whether or not this is the will of God, or how he can do, what he has reasonably deduced, as honoring Jesus. When there are conflicts with other “men of faith” there different “reasons” prevail and divisions occur.  Even prayer, is nearly always approached with an answer already conceived or an excuse made. Projects are promoted with the thinking that such and such a thing must surely please God. Bible passages are ignored, even though they clearly direct us to just trust God and have faith in Him, and place our plans on the altar.

The heart of man is corrupted beyond repair. His thoughts and powers of reason cannot be trusted. Paul warns us to cast off our intelligence as a way of finding the will of God. What we see in all the divisions of men is not intelligence or good reasoning, but terrible confusion and deception.

The way of understanding the will of God does not come through degrees or diplomas, through choreographed worship services, through eloquent speeches, through the beads of a rosary, through attending many conferences, through repeating a mantra, or any other devices of men; they are all lies. You can search the Scriptures from now till doomsday to find such things.

It is only as we cast ourselves onto Him, completely, without reservation, our minds, our hearts, and our bodies, and trust and believe that it is God who comes to us, and not the other way around, that He, reveals Himself, to us. All the church growth business, all the grand missionary organizations, all the talk of social justice and unity, and winning the world for God is nothing but legalism veiled in the pretty garments of men dressing up for their God, or putting on a show, which does more for the ego, of the men doing it, than it does to satisfy the Lord. God has nowhere required men to do these things. All He has ever required of men, both Jew and Gentile, is to let go of their devices and trust Him. He is the One who builds the Church, He is the One who heals the land, He is the One who goes before us, and is our rear guard, it is Him who prepares a table in the presence of our enemies, it is God who causes our enemies to live at peace with us, when our ways please Him.

Do you see that it is this message that the Holy Spirit wants us to grasp through faith. What we are exposed to in this evil garden, outside the walls of safety, are all the lies of Satan finding fertile soil in our corrupted abilities to reason things out and find the truth, where no truth exist. The Bible holds the answer to all our questions, and anyone, regardless of intellect, can be found by Him, if they who will just fall upon that Rock, and be broken.

What I have written here is not the words of a great person, or well known amongst the preachers of this world, but it is the truth, and God Himself has promised that when you fall on Him, He will save you. You need not go forward at some meeting, or speak in tongues, or confess to a priest, or send money on a regular basis, or mail off for some prayer cloth; you don’t have to do anything except trust Jesus, and continue trusting Him all the days of your life. You don’t have to go to some building and listen to speeches once a week; God requires none of those things, they are all the contrivances of mere men who think they understand faith in God.

I feel that the following response from Jesus, when he was asked the question – “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” embodies the simplicity of faith in a most elegant and profound manner. “Jesus replied:

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.

“…As a part of my truth quest I began doing a lot of reading on the different “holiness” strains of Christendom to get a better handle on why so many read the same bible so differently.”

Why? This is a really good question, that the “organized Church” cannot answer. Of course, they each try by stating that the others are wrong and that they alone hold the correct answer. Is there an answer? Yes, I believe there is, but at the same time I believe that it is not a general answer, but an answer that only a few will discover, and it has to do with faith, and it the same answer to why so many in that day will say, “Lord, Lord,…” and the Lord says, “be gone from me I never knew you.” Faith is the answer, and many have a misguided view of what it is.

Identifying the Problem

Over the past five or six years, this thing called the “Church” has been of particular interest to me. In the past I assumed that the familiar thing that I have seen on nearly every corner in America was the “Church,” as presented in the Bible. I have assumed that this was true even though the only Church that it remotely resembles is the latter day Church mentioned in the Book of Revelation, “the Church of the Laodicean’s.” Should this resemblance be alarming?  Yes, absolutely, if we are at all interested in truth. This fact came as a startling revelation to me, and has become the prominent compelling force behind my re-examination of all things pertaining to the Church and truth.

Jesus makes a couple of statements, actually a statement and a question, that became sticking point for me on this new road of discovery. There have been many revelations since then, but initially my eyes were opened to the seemingly vast numbers of Christians in America, and the world, and that it conflicts with the Bible declaration of smallness. Any person truly concerned about salvation will want to think and pray earnestly about the ramifications of the following statements: Jesus said,

1.    Matt 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many (Christians) who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
2.    Luke 18:8 “…when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

This does not in any way point to, or allude to, an end day Church that is busting out at the seams, or walking in truth. Wouldn’t you agree something is amiss here? This should cause us to ask some very straight questions of ourselves, and those appointed to lead us, the, supposedly, enlightened ones.

Setting the Stage

First, let’s set the stage. There are a few things we should give heed to concerning this place we call our home.

▸    Remember, we live in a fallen world. Look at, and listen to, your surroundings; this is obviously true: cursing, foulness, rape, murder,  pillage, greed, envy, pride and deceit are all the currency of this kingdom.
▸    The ruler of this world is not Jesus, His Father, or the Holy Spirit, it is Satan. Satan is the prince and power of the air, and has been given this world as his kingdom. All that you see and hear is the product of his rule. Satan makes the rules, sets the policies and guidelines by which man is regulated, and men everywhere obey them, and, oh, by the way, he is a liar. 1John 2:16-17.
▸    Human beings are a deceived race of people. If the Bible makes one thing perfectly clear it is that ALL of mankind are born blind, and without the gift of sight, and stumble around in the dark. Men are in the dark and would not know the truth if it stood right in front of them. We have been tricked and we are deceived, and we prefer it that way: John 3:19, Jer. 5:31, Gen 6:5, Pr. 6:12-14, Isa. 59:1-16.
▸    God’s ways are not man’s ways. That is a simple enough statement, but why then, in every aspect of the organized church, do we see building and organization that have the fingerprints of men all over them? It doesn’t look supernatural, it looks very natural, very common, and very human. Isa. 55:8-9, 58:1-3; Prov. 21:8; Ex. 20:20; Ezek.. 18:24-30; Ps. 81:11-14.
▸    Man is a religious creature. Man, inherently, desires truth, happiness, and peace, but virtually ignores what the Bible says concerning achieving it. Man seeks these things through selfish motives and wrong doing, through compliance to the world’s rules, or the corruption of goodness, through self-worship, and idol worship, but man’s motivation is always evil, a product of: weakness, pride, selfishness, and lust.

This is the stage on which this whole thing we call “doing church” or “church growth” is played out. The Bible declares, that to men living on this planet, under these circumstances, there is a way that appears to be right to his limit capacity to reason and see clearly, but that “way” is a lie and the way of death, Pr. 14:12. All of the institutional religions of men, including the organized church of Christianity, are based, to some degree, on the wholesale deception of mankind, man trying to please his god through form, ritual, and acts of the will. If the ritualistic religions of the world, including Christianity, are the true earmarks of an omnipotent god then he is no more powerful or creative than any industrious man. What mankind has done, through these acts, is to declare that he no longer needs the God of the Bible, that he is able to finish in the flesh what was began in the Spirit, Gal 3:3. Mankind has effectively declared that he is as powerful as God. He has declared that he is God, by proxy, persons authorized to act in God’s behalf, because he hangs a cross around his neck, is called by a designated title, or sings a certain kind of song, or does good deeds, or prays, or studies the Bible, or a thousand other things, including church planting and building. He assumes he is saved, but he assumes too much. He says he has faith without ever understanding or obeying the dictates of the real God, or understanding the characters acting out their roles on the stage of life in this world. Christianity, and all its sects, have become just another religion searching for a purpose and a meaning to life, not really caring about truth, but anything that offers personal peace and happiness, and the real God says that they love it that way, Jer. 5:31, Isa. 56:10-12, Isa. 30:10, Rom. 1:24-25. Think about it, if God’s ways are not man’s ways, why does all of Christendom look like a production of man? Could it be that God was wrong, and God’s ways do look like man’s ways after all? Or, could it be that man is deceived and simply does things the way man does things, like men, and that the building of the “church” has been taken out of the hands of God so that men can make sense of the operation of the Church, Gen.11:2-4? The same thing has happened over and over through history and God has rejected man’s way to build, and He has cursed it. The Jews never learned from the many times God showed mercy, and always returned to something they themselves could build and manage. This is the play that is continually re-played, and that men never learn from, and the stage is now strewn with all the failed gimmicks, and useless programs of men pursuing God. Doesn’t the Bible say matter-of-factly that “unless the Lord builds the house it is built in vain” Ps. 127:1, and that it is the Lord Himself that adds to the Church those who are being saved, Acts 2:46-47?  But, today we have lords many, all building their own way, just like the Jews. This is the never ending story of mans failure to please God. The church today is built on business plans, accounting principles, and marketing devices, by men each doing whatever is right in his own eyes, and the measure of their success is the visible representation of an organization and a building, Isa. 5:21, Jdg. 17:6, Jdg. 21:25, Gen 11:2-4.

This has not answered the question of why there are so many “belief” systems that are all called “Christian” and claim to follow Christ. I will answer that question in the next post. There is an answer; if there isn’t then even Christ would be a deceiver, and that is not possible. But, the answer may be very different than what you imagine, so stay with me.

In an effort to keep things tidy I’m going to stop till the next installment, besides I have the flu and I’m getting tired.

Steve Blackwell

The Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas tries his hand at an answer, but fails to answer why God allows such extensive suffering? He Says:

“It is similarly irresponsible for anyone to second-guess God’s redemptive purpose or explain what He is doing through an individual disaster, such as the Haitian earthquake. To try and do so would be to twist the dagger in the backs of people who are hurting.”

“Where was God during this tragedy? The same place He was 2,000 years ago when His Son died. Was God in control? Of course He was. Why did He allow it? I don’t have a clue. He has not revealed His purpose.”

Well, if he doesn’t know I would suggest he find another line of work because the passage he quotes gives the answer, “Repent, or you shall likewise perish.”

“God is ultimately responsible for the earthquake in Haiti and has a reason that is beyond our ability, trapped in time, to understand or comprehend. But it would be theological ignorance coupled with absolute arrogance to try and interpret God’s actions as a judgment against a particular person or nation.”

Thank you Dr. Robert Jeffress, for keeping us in the dark. At least Pat Robertson was honest. It appears to me that Dr. Jeffress is trying hard to be religious by preaching a nice five point sermonette and never getting to the point of sin; but of course that may offend someone.

Elizabeth McAlister, Associate Professor of Religion, Wesleyan University says:

“Vodouists in the Haitian diaspora are praying on their knees today, just as Catholics and Protestants are. Why did this devastating earthquake have to happen in Haiti. . . ?  In Vodou most ritual is about finding balance, putting yourself into equilibrium with the spirits, with your family, and with yourself. In Haiti things are way out of balance. We might say that spirits of death have launched a coup d’état.”

My friend and colleague, the artist, educator, and priest of the spirits, Erol Josué, has been praying and crying in Brooklyn. Through Twitter, Facebook, and his cell phone he has learned of at least twenty dead friends in several Port-au-Prince congregations. He told me today that for him, as a spirit-worker, this event is both scientific and symbolic. This is indeed a natural disaster for Josué. But the land in Haiti is a person, he said. We consider it a woman, our mother. “Haïti Chérie,” as the well-known ballad goes. She wants to know, ‘who will make me beautiful, put clothes on me, and take care of my children?’ When you mistreat her, and uproot her trees, when you give her too much responsibility, she is like a woman with cancer. The tumor metastasizes, and explodes.

