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The Message
Time is Running Out – Do you Choose God or Not God?
Time is running out in the history of mankind. The choice between God and Not God must be made, and made now.
Salvation Deadline
“A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you” – John 12:35-36
Jesus spoke not only of His impending death but to men and women in this time as well. The light that will soon be leaving the world refers to the impending departure of the Holy Spirit when we will be reunited with Christ by the Rapture of the church.
Time is running out. If you are reading this you know there is a decision to be made. There is no open-ended invitation to choose God, to choose Jesus Christ. The offer has been made.
Did you believe the Salvation lie?
Has anyone told you that the offer of relationship with Jesus has no expiration date? Why would you believe such a thing? What, in your experience, would support such a concept other than the convenience of a promise with no requirement?
- When job offers are made they seldom come without a deadline for your decision.
- When an offer of marriage is made does the lady have years or decades to decide while her suitor waits patiently for her to make up her mind?
- If you want your vote to count in the election this fall will the election boards stay open until you decide?
Put yourself first
Call me the next time you get a great job offer. I’ll tell you to take your time so you can get in those last vacation plans. Don’t let that employer rush you. Put yourself first.
Call me the next time the man who loves you proposes marriage. I’ll tell you to take your time to be sure you won’t get a better offer. Don’t let that guy rush you. Put yourself first.
Call me if you’re having a tough time picking a candidate. I’ll tell you to take your time so you can really be sure; after all, this is an important decision. Don’t let any pushy campaign force you into a corner. Put yourself first.
When you lose the job to someone who accepted the offer; when you learn that the one who once loved you married someone else, and when you wake up the morning after the election to learn that the one candidate you absolutely detested won – go ahead and blame me for telling you to wait.
You can blame me for the rest of your life but it won’t change anything. When you chose not to decide you made your choice.
The Offer of Salvation has a Deadline
Who told you that the offer of salvation is open-ended? John’s gospel tells you plainly that it is not.
I’m telling you today that time is running out. If your choice is to wait to “be sure” or until the time is convenient, then here are the verses from John that describe your fate:
“Even among the rulers many believed in Him, but they did not confess Him… for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” – John 12:42-43
“Therefore they could not believe because… he has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts.” – John 12:39-40
Whoever told you that the offer for relationship with Jesus Christ has no expiration date will be perfectly content to accept the blame. You, however, will face the consequences alone.
You must choose: God or Not God?
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Gethsemane and Calvary
It is impossible for humans to fully grasp the truth of Gethsemane and Calvary. One can intellectually relate to Christ’s suffering in the Garden and on the Cross from an historical perspective or one may experience their spiritual impact as a new creation in Christ.
Gethsemane - unknowable agony
The gap between the intellectual and the spiritual cannot be bridged by mere mortals. You can know about Gethsemane and Calvary or you can feel their impact.
Gethsemane and Calvary – Incomparable
Unbelievers scoff at the importance of Christ’s crucifixion because they have no frame of reference for comparison.
Throughout the centuries there have been men and women martyred for their faith in unspeakable ways. Each of these faithful were tortured unto death as was Jesus. His death was a human death, but that is where the similarity ends.
“We can never fathom the agony in Gethsemane, but at least we need not misunderstand it. It is the agony of God and Man in one, face to face with sin. We know nothing about Gethsemane in personal experience. Gethsemane and Calvary stand for something unique; they are the gateway into Life for us.” – Oswald Chambers
There are two distinct differences between the death of Jesus Christ and the death of a martyr. The first is simple enough; Jesus was not martyred. Jesus was born into the world from outside of the world for one purpose – to die and rise again.
The second difference is unknowable except in the spiritual sense. What happened between the moment Jesus “gave up his spirit” and Easter morning? No one knows, nor is it possible to know in an intellectual sense. The simplest explanation is that Jesus was separated from God. Only a human spirit made new by the Holy Spirit can know in any way what being separated from God means.
This is Holy Week. As you prepare for Good Friday and Easter, please consider this message from Oswald Chambers.
Never tolerate the idea of martyrdom about the Cross of Jesus Christ. The Cross was a superb triumph in which the foundations of hell were shaken.
The Cross did not happen to Jesus: He came on purpose for it.
The Cross is not the cross of a man but the Cross of God, and the Cross of God can never be realized in human experience.
When we get to the Cross, we do not go through it; we abide in the life to which the Cross is the gateway.
