Showing posts with label Sign of the Times. Show all posts

Today, after having read Dan Phillips latest blog over at Pyromaniacs where he mentions his New Years resolution to read at least three chapters of Scripture a day, so as to read the Bible in a year, I decided I would attempt to read six chapters a day, so as to read the Bible twice in a year. Not that I am a one upper or anything, but I figure six chapters really isn't a whole lot considering the amount of free time we Americans have in our day and age. So, I decided to start with one of my favorite prophets, Jeremiah. After having finished my allotted daily reading rather quickly, it came to mind that this coming Sunday, the Church I attend will start an exposition on the book of Jonah, so I decided to read that.

The LORD of salvation gave a message to Jonah to preach, and he preached it. Jonah even preached it reluctantly, and yet, what happened? The Word of God that is living and active accomplished it's purpose...it did not return to the LORD of salvation void, but did all that the LORD had willed it to do. Imagine that...amazing isn't it? Since salvation belongs to the LORD, and since He brings about that salvation when His Word is preached, shouldn't we be out there preaching His Word. Shouldn't we be forgetting all this nonsense about appealing to people's innate fallen natures, and just be out there boldly proclaiming judgment and repentance. Yes, I know...all the polls say people don't respond to that negative stuff, but the polls obviously do not take in to account that salvation belongs to the LORD.

Rick Warren recently appeared on the Fox channel's Hannity and Colmes show to peddle his new book, "The Purpose of Christmas." Unfortunately Mr. Warren took this great opportunity on a nationally syndicated show, in which millions will see him, NOT to proclaim the true Gospel of Christ by which men can be saved...NO, instead this world famous, super celebrated and highly esteemed false teacher pushed the extremely popular, hippy-buddy-magical genie Jesus who is so often taught throughout America's Churches.

This false Jesus overlooks everyone's sin, and would never dream of men actually admitting their guilt and being remorseful to the point of repentance over their transgressions, because that way of thinking is so negative. Rather than all that "fire and brimstone" stuff, he’s all about love and wanting you to be happy no matter what. I mean, after all, Joel Osteen teaches that Jesus died to save you from a life of mediocrity and exists to give you an abundant life…in the material and financial sense, of course.

Furthermore, this pathetically weak and lonely false Jesus is so starved for fallen humanities love and affection that he stands outside the proverbial door of your heart knocking, waiting, and begging, like a cold and hungry puppy hoping that one day you will let him in. Deceivers like Rick Warren and Joel Osteen would have you believe that this Jesus’ main agenda is to do all our bidding and to answer every one of our trivial, selfish and materialistic prayers with an astounding 'YES'.

Rick Warren's Jesus does not even demand any sort of exclusivity of man's affections, because Rick's Jesus is willing to be put on some sort of probationary period, so that people can test him to see if he lives up to all the hype. I guess under those kind of circumstances, Rick's Jesus better start coughing up the goods real quick like, if he knows whats good for him, or he just might find himself thrown right back outside the heart's door, forced to go back to his knocking and waiting.

Is this the real Gospel? Does any of this resemble what the Scriptures really say? Is that the biblical Jesus? Does any of this accurately describe the true Christ? How is it that America as a whole has bought into these obvious heretical lies, and exchanged the Almighty God for this puny pitiful idol?

Matthew 16:24-25
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

The true Gospel is harsh, abrasive, and utterly offensive, because the true Jesus, found within the Bible, does not proclaim a message of self-fulfillment but demands from His disciples absolute and total self-denial. Why do you think that Jesus' own family, friends and neighbors tried to throw Him off of a cliff after delivering his first sermon? Or why did they attempt to stone Jesus on several occasion? Seriously, why do you think Jesus was ultimately crucified? If men like Rick Warren and Joel Osteen are correct, the crucifixion of Jesus doesn’t even make sense, because who on earth would kill such a fun loving guy, whose sole purpose is to make everyone happy and give them all their hearts desire? If Jesus were going around, as those deceivers would have you believe, giving fluffy, feel good messages in which people's self-esteems were being boosted, then why on earth was He murdered?