For Erol Josué, the earthquake was mother nature, the land of Haiti, rising up to defend herself against the erosion, deforestation, and environmental devastation that have been ongoing for the last few decades. Said the famous painter and Vodou priest André Pierre, “The first magician is God who created people with his own hands from the dust of the earth. No one lives of the flesh. Everyone lives of the spirit.” We humans live in the material world, and other spirits–called lwa, or mystères, “mysteries”–dwell in the unseen realm. God created the spirits to help govern humanity and the natural world.

Others, who may read this and disagree with great force, will not necessarily share it. But Vodou works through spiritual revelation, and this is the revelation Erol gives me today. Vodou has no single spokesperson and no inerrant text. It has God, the angels, and the spirits in the unseen realm.

O.K., now were getting somewhere, NOT! Obviously Ms McAlister belongs in the Emerging New Age camp of Post Modern Christianity. Can you believe these words coming out of the mouth of a “Christian”? These are those who condemn the straight talk of judgment on sin and sinners. Jeremiah would no doubt be left in the well to die, if he had to depend on Ms McAlister.; no, Ms McAlister would have been among those who put Jeremiah into the well (see Jeremiah 38).

It may be prudent to look at the writing of another person, one Silvianus c424, known for his “plain dealing” with sinners, during the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire, when the collapse was being blamed on the Christians.

THE EIGHTH BOOK

1. I think, nay, I am certain, that the great length of my argument will arouse distaste in many, especially since it upbraids our vicious lives. For most men wish praise, and no one enjoys censure. Worse than this, however evil a man is, however profligate, he would rather be falsely praised than rightly reproved, and prefers to be deceived by the mockery of false praise than healed by the most salutary admonitions. Since this is true, what are we to do? Must we accede to the will of wicked men? Or if they wish even empty praise conferred on them, is it fitting to proffer silly and meaningless eulogies? Surely we must consider that, as men of honor should not mock even those who wish to make themselves ridiculous, so they should not laud in lying phrases those who yearn to be adorned by praise, however false.  We must not take into account the preferences of individuals, but rather what is fitting for us to say, especially since the prophet said: “Woe unto them that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”

We must by every means hold fast to the truth, so that what a thing is in fact, it may also be in words, and those that contain sweetness be called sweet, and those that contain bitterness, bitter.

You say, however, that he does not bid, but merely permits us to endure them. Suppose we grant this point, still I ask how far he is from ordering what he permits? For he who knows we endure such woes and can prevent our suffering them, proves beyond a doubt that we ought to endure whatever he permits. From this it is manifest that his acquiescence is part of his judgment, and that we are enduring a sentence from heaven. As all things, are subject to sacred authority and the will of God rules everything, whatever evils and whatever punishments we bear daily are the censure of his divine hand, which censure, indeed, we constantly arouse and kindle by our sins. We kindle the fire of the celestial wrath and arouse the flames by which we are burned, so that the words of the prophet may rightly be used against us as often as we endure such ills: “Make your way into the flames of the fire that you have kindled.” From this we see that according to the sacred sentence each sinner is preparing for himself the suffering that he endures.  From this we see that according to the sacred sentence each sinner is preparing for himself the suffering that he endures. None of our misfortunes can be imputed to God; we are the authors of our own misery. For God is gracious and merciful and, as the Scripture says, he wishes no one to perish or be injured. So whatever is done against us is done by our own actions; there is nothing more cruel to us than ourselves; we, I say, are torturing ourselves even against God’s will.

2. Since I have already spoken at length of the unchastity of Africa, let me now briefly discuss its blasphemies, for the paganism of the majority has had no interruption. They have indeed confined within their own walls their native crime, by which of course I mean that “Celestial” demon of the Africans, to which I suppose the pagans of old gave so fair-sounding a title in order that having no divinity it should at least have a name, and lacking any virtue derived from actual power should gain honor from its designation. Who among them has not been initiated into the worship of that idol? Who has not been dedicated to it by his very family and birth? I am not speaking now of men who are pagans as much by profession and name as in their way of life, and whose name indicates their heathen error. Paganism is certainly more tolerable and less evil in men avowedly pagan; the more deadly peril lies in the fact that many who have made their vows to Christ continue to give their real devotion to idols. For did not those who were called Christians turn from the worship of Christ to that of the “Celestial deity,” or—which is far worse—worship her even before they paid their devotions to him? Who among them did not cross the Lord’s threshold redolent of the odor of demoniacal sacrifices and go up to the altar of Christ reeking with the foulness of very demons, so that it would be less monstrous not to come at all to the Lord’s temple than to come in such a fashion? For a Christian who does not come to church is guilty of neglect, but one who comes in such a way is guilty of sacrilege. It is less difficult to atone for failure to honor God than for direct insult to him. So we see that any who have acted thus have not given honor to God, but have taken it away from him. They have even in a way given the attention due to the church of God to an idol, because that to which priority is accorded gains in honor from that which is relegated to second place. See then the faith of the Africans, and especially of the noblest among them! See what their religion and their Christianity have been! It was in scorn of Christ that men called them Christians. Though the apostle cries: “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and of the table of devils,” it was not enough for them to drink the cup of the Lord with the cup of devils, but they must take the latter first. It was not enough for them to match the table of devils with the Lord’s table, unless they came to the temple of God fresh from the worship of infamous superstitions and breathed on the holy altars of Christ the foul miasma of the diabolical spirit itself.

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It is blatantly well-defined by now that the Haitian Nation exist in great sin and that a call to repentance should be the clear and plain message, a message delivered with bread in hand, but a message Plain, and Clear, that their repentance is a prerequisite to their healing.

Steve Blackwell

For an interesting article on the history of Haiti and their problems read Government Of The Devil, By The Devil, And For The Devil by Tom Barrett.

For follow-up research see the following sites:

US Department of State Report of Religious Freedom

http://www.cesnur.org/testi/irf/irf_haiti99.html

Haiti – God’s country after a ‘holy invasion’

http://www.jesus.org.uk/dawn/1998/dawn9802.html

Victory Over Voodoo in Haiti

http://www.christian-connection.org/print.php?sid=299

Religious Persecution Intensifies In Haiti

http://www.andyfigueroa.net/haiti.htm

Haiti; Satan’s Stronghold

http://www.raptureme.com/rap16.html

Breaking the Blood Pact

http://www.newdirections.org/index.php/pressroom

Aristide Approves Voodoo as an Official Religion

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/archives/00002966.html

Voodoo  It’s Official in Haiti

http://www.ccgm.org.au/articles/ARTICLE-0070.htm

Aristide Defends Record

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/5060184.htm

ARISTIDE MANSION

http://www.salon.com/news/1999/03/12news.html

Media Research Center http://www.mediaresearch.org/printer/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20040302pf.asp

Pearl of the Antille

http://www.rminet.org/retreat_center.htm

Aristide Must Go The Weekly Standard

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/795ywram.asp

Aristide Claims He Was Kidnapped from Haiti

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040306/wl_nm/haiti_aristide_dc_1

Islamic Influences on Haitian Voodoo

http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/voodoo/islam.htm

The Challenges Facing Haiti

http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/bookreviews/arisfarmplum.htm

The Mystery Revealed

I would like you to consider with me the state of the church in this generation. This is a serious matter—I speak of the church that our Jesus died to present to Himself as “a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish,” “and to make all (people) see what (is) the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places”!

That’s us guys—and the time (according to the Holy Spirit of God) is “now.” Do you believe that passage? Then it is also true that you must position yourselves to receive God’s grace as He desires to raise up a People, a Nation that is an “equal yoke” for the Groom—the King of all Kings!

“And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready!’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

Some may think that you have heard all of this before. Oh, as Jesus our Lord said, be very careful how you hear! We only deceive ourselves if we “hear” but never act (Jas. 1:22; Lk. 6:43-49). Please! Now is the time—“in view of His great mercies” gather your thoughts and energies and fears and spiritual pride and all that you are, and lay it on the altar before Him… and ACT on the Word rather than bouncing around Bible verse truths to amuse (I speak boldly out of jealousy for my Lord’s church, which other than the normal speeches and scheduled rituals and programs seems to be invisible in most every city that I travel to). Please! As I would urge all of God’s People everywhere, don’t settle for anything less than “a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden,” “the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, (causing) growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love,” “the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, (growing) with the increase (which is) from God,” “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” That can’t remain theoretical any longer, OK?! Decide what you’ll do with your tonight (we know you’re tired), and your weekend and your “vacation” and… ! “You are not your own—you were bought for a price”! Get on the phone and begin to penetrate into the lives around you forcefully and relentlessly impassioned to “present everyone perfect in Christ. Labor to this end struggling with all His power”!

This is very simply what the Word of God says. My observation is that these things are almost universally disobeyed in the church world today, and the Corporate Life of Jesus Christ is replaced by a very poor substitute of unbiblical “worship services” and “mid-week Bible Studies.” Don’t take my word for it—see if you can find me that concept (dressing up to be an audience at a ceremony of two songs, a prayer by a guy chosen a week in advance, a speech by the official presenter of speeches, etc.) of “christianity” anywhere in the Bible. It’s not in there! Be honest now… Nowhere in the Holy Scriptures is a church pictured as (in the Book of Acts) or referred to or taught to be as such (in the Gospels or Epistles). The GOOD NEWS: There is a Biblical alternative! The BAD NEWS: “Few will be those who find it” because it will cost you all of your idols of television, selfishness, career idolatry, family idolatry and the like. Frankly, most will try desperately to find loopholes and create a theology to defend the fruitless mediocrity around us, and to protect their pride and orator-clergyman career path (that also doesn’t exist in the Bible—believe me I was in that category for several years and recognize the difficulty and insecurity in giving it up).

Three Visual Aids for the Church

There is an analogy that I hope that you are all intimately familiar with involving the Feasts of the Lord. Possibly this will be helpful in giving you a glimpse of the alternative to “churchianity.” The true, Biblical nature of the Church of Jesus Christ is essential for God’s People to respond to NOW, and we can be aided in our understanding of the practical outworkings of this by an understanding (believe it or not!) of the Last and Greatest Feast, Tabernacles. In the Bible, there are three major Feasts in the Old Covenant (which is, though so often ignored, the “shadow of the reality that is in Christ”—Col. 2:17; Heb. 8:5; 9:8-9; 10:1; etc.). A (very) brief glimpse for those of you who may not have been floored yet by God’s infinite Wisdom in establishing the sacrifices, the Temple, the Sabbath, the Law, the physical (geographical) nation of Israel, the Ark, the Manna, wheat fields, rivers, suns, physical families, Feast Days and a myriad of other things in order for us to have “visual aids” for our spiritual eyes in order to grow spiritually and to know the “times and seasons”! (Read again, in regards to the above statement, the following verses—I can’t take the time to go further now: Col. 2:16-17; Heb. 8:5; 9:9; 9:23-24; 10:1-2; Rev. 21:22-22:7; Lk. 12:54—56; 1 Thes. 5:4; 1Pet. 1:10-11; Rom. 15:4; 1Cor. 10:6, 11; Mat. 5:17-18; Ga1. 3:24; 1Cor. 15:46; Eph. 1:18; Jn. 14:19a, 21b).