The Cross is the point where God and sinful man merge with a crash and the way to life is opened - but the crash is on the heart of God.
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Rapture and Revelation
Preface to “Rapture and Revelation”
by Lynn Baber, Ark Press. Releasing Spring 2012
Rapture and Revelation
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This is the End Time.
Rapture and Revelation will not tell you what to believe, but it will ask you why you believe what you believe.
False teaching is the greatest hazard for today’s Christians. How many of your core beliefs are the result of false teaching that originated in false prophecy? Rapture and Revelation will challenge you to examine what you believe and compare it to the source – God’s Word.
Are you sure you know why you believe what you believe?
The End Time is populated with depressed, disillusioned people in despair. Fear lurks everywhere. If you believe the absolute truth of God there is no reason for depression, disillusionment, despair, or fear.
There are as many unique relationships between a human and God as there are humans. Just as every parent-child relationship is different so is the experience of every child of the King of Kings who pursues right relationship with Him.
The experience of any friend, pastor, teacher, or writer will not be the same as yours. Yours will not be the same as mine. We are children of the same true God but no two will ever walk an identical path of salvation.
Our beginning was the same and our end will be the same because God’s Word is unchanging. Rapture and Revelation is a tool for your use, intended to enlighten and support you in these final days. No one knows the day or hour, but this is the End Time.
Are you really ready?
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” – 1 John 4:1,3
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Goodbye popularity. Being “refined” in the End Time
Common wisdom would have you believe that the larger your “posse” the better your message.
Do you seek Truth or Popularity?
This is a prime example of where common wisdom and truth diverge for Christians.
Writers seek readers. Speakers seek an audience. Pastors seek congregants. Marketers seek to convert inquiries into sales. Television shows seek viewers. Websites seek visitors. The common wisdom of the world challenges you to shape your message to gain the most popularity.
“And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” - Mark 13:13
Tempted by Popularity
You cannot serve two masters. Your message will either be crafted to gather the most followers or it will be consistent with God’s Word which will lead to rejection by the worldly.
Last year I worked to increase traffic to both my personal website and the ministry site. Not surprisingly, the topics that attracted the most attention were the messages that did not highlight God. Faith is a popular topic; Jesus Christ is not. Personal improvement articles are widely read, but not articles about error and sin.
It wasn’t too long ago that I realized I was entering new territory. I was being asked to refine my message. The seduction of watching rising readership statistics needed to be resisted in favor of speaking God’s truth. The problem with God’s truth is that, by definition, beliefs to the contrary must be false. Making definitive statements about what is right and what is wrong is not a good plan if you seek popularity.
The heat of the refining fire increases in the End Time
Are you beginning to feel the heat? Whose approval do you seek? The messages coming out of different “centers of faith” are beginning to diverge. God is tightening the leash and refining the message in some while others are telling their audiences that love, brotherhood, faith, and good intentions will win the day. Perhaps these alone will win the day but they will not win any eternal prize.
The gap between the church of Jesus Christ and the world is widening. No matter how much you love someone, if the horse they ride and the horse you ride travel in opposite directions you simply cannot ride together for long.
The End Time is a time of separation and a time of choosing. There is one truth and only one source for that truth.
“But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, If they can save you in the time of your trouble.” - Jeremiah 2:28
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A Trinity in Transition
Rightly Dividing Truth from Error – Ministries and Messages in 2012
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Kirk Cameron, Homosexuality and the New Testament – Christianity is out-of-step with Jesus Christ
Kirk Cameron, actor and evangelical Christian, appeared last week on the Piers Morgan show. When asked about his position on same-sex marriage Cameron replied:
Kirk Cameron (Facebook profile)
“Marriage is almost as old as dirt, and it was defined in the garden between Adam and Eve. One man, one woman for life till death do you part. So I would never attempt to try to redefine marriage. And I don’t think anyone else should either,” Cameron said. “So do I support the idea of gay marriage? No, I don’t.”
The backlash began almost before Mr. Cameron finished the interview.
“In this interview, Kirk Cameron sounds even more dated than his 1980s TV character,” Herndon Graddick, senior director of programs at GLAAD [Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation], wrote “Cameron is out of step with a growing majority of Americans, particularly people of faith who believe that their gay and lesbian brothers and sisters should be loved and accepted based on their character and not condemned because of their sexual orientation.”
