789 NE 5th St, Crystal River, Fl
(Click poster or link below)
11-9-2012 Coffee House message taken from Romans 14 and Colossians 1
Archive for the ‘Shared Thoughts’ Category
Don’t settle for weak faith!
Posted: November 10, 2012 in Coffee House, Shared ThoughtsTags: Christ, Faith, faithful, grace, Jesus, love, Obedience
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Effective Faith versus Weak Faith
Posted: November 9, 2012 in Shared Thoughts, Wake Up!Tags: America, Faith, Holiness, Mitt Romney, vote, voting
Paul addressed in Romans 14 some as being “weak in faith,” which we must recognize as being in contrast to those who actually possessed the faith which comes from an unmodified or polluted hearing of God’s Word. Such faith is the reward given only to hearts that are diligently seeking to hear from God’s Spirit and such hearts are then required to walk the path to obtain a true and growing understanding of God’s will. (Surely I need not expound on the error of those with double mindedness, or such as have eyes that are not singled towards Jesus Christ our King.)
Having said all that, I feel I must address the natural tendency of people when hearing such words immediately assume I am contrasting myself with the “weak in faith” and making bold claims of personal insight and clear understanding of God’s will, however that is not my claim or point, and to try to refute with many words is simply a waste of time to all.
Nonetheless, according to Paul’s word, there are those who are accepted in the Lord even though they are “weak in faith” which is evident by their actions being limited in areas of consumption or by their energy or focus being given to a specific day or time. Paul counters such with those who have what I would call an effective faith, (for the Holy Spirit did not compel Paul to contrast the “weak in faith” with the strong in faith). It should be evident to all that those with an effective faith are those who are having ears to hear and are consequently walking by the Spirit untangled from the affairs of this world and effectively laboring for the gory and Kingdom of God. (more…)
What we needed…or what we deserved?
Posted: November 7, 2012 in Shared ThoughtsTags: Election, Obama
Was it what we needed? or what we deserved?
God always gives the people leaders according to their hearts, whether they are humble and seeking God’s glory or arrogantly promoting the lies of humanism, man first.
To the humble and thirsty for righteousness, God always gives them the leaders they NEED that will allow them the liberty from oppressive rule to seek and serve their God. For the latter, arrogant humanistic sort who selfishly seeks the glory of man over the glory of God, God gives them the leader they DESERVE.
Now please do not misunderstand me and think that I feel that Mitt Romney was what America would have needed if we were truly a God seeking people . . . God would have provided one who in truth knew the Light that they may truly see to clearly guide us in the Light, one who had “ears to hear” what God’s Holy Spirit would be speaking to those wanting to listen.
Those who voted for Romney obviously voted contrary to the wisdom and judgment of God for America. Think about that all you believers who so voted . . . you and God voted contrary to each other . . . Morality is not righteousness, goodness is not godliness. We are called to be holy, without which none are going to see God on favorable terms. We cannot compromise faith by looking to the arm of the flesh.
America truly deserves Barrack Hussein Obama.
God’s Unconditional Love
Posted: October 25, 2012 in Devotionals, Shared Thoughts, Study!, Wake Up!Tags: belief, Christ, Christian, encouragement, Faith, faithful, God, grace, Holiness, Holy, hope, humble, humility, religion, repent, works
I hear it all the time, how God loves us all unconditionally. Over the years of having conducted services at a mandatory rehab for people whose crimes were drug related, ministered at homeless shelters and having countless conversations with “believers” who readily admit they are not walking with God as they should, I frequently run into those who enthusiastically confess to me how they know, absolutely know, that God loves them unconditionally and that He accepts them just as they are.
This has led me into many discussions with people about what it means to “believe” and what exactly this “grace” is that these people are boasting about since they know they are saved because of it. Sadly, many have no real understanding of what grace really is, they simply repeat what they were once told, “It is unmerited favor.” It is as if people are convinced that when God looks at them He has on some special “Jesus only” colored glasses because they think God only sees Jesus when He looks at them and not themselves for how they truly are.
Grace is truly an amazing gift of God given to the believer, but there are four things about grace we can readily know from scripture –
1. Grace is sufficient
2. Grace can be frustrated
3. Grace while working similarly in all God’s children, still has a uniqueness to it purpose as it is given to each of us
4. Grace can be received in vain.
789 NE 5th St, Crystal River, Fl
(Click poster or link below)
Nobody is going to stumble into the Kingdom of God. You must take the Promise Land if God is going to give it to you. It’s for the overcomers…
Mt 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
Lu 16:16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it.