Even if this is all foreign to you currently, please enjoy the fact that the Feasts are a great key to understanding (much like Gal. 4:24 and Heb. 9:1-9) the special inheritance that we have, and to discern the Day that we’re speeding towards (whether we believe it or not, we are obviously much closer to the Day of the Return of Christ than Paul was). And understanding the Wisdom of God in the “visual aids” of the Feasts will also help us to prepare ourselves for that Day—if we have the presence of mind and passion for Jesus, and jealousy for the honor of His Name and His Bride, the Church, to care. Here are some thoughts to hold before your Lord… analogies that I believe will be somewhat useful to your understanding of the nature of the church of the Bible. Don’t be picky. Just gain what you can from the passages referred to. If you don’t quite “get it,” don’t fret or be upset—just go on serving your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind and all of your strength! And so will I. Just pray through it and make Prov. 2:1-15 and 3:5-6 the guideline for your study.

The first of the Three Feasts of Israel is the Feast of Passover. (It also included The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast Day of the Sheaf of First fruits.)

This first analogy is well known to us all. Our Lord and the Christ, Jesus, was that Paschal Lamb for us whose blood was sprinkled on the door and lintel in order that the Death Angel might “passover” the homes of those of us who have been prepared and cut by circumcision (Ex. 12:1-51; Lev. 23; Num. 33; Deut. 16; Heb. 11:28) and appropriate that blood by a response of faith. In addition to being “unleavened,” without sin (Heb. 4:15; lCor. 5: 7-8), our Jesus was also the single “sheaf of first fruits”—our “Pioneer,” the “Firstborn” of a new Race (Col. 1:15; 1Cor. 15:23, 45; 1Pet. 2:4-5, 8-10). Like the single sheaf of the first month grain harvest that was to be waved before the Lord “on the morning after the Sabbath” (Lev. 23: 9-14), so also the “Firstborn One” became a celebration of God’s coming Harvest as He was the lone Wave Offering before the Lord “on the morning after the Passover Sabbath,” His Resurrection Day! “But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.’”

And so, the second great Feast that God had commanded: Pentecost (Also called The Feast of Weeks, of Harvest, of First fruits—Ex. 23; 34; Deut.16; Lev. 23; Num. 28).

This Feast was to celebrate the Harvest of the spring wheat, where a wave offering of, not a single sheaf as at the Passover, but rather a wave offering of two loaves were offered. This Feast was to be celebrated on the fiftieth day (thus, the name Pentecost) after the Passover Feast, again, not on the Sabbath day, but “on the morrow after the Sabbath.” This Feast was also to commemorate the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.

There is so much to say, yet even a brief mention such as this must leave us staggered at the infinite mind of our God who “when the day of Pentecost had fully come” (Acts 2:1) brought the first harvest of souls up from the ground as He had His “only begotten Son” fifty days earlier, and made a “loaf” out of them as a wave offering (1Cor. 10:17; Acts 2:42-47)!

What had commemorated the giving of the Law on the Tablets of Stone, now would commemorate the Law written by the Spirit of God in the New Covenant on the Tablets of the Hearts of men (Jer. 31:33; 2Cor. 3:3, 6; Ezek. 36:26-27).

Where 3000 had died (Ex. 32:15-28), now 3000 were raised from spiritual death (Eph. 2:1-5; Acts 2:36-41)!

Both of these Feasts, though historical events (both as Feasts in the old Covenant, and in Christ’s literal death and resurrection—the Passover blood that was shed, and Pentecost—the third month celebration of the harvest of 3000 souls) are clearly meant for us to participate in currently, in the spiritual sense, or we are “none of His” (Heb. 9:22; Rom. 8:9-11).

LIKEWISE, and the reason I’ve taken the time to establish all of the above, SO MUST WE PARTICIPATE IN THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES, THE LAST AND GREATEST FEAST, IN ORDER TO KNOW THE FULL INTENT AND BLESSINGS OF GOD!!! This Feast (Test this—but not by the traditions of men, but rather in the Spirit of God by the Word of God) is primarily:

1) Not yet fulfilled (as seems clear in the following parallels and observation); and

2) Involves the Church of Jesus Christ and You! (Only those that have shared in the other two Feasts can partake in this culmination of all of the work of God).

The third and last of the Feasts of Israel was to be held after the long, dry scorched months of summer when the rains finally were renewed at the final harvest time in the seventh month. This was to be the greatest of all the Feasts (GREATER EVEN THAN PENTECOST!)

The Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering

It seems impossible to logically just call this “Judgment Day” since this Feast included the Feast Day of the Blowing of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths (Lev. 23:16; Num. 29; Deut. 16; 31; Neh. 8:14-15; Ex. 23:16; Jn. 7), and then ended with an eighth day Rest, the completion. If, again, this is hard to understand, that’s OK… I’ll bet you will still benefit tremendously from the New Testament scriptures, if you’ll be disciplined enough to look them up and obey them. Back to the analogy, the “shadow,” the “schoolmaster,” even the Old Testament that the Apostle Paul referred to as, (2Timothy 3:15-16), “the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture (a New Testament verse referring to the Old Testament, of course, in context) is given by inspiration of God, and (is) profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…” And so, the “useful” shadow:

The Feast of Trumpets, because the Day of Atonement must be introduced by the Trumpet call of men of God carrying His Words (See Amos 3:6-8; Isa. 58:1; Hos. 8:1; Ezek. 33:1-7; Joel 2:1,15; Isa. 18:3; 27:13; Jer. 4:8; Rev. 1:10; 4:1; 1Cor. 14:8). There is no question that the dry summer months of the last 1800+ years have been primarily “a famine in hearing the Word.” At least it has been a famine in hearing a “living and active Word” that doesn’t simply “educate,” but “lays bear the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” and causes men that refuse holiness and cling to the cloak of darkness and the shadow of compromise and justifying words to run (“You’re judging—don’t you dare confront me with my cesspool mind and unfruitful life!”) (Heb. 4:12; Jn. 3:19-21; Jn. 15:1-8; 2Thes. 2:11-12; 2Tim. 4:1-3; 3:1-9). And, by the way, that exact same Word will bring grace and glory and liberty from the bondage of sin to those with “good and honest hearts” (Acts 3:19,26; Jn. 8:31-32; Titus 2:11-15; 1Thes. 2:13; Rom. 1:16; 2:4-11; Lk. 8:15; Mat.7:24-27; 2Cor. 3:16-18; Jn. 3:19-21). Most definitely, the Day of Atonement will be introduced by the Trumpet Call of the Word!

The Day of Atonement is, as we view the Word of God and make its application, 1) a reaffirmation, a reawakening of the necessity of the atoning blood of the Lamb of God (not as a “doctrine” that is taught and “claimed,” but in deep, deep gratitude, as the very source and essence of our abiding Life in Him); 2) a time of fasting and repentance and a “rending of our hearts”: “Without holiness no one will see the Lord”; and, 3) a time of moving into the inner sanctuaries of our God’s heart and mind (for proof see 1Cor. 2:9-3:2, Jn. 15:15)—moving into the Most Holy Place where the Ark of God’s Glory resides, filled with the hidden manna, the tablets of God’s Righteousness, and God’s affirmation in the rod of Aaron (Heb. 9:1-5; 10:19-20). That’s the place that Jesus spoke of “in a loud voice” on that “last and greatest day of the Feast” where “gushing torrents of alive water will flow from his innermost being”—that is absolutely to be the NORM of EVERY Christian’s life on earth, according to Jesus Himself! Again, not “the doctrine of,” but the reality of a river that Ezekiel saw that changes the world around us into Christ!

(Ezek. 47:1-12) “Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar… and there was water, running out on the right side… the water came up to my ankles… the water came up to my knees… the water came up to my waist… and it was a river that I could not cross: for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea (the Dead Sea here represents the Dead Sea of humanity that the waters of God flowing out of us and our “innermost being,” the Temple of God, cause to burst into Life!) its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live! There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all (kinds of) trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.”

But first, the Last and Greatest Feast, the Feast of the Ingathering, must see a great Day of Atonement in God’s People.

Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

Acts 3: 23 “And it shall come to pass (that) every soul who will not hear that Prophet (Jesus) shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.”

2Tim. 2:19 “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’”

Mat. 21:43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a People who will bear its Fruit”!

Lk. 19:44 “your enemy…will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Some specific things that must be torn down in our cities, in our churches, and in our lives if we would see the fullness of God’s purposes:

1. Division amongst our number from old scars. “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” That cannot be bypassed. Please take the initiative, each of you, to help the others that you are aware of that are still holding on to this sin—for everyone’s sake. God’s visitations (take this any way you’d like) are only to those that are of “one accord.”

2. Immorality. Nothing rationalized. Septic tank minds and mouths must be repented of.

3. Covenant violations (of heart) in marriage.

4. Selfishness, Idolatry, Laziness.

5. Spiritual arrogance, critics “twice dead” (Jude 11-12; Num. 16:1-7; 1Sam. 4:21-22).

I can’t encourage you enough to move to demolish these strongholds… that you might be useful to God. There won’t be any exceptions this time around!

2Tim. 2:21: “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”

Acts 17:30: “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent!”

ARE YOU READY TO GO FOR IT?!

Then last of all, the part of the Feast of Tabernacles that I’d like you to take very seriously, as it has application to your life…

THE FEAST OF BOOTHS

This can no more likely be devoid of meaning and application to us than the Passover or Pentecost—so consider carefully!

“Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord (for) seven days; on the first day (there shall be) a (sabbath-)rest, and on the eighth day a (sabbath)-rest. And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. (It shall be) a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I (am) the Lord your God.’ So Moses declared to the children of Israel the Feasts of the Lord.” (Lev. 23:39-44).

And, (Neh. 8:11-17) “So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, ‘Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.’ And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them. Now on the second day the heads of the fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law. And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, ‘Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.’ Then the people went out and brought (them) and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. So the whole congregation of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.”

During the Feast of Booths, all of the people came out of their various levels of prosperity and comforts, and slaves right next to rulers would live in little thatched roof huts. During this Feast the streets were filled with these small booths! They were made from the “branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook” and were so numerous that there was only room on the rooftops to erect these huts. For the duration of the “last and greatest Feast,” everyone joined themselves together in a oneness, purposely destroying the divisions of class and possessions and education. It all sounds so much like the church of the Bible even before Tabernacles! (Acts 2:42-47) “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common (not a “common purse,” but the heart of Jesus unattached to material things—Acts 5:3-4; Lk. 6:20-36) and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

And, (Acts 4:32-35) “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid (them) at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.”

This is not cultural.

It’s the very foundation of a life that is storing up treasure in Heaven in simple observable obedience to Jesus (Lk. 6:17-36; 9:57-62; 14:12-13, 25-34) and is a suitable vessel to “turn the world upside down” in the power of the Holy Spirit of Jesus! It is only the fruit of a people that obey Jesus’ teaching literally, rather than delude themselves by getting together three times a week to simply give speeches about, talk about and form a denomination that agrees upon what that teaching is… but never obeys it as those simple, trusting folks in the first century did. It is also the fruit of those Disciples who would see the Feast of Tabernacles and God’s full intention in His People.

If you don’t believe that, would you at least believe “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not withstand it,” “to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,” “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” As long as the “gates of Hell” continue to destroy marriages, and drugs and sex ravage the teenagers of “church folk” and conversions are oh-so-few, we have no RIGHT to defend the thing around us as “the Lord’s Church.” HIS church will blow apart the very gates and strongholds of Satan and Hell itself with the power of the Risen Jesus and His Word! (Mat. 16:18; 2Cor. 10:3-6; lJn. 3:6-9; Eph. 6:12). Nothing else is the church that He is “building.”