Alan Thicke, the actor who played Cameron’s father in Growing Pains, chimed in on Twitter with this quip: “I’m getting him some new books. The Old Testament simply can’t be expected to explain everything.”
There are two obvious problems with both Alan Thicke’s response and that from GLAAD.
Faith is not a democracy. The growing majority in America of “people of faith” that supports gay marriage has no impact on truth. They can scream, debate, threaten, and coerce – but no matter their number or the volume of their outcry they cannot change what is true one iota. Their humanistic doctrine might influence what others believe but won’t make those beliefs any less false.
Before moving on to the second problem let’s look at the simple error of this majority faith position.
“People of Faith” and the lies of humanism, social consciousness, fairness, and empathy
In order for faith to be beneficial you must have faith in something or someone worthy of said faith. Where does GLAAD and the “growing majority” place their faith? In what or in whom? In humanism? In social conscious? In fairness? In empathy? There is no foundational definition in any of these and certainly no identity.
Faith in who? In what? Alan Thicke may remember the Old Testament experience of Noah. The majority of the world chose a different path than he and his family. They stayed on that errant path until they drowned in a very large company. That large company would probably be included in the “growing majority” today. Numbers do not dictate truth.
This growing faith community is like the Occupy Movement. Ask any 10 people about their faith or the Movement and you’ll get an entire range of responses. There is no central faith and no foundational movement. The unifying doctrine appears to be that “What I want dictates what I believe.”
“My truth is my truth and your truth is your truth.” Really? In other words there is no real truth which means there is no real who or what that is the object of faith.
There will be no room on the next “Ark” for these people of faith because they don’t have faith in anything real.
The second error deals with Homosexuality and the New Testament.
Spreading the lie that Jesus never said anything against homosexuality.
Mr. Thicke’s tweet implied that the Old Testament admonitions against homosexual behavior have been replaced by the love and grace of the New Testament. How many times has this ridiculous statement been made?
“Jesus never said anything against homosexuality.”
The only people who would even consider the absence of red-letter type addressing gay marriage are those who don’t believe the red-letter type anyway. Jesus never said not to abort babies. Of course, this growing majority of “people of faith” usually think abortion is perfectly acceptable behavior as well. But none of this is really relevant to the problem of Mr. Thicke’s comment.
Christians who do not confess Jesus Christ as Lord are not really Christians. Christians who do not believe in a trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not Christians. Christians who separate the persons of the Trinity are not Christians, but christians. There is as much difference between being Christian and a christian as there is between God and a god. One is a truth and reality the other is symbolic of something open to interpretation by each person. No god subject to definition by man has any power.
Christians have left Jesus Behind
God is Jesus. Jesus is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God. This is the trinity presented in both testaments of the Bible.
If God declares anything sinful then Jesus declared it sinful. God clearly states the sin of homosexual behavior. “Christians” who divide God and Jesus are followers of a faith that has nothing to do with the God of the Bible or the Savior who died on Calvary.
Jesus will judge homosexual behavior based on the fundamentals of relationship He established and shared with us in the book of Genesis.
Kirk Cameron has faith in Someone real. Those who disagree with his position on marriage have faith in something or someone else. Faith in a generic concept is not faith but delusion. Kirk Cameron starred in the movie Left Behind, which initiated conversation and concern about the concepts of Rapture and Tribulation . This growing majority in America of people of faith who support gay marriage will be left behind.
God’s edict regarding marriage is not out-of-step with anyone who ultimately matters. The question is, are you out-of-step with Jesus Christ? Are you more concerned about being left behind by those with faith in an unidentified something, or left behind by Christ? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch Cameron’s movie.
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There are many news articles on this issue. Here is a link to just one. Morgan/Cameron Interview
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My next book, Rapture and Revelation, continues and expands the issue of why you believe what you believe. False-teaching abounds. The time to choose has arrived. Will you be on the new “Ark” or will you be left behind with the majority?
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12 Questions Jesus Asks – Discover the status of your relationship with Christ
Is your faith strong enough to banish fear from your life? Are you certain you know the true status of your personal relationship with Jesus? By the time you’ve answered the last question you’ll have a pretty good idea.
Will there be faith in the world?
This is a timely and powerful exercise if done properly.