Waiting on the Lord
Posted: August 11, 2012 in Coffee House, Shared ThoughtsTags: justified, Logos, Waiting on the Lord
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Message shared at the end of the evening stressing our need, even under the Gospel, to wait on the Lord.
Waiting on the Lord
Men’s meeting – Topic – Predestination
Posted: August 8, 2012 in Shared Thoughts, Study!Tags: Arminianism, Calvinism, Election, Predestination
I was recently asked to share my thoughts on the subject of predestination with some local brothers. Because some could not attend it was requested that it be made a available, so here is a link to it. Sorry if the volume is low. This is by no means a thorough examination of these theories and was conducted pretty much off the cuff since I did not know before hand the questions or which scriptures they would be wanting to examine. Feel free to submit any questions and I will try to respond in a reasonable amount of time.
Men’s meeting – Topic – Predestination
Live for the King!
By David Wilkerson [May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011]
God is more prepared to keep His promises to you than the devil is to ruin you.
Indeed, no matter how near the enemy comes to you, the Lord is all the nearer.
“They draw nigh that follow after mischief; they are far from thy law. Thou art
near . . .” (Psalm 119:150-151). David said, in other words, “God, if my enemies
are drawing so near to destroy me, You are all the nearer in my time of need.”
The Hebrew word for near in this verse connotes “defense.” It means, “I am near
you to defend you.” God says He is especially near to defend the downcast and
brokenhearted:
* “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name
is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite
and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart
of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15).
* “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as
be of a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
Are you a child of God? Does the Lord Jesus live in you? God says He is near to
you in your anguish. Here is His promise to you:
“I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee.
“For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. . . . Since
thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved
thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not:
for I am with thee” (Isaiah 43:1-5).
David saw God as holding him “. . . by my right hand” (Psalm 73:23). He said,
“God not only is near me, but He is walking with me, hand in hand, through this
whole mess. Let all my enemies come after me. I’ve got my hand in the Father’s!”
Moreover, David said God talked to him, giving him counsel and guidance: “Thou
shalt guide me with thy counsel” (verse 24).
Read this devotion online: http://www.worldchallenge.org/en/node/18812?src=devo-email
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When I stand at the Judgement Seat of Christ
And He shows me His plan for me,
The plan of my life as it might have been,
Had He had His way; and I see
And He shows me His plan for me,
The plan of my life as it might have been,
Had He had His way; and I see
How I blocked Him here, and I checked Him there
And I would not yield my will,
Will there be grief in my Savior’s eyes,
Grief though He loves me still?
He would have me rich, yet I stand here poor,
Stripped of all but His grace,
While memory runs like a hunted thing
Down the paths I cannot retrace.
Then my desolate heart will well nigh break
With the tears that I cannot shed;
I shall cover my face with my empty hands;
I shall bow my uncrowned head.
Lord of the years that are left to me,
I give them to thy hand;
Take me and break me, mold me to
The pattern Thou hast planned.
By Martha Snell Nicholson
Love rejoices in truth . . .
Posted: June 10, 2012 in Shared ThoughtsTags: Faith, Jesus, love, Obedience, truth
Love rejoices in truth, that which can be articulated and precisely communicated and proven to be reality in the power of the Spirit. This love is a righteous love springs forth from God’s own nature, as He is love (though love is not God). God’s righteous love always abides in the parameter of His holiness which (His holiness) can in part be revealed to those who seek Him line upon line and precept upon precept.
Those who have indeed been pierced with conviction of their sins against His holiness and through brokenness and contrition have become benefactors of His mercies, have this love imparted to them because He first loved them and revealed to them their state of death and impoverishment of spirit. This imparted love springs forth out of earnest gratitude that God first loved them. Though in truth He judged them dead and impoverish, it was so He might allow His healing grace and mercy restore them if they would receive the truth of their state. It is through this love that God reasoned with the sinner that their sins though as scarlet, they could be made white as snow . . .
But there is a deceitful “love” that counterfeits God’s love which is primarily sensual, or dependent upon “feeling” for confirmation of existence. It tends to ignore any truth beyond the feeling or perception of immediate relevance. It is the love which the Beatles sang of “All we need is love,” while ignoring that which can be known and must be sought out of the wellspring of love, God Himself. I need not speak of the blindness of such folly as we know such wisdom took them down the road to “imagine” there was no religion . . .