So why be defensive for something that does not bear the Fruit that Jesus said it must (Lk. 6:43-44; Mt. 21:43; Acts 26:20b; Lk. 3:8-9)? Let’s just be honest and humble enough to go on. We’ve paid a price to go this far—why camp out on something so undeniably (even by any intelligent heathen observer) short of the mark now?!

The Gospel of the Kingdom

Many of you have been aware of the fact that in recent years there has been a very obvious call to the intimate Knowledge and vertical Worship of, and Fellowship with, the Living King, Jesus, and His Father—rather than religious rituals and temple exercises done in His honor to somehow please a “way off somewhere inactive God.” As some of you have realized, either He’s “in our midst” (Mat. 18:20) or He’s not!

God’s call continues (Again, please test this—but don’t discard it out of apathy or justification of the idols of the middle-class American lifestyle) to be that call to glorious worship (rather than an unbiblical “song service” and “weakly” speeches to spit-polished “audiences” in the “pews”—Really, it isn’t anywhere in the scriptures!) and the drawing up of His People into a Holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood, an “Ever-Increasing Government” and “Habitation of God by the Spirit”! Not a “here or there Kingdom” “in Jerusalem or on this mountain” where someone says “here is the Christ, or there is the Christ”—but a People, a Church with “no beauty or majesty” that (one more time!) “the gates of Hell cannot withstand,” “to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places”!

Thank our God—He has put the “Second Adam” into a deep sleep (for three days and three nights) and has pulled a rib out of Jesus’ side and is building Him a Bride suitable for Him… of His nature! And that Bride, by the Spirit that “He exerted in Christ when He rose Him from the dead” is, according to Jesus Himself, more blessed by the Coming of the Comforter than we would be even with His physical presence on earth! (Jn. 14:12; 16:7). If you would prefer Jesus’ physical presence on earth to what you currently have, you’re missing what God has offered you!

The message delivered by those men who knew was continually the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom (His verifiable reign amongst His People)—Acts 8:12; Acts 28:31; Mat. 6:33. As we have focused the eyes of our hearts on a new Understanding of Worship of our Lord and King, it remains necessary to move into the Feast of Booths where we celebrate the “KINGDOM of our God and His Righteousness.” Jn. 13:35 “By THIS all will know that you are My disciples, if you have AGAPE for one another.” VISIBLE, as in, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” With one another! Is it true? Can the world see that depth of relationship in your lives with one another? One thing is certain: if we are no deeper than a church lobby or fellowship meal—the world will never know that we are truly His disciples. He said a lot when He said “By THIS all will know that you are my disciples,” didn’t He?

(lJn. 2:7-8) “Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.” No, its not a “new command” at all—but the very oldest. Yet it is new because now it is “seen” (NIV) in us rather than “studied” by us! (Heb. 8:10-13).

The very essence of the “christianity” that has descended from Heaven to earth is not primarily the passing on of knowledge, but rather, “the life became the light of men” (Jn. 1:4), the treasure, not on stone tablets or in gilded edge and leather bindings, but “living letters,” the treasure in “earthen vessels” (See Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 10:15-16; 2Cor. 3:2-6; 4:6-7; Ezek. 36:26-27; lCor. 4:19-20).

This is a Covenant, not of our words (though the Utterance of God is the very bedrock of the universe—1Pet. 1:22-25), but of the visible Agape that we have for “one another,” that Word becoming “flesh” in us, the corporate Life of Jesus Christ that looks like and bears fruit like:

Isa. 61:1-7 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations… But you shall be named the Priests of the Lord, (men) shall call you the Servants of our God… Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and (instead of) confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; everlasting joy shall be theirs.”

Obviously this isn’t a life pulled away in seclusion, but out on the streets! Is that your heart? Oh, I hope so—it’s God’s heart for you and His church!

An Appeal

I’m certain that this is enough for now, but let me end with the challenge to consider each day and night and weekend: Am I truly building with the costly materials that are only found by digging very deep—“gold, silver, and precious stones,” or am I building with the cheap, surface materials of “wood, hay and stubble” that will not endure the test of fire? (1Cor.3:9-15).

Please, for Jesus’ sake and the honor of His Name and His Purposes, take this literally as it was intended: “but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” We really need each other, Family. May the Grace of God, His Mercy and His Liberty be with you all… For Jesus’ Sake.

I’m curious, how many declarations, proclamations, manifestos, creeds, and statements of faith does it take to turn a ruthlessly vain and evil race of people into moral, dignified, and respectable human beings. The answer to that question is, there is not enough paper to print all the decrees necessary to save us?

Let’s look for a moment at the Jews. Was it possible to sacrifice enough bulls and goats to satisfy God’s just requirement of righteousness and purity? The river of blood and the mountain of dead flesh over thousands of years was not adequate. All of their efforts were futile, and they were driven to despair. They wearied themselves with their work. It just was not the answer.

The Manhattan Declaration is just another effort of proud man to accomplish something that only God alone can do. But, man never tires of trying to produce something that will produce the results that God demands.

The gates of Hell are prevailing all over the world, in the face of so many beautifully written documents proclaiming that men will do what God obviously can not do Himself.

The organized church is a failure in the life changing business, but they just will not see it, because they are proud, and they are blind.

“When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Prov. 16:7

America and the world have failed, because they will not concede to Jesus, nor will they repent of all their efforts to build something that God said that He Himself would build, and that all of men’s efforts to do otherwise are to “build in vain.”

With all the failure we see piling up so rapidly, would it be a fair assessment to conclude that our ways do not please the Lord? Yes! That is the Biblical assessment.

Would it be a stretch to say that we have no idea what we are doing? or even what “faith” is? We say we trust God then we set out to do things our own way. That is somewhat reminiscent of the Book of Judges where “every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Maybe Jesus’ question of “will I find faith on the earth when I return” is beginning to make a little sense to a few of “simple” folk amongst us. His declaration that the way is very narrow, and that only a few will walk in it, will take on new meaning to some, as in “not very many will be saved” or that it will be only “a remnant” that escapes, or it will be like a shepherd who takes out of the mouth of a lion rib, or part of a leg.

Would it be a fantasy to venture into the realm of trust, that says that “faith” really is letting God be God, and doing what we have proven we can not, and doing what He said He would do, if we would just give up trying, and just rest on Him? What a novel idea, since this is what He has asked us to do in the first place. But, and there is always a “but” in the way. The “but” is this matter of pride of “doing” and “building” and “accomplishing” something for God.

Maybe, just maybe, since we can conclude that God is not pleased, is it possible that we have been “building” the wrong way, using our own blueprints, declarations, creeds, statements of faith, and marketing devices, instead of letting Jesus do it? Do we not understand what Jesus said, He said, “I will build My Church.”

When I read the “Manhattan Declaration” my conclusion is that these men are way too smart for their own good, or ours.

The trouble with men, trying to be God, is that they all have agendas, they’re all diverse, not united. they all see things differently, and therefore wrong, not as God sees. Only God can do it right, so let Him, this is real repentance. Admit the failure, their own failure, my failure, your failure, and just repent.

Steve Blackwell

Initial Contact with Kerry Bowman

Head Pastor of Eagle Church

Kerry,

I have become very disappointed in the path the Church is taking. I especially am upset with the way you openly link arms with the world in this leadership simulcast thing. What advise can the world give the Lord’s people on how to conduct business or anything else? Doesn’t the Bible make it perfectly clear that we are to pull back from the world? Shouldn’t the leader of Eagle Church be giving advice to stay away from the world as much as possible, not joining forces with them at every opportunity? How can you not expect to receive judgment for openly leading your congregation into sin? And, I simply cannot believe that other, supposedly followers of Christ, leaders, deacons, or just plain Godly people have not spoken up that you stop this absurdity. Has the Organized Church come to blatant, open, rebellion, against God? I can assure you that the Lord is not happy with this new direction. I am preparing an open letter to the congregation to alert them of your unfaithfulness to your position in the Church and to your calling if there is no repentance. The Churches across this land are falling into a very dangerous trap and the leaders will be held responsible to God for the loss of so many souls. I for one will not be silent. I have seen this coming and it is madness.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the FATHER is not in him.” “Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with GOD? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of GOD.” “Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath CHRIST with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever?. . .Wherefore: —Come out from amonst them.”

Your immediate response is requested.

Steve Blackwell

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Open Letter to Eagle Church

ALARM!

Ezek 33:1-6
The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.”

My name is Steve Blackwell. I am not on the membership roles of Eagle or any other Organized Church, but my name is written in the Lamb’s book of life, and that is sufficient. I have been part of the Body here at Eagle since it was built and have watched the transition over the last several years.

This e-mail is being sent to all whose e-mail address is listed in the Church directory, and the Church leadership is receiving it at the same time you are. This e-mail is not being sent without the Pastor awareness. A personal note was sent to Pastor Kerry alerting him of my concern and asking for his response. He has chosen not to respond.

The direction that “The Church” is taking is very serious. I am not saying I have all the facts yet, but I have enough to sound a general alarm.

About a year and a half ago an alarm started going off in my spirit alerting me to a terrible problem we have in our nation and in our Church. This alarm has caused me to change my life radically and with the help of the Holy Spirit I will tell you some of what I know.

You may not agree with what I am about to say but I am obliged to fulfill my duty as a member of the Body of Christ to sound this alarm. It would be irresponsible of me not to do so. If you smelled smoke in your home, in the middle of the night, while every one was sleeping, you would conclude rapidly that your family was in grave danger. Your sense of survival would compel you to take action and save your family and yourself.

Being a Christian is not about doing the easy things and having fun; it is about being obedient and doing the hard things, even at the cost of breaking fellowship with the ones you have come to love. I am neither a highly educated man nor particularly courageous, I am only being obedient in what has been revealed to me through my spirit to warn any and all who will listen of the obvious darkness appearing on the spiritual landscape. Because of this revelation my family and I have elected to leave Eagle Church and continue with the meetings of the Church in our home.

I cannot but think that this message will, at the very least, cause some to investigate these claims further, with the hope that the Holy Spirit would enlighten you. These are grave times we are living in, a time to be awake and not asleep, a time to read your Bible again for the first time, and to think seriously about events relating to the end of time.

What I am saying is that I smell smoke and many others, across this nation and the world, also smell smoke. So please do not pull the covers back over your head, at least consider what I have to say. The first smell of smoke is no indication of just how bad the problem is, it may be minor or it may already be too late, but it can not be ignored.

I am not an “alarmist” by nature or a preacher of “doom and gloom.” I am a Christian realist, and what I am saying is with genuine concern. Where there is smoke there is fire, and the fire of the kind I am talking about has very severe consequences and can not be disregarded.

There has never been a time in all of Church history that has stood out with a more urgent cry to its people than today. There has never been a time when understanding and discernment were more needed, but rarely to be found. There has never been a time like this, where the ability to smell smoke was so needed. The alarm was being sounded as late as the 70’s by people like A. W. Tozer, Watchman Nee, and T Austin Sparks but, has been generally ignored; then there was relative silence. Now, the alarms are being sounded again and they are coming in from every quarter, from around the world.