12 Red-Letter Questions Jesus Asks
- Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your lifespan? (Matt 6:27)
- To what shall I compare this generation? (Matt 11:6)
- Did you never read the scriptures? (Matt 21:42)
- Why this commotion and weeping? (Mark 5:39)
- Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I command? (Luke 6:46)
- Where is your faith (Luke 8:25)
- If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest? (Luke 12:26)
- If I tell you about earthly things and you will not believe, how will you believe when I tell you of heavenly things? (John 3: 12)
- Do you realize what I have done for you? (John 13:12)
- Have I been with you for so long and still you do not know me? (John 14:9)
- But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth? (Luke 18:8)
- Do you love me? (John 21:16)
In this End Time it is imperative that you are settled in your faith. I think of question eleven every day when I watch the news.
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The Bible Speaks to Employment, Taxes, Entitlements, and Charity
There is nothing in life or death that is separate and apart from your decision to walk with Jesus Christ or to walk away from Him. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded. God is either in everything and above everything or there is no God. This rule is true even in the fiscal aspects of your life.
Gathering what you reap.
Jesus speaks to the issue of how you spend what you earn as well as honoring the commitments you make. The decision about how you spend, save, or give away what is yours is not subject to the opinion or doctrine of others. In this day it is important that you know why you believe what you believe.
Here is a concise review of relevant scriptures. While not exhaustive, this brief overview paints a clear and consistent picture. Compare the message of the Bible to what you hear in the media then decide which you will follow.
Jesus Speaks about Taxes
As citizens of a nation or community Christians are required to pay legal taxes. Jesus spoke to this issue in both Matthew 22:17-21 and Matthew 17:24-27.
The Pharisees asked Jesus, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
When the matter of the Capernaum temple tax came up Jesus reminded Peter that taxes are required of strangers and not “sons”. He then instructed Peter to go catch the first fish in the sea and, “when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
Taxes are a commitment agreed to under the terms of citizenship. The political system establishes what is a legal tax. If you wish to change the tax, change the politicians. Do not, however, buy into the rhetoric about what kind of and how much tax Jesus would require. Any opinion of this sort is anti-scriptural and intended to manipulate the audience.
Jesus Speaks About Employment Contracts
Jesus addresses terms of employment and compensation in Matthew 20:13-15. When vineyard workers complained that they did not get their fair share compared to what others received Jesus reminded them of the contract they agreed to.
“Friends, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?”
There is no scriptural support for paying more than what was agreed to or for working less than what was agreed to. The worker did not have to work in the vineyard and has no basis for crying foul when paid what he willingly agreed to.
Jesus Speaks to the Right to Spend What is Yours
In the parable of Matthew 20:10-14 here is what the vineyard owner responded to the worker who complained about what he was given:
Jesus said, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?”
Charity is a free gift given out of love, not law or guilt. Entitlements are not charity. Entitlements are 100% politics. Just because some good things come from entitlements, one could argue that more suffer from them than benefit. Supporting the able-bodied who will not work is anti-biblical not an example of Jesus’ teaching.
“For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat”. – 2 Thessalonians 3:10
So what does the Bible say about charity?
The Bible Speaks to Charity
Entitlements are not charity. But how is the word used in scripture? 1 Timothy 1:5 illustrates the Biblical definition of “charity.” Here are two translations. In one the word used is “love” and in the other, “charity.”
1 Timothy 1:5:
“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:” - (King James)
“Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,” - (New King James)
Charity and love are obviously so closely related in definition that the original word may be translated as one or the other. Entitlements are politics; charity is love.
The Bible Limits on Entitlement
Read what 1 Timothy chapter 5 says on the topic of who is a real widow that may properly be supported by the church or society.
3 Honor widows who are really widows. 4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents; for this is good and acceptable before God.
8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 9 Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number,
11 But refuse the younger widows
16 If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.
These verses tell us that the responsibility of caring for family belongs within the immediate family. If no family members are willing then the church may step in to provide for those who cannot provide for themselves. The operative word is CANNOT, not those who don’t want to.
There never has been enough to care for everyone who would like to be cared for. Never has been and never will be. God’s Word addresses the issue and is pretty clear. You help those who are helpless lest all be spent on those who are able but unwilling to provide for themselves. As for those who choose not to support their own, verse 8 tells us they are worse than unbelievers.
Old Testament Entitlements
Jesus told us the poor would always be with us. There were entitlements in the Old Testament. The Jewish law included this limitation to farmers:
‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’” Leviticus 23:22
Ruth encountered Boaz while gleaning in his field. Ruth was a widow but young and able-bodied. The error of a society that ignores God’s Word idolizes entitlements. The law in Leviticus required that the means for the poor and widowed to gather food be available.