Love is not the answer. At best it is only a witness to the answer, which is God’s grace, mercy and righteousness working in the heart of man, having fruit unto holiness and the end, everlasting life. To ever exalt love apart from God’s righteousness and holiness is to seduce the partakers of such love back into deceitfulness of sin . . . we shall not die as long as we love . . .
Without faith it is impossible to please God, but like love it too can be counterfeited. But true faith-(fulness) which pleases God works by righteous love, not just love. It rejoices in truth and hates lies, it doesn’t cover them up. The love that saves men is only that which they received from the God of Truth and Love when they received a love for the truth that they might be saved. This is love is the heartbeat of true faith which is never governed by feelings, but stands solely upon the truth of what God has spoken, even when emotions and feelings are witnessing against it. It is called conviction and faith; these please God and save men, causing them to fear God, hate sin, and to depart from every wicked work. Only then can true love be perfected so as not to be swayed by emotions because it abides in God’s truth and is governed by the God who imparted it through the revelation of His person and will in righteousness and holiness.
God has no greater love or joy than when His children love the truth.
Psalm 51:6 Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
Live for Jesus Christ the King!
Get Your House in Order
Posted: May 30, 2012 in Shared ThoughtsTags: Awake, Christian, End times, Faith, Jesus, judgment, Obedience
The following is a repost from http://www.watchmanscry.com. Brother Nathan Neal wrote this back in 09/27/09 and just reposted it with the following intro –
Dearest Brethren,
As many of you know we are facing some great challenges in the coming future. The economy is teetering on the edge of a cliff. The drums of war are sounding. Fukushima Reactor 4 is being held together by the mercy of God. The threats of upheaval are pronounced and they are many. With all of these issues facing us, one can become overwhelmed with despair. But despair can only thrive in our hearts and minds if we overlook God. Beyond all of the fog of events, we must not forget that God is still on His throne. He is watching us. He also has His Mercy and Grace freely available to any of us that seek it. So in light of the present time, I felt led to share with you a very special sermon that the Holy Spirit gave me to preach several years ago. This message is applicable now more than ever. I pray that it will be a blessing to you all and also, please share it with others.
In Christ,
Nathan Leal
Watchman’s Cry
Get Your House in Order
Today’s message is about a Biblical character that is found in the Old Testament. This person worked for God and one day something happened to him!
……Something unexpected!
On this day, he had a visitation. God said something. It was a message.
Most likely, the day of this message began like any other day; He woke up in the morning. He said, “Hello” to his family. He ate his breakfast. He got dressed and he went to work.
As he walked by his neighbors, he probably said, “Hello and good morning,” to them.
But this day was not a typical day because on this day he received a message that would change everything for him.
Who was this person? His name was Aaron. He was the brother of Moses and he was also the High Priest of Israel.
As the High Priest, his duty was to minister to God on behalf of the children of Israel who were dwelling in the wilderness.
This Biblical account is found in Numbers, chapter 20.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.” Numbers 20:23 – 24
The water of Meribah; this was the place where the children of Israel were in need of water. They complained to Moses that they had no water and as usual, they blamed him for it.
Moses took the matter to God. God instructed Moses to speak to a large rock at Meribah and water would then flow out of it.
Unfortunately, Moses was angry at the people for complaining and in his anger, he failed to speak to the rock. Instead, he struck it! And worse, he struck it twice!
Because of this disobedience, God became angry with Moses. (The reason for God’s anger is an entire other sermon, but in summary, the rock represented Our Savior Jesus and His death on the cross. It was not to be struck twice.)
This brings us to where we are in this account.
As we just read, God delivered a message to Moses;
“…Aaron shall be gathered unto his people…”
As Moses received this message, can you picture Aaron’s reaction? Aaron may have been standing next to Moses or nearby, when he got the news of his life.
I can imagine his thoughts after he heard those words, “Uh… gathered? What does that mean?”
God explained more…
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (Ps 133:1-3)
The above psalm is the fourteenth psalm of fifteen which have been grouped together and are known as the “Songs of Degrees” or “Steps of Ascension.” The assemblage of these fifteen psalms have drawn considerable reasoning from commentators over the centuries, though none have been able to determine just when they were originally so group together, especially because they are not all penned by the same human author. Nonetheless, a prayerful reading and mediation of them will leave a humble seeker pierced to their heart of both their divine inspiration and order.