John 3:18-20
He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

Jesus was killed because He proclaimed a message that the world hated, and the world hates His messages because He exposed their true nature…that of radical depravity. Many people try to deny the inherent sin nature of man, and even within the Church itself, false teachers claim that we are not wretches, even removing that word from the old hymns, and they attempt to claim that our hearts are not desperately wicked (Jer 17:9) but those lies contradict the Scriptures. God's Word is unapologetically clear about the utter sinfulness of man and that only God alone is good...if this were not true, and we are not inherently evil and increasingly worthless, then Christ died a needless death. But the fact of the matter is that man's heart is evil from youth (Gen 8:21) and that man is totally incapable of doing good (Rom 3:12) and because of our spiritually bankrupt state, we are in desperate need of a Savior, because without the sacrifice of Christ we face the wages of our sin, which of course is death and the eternal punishment of a fiery hell.

Acts 4:12
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

Furthermore, the Gospel is hated because of it's exclusive nature, in which it clearly states that many will travel the broad road leading to hell, and only a few will enter the narrow gate leading to heaven. Yet, men like Joel Osteen deny this, and they also deny that Jesus is the "only way", thus implying that Christ lied when He said that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6)." Mr. Osteen, I am guessing, in an attempt to be seen as “loving,” claims that he has seen Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Mormons all love God in their own way and he says that he just can’t imagine God rejecting that. Not only does Joel's teaching make Jesus' death and resurrection totally worthless since, according to him, you can believe whatever you want and still enter the narrow gate of the Kingdom of God, but Joel once again denies the truth of the Scriptures. I guess I am curious why Joel is even a professing Christian or a "Preacher" for that matter, since truth to him is merely relative.

I will continue the various reasons why the true Jesus along with the true Gospel message is hated in the next few blogs...although I will probably have a blog or two inbetween.

e have become too familiar with God. I mean this in the sense that we as a nation and as a people no longer fear Him, as we ought to. From Christian tool sets sanctified with etched Bible verses on them, to fish-shaped breath mints, we have merchandised and trivialized His "image" to the point of nausea. We dare plaster His holy Name or a symbol associated with the Lord of lords on some piece of worthless junk and ignorantly think that we have not kindled His anger toward us? Do we honestly think He is pleased by such irreverence and idolatry...

Jeremiah 5:22
"Do you not fear Me?" declares the LORD, "Do you not tremble in My presence?"

Verse after verse, passage after passage, book after book written by the Prophets of old, warning the nation of Israel of the infinitely real dangers of treating the Lord our God with anything but fear and trembling, which we too in the Church age have recorded for our instruction so that we are also without excuse. Our lack of fear goes beyond the limitless amount of Jesus junk being peddled across our land, to the very words we speak about God in which we humanize Him, making the same mistake as those who think that the Most High can look favorably on sin like one of us. The earth is but a footstool to Him, yet we treat Him with such contempt.

Not only do we show a lack of respect toward God, but also we degrade those great men of faith He has chosen to raise up. This lack of respect shown to God's people is preached from pulpits by men who find humor in the sin of Noah's drunkenness, or laugh at the symbol of sin given by God to Ezekiel. Our land revels and parties in common costumes mocking the Patriarchs, in which the original sin...the fall of man is laughed at and scorned. Christian comedians...is there really such a thing in God's eyes?

O' yes, I take myself far too seriously, I should lighten up. After all, Jeremiah was referred to as the laughing Proph...oh wait no, it was the lamenting Prophet. Well then...Jesus, He was a man of joy...no wait, He was a man of sorrows. I do admit that Proverbs says that there is a time to laugh...but is that time now? Is that time in this day and age? A day in which God Himself in all His holiness is treated as nothing more than a cheap marketing ploy. As I have said over and over, and I will say it again, turn back to the Word of God.

Stop giving your money to those who speak lies in the name of Christ. Turn away from those who teach His Word falsely. The Church is not ours to run as we see fit, but it is Christ's, He is the Head, He is the chief Shepherd, and He has clearly and specifically laid out in His Word the orderly way it should be run. We have become adulteresses, forsaking God, the fountain of living waters, to hew for ourselves broken cisterns that hold no water. We as a people do not have the dread of the Lord God of hosts within us but have pursued the Baals. Exchanging the blessed Trinity for an idol consisting of a black woman, an Asian woman, along with a large nosed Middle Eastern man (A Shack reference for all you out there scratching your heads). This is not a time to laugh or a time to party. This is a time for serious men to man up and preach a serious message to a people who are lost and stampeding down the broad road of destruction. Warn them fervently as Paul did the Ephesians with many tears. Turn them back from their wicked ways and lament the fact that we have stood by and said nothing as it has gotten as bad as it is.