Entitlements in 2012 require the farmer to reap, glean, and clean the corners of his fields, and to package and provide home delivery to those on the dole at his own expense. There are some who believe that the “fair share” of the entitled must cater to their preferences lest their dignity suffer. If the poor or widowed doesn’t want to grind and bake the grain then the farmer is required to provide something more to their taste.
Christians Will Be Known By their Love – Charity
Christians are to be known by their love (and charity) for one another. Do you care for those in your immediate family? Do you know any Christian who does not care for his or her minor children? For elderly parents or grandparents?
There is no issue or concern that God somehow overlooked or forgot. His Word is open to you in the Bible and through relationship with Jesus Christ. Even on issues of employment contracts, taxes, entitlements, and charity – God speaks.
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Why there is a media double standard on Faith issues – Obama and Santorum
The title of this post could be, “The God Who is vs. The god of your imagination” or “God speaks for Himself.”
Obama and False Theology
The talking heads and fair-and-balanced panels on news programs today are debating whether there is a double standard in the reporting and result of Christian-speak. The players facing off this week are Mr. Obama and Mr. Santorum.
The President gave his interpretation of the Beatitudes during last week’s national prayer breakfast. It is being reported that Obama preaches a gospel message that proves that Jesus would raise taxes.
God Established Absolute Truth
Rick Santorum, on the other hand, speaks of God who established absolutes about what is true and what is not; the same God who requires righteousness and will judge what is sinful. That gospel message is too extreme, too divisive, too exclusionary, and too dangerous for main-stream media and perhaps Main Street, USA.
The media holds up Obama’s “theology” as main stream and practical – and nice. Mr. Santorum’s position that such theology is errant creates headlines that imply Mr. Santorum should be disqualified from office because he may actually believe what he says. And so the question of whether or not a double standard exists is being debated.
Faith – Media Double-Standard or Media Agreement?
I submit that the issue of whether or not there is a double standard is not the relevant point. As usual, the question is a red-herring intended to disguise the real conversation. What is important to consider is that Mr. Obama speaks of a different god than the one to whom Mr. Santorum prays.
Mr. Obama and the main-stream media (who actually believe in a deity) believe in a god that fits neatly into the standard they conceived of as a useful and acceptable deity. They work under the assumption that God and Jesus must believe as they do and will serve their purpose. Any god who would not agree to their terms is not a god they can get behind. So, they mold god into a graven image; an idol who is powerless and inconsistent – but is reliably obedient.
The concept of god being a helper, an assistant, a useful tool when necessary… is not unique to Mr. Obama and his fellows. It is a belief shared by many “Christians.”
Mr. Santorum believes in the God of the Bible who spoke the world into creation and made man from a tiny smear of dust. There is no reconciliation to be made between the God Who is and a god who is not. It is blasphemy to those who believe in Mr. Obama’s god to agree with what Mr. Santorum suggests.
Obama does not speak for God – God speaks for Himself
Don’t get angry or frustrated when you hear what is being said on television or on the net. The Bible told us this would happen.
Neither logic or argument will convince either Obama or Santorum that they are wrong. Discernment is becoming the daily work for those in the family of Jesus Christ.
Preach the gospel in word and deed. Witness to those who have ears open to hear and eyes that see clearly. Don’t cast the pearl of God’s grace before “swine” who will only trample it in the dirt.
Salvation – Obama and Santorum
There is no possible for way for anyone to know the status of Mr. Obama’s or Mr. Santorum’s relationship with God. One moment Saul was the mortal enemy of Jesus Christ and the next he was the Apostle Paul who penned a great share of God’s Word.
Seek truth. Ask for faith. Look and inquire in the right place and you will find both. The place is God’s Word, not in the news or commentaries.
God speaks for Himself.
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A discussion of the difference between God/god, Jesus/jesus, Grace/grace, and Christian/christian is included in the new book I will release later this spring, Rapture and Revelation. To keep up with the progress you can find Rapture and Revelation on Facebook or subscribe to Amazing Grays Ministry updates by entering your email address in the box in the right column.
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Spreading “Fertilizer” at Brazos Trails Cowboy Church
Pastor Dave at Brazos Trails Cowboy Church invited Amazing Grays Ministry to share a message last Sunday morning. We thank him for the opportunity and the very warm welcome we received.
Bo helps me deliver a message.