It is a very common consensus among many commentators that these psalms were sung in their respective order by the male Jewish pilgrims as they progressed along their three annual journeys back to Jerusalem for Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Festival of Weeks) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). Therefore, before I delve into the importance of the Songs of Degrees and ultimately Psalm 133, I would first like to succinctly touch on the significance of those High Holy Days and why God required these cyclical pilgrimages back to Jerusalem.
Unity, it is like the precious ointment . . .
Posted: April 11, 2012 in Devotionals, Shared ThoughtsTags: Body of Christ, Christian, Precious Ointment, Unity
(Sorry for the posting confusion over this post.)
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (Psalm 133:1-3)
I am currently writing a series of articles now about unity which I hope to complete in the next couple of days. The subject is one that has been on my heart for a long time, years . . . and to be honest, I am greatly sadden by the fact that biblical unity is something I have rarely experienced as a Christian. Certainly not to the degree it is displayed in Psalm above; which is actually the core text for the final article I am writing. Since it is one of the “Songs of Degrees” in Psalms, I will also post on just what that means and why the journey to Jerusalem was required of all male Jews three times a year.
But just think about it, unity as a precious ointment? On the head, bread and garment of the high priest? Certainly you can see the magnificent significance. Yet at best I have only encountered what seem to be brief moments of such unity before it was spoiled either by the rise religious egos or successfully battered spiritually with demonic assaults of false accusations and suspicions. I know there are many who may feel they’ve experience unity, but I would ask simply if it met the test of the verse 2 above, was it truthfully a godly unity (I pray so), or was it just another comfortable carnal/religious compromise saturated with warm humanistic love that was nonetheless failing to wholly embrace the offense of the cross to their flesh?
A History of Passover vs. Easter
Posted: April 7, 2012 in Shared ThoughtsTags: Easter, Passover, Resurrection, Sabbath, Sunday
As far as I am aware, the KJV is the only translation which has “Easter” mentioned in Acts 12:4. The Greek word “Pascha” which was translated “Easter” is used a total of 27 times in the New Testament, 26 times being properly translated “Passover.” Why in Acts it wasn’t so translated by the KJV translators in Acts one can only speculate, but reasonable logic would attribute it to residual influence of Catholicism. The following is a simple article I re-posted touching briefly on the history of Passover versus Easter from Bereans Online.
A Return to Orthodoxy
A History of Passover vs. Easter
“He said to them, ‘All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.’” Mark 7:9
In the modern evangelical church, there are three days of special significance– Christmas, Easter, and the weekly Sunday “worship day”. Many Christians do not know how these days came to be of special significance – they simply assume that they have always been – and that celebrating Christmas, Easter, and Sunday “worship” are orthodox1. Most Christians do not know that these days were not celebrated by the early church and there is no biblical basis for them – but instead they were established later in church history by the Catholic Church. Even the Roman Catholic Church does not claim these days as biblical – but rather that the Church had the authority to establish them2.
There is nothing wrong with keeping traditions in and of themselves. The danger comes when we declare our traditions as “God-given” – or even replace God-given commands with man-made traditions. So as not to be found following the “traditions of men” which oppose God’s Word, we need to reexamine what is indeed orthodox and biblical regarding what is commonly called “Easter”.
It’s Easter again, what exactly happened at the tomb?
Posted: April 2, 2012 in Shared ThoughtsTags: Christian, Easter, Faith, Jesus, Resurrection, Sabbath, Sunday, Tomb, victory
Trips to the Tomb
I have posted this before, but since it is Easter this coming Sunday I figured it would be a good repost for those who may have missed it. I hope it blesses you.
For centuries there has been much confusion when people try to reason the different accounts of Jesus’ resurrection as recorded by the apostles. The fact that they all seem to have a different story to tell does not help. Perhaps, a good way to consider their seemingly different reports is to view them like transparent overlays, similar to the one’s we have seen in books showing the skeleton, then the nerves and blood vessels, organs, muscular and finally the skin and hair.
The Gospels, similarly, are each reporting different events which had taken place around a major singular occurrence, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact is that these different events are recorded in God’s word and are therefore true. Perhaps the answer to the confusion is to consider that there were multiple trips made to the tomb.
The best way to determine the possible order of these trips to the tomb is to consider the different details that have been given about the time of day and light of the sun. Was the sun going down or coming up? These questions are actually quite easy to answer. However, we must remember that the Sabbath, like all the other biblical days, began and ended with sundown, see Gen. 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31 and Lev. 23:32.
Gates of the City 