Are you Christian fraud?

One of the most massive and widespread occurrences of identity theft has happened, and it is not even attracting the attention of local, state or national leaders. This particularly insidious method targets a minority group, stealing their most precious possession, and yet even more compelling is that the perpetrator assumes nearly permanent "residency" in the victim's identity. The mastermind behind this worldwide ring has cells in every city and town in America – including operatives in many unsuspecting homes. The evidence of this outrage is right before our eyes, but we have simply chosen to ignore its existence, pretending that the consequences will be insignificant. The "victim" is biblical Christianity, and the operatives of this fraud are millions of Americans, both clergy and laity, who are walking around using that identity with no right to do so! Why have today's churches become largely irrelevant? They have abandoned core beliefs to satisfy their seeker friendly, political correct, feel good membership! As George Barna points out in a recent survey: six out of 10 Christians surveyed believe "that Satan 'is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.'" In addition, only 25 percent strongly disagree that God the Holy Spirit is "a symbol of God's power or presence but is not a living entity." The coup de grace of this snapshot of anarchy is that less than one-half of Christians strongly disagreed that "Jesus Christ sinned when He lived on earth." The first of those beliefs reflects either complete ignorance or rejection of Scriptural truth, while the second and third are clear heresy against orthodox Christian doctrines of the Holy Trinity and the sinless nature and life of Jesus Christ. Many insist that we all have the right to practice Christianity as our conscience dictates. NOT! We have the privilege of living out a faith based on absolute truth as given to us by the Author and Finisher of that faith without error or omission in His written word. If people want to worship their concept of god(which is Idolatry) they have the freedom to do so in America, but that is an enemy of Biblical Christianity. Biblical Christianity teaches that we sinners can come into a personal relationship with the Living Holy God through repentance and believing in the work of Jesus Christ. His Death, burial and Resurrection are the foundational Doctrines of True Biblical Christianity. The nation that has produced the greatest good for the greatest number is teetering on the precipice of civil tyranny and moral anarchy because, foremost, we have rejected the only Source of freedom, His sovereignty of all of His creation and the absolute truth revealed in His Son and written word. In British scholar Harry Blamire's "The Christian Mind," he asserts: “For the secularist, God and theology are playthings of the mind. For the Christian, God is real, and Christian theology describes his truth revealed to us. For the secular mind, religion is essentially a matter of theory; for the Christian mind, Christianity is a matter of acts and facts. The acts and facts which are the basis of our faith are recorded in the Bible. They have been interpreted and illuminated in the long history of the church. So I ask you dear reader; are you a feel good, politically correct and seeker to worship god whom you recreated in your own image or are you a True Biblical Christian? Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” The choice is yours! Christian by name only or Christian in action and Truth!

Do you desire Enlightenment?

Great Day I am in need of the Sunlight of the Spirit! Everyday brings more trouble just as Jesus instructed. I would like to offer a prayer Enlighten me, good Jesus, with the brightness of internal light, and take away all darkness from the habitation of my heart. Enlarge my heart and my desire for your Holiness. Restrain my wandering thoughts and suppress the temptations which attack me so violently. Fight strongly for me, and vanquish these evil beasts — the alluring desires of the flesh — so that peace may come through Your power and the fullness of Your praise resound in the holy courts, which is a pure conscience. Command the winds and the tempests; say to the sea: “Be still,” and to the north wind, “Do not blow,” and there will be a great calm. Send forth Your light and Your truth to shine on the earth, for I am as earth, empty and formless until You illumine me. “Pour out Your grace from above. Shower my heart with heavenly dew. Open the springs of devotion to water the earth, that it may produce the best of good fruits. Lift up my heart pressed down by the weight of sins, and direct all my desires to heavenly things, that having tasted the sweetness of supernal happiness, I may find no pleasure in thinking of earthly things. Snatch me up and deliver me from all the passing comfort of creatures, for no created thing can fully quiet and satisfy my desires. Join me to Yourself in an inseparable bond of love; because You alone can satisfy him who loves You, and without You all things are worthless.” Thomas E. Kempes. Satisfy my longing with your Goodness, Mercy and Grace. Lead me in the Way Everlasting, for the Glory of the Holy Child Jesus! Amen

Consider the Risen Christ!

Up from the grave He Arose, with a mighty Triumph over His foes! What a wonderful thing to know that Jesus did not just pour His life’s Blood upon the Cross of Golgotha’s Hill but overcame the power of sin and Death by His Resurrection from Hades (abode of the dead). It has been over a week since the Church celebrated that marvelous Victory, but what now? Is it Church as usual? Are Christians going to put Jesus back in a box until next year? I pray the answer is Absolutely Not! So many Christians get caught up in the Pagan celebration of Easter with little emphasis on Christ. They mention the Resurrection of Jesus and go about their lives until the next Easter bunny time! I want to challenge you to examine your Easter Celebrations. What does the Easter bunny and egg hunts have to do with the Resurrection of Christ Jesus? Have you ever studied what Easter really means? Did the early Church in the Bible celebrate the Resurrection by having egg hunts to reach children? Best question to ask is; would Jesus go to a Easter egg hunt at His Church? I know this goes against the grain of most people. The only motive of writing this is to ask; is Jesus enough? This World that is in darkness sees what we followers of Jesus are doing. Does the World see the Resurrected Christ exemplified in the Church or only a side issue? Are we as believers putting Jesus first or are we blending the ways of the World with Church? James 4:4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. All I can say is Christ is Risen and has overcame the World! So Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Jesus is ENOUGH!