Jeremiah 5:29-31
"Shall I not punish these people?" declares the LORD, "On a nation such as this shall I not avenge Myself? An appalling and horrible thing Has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?"

phesians chapter six tells us that we are at war, plain and simple. Our war is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Which means that when we engage in warfare, our weapons are not of the flesh but they are divinely powerful, and able to destroy every speculation and lofty thought which sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And that divinely powerful weapon that makes us effective warriors is the sword of the Spirit, which is the living and active Word of God. It is sharper than any double edged sword, piercing the heart of the unregenerate and backslider alike, laying them bare before the Judge. It is the very weapon Christ Himself will use to destroy His enemies at His victorious second coming. Unfortunately, however, most professing Christians are completely unarmed on the battlefield and regrettably are nothing more than casualties of war.

2 Timothy 2:3-4
"Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier."

This is exactly where the problem lies. Instead of us focusing on the war that is raging on all around us, so many Christians have redirected their focus to the affairs of everyday life, thus proving themselves to be useless soldiers. Which makes me remember the time I spent in the Marine Corps...

When I first switched from active duty to reserve duty in the Marine Corps, I noticed that the two were worlds apart...worlds apart. While I was active duty, during infantry training specifically, we as Marines took our training seriously for the most part, knowing that how we train today will have an impact on how we fight tomorrow. During our simulation patrols, we were careful in how we walked, always aware that trip wires and landmines could be anywhere. Not only that, but we spent our free time working out, either lifting weights or going on runs, because our physical shape could mean the difference of life and death on the battlefield.

t was quite a few years back the first time I saw one...my wife and I were shopping at our local grocery store and I heard an elderly woman gasp, lean over to her elderly husband and comment on this kids t-shirt who happened to be walking down the isle toward us. I couldn't hear exactly what she was saying but I knew this much, the t-shirt she saw offended her. The mother of the kid quickly piped up saying something about how a bunch of inner city gang kids had "gotten saved", and now spread their testimony through these t-shirts. If you haven't figured it out already, I am speaking of the shirts that irreverently proclaim, "Jesus is my homeboy". The details of the actual story are slightly different, so if your interested in hearing about the incredibly cheesy, more than likely false, origin of these shirts then click here. Even if this tale is accurate, one thing is for sure, these shirts are just yet one more thing to add to the list of disturbing trends becoming more and more prominent in our culture that blatantly dishonor, mock, and blaspheme our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:12-18
"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."

Some of you may be wondering how this verse is at all relevant to the "Jesus is my homeboy" t-shirts. Well...I will explain. First off, let me remind you that the book of the Revelation was written by the Apostle John, who, as we know from the Biblical record spent a substantial amount of time, approximately 3 straight years, with Jesus traveling all over Judea and Samaria. Needless to say, they would have gotten to know each other quite well, in fact, they were so close that during the last supper, it is written that John rested his head on the chest of Jesus. Not only that, but out of all the Apostles and disciples there was but one who was singled out in which it was specifically said that Jesus loved him, and that man was John.

So with all that in your mind, look at the reaction of John when he sees the glorified Jesus...the Apostle "fell at His feet like a dead man". Now, if John falls at our Lord's feet like a dead man, what do you think we will do? What would our reaction be, having never known Jesus like John knew him? Yet, for some odd reason we ignorantly think that we can treat the King of kings in a way that is anything less than fervent adoration and reverence. This falling on your face reaction is not some isolated incident. John's reaction is the standard reaction of everyone who has seen God. Abraham also fell on his face, Moses, whom is said to have talked with God face to face as one talks to a friend, constantly fell on his face before YHWH. The Israelites fell on their faces after witnessing the Lord consuming rebellious men with fire. Joshua, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Manoah all fell on their faces before the Lord God, not to mention all the people who witnessed the fire coming from heaven when Elijah proved there to be only one true God, and Peter, during the transfiguration, fell on his face "in much fear".
It is surprising, with so many instances of people trembling and falling on their face before God that professing Christians continue to have this flippant disrespectful attitude toward the Almighty. He consumes people with fire for offering Him incense which He had not ordained, and we think we can call Him our homeboy? He causes the ground to open up and swallow those who do not honor Him and we make figurines in His likeness calling them "buddy Jesus". He tells us to not to fear those who can only kill the body, but rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell, and yet we entertain ourselves with TV and movies that contain the very sins He died to save us from. Think about it, our "entertainment" is a world void of Christ and God, where the only mention of Him is one of blaspheme in which His name is used as a common cuss word. No wonder His wrath is being revealed to us from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness.