To be perfectly honest, this was the first time we spoke during an actual church service. We’ve been to churches, taken Bo to church with us, spoken to church groups, and done round pen programs at church arenas – but never on Sunday morning.
While the foundational pillars of our message never change, I still spent quite a bit of time preparing to deliver a message suitable for the occasion.
Reworking the Message
Several times during prayer and at least once in the middle of the night, I reached for pen and paper and drew up yet another new outline for the talk. Most of you who struggle to bring only spirit-directed messages know that regardless of how much you prep sometimes the Holy Spirit changes everything right before you begin.
Brazos Trails was another example of the Spirit at work. As I sat in the third row waiting to go up front I realized my hands were cold and my mind was a blank. The wireless mic was ready but I didn’t have one outline left in my head. I told the Lord, “I am willing, just make me able.”
My mind went blank
As I wordlessly prayed for assistance I was reminded of the purpose of Amazing Grays Ministry. We are to be fertilizer to the church of Jesus Christ on earth. Our message is always one of faith that overcomes fear through Christ.
Remember, I spent decades as a horse breeder and trainer and I live in a barn. I have moved countless tons of fertilizer from horse stalls to the manure spreader over the years and will do it all over again today.
My husband and I are well-acquainted with fertilizer. When it is applied properly it produces fruit in sweet abundance. When used improperly it just stinks.
Messages of faith over fear.
Two Scriptures Tell the Whole Story
That little reminder put me back on track just before I stood up to go forward. The program was simple and based on the bookmark we use as a business card. I knew the bookmark would come in handy and we made them available to everyone. Why take notes when the scriptures are on the bookmark?
- The scripture on the front is 2 Corinthians 5:17, the wonderful gift of being a new creation in Jesus Christ.
- The scripture on the back of the bookmark is John 16:33, the promise that while we will have tribulation in the work, Jesus Christ has overcome the world.
After the service I spoke with two people who didn’t attend Brazos Trails but were led to visit last Sunday. Both had read or were reading Amazing Grays, Amazing Grace. When they saw me they knew why they were there.
If you have the opportunity, visit Brazos Trails Cowboy Church in Weatherford, Texas. It is vibrant, has a great arena program, and the Spirit of God is at work – and we were blessed by the experience.
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Zero-based Christianity — WHY you believe WHAT you believe.
Why you believe what you believe is a matter of life and death. From the moment you were born the memory banks in your brain have been accumulating truth, tradition, assumptions, fables, bad translations, and false teaching.
Discovering the Only Truth
The process of judging every notion, assumption, and “truth” against the Word of God is the basis of what I call ‘Zero-Based Christianity’.
Zero-Based Christianity
Much, or most, of what you think you know to be true may be inaccurate, incomplete, or just plain false. When it comes to faith there is only one reliable source, the Word of God interpreted to each child of the King by the Holy Spirit. There is no second way.
In the End Time there is as much error in the message of those who preach Christ as in the words of those who do not. One of the greatest benefits to the work of the Enemy against the family of Christ in 2012 is our lack of self knowledge, discernment, and the elevation of opinion into truth.
Examples of False “Truths”
- The genius intellects of the ancient world thought the seat of the soul was physically centered in the heart. Not true.
- Scientists were positive the earth was flat. Not true.
- Santa Claus does not exist, yet most American kids are sure he is real because society and their parents told them so. Then the kids find out it was a lie.
- When asked “Where did I come from?” my husband’s parents and grandparents answered, “We found you under the front porch.”
You can probably think of better illustrations that these, but the point is that what was once the “gospel truth” is frequently disproved.
Zero-Based Christianity and Eternal Destination
What you believe is a matter of eternal destination because what you have faith in will determine if you will rise to meet Christ or spend eternity apart from God.
Throughout our lives we learn by experience that things we previously accepted as true were not. Society and the world have accepted some pretty weird things that later generations discovered to be false.
Everyone is searching for more faith as the reality of the End Time begins to sink in. The beginning of increasing your faith in what you believe is to know why you believe it.
Bible Study Exercise
Make a list of the top 10 things you believe then look for supporting evidence in the Bible. When you read God’s Word, don’t interpret it by anything you’ve heard before. Ask the Spirit to reveal the truth of God’s Word to you. Once you’ve finished your first list of 10 things, make another list.
Every time you either make or hear a declarative statement about truth, verify it with scripture. It is surprising how often what we think is in the Bible really isn’t.
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