As I said earlier, alarms started going off in my spirit, a short while back. I have been a Christian for thirty years and nothing like this has ever happened before. In those thirty years of serving God and seeking the “good life” the “good life” had never been produced. I followed all the direction of the different preachers I sat under and read my Bible through many times, but the promise of happiness never materialized the way they predicted. My life was very ordinary, not rich, not poor, just your average person. I was not from a Christian home, but my mom and dad were good people and had Christian values, by default more than practice. We were just a normal average family with all the regular amount of chaos to deal with, seeking the American Dream.

I had this illusion that I was living the exemplary Christian life. Once saved, I quit my insurance sales job because of lifestyle conflicts, Marilyn, my wife, was a stay-at-home-mom, we sent our three girls to Christian schools, went to Church three times a week, worked hard and went to Bible college, we watched very little T.V., and rarely went out on the town, and never to bars or clubs. We were often complemented for our disciplined life style, and we were blessed in many respects, but something was lacking. The chaos and problems we were seeing in other’s lives started showing up in our lives also, and our normal, average, American Christian lifestyle started coming apart at the seams. A year and a half ago the Lord re-entered my life in a very dramatic way after going through a kind of spiritual death. When He revived me I at once realized I was seeing things through different eyes and had a new understanding, as if I had been blind before this. The Bible, which I have studied continuously for the past thirty years, became a totally new book, as if I had never understood it at all in the past.

The First Alarm

I do not blame any of my past Ministers; I had all the same resources that they had, even though they had put themselves in the position of knowing the will and direction of God. They all talked about attaining to the “good life” and led their flocks down rosy paths, and rarely spoke of the extreme cost associated with such a venture. So, what I ended up with was a religion of the flesh, which was little different, in its final results, than the flesh of the world I had left behind. This is precisely the reason that statistics, of divorce, pornography, and abortion, inside the Church and outside the Church read the same; it is the same worldliness only dressed up in a different costume. This was the first Alarm! A very simple observation; there was no difference of quality of life of those inside and outside the Church, none.

Immediately prior to this renewal, I had laid out a set of questions to the Lord in the context of frustration; something like this: why Lord? Why this? Why that? Why me? Haven’t I tried to do all you wanted me to do? Why? Why? Why? And then I just gave up on ever hoping to receive an answer; I just slipped into death. It took me thirty years of building up a history of failure to finally realize that the Lord had allowed me to become an utter failure so that I could know Him in the power of His resurrection. I had never died before, like the Bible teaches that we should. I only died on paper, my certificate of baptism, not like Paul describes in chapter six of the book of Romans. And, it was at this point that He showed me my problem, and my problem was me; I was still alive in the flesh. I had never died with Christ. Now I understood that all that stuff about death and dying, that I had read through all those years past, was the secret threshold that had to be crossed that opened up the new life of trust and faith, a life lived by walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh. This is a life of really believing that God is able to do all He said He would, and walking in that belief; after all, what can a dead man do? Dead men don’t build Churches.

The Second Alarm

The Holy Spirit brought to me, with great force, that all the problems of the world that we hated, were present in the Church, that the world had successfully and completely infiltrated the Church, and that what we are seeing in the Organized Church today is the ultimate completion of a grand plan arranged by Satan himself. Actually you don’t have to look very hard or be very smart to see it; you only have to open your eyes.

The Church in America has failed. Drugs are in the Church, abortion, divorce, pornography, they’re all there, just like on the outside, and in some cases the Church exceeds the world. Even a small child can add 1 + 1. Even a novice businessman can see the failure of the Church as a Christ building business. Unless of course you’re looking at the money, then you might see some success and a motive to keep the Organized Church going. The Church as a numbers game does have promise, as we are seeing. So, Paul’s words that “your meetings do more harm than good,” really apply to the modern Church. If a person from the world comes to the Church seeking solutions, he or she will not likely find the ultimate answer, the answer they need.

The Third Alarm

The third alarm was a simple fact. All that I had read in the Bible for so many years just did not add up in real life and in the Church in America. Example #1, Jesus asked Peter who he said He was and Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus said to Peter that he had just received a supernatural revelation from the Holy Spirit and that upon this revelation, of who Jesus really was, His Church would be built and that “the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” But, is that what we actually see with our own two eyes in America? No! In America the gates of Hell are prevailing. Americans have slipped into a coma and sin is out of control. Why? The Biblical conclusion is that we have departed the narrow path; we are pursuing “another gospel,” the American Dream, which is turning out to be a nightmare and completely off the narrow path. The dream of the “good life,” as we have come to know it in America, is an illusion and we are a country lost, in search of something that doesn’t exist. What we are given are policies, programs, more programs, creeds, and classes that have failed one after the other, but never led down that narrow way of dying to the flesh where the real answer awaits. The ways of men have never produced holiness, which is what our soul hungers for, in any of its people and can never prevail against the gates of Hell.

Example #2, In 2 Tim 3:12-13 Paul states as a matter of fact that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted….” Well, the obvious question is, who do we know that is being persecuted in America? If we want to find persecution we need to look in India, or China, or other places, but not in America. Why don’t we see persecution in America? Because what we say from our pulpits and the lives we live are no threat to Satan and his kingdom. I would dare say that he is very happy with the message; it is very social, very tolerant, very non-offensive, and very attractive to the world. One solution, to the problem of not being persecuted, might be to seek out those who are being persecuted and find out what they are doing and copy them. If we did we would very likely find that we too would begin to run into evil forces who do not take lightly the message of truth. We are a sick and dying bunch in America, who only has the appearance of health. If we would only be weak and humble, then would we be strong and healthy. If we would only be obedient with the simple message of truth instead of hiding the light under all our worldly programs then we too would discover that dark forces oppose the children of Light.

Example #3, The cost of following Jesus. All the scripture given in the Bible would lead one to believe that the cost of following Jesus is beyond money and resources, and will cost your very life, indeed it will cost you everything, money, resources, and your life, to follow Jesus. Here are just a few of the cost that are enumerated in the Bible:
What is the cost of discipleship?
1. The true follower of Jesus must leave everything to follow Him, meaning that Jesus must have first priority in our life, over anything, or anyone else.
2. Another cost is to deny oneself. To do the will of Jesus is to be more important than our own selfish ambitions and desires. We should pray, not my will, but yours be done.
3. We are to follow Him unconditionally and not let the concerns of this world prevent us. A total separation from worldliness and a total commitment to Jesus is required. In Luke 9: 57 to 62, we read of three people who desired to be disciples of Jesus, but their priorities were not right. Jesus required their undivided attention and loyalty, but they were more concerned with possessions, personal gain, their livelihood and families. A person who does not put Jesus first cannot be a true follower.
4. Another cost of following Jesus is that we must Love Him supremely, from our whole heart, even more than we love ourselves and more than those closest to us, even our wife or children. Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37) and for those of you who say, “It doesn’t mention ‘wife’” read Luke 14:26. In comparison to the love we have for Jesus, it is like hating those who in the natural sense are closest to us (Luke 14:26). This does not mean we do not love our family members; rather, Jesus used this expression as a means of comparison.
5. We must be willing to sacrifice for the sake of following Jesus. There may be a heavy price we must pay to follow Jesus with utmost commitment. For some, it may mean giving up extra income, or giving up comforts, even giving up position, honor, or reputation. Let us have the attitude of the Apostle Paul who said, “But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). Do you really believe this?
6. As followers we are to count the cost, and consider the hardships that will arise for the sake of Jesus. It could cause much division in the home, if one or two are believers in Jesus and the others are not. With this scenario in mind, Jesus said, “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother . . . “ (Luke 12:51-53). Converts to Christianity from other religions have experienced division and have even been abandoned and cast out by their families (Matthew 24:9). For them, there is no peace on earth, and yet they do have peace in their hearts, for they have peace with God and they will one day have peace in eternity with God.
7. Another cost of following Jesus is total surrender (Luke 14:33) and undying allegiance. We are to follow Him always, go wherever He leads, and obey His every command. He commands that we repent of sin; submit our wills, renew our minds, be baptized, consecrate our hearts, worship Him and have full and complete obedience to Him.
8. This brings us to the eighth item in our list of what it costs to follow Jesus… we must be willing to submit to Him, keep His commandments, and live a life worthy of bearing His name, that of being a “Christian.” Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Every aspect of our life must be God-honoring.
9. Lastly, to use the expression of Jesus, the true follower must “carry his cross” and follow Jesus (Luke 14:27). This means that we must endure pain, suffering, persecution (Philippians 1:29), and to even be willing to die for Him. The Apostle Paul exhorted the young man Timothy, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3).
I had fooled myself for years, and that foolishness was reinforced by the Church leaders, that I was O.K. with the Lord, when all along I was being deceived by Satan. The cost to follow Christ today has been so cheapened that a multitude of Pagans flood the church sanctuary looking for a free lunch; at the most it only cost a little in the collection plate, and they go home satisfied that they have worshiped God and all-is-well with their souls. We only delude ourselves into believing that we have paid the cost, but it has cost us nothing.

I could go on and on with numerous examples of how our lives do not measure up to what we read in the Bible, but you can read it for yourself, it is all there, on every page, you don’t need that any man should show you.

A little more then I’m done. These things were the beginning of my enlightenment. It never came through study but by the Holy Spirit through revelation, it just flashed upon me and I could see. The Holy Spirit has given me much insight into His Word and speaks to my spirit often now. What I have come to know now is that very much that goes on inside the Organized Church walls is totally worthless and that what is called the “church growth movement” is of the Devil and this is the main point of this letter.

Holy Scripture makes lots of things clear and one of those things is that man was born blind and has no capability to see unless sight is given to him by God. Man, in and of himself, is a stumbling, blind, creature. And also, it is clear that that blindness is through the deception of Satan. The Bible says he is the deceiver of the WHOLE world. It also says that in the end Satan will be cast into the bottomless pit, that serpent that deceived whole nations. Is it conceivable that the people of America have believed a lie? Is it possible that through our disobedience and pride that God has allowed us to continue in that lie? Is it possible that we have gotten so involved in the lie that we won’t believe the Truth? Is it possible that we love the lie more than the Truth? Is it possible that we believe the Lie to be the Truth? All these things are possible as the Bible states and also that in the last days before Jesus’ return, we should expect these things, and be on our guard. The sad thing is that many who we call brother and sister will never see the Truth and continue on in their delusion. But, there will be some that will see and come out from amongst them.

The Fifth Alarm

Don’t get caught up in the bigness or business of the Organized Church. This should be another sign that something is wrong. Bigness, showiness, loudness, drama, twin video screens, gymnasiums, the mysterious disappearance of the Cross, and the like are all geared to appeal to the flesh and the world and are not of Christ; it is of man for man. As I said earlier it is a numbers game. The contention is that the end justifies the means, the end being that the Church will get large numbers of unbelievers into the building to hear the message. This is a lie. With Christ the ends never ever justified the means, never. The Lord doesn’t need the help of godless unbelievers to build His Church; He never has and never will, Not Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, not Robert Schuller, not Peter Drucker, not Bob Buford, or the worldly methodologies used by them such as, Hegelian dialectics or Diaprax, thesis and antithesis, change agents, new paradigms or any other thing. A few have tried to warn us about this new “marketing and managing of the Church” movement: John MacArthur, and Oz Guinness to name a couple. Tozer warned that the Church was coming to this, and in 1 Tim 4:1-2 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.”