Has the Christian label become meaningless?

Listen to this article and then pray about your relationship with Jesus!

“Hypocrisy in one Age,” warned Joseph Addison, “is generally succeeded by Atheism in another.” Consider this in light of charges that America is becoming, according to a Trinity College survey, less Christian. It’s not that Americans are converting to other religions, it’s that they are more willing to avow nothing. One researcher blames Christianity’s association with conservative politics for turning people away. Sexual abuse by Catholic priests also tarnished us, he says. Underlying it all is a cultural shift that makes atheism more publicly acceptable. Recognizing this trend, President Obama became the first president to pay homage to nonbelievers in his inaugural address.

Faith surveys are fraught with problems. Opinion pollsters understand that when formulating an answer many respondents ponder what other people are likely to say, and what the pollster thinks. This is because none of us wants to look stupid. While some people who claim Christian faith do so from genuine commitment, then, others likely do so because they think it’s what they ought to say.

Regardless, Christianity is still hip among Americans. Although those claiming to be Christian have decreased from 86 percent in 1990 to 75 percent today, that’s still a sizeable portion. What we ought to care about, however, is not what labels people choose, but what they believe and do. In surveys aimed at discerning Christian worldview (e.g., whether respondents believe that absolute truth exists, that Christ was sinless, etc.), Barna Research Group finds the portion with consistent biblical beliefs holding steady the past dozen years, around 10 percent. Similar surveys reveal disturbing ignorance of dogma among professing Christians.

While the vast majority of Americans claim to be Christian, in other words, a good many of us don’t seem capable of explaining what that means. Little wonder the comically vicious Bill Maher had such a field day filming a mockumentary wherein he accosted Christians about their faith. Not knowing what we believe makes it awfully hard to answer why we believe it. It shouldn’t surprise us if Christians who can’t articulate what they believe have children and grandchildren who don’t even bother to try. And this is exactly what we are seeing, as large numbers of young people stop attending church altogether upon leaving home.

The way many churches respond to declining public interest exacerbates the problem. The Christian church grew when its leaders stressed biblical study and fervent prayer, each of which was considered, in the early church, a means of knowing God. The modern feel-good church, meanwhile, de-emphasizes both in favor of “messages” that are “relevant to my life.” (Don’t tell me what Job said about the imponderable glory of God, tell me how to have fulfilling personal relationships.) That kind of offering can only be as stimulating as its deliverer, which explains why telegenic showmen find their congregations swelling, and so many other churches are shrinking. Eliminate the theologies of Word and prayer, and all you have left is a competition to see who can provide the best circus.

What we are in danger of—in our country, in our churches, in ourselves—is practical atheism. This is not a considered embrace of godlessness. It is instead the slow slide into lives where God is irrelevant. The people who walk away from churches likely haven’t pondered Christian theology and rejected it; they simply haven’t been exposed to theology in the first place. Absent knowledge of—and communion with—the living God, why would anyone in his right mind keep coming back?

Practical atheism isn’t limited to people who abandon church; it extends to all we who drift from Christ, even as we dutifully attend Sunday services. It’s in the brief morning prayer that eventually becomes no prayer at all. It’s in the way we emulate men rather than the God-man. It’s in the way we brood, as if the things that vex us don’t pass through the hands of a loving God. I don’t know if practical atheism afflicts you, but I slip into it every day. Surveys tell us more people are forgoing the Christian label. What ought to concern us is how many—perhaps most of all ourselves—are willing to keep the label without fully living the life it requires.

Jesus is right on Time!

What is the meaning or purpose of Palm Sunday? In Christianity Palm Sunday has been referred to as the Triumphal entry of Christ as the Messiah. I would like to suggest something more significant. Did you know that the entry of Christ before the Passover celebration actually fulfilled Old Testament prophecies? In fact it is so wildly overlooked in Christianity today. In all my years being in the Christian Church I have never heard the Truth of this fulfillment. Prophecy; Daniel 9:24 "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. Seventy Sevens is 490 years. Daniel received the vision of Jesus, the most holy one(anointed), coming into Jerusalem to atone for sin. Now here is the fulfillment of Daniels prophecy; Luke 19:41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-- but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." Notice that Jesus said they did not recognize the TIME of God’s coming. Jesus came precisely 490 years after Daniels prophecy and they did not recognize Him as the Messiah. This is significant in that Jerusalem was destroyed exactly as Jesus predicted, in 70 A.D. as a result of the Jewish people not recognizing His coming. To back that up, consider this; if the Jewish people really believed that Jesus was their Messiah would they have shouted Crucify Him just a few days after they shouted Hosanna (which means save us)? The fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies authenticates the Truthfulness of God’s Word. Thank God the Father He sent His Son Jesus to be are Passover Lamb at just the right time in History!

10,000 and counting!

Hello family and friends. I just wanted to share briefly what the Lord is doing through the blogs and video ministry. I went and calculated the number of views on the Bible Time video's I post on Tangle, youtube, Myspace and wordpress. The numbers are very humbling, 10,000. This is not counting the videos on stickam. I am continuing to receive comments both good and bad. The Message is clear and it is getting out to the people who need most. It is the Grace of God working and you are a part of this ministry. Please keep praying for the harvest of souls. One day when we get to Glory someone may come up to you and say thank you for getting the message of Jesus Christ to me and my family. Think about that and then pray!