2 Peter 2:1-3

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”

For the Church to openly admit that it is committing spiritual adultery with the world and not blink an eye is beyond me, and as far as I know none of the leadership is objecting. The Scriptures are explicit in this regard:

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the FATHER is not in him.” “Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with GOD? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of GOD.” “Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath CHRIST with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever?. . .Wherefore: —”

“Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
And touch no unclean thing;
And I will receive you,
And will be to you a FATHER,
And ye shall be to Me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

We have to take our choice: we cannot enjoy both the world and CHRIST. Pastor Kerry in one of his last e-mails admitted that some of these who would be “impacting” you are NON-Christians. Should shepherds lead God’s flock where He says danger waits?

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At a time in our history when we should be getting back to the basics of God’s Word and the simplicity found in Jesus, the Church is exploding into madness and heresy and open fornication with the world, and sincerely believes that God will bless it!

There is so much more that needs to be said but, I don’t know how to say it. All the Prophets and the Apostles foreseen these days and warned those who would live during the Last Days and we are “those” people. The alarms are sounding now. That little cloud on the horizon, we realize now, is a storm cloud, and it’s headed our way. I am afraid for many who will pull the covers over their head, push the snooze button, and just go back to sleep. “We live in America, what can harm us here?” We boast that “we are America” and that “there is no other” and while we sleep, we will be taken away, without another warning.

I know these words will draw fire and I fully expect it and am prepared for it. Not all will see the urgency. This letter, for most, will only be the ramblings of a silly man trying to spoil the fun and fellowship of God’s people. For a few others it will be the signal to flee the wrath to come. I have never advocated that anyone take my word for anything, but check it out for your self. I will be praying for you.

I have fulfilled my duty to the Body of Christ @ Eagle.

May God bless you, and have mercy on us all.

Steve Blackwell

**********************************

Rebuttal by Tim Swarens

Vice Chairman of Eagle’s Board of Elders

May 1, 2006

Eagle Church Family

Many of you recently received a lengthy e-mail from Steve Blackwell, who used to attend Eagle. As vice chairman of Eagle’s Board of Elders, I would like to respond to various assertions Mr. Blackwell made in his letter. Another elder and I will attempt to meet with Mt. Blackwell later this week. As always, if you have questions or concerns regarding this or any other matter, please feel free to contact me or another elderly directly.
It’s important to note that Mr. Blackwell’s letter was sent without the knowledge of Eagle’s pastoral staff or elders. An e-mail was sent to Pastor Bowman late Friday informing of Mr. Blackwell’s intention to send the letter, but the message was not read until after the letter was distributed Saturday to about 300 e-mail addresses.
Among the accusations that Mr. Blackwell made in his letter is the claim that “the Organized Church today is the ultimate completion of a grand plan arranged by Satan himself.” I have no idea how Mr. Blackwell arrived at this conclusion, but such accusations are not new. In Mark 3:22, the teachers of the law asserted that Jesus himself “is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” in verse 23-29, Jesus responded to his accusation by saying, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand…”
Look at Eagle in the past month: More than 900 of us celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior on Easter Sunday. In the latest sermon series, Pastor Kerry challenged us not to turn Jesus into our personal mascot, but to make him our Monarch. Pastor Eric challenged small group members to confront and repent of sin in their lives. Pastor Brad and his team challenged us with dynamic, powerful worship and praise. Clint and Jen challenged high school and middle school students to grow in their faith through weekly teaching and through the Believe Conference at Anderson University. Pat Dragon challenged our children through, yes, fun, but also substantive teaching in our rainbow of zones on the lower level, plus the monthly KidStuf service. We have sent a team of short term missionaries to Spain. We have begun preparing missionary teams for service this summer in Bosnia and Louisiana. We have prayed for and supported missionaries around the world, including our own Petula Myers in Bosnia. We have prayed for and comforted the sick, the hurting, the poor and the downcast. We have challenged one another, loved one another, and worshipped with one another as only the Body of Christ can do.
Above it all we have been privileged to witness lives changed for eternity. Just yesterday, several people came to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Others were baptized. And hundreds of others were challenged by Pastor Kerry to live their lives fully for Christ.
Eagle is “the ultimate completion of a grand plan arranged by Satan himself”? I think not. More important, I am confident that Jesus himself thinks not, but is in fact rejoicing at the souls saved and the lives transformed.
Mr. Blackwell also condemns Eagle’s leaders and other evangelical leaders such as Bill Hybels and Rick Warren for playing “a numbers game.” Again, such criticism is not new. For decades, some Christians protested outside Billy Graham’s crusades because he was using the “wrong” methods and associating with the “wrong” people. The Rev. Graham was “too worldly” for these believers. I believe Jesus would point such critics to Luke 6: 37-45. He also could point them to 1 Corinthians 9: 19-23, including this passage written by the Apostle Paul, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”
Please believe that Eagle’s pastor and elders strive to do everything for the sake of the gospel. Do we make mistakes? Yes, we are fallible humans who at times unintentionally irritate and even hurt fellow believers. We always will listen to concerns and correction honestly and humbly given. We will strive to correct true mistakes and lower obstacles that keep believers from growing in their faith. But we will never apologize for answering the call to introduce a lost and hurting world to a friend and savior named Jesus Christ.
Finally, I do agree with one statement Mr. Blackwell made in his letter: “With Christ the end never justified the means.” that includes following the principles outlined in Matthew 18 for correcting a fellow Christian whom you believe is in error. Practicing those principles is essential for the healthy operation of Eagle Church or any other church. I pray, as an elder at Eagle, that each of us would follow Matthew 18 principles as we strive to serve together in Christ’s church. Thank you and God bless.

In Christ

Tim Swarens,
Vice chairman, Elder Board
Eagle Church

***********************************

Rebuttal of the Rebuttal

by Steve Blackwell

A Rebuttal of the Rebuttal

Steve Blackwell

May 15, 2006

To All My Friends @ Eagle Church:

Of course you are all aware of the open letter I sent to Eagle Church. It was my intention to say my piece and then just let it go, but upon further thought and prayer I have decided to say something more.

In England they love to hunt fox; it is a great contest of hunter and dog skill. I mention this, not because what I’m doing is some sort of sport to be won or lost, but because of a tactic used, unfairly, to spoil the sport of the hunt. The night before the hunt, while no one is watching, a member of the opposing team would pull a little stunt to confuse the dogs. He would take a dead fish (red herring) and drag it across the field in front of where the opponent’s dogs would start. Dogs, even well trained dogs, depend on and are controlled by their sense of smell; they both love to hunt and to eat. Older dogs can overcome this trick through discipline, but younger dogs will give in to their appetite and follow the smell of the red herring. This trick has one purpose, and that is to throw the dogs off the trail of the fox to follow a false trail.

Tim Swaren’s rebuttal is a red herring, or worse, it is subterfuge, chaff, rubbish; I could have used stronger words but I’m trying to be polite. He is using his hunting skills of deception to manipulate the congregation’s, supposed ignorance, and lead them onto a different path. He knows that if the main issues of my letter are kept silent and played down they will go away; people have a short memory; they want to believe in their Pastor; they want to be kept out of such things; they want to think that everything is peachy, even if its not; they don’t want to be confused by the facts. He is purposely leading people away from facing the issues addressed, by focusing on incidentals and side issues, and skirting around major issues of unfaithfulness and worldly dealings and methodologies which are contrary to God’s word. The issues he stresses in his rebuttal concern only me, but the questions he avoids in my letter, if they are valid, concern the whole body, and have eternal consequences.

Red herrings are usually employed to avoid having to face an issue where the findings will not likely be favorable, so it becomes necessary to raise other issues, by re-stating the questions using different words, and directed at dirtying the questioner’s character. We see this all the time in politics and it is very effective, and it is also deceptive and dishonest, especially coming from the vice chairman of the board of Elders, who handles ethical issues. This in itself is worthy of investigation.

I am not trying to protect my character from assault but rather allowing the light of the Gospel to shine in truth. Let the assaults come, I make no defense for myself, the Word of God can speak for itself, and it is speaking loudly for those who can hear.

I want to apologize if my approach to the situation affected the Body in any adverse way by not adhering to the strict rule of “conflict resolution” as found in Matt. 18, although it would not have changed a thing, and as it turns out it was exactly the right thing to do. To allow the deacon board to have its shot at me before the mail went out, in hind sight, probably wouldn’t have been a good idea.

I am going to clarify a couple of things I said in my letter, that I assumed anyone with knowledge of the Bible would have understood.

No. 1 “The Holy Spirit brought to me, with great force, that all the problems of the world that we hated, were present in the Church, that the world had successfully and completely infiltrated the Church, and that what we are seeing in the Organized Church today is the ultimate completion of a grand plan arranged by Satan himself.”

Tim said that he has no idea how I arrived at this conclusion, and then aligns me with the Pharisees, asserting, like the “leadership” of Jesus day, that Jesus possessed a devil. I am surprised that an Elder, especially the vice chairman, could make that statement, but I shouldn’t be considering the Bible forecast such blindness in the last days. To begin with I stated right in the letter how I came to that conclusion; I opened my eyes, or I should say the Lord opened my eyes, and then the Bible confirmed what I saw. It’s funny that he would use Mark 3:22-29 as his proof text, because it proves my point. The Pharisees accused Jesus of having an evil spirit; now we know that that is impossible. Is Tim saying that it is also impossible for the organized church to be deceived? Is he putting himself and the church on the same level as Jesus? Does he really believe that he and the church are perfect and above reproach?

Jesus Himself was trying to reason with the organized religion of His day, but they simply could not see it, they were blind; the blind leading the blind. In Matt 23:13-36 Jesus confronts organized religion with these words:

“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned. “

“You’re hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that’s nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that’s serious.’ What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that’s nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that’s serious’? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless. “

“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God’s Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment — the absolute basics! — you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons? “

“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something. “

“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You’re like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it’s all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you’re saints, but beneath the skin you’re total frauds.

“You’re hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You’re cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count. “

“Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It’s on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation — and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.”

“You can’t squirm out of this: Every drop of righteous blood ever spilled on this earth, beginning with the blood of that good man Abel right down to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah’s son, whom you murdered at his prayers, is on your head. All this, I’m telling you, is coming down on you, on your generation. ”

“Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God’s news! How often I’ve ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn’t let me. And now you’re so desolate, nothing but a ghost town. What is there left to say? Only this: I’m out of here soon. The next time you see me you’ll say, ‘Oh, God has blessed him! He’s come, bringing God’s rule!’”

I wonder if Jesus adhered to Matt. 18 concerning conflict resolution?

But to be more specific concerning Satan’s desire to infiltrate the church, here are some Scripture references:

Jer 8:4-7
“‘When men fall down, do they not get up?
When a man turns away, does he not return?
Why then have these people turned away?
Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;
they refuse to return.
I have listened attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues his own course
like a horse charging into battle.
Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know
the requirements of the LORD. ”

This is a reference to the then present infiltration of Satan into the Jewish religious institution during the time of Jeremiah. It is also indicative of an ever repeating cycle in mans search for God. We cling to deceit! We have fallen and we need to get up! We have turned away and we need to return! We have strayed far from the requirements of the LORD. He doesn’t mention Satan by name, so are we to deduce that there was some other reason for their stupidity? No! It is Satan at work here and it is Satan at work always. It has always been Satan’s plan to destroy the Church, from the inside out. This is why judgment will start at the House of God.

Mark 12:1-11
He then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
“He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
“But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. Haven’t you read this scripture:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

I have to concede a point here. If Satan could have killed the Son then he would not have a Church to infiltrate. Today Satan has the Church to deal with and blindness and deafness are such effective weapons against it. Just like the Jews, so is the Church; we never heard the voices of the Prophets who are read every Sabbath; when Jesus came they missed Him, even though they lived, ate, and slept with the Scriptures. Will we miss Him, with all our vast intelligence?

2 Peter 2:1-3
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”

Need I point out that this is talking about the demise of the Church as of 2006.

You might still be asking along with Tim, “I have no idea how Mr. Blackwell arrived at this conclusion,” if so consider the following. What do you say Christianity is? If I say I’m a Christian does that make it so? If I raise my hand at some prompt and say I accept Jesus, does that make me a Christian? What does a Christian look like? Who is a Christian by definition?

Pretend for a moment that you are someone who desires to be as rich as Bill Gates but at last tally had only accumulated a mere $50.00. If you were to call yourself a billionaire, should we go along with you because you are trying; would we be foolish enough to believe, because you use certain language, that you are indeed as rich as Bill Gates? I think wisdom would say, “Say to yourself my son, my daughter, ‘I am not a billionaire’ and guard against being called a fool.”

The point is this: if there is to be any meaning to what you have said you must at least resemble whatever it is you are striving towards. In order to hide the fact that this person is not a billionaire it simply becomes a matter of “confessing” positively that you are a billionaire and that you are at least trying to become a billionaire. Having said that you can conclude that a person has to do nothing to become as rich as Bill Gates; how ridiculous. Anyone who reads the New Testament with any kind of desire to see what Christianity looks like has to see that there is nothing around us that “at least resembles” what we are trying to become. Consequently we are all made out to be fools: duped, tricked, and deceived. Jesus never once asked for admirers, supporters, or want-a-be’s. He only wanted followers and disciples.

Or, what about this? Is the Gospel for the poor or for the rich? Jesus said “the Gospel is preached to the poor.” Was this just a historical study or was He saying the Gospel was to be preached to the poor? My conclusion from reading the Bible is that the vast majority of the preaching was to the poor, by the poor. It was preached not just to the poverty stricken, but the poor wretched, the poor wronged, the poor oppressed, the poor crippled and lame and leprous and demonic. The Gospel was very Good New to them. It wasn’t money, good health, status, and all that garbage—No, this isn’t Christianity. Poorness in the world today, in this great United States, is turned into, not misfortune, but guilt. Originally, poorness was looked at as nearness to God. To be poor in this world is to be rich in the next. That is the way it was originally; this is the Gospel of the New Testament. It was preached to the poor, by the poor.

But soon there came a change. When preaching the Gospel became a livelihood, then the gospel became the good news of the rich. It became in the best interest of the preacher to swing the door open wide and secure the ranks of the rich and famous and the connected. It was then that the Good News ceased to be good tidings, transforming suffering and sorrow into joy. Now it has become a warranty of good times and a life intensified by drama and video and orchestras, and all wrapped up and secured with the hope of eternity. Today the gospel is preached to the rich and influential. Now, wait a minute. Aren’t we right back, all over again, to the very state Jeremiah talked about, to the very state that original Christianity opposed? The rich, wise and powerful get their cake and eat it too. They get to keep all their riches here on earth and then go bounding off to heaven, how absolutely wonderful Christianity has become, it has surely been perfected, how pleased Jesus must be.

Tim, Tim, Tim, I am afraid if you can’t see it, you won’t see it. School is almost out, finals are almost ready, and then we will know who passes. If we will discover, which I’m sure most will not, the way back, if we will return, if we will follow that inner leading to let go of this world, then we will know whereof Jesus spoke, whether it was from Himself or from the Father, John 7:17.

I said I was going to clarify a couple of things. The other thing I wanted to respond to was Tim’s remarks to my statement concerning Rick Warren. I think I will wait. What I will say though is that simply to use religious language and write best selling books does not make you favorable in God’s eyes. Remember Satan and the garden?

My heart aches as I write this because I know the time is so short and we are so blind.

God help us.

If you need more proof that that is where we are today go to God’s Word, it’s all there.

“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”– these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”

Recently I was told by a friend, after a brief discussion of Church life after the Day of Pentecost, that the “Church life” displayed following Acts was, and is, un-sustainable in light of future developments of culture. I would have to agree, if what we have as our guide is the bulk of recorded history, and the record of the obvious failures of the modern mega-church complex.

My position is that the Church life we see lived out in the Book of Acts is sustainable, although not evidenced through the organizational church of today. I contend that what we see as the “church” today is a prostitution of a Divine design, repackaged to accommodate the ego of men, and presented with enough choreography and ambience to simulate, to ignorant men, the moving of the Spirit.  This form of church is not sustainable, as my friend said, and I agree, but this is not the Church of God, this is the church of man. The church of man does not resemble, even remotely, the Church of God in Acts! Why? Because God has not built that church, it was built by man, therefore it has all the earmarks of man in its architecture and organization. The church of man is a vain attempt to finish in the flesh what was started in the Spirit. Scripture tells us that, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1).

My contention is that if the Church of Acts is unsustainable, then Christianity as a whole, is unsustainable. What is the Church but Christians, the Body of Christ? If the Church of Acts is not the church that we witness today, then is it conceivable that the near totality of Christians who flood the doors of these buildings are not really “Christians?” Why should we believe that a “church,” a body of believers, that is not sustainable is of God? Has God given each age or generation a different pattern by which to build His Church? Is God dictated to, by the flightiness of men’s desires and wishes? Does man’s inability to sustain anything limit God’s ability or demands. If God is to build HIS Church, is He like the man who started out to build a house, but forgot to count the cost, and is now made to look like a fool? Is there really a cultural context or formula by which we are to interpret or determine what the “Church” is suppose to be like or act like? With the smorgasbord of church activity presented to the world today, how can we know which is the “real” Church? Should we be looking for something that is pictured in Scripture, or something else? Has the “Church” morphed into something different?

The Scripture above, if read carefully, will lead the enlightened seeker to examine cautiously all the merchandise offered as authentic gems of ancient wisdom. Out of all the fake jewels the world of men and the Devil have produced there remains only One True Gem, do you have it in you to know the difference? The above Scripture holds a clue to the question of, “how can we know which is the ‘real’ Church?” Can you solve the riddle?

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.  ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing (and with fake jewels) but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.’”
(Matthew 7:13-16)

Steve B.

Healthy, Devoted Relationships Part 2

This title is part of:

• The Trowel
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No one would argue the “hopelessness” of it. Trying to bring a group like those folks from Corinth to maturity in Christ? Not possible. That immoral city just down the road from Athens is world-renowned for its drunken depravity. And the “church” there? Well…there have been many magnificent successes (1Cor.6:9-11), but there is still so much junk lurking in the background. What to do? How would Paul respond to the news from Chloe that things weren’t well in the Church in Corinth?

How would you respond to a brother or sister who has been a Christian for maybe a couple of years—and still has a problem with vices and self-indulgence? What about brothers who are bickering with their brothers and sisters, and, believe it or not, taking them to court? What are we to think of those who are still so callous to sexual immorality that they decide to ignore it rather than oppose it? How would you respond to a brother or sister like that? Write them off? Blow them away? Back off and “not waste your time”?

Paul, no doubt, had to come to grips with some of these same possibilities.

It is worth paying very close attention to the fact that whatever it was Paul did… worked! Within six to nine months after he addressed the problem, he could write to the Corinthians and say, “At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter,” “you were all obedient,” “I have boasted about you, and you have not embarrassed me’’ and ‘‘I am glad that I can have complete confidence in you” (2Cor.7:11-16). That is pretty phenomenal success!

Let’s consider this idea of successfully making disciples of Jesus men and women who are still living weak, and even ungodly lives. Yet, while you read and pray through these thoughts from the life of the apostle Paul, bear in mind that the secret of Paul’s success was not in “what he did” as much as in “who he was.” Thus, you will find that many of the changes may need to be wrought in your own life if you are to be a suitable vessel for God to work through to bring about a miracle in someone else’s life.

There is no formula, only God’s ability to create out of nothing, to bring life from death. Many times God will let the one that you are praying for and helping to “teach to obey” Christ’s commands, your “Lazarus,” stay in the stench of death for a long time—just to clearly demonstrate man’s inability to raise anyone from the grave. God delights to glorify His name by rolling back the stone in front of our stained-glass mausoleums and in accomplishing the impossible in our lives. There is no magic formula, only the I AM. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make your heart a means of transportation for the Eternal God in mercy and power.

So, what is the Apostle Paul’s heart in dealing with still-worldly brothers and sisters?

Get Out The Big Guns, Right? Nuke ‘em!

It is definitely true that Paul dealt severely with “…anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater (job, possession, recreation or family worshipper) or a slanderer (“doing God a favor” by constant criticism and complaining), a drunkard or a swindler” (1Cor.5:11). He had such courage and conviction of God’s Truth that he could state very boldly “…for your meetings do more harm than good.” (1Cor.11:17) And “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ” (1Cor.3:1). He had the courage to take a stand and speak out against disobedience and perpetual babyhood. Your usefulness to God will be determined by whether or not you too are willing to pay the price of stepping forward and not idly letting men and women defame the name of the Lord of Glory, carelessly ignoring His Holiness and presuming upon His grace. Like Paul, our brother, “a man like us,” we must dare to get involved.

Now before we jump headlong into “Holy Spiriting (“exhorting,” “warning,” “admonishing”) one another daily so that none are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Heb.3:13, 12:15), we must carefully examine the heart that Paul had for his family in Corinth. That, as it turns out, is by far the most important factor in growing others up into the Head.

Remember, “you who are spiritual should restore one caught in a sin gently” (Gal.6:1). “Spiritual” does not mean that you are smart enough to lead a Bible study, or that men made you a deacon, or that you brought twelve people to Christ last year, or that you preach at seminars (or on the street) “real good.” It means that you have progressed far along the untrampled path of being “conformed to the family likeness of the Son” (Rom.8:29; 1Cor.2:16). You are very much like Jesus in personality, thought life, patience, prayer life, servanthood to the least of your brothers and sisters, and attitude towards material things. “This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did” (1Jn. 2:5-6).

The Holy Spirit says: “You who are spiritual (filled with the Spirit of Jesus) should restore such a one.” The point is not that you must be perfect in order to help someone mature in Jesus. It is just that it is essential to first examine your own heart, “get the log out of your own eye” and make certain that you have a heart that God can use to perform miracles through.

The Heart of One Who Helps Make Disciples

Here is the heart of Jesus in a human named Paul—a heart that God could use to do the impossible:

1) “So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? I wrote as I did so that when I came I should not be distressed by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you” (2 Corinthians 2:1-4).

“Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye and went on to Macedonia” (2 Corinthians 2:12-13).

“For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your affection, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever. Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while” (2 Corinthians 7:5-8).

Notice this about a man who God can use to transform not merely external actions, but hearts—yes, it was necessary to confront them, but he hated it! It did not make his day and give him an ego trip. Yes, he did rebuke them soundly. And to read only those parts of his letter, we might likely judge him harsh and unloving. But the fact is, that to catch your children playing in the freeway without getting the belt out is proof that you don’t love them (Heb.12:5-11). Nevertheless, a loving parent (or under-shepherd in Jesus, or fellow-christian) will hate every minute of the issue of discipline. They would never dream of bragging about how they did such a marvelous job challenging this rebellious one. It will likely remain their secret. That’s love (1Cor.13:4-7).

Paul was virtually devastated by this encounter with the Corinthians, even though they seemed well deserving of harsh rebuke. Though they must do it to stay in Fellowship with God and the saints (1Jn. 1:3-7), a man or woman of God will hate the idea of laying a charge down on the doorstep of a fellow pilgrim—regardless of how much they may seem to need it. Paul said that the writing of the letter was extremely “agonizing” to him. It caused him “great distress” and he literally wept “many tears” as he tried to pen this letter of rebuke and instruction.

Paul, if you recall, was given an “open door” to preach the gospel in Troas (2Cor.2:12). Yet, he was so distraught by his fear that the family in Corinth would reject his word from the Lord, his “oracle of God,” in his letter (lPet. 4:11), that he finally turned his back on the “open door” to go find Titus to see how his rebuke had been received. He had “no peace of mind,” “no rest,” “conflicts on the outside, fears within,” and even regretted having issued the rebuke. All of this pain was not diminished until, at long last, Titus reported to Paul that they still loved him and had “ardent concern” for him. Best of all, the great sorrow that his rebuke brought to the Christians in Corinth led them to a wonderful repentance and “innocence at every point” within six to nine months after he had written them concerning their worldliness.

Here’s the point: Of course, we have no right to be passive while others are jeopardizing their relationships with God and selling their Destiny in Him. Yet, if we can casually demolish someone, even concerning the most obvious sins, without weeping and anguishing, we’re not fit to say a word to them. Test your heart carefully. If you don’t have at least a desire to have compassion, then you do not have God’s permission to speak, whether you are “right” or not. “If I can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not unconditional love, I am nothing” (1Cor.13:2). Amen?!

2) “I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth” (2 Corinthians 1:23).

“So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you” (2 Corinthians 2:1).

Paul, and every man or woman that God will work through, knows when to be wise and not press. Paul knew that there was much to do in this wicked city and in this worldly, immoral group of Christians. (NOTE: Luke 14:33; Luke 9:57-62; Matthew 10:32-39; Acts 3:22-23 are not contradicted by 1 Corinthians 3:1. The Corinthians’ response to truth is the key. See 2 Corinthians 7:8-16. This is a true disciple’s response to convicting truth—not argument, three more years of Greek word studies, and a yawn. Please read these verses carefully and you will discover that it is absolutely impossible that one who calls himself/herself a Christian could remain unchanged when challenged with the Word of God.) He also knew when to bite his tongue. There came a point where Paul knew that he must not “exasperate his children.” He elected to not return and make “another painful visit” to the Church there, even though, at that time, he still had no report that they had repented of the sinful areas that they were engrossed in.

The moral of the story is that there may well be things that we can say, observations that we can make about another brother or sister—true things, accurate things—and, yet, it might actually be sinful to say one word to them about it. Paul knew, as Jesus did, as we must learn, that when we are one with the Father through Jesus, we will not speak one word on our own. Ever. (Jn. 14:10-11, 24; 8:28-29; 17:21; Gal.2:20; Eph.6:19-20; Col.1:9; 1Pet. 4:11) All things that are true are not necessarily right or good to be addressed at that moment in time. Resign yourself to God that you are willing to do whatever He wants: to lovingly address the situation now, or bit by bit over six months, or that you are willing to never confront it at all and simply pray continually that God will use some means to help them leave that sin. You are not God’s policeman. Our God is like any good Father—He’ll not have others randomly disciplining His children (Ps. 50:21, Oba.1:12). There is a time to rebuke—possibly in front of all of the brothers (Gal. 2:11-14; 1Tim. 5:20; Acts 5:1-11). There is also a time to quietly wash the feet of even a known thief like Judas, as Jesus did, letting him continue as treasurer until the last minute. While remaining true to God’s Word and your commitment to representing God’s everlasting government, please be kind and tolerant and generous (Rom. 2:4; 2Tim. 2:25-26; 1Thes.5:14; Lk. 6:37-38). Learn, as Paul, to bite your tongue at times.

3) “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm” (2 Corinthians 1:24).

“Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. He was quite unwilling to go now, but he will go when he has the opportunity” (1 Corinthians 16:12).

Watch this mighty miracle-working Apostle who had seen Christ and, then, several years later, had been transported to a part of heaven itself (Acts 9; 22; 26; 1Cor. 15:8; 2Cor. 12:2). Even the Apostle Paul himself refused to put words in anyone’s mouth, make people conform, or do things just the way he wanted. Certainly God’s principles were never compromised (Gal. 2:14; Tit. 3:10; 1Cor. 5:9-13), yet, the mechanics and “how to’s” were not dictated. This is illustrated above by Apollos’ refusal of Paul’s strong directions (1Cor. 16:12).

Also consider the strong warning and pleadings of an acknowledged prophet of God named Agabus, along with a doctor (who penned a Gospel) named Luke—that were refused by Paul (Acts 21:10-15).

The principle is, of course, that we are not to dictate man-made rules about any spiritual area (“dating,” shorts, Bible study quotas, etc.)—no matter how logical they might be. Jesus, Himself, would not be an “arbiter” of externals (Lk. 12:14). As Paul said: Rules “lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence,” they bring “death,” and they have no ability to change a person’s heart, but only to modify their actions to conform to an accepted norm (Col. 2:23; 2Cor. 3:6).

Because God is the judge of the intentions of the heart, even if the actions are fine (Mat. 5:27-28), it is senseless to focus on behavior modification. Paul cried out with anguish to the Christians in Galatia: “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal. 3:3).

Paul reminded the Corinthians very clearly that he had not and would not “lord it over” their faith, but rather, he had offered himself as a tool for them to enjoy and utilize in their pursuit of a deeper faith in Christ and more full walk in Him (2Cor. 1:24). Certainly “authority” is not an unbiblical idea by any stretch of the imagination (Heb. 13:17,7; 1Cor. 16:15-16; 2Cor. 13:10; 1Thes. 5:12-13), but the objective of anyone investing in the lives of others spiritually is to be a tool for them to find their own faith, not a hammer to make them after one’s own kind, as the Pharisees did (Mat. 23:15). By all means, give all a crystal-clear example that is worth emulating (1Thes. 1:6; 2:10,14; 1Cor. 11:1; Php. 3:17, 4:9; 1Tim. 4:11-16), but remember the words of Jesus, “You are not to allow yourself to be called teacher, father (“discipler”?, etc.) for you have ONE TEACHER—AND YOU ARE ALL BROTHERS” (Mat. 23:5-12).

4) “I wrote as I did so that when I came I should not be distressed by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you” (2 Corinthians 2:3-4).

“Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged, in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds” (2 Corinthians 7:2-4).

“I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well….I am glad I can have complete confidence in you” (2 Corinthians 7:14, 16).

Can you imagine having “complete confidence,” “great pride,” “great encouragement” and “refreshment” in a man who gets drunk during the Lord’s supper and wallows in selfishness, boasting and materialism? How would you feel about a person like that? What about a congregation that seems to be characterized by a wonderful spirituality like that? Would you write them off? Would you “shake the dust off your feet”?

Or, would you be so totally confident in them as to turn around and brag about them to others even before you had heard whether or not they had given those things up? (2Cor. 7:14-16). If you have the heart of Paul, who often had the heart of Christ, you will not criticize and complain about others’ shortcomings—but will actually brag about your family to others and be wholly confident in their future. God does good work! How are you doing? Will others see this quality in you? I have “complete confidence” that they will!

5) “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

“He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (1 Corinthians 1:8).

Here was a guy, named Paul, who had a lawyer’s education and background, knew the scriptures backwards and forwards, had received personal instruction from the Resurrected Jesus, participated in numerous miracles, and brought thousands of men and women to Christ (Phil.3:5, Acts 26:24; 23:6, Gal.1:14; Rom.15:18-l9; Acts 20:35). All of that, and yet he quickly conceded that he was personally unable to accomplish anything in anyone’s life.

Only God can create and cleanse and empower. Paul counted on God to turn his words of stone into the bread of life for his brothers and sisters. Paul knew that only Christ Himself could really reveal the Father and that only the same God who had made him strong could make them strong (Mat. 11:25, 27; Php. 3:15, 2Tim. 2:7; Col. 1:9-11; Eph. 1:17-19; 3:16-19; Acts 20:30-32; 1 Jn. 5:20). He entrusted his brothers and sisters entirely to the One who could “keep them strong to the end” and “complete that which He had begun in them” (Heb. 12:2, 11; 13:20; 1Thes. 5:23-24; 2Thes. 3:3; Jn. 3:21). Paul’s job was to faithfully plant seeds and water and certainly do all that he could do to lay down his life for them (1Thes. 2:8), yet, he humbly recognized that his theology, argument, persuasion or rhetoric could do nothing to transform or mature a soul (Jn. 1:1-12; Rom. 12:3). All he could do was bring the seed of truth in the vessel of a broken and pure life (2Cor. 4:6-7; 2 Tim. 2:20-21) and pray that the Lord of the Harvest would give increase in open hearts.

As for you and I? How could it be any different? Let us be faithful, faith-filled, courageous, relentless, and pure as the precious lamb—and prayerfully lay our burdens for others at the feet of the “Great Shepherd of the sheep.” He will “equip them with everything good for doing His will and work in them what is pleasing to Him” (Heb. 13:20-21).

6) “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

“We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world” (1 Corinthians 4:10-13).

“For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?” (2 Corinthians 2: 15-16)

There is no question that this courageous involvement in others’ lives, spiritually, is very expensive. There is no question whatsoever that the price of being useful to our God before He returns may leave us brutally treated, cursed, slandered or even hungry and thirsty (Lk. 6:24-26). There is no question that if we are “fools for Christ” rather than staunch or “preppy” or a franchise of religious machinery…that we will pay a high price.

Is it acceptable in practical terms in your life that you willingly “make yourself nothing,” “the scum of the earth”? If you dare to get involved in the impartation and serving others into the life and truths of God, you will certainly be a sweet aroma to those with good hearts. It is also true, if you’re really involved in God’s Business of changing lives and drawing them near to Him, that you will be the stench of death to those with unrepentant hearts. And that will cost you, as it did the Son of Man. As the mighty apostle, himself, exclaimed, “Who is equal to such a task?!” He did not, and we do not, take it lightly.

It is an awesome thing to be involved in warfare with the “powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (2 Cor. 10:3-4; Eph. 6:10-12).

Now honestly, when you read the title of this chapter, you had in mind that you would find a formula that would make possible this impossible task of maturing carnal Christians to Christ. Right? My prayer is that you will fully recognize that the “secret” lies in one thing alone: That your heart is hidden in Christ and that you are willing to die even for “the least of these”—“while they are yet sinners.” Your heart is as Jesus’: to purchase men for God, even with your own life, if necessary. There is the secret. Make that your full focus. Crave the God of the Word, the “Alive and active” Word of God, and the People of God, and you will have no more problem than Paul did in maturing carnal Christians. Prepare your heart.

As you forge ahead in laying down your life for your Lord and your brothers and sisters, risk the impossible and unpopular and let it be said of you in heaven, as it was of another mere man: (Acts 13:36)…

“THIS ONE SERVED THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN HIS OWN GENERATION.”