It is written that judgment begins with the house of God. So judge yourself, and judge rightly to see if you are truly in the faith. Do you abuse your liberty in Christ? Do you flirt with the world and adopt its ways, attempt to drag our Savior into the muck with us? Some Christians think that if there is not a clear straightforward text condemning something, then they are free to do it, even though the whole of Scripture makes it abundantly obvious that said behavior is wrong and sinful and the very thing that held Jesus to that cross. Just because one of the commandments is not 'Thou shalt not wear a Jesus is my homeboy t-shirt', does not mean God condones such irreverence. He not only created everything that we enjoy and take for granted, but He gave Himself up to a sinful and wicked people who tortured and killed Him so that we might have eternal life with Him. Show Him some respect!

have no idea why I am so surprised when I come across things like so-called Christians claiming that it is biblical to murder babies in the name of "choice". I suppose there is still a part in me that is still naive enough to think that someone who claims to be a Christian would actually be intimately familiar with who Christ truly is and what doctrines His Word holds. I guess I tend to forget at times that the title of Christian is so loosely and widely used that it no longer even carries a real definition. I realize that the Church is predominately made up of purely nominal believers who not only lack a true knowledge of Christ and His Word but they do not show even the slightest bit of fruit in their life, but still I am dumbfounded when I see things like professing Christians twisting the Holy Scriptures to justify the mass murder of innocence. If you can stomach such blatant hypocrisy then read this.

As you can see they go into this insanely long (and that's coming from me whose blogs tend to be...well if you read them, you know how long winded I can be, although I am trying to fix that...thanks to Dan Phillips from Team-Pyro) in-depth (can you call something that is completely filled with error in depth?) explanation on how you can not take certain verses out of context (which is true, even though they take verses out of context themselves...aww sweet irony) to prove your point, and they claim the pro-lifers have done just that; taken certain Psalms out of context to justify their stance on being anti-abortion. I am going to bypass both "in-depth" arguments made by pro-lifers and pro-abortionists alike and just present to you one passage from the very lips of our LORD

Matthew 5:21-22
"You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."

Think about this...really soak it in. The Lord God Almighty says that if you call someone a fool you are guilty enough to enter eternal damnation. Do you honestly think that God is not going to hold those who murder babies accountable for their sinful actions? Forget debating...its obvious that God's standards are so high that you can't even call someone a name without being condemned, much less physically murder an infant. Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 lists all those who will not "inherit the Kingdom of God" which includes "revilers" and "covetous" people. So if I can be more transparent, if you speak "abusive language", or desire someone else's possessions you will go to hell, but some so-called Christians would have us believe that abortion, however, is OK in the eyes of Christ? Seriously, if you think that you can be a Christian and at the same time be pro-abortion, you are self deceived at best. I also want to note that the early Church who were taught first hand by the Apostles realized the sinfulness of abortion, and they recorded it in the Didache saying, "Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion." Lastly look at what God hates...yes, God hates things...and these things He hates are an abomination to Him.

Proverbs 6:16-19
"There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers."

Before I go, I just have to say this...with the election coming up, if you claim to be a Christian and plan on voting for anyone who has been known to vote "pro-choice...aligning yourself with those who are directly responsible for legislation that brings about the death of millions of babies a year, then you too are guilty of shedding innocent blood. If those who covet and those who speak abusive language will not escape judgment, neither will those who give hearty approval (Rom 1:32) to the death of innocence. Do not be self deceived.

recently saw Jay Bakker, son of false teachers Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, on Larry King Live, although, I think that the original interview actually took place back in 2006. The date is really irrelevant because the false doctrines that Jay Bakker propagated in that interview have been gaining more popularity as each year passes. You can find the specific statements I will be referring to, here at YouTube, and also at this online magazine.

It seems that Jay has decided to take up the cause of fighting for gay rights. His so-called ministry is focusing on reaching out to homosexuals, however, he does not call them to repentance, NO, instead he claims that God told him that homosexuality is no longer a sin. Jay Bakker's direct quote is, "This sounds so churchy, but I felt like God spoke to my heart and said '[homosexuality] is not a sin'". Now, this really opens up the flood gates of craziness and chaos. With this way of thinking, any person can claim a "new revelation" from God. I mean, seriously, this is so absurd, maybe someone will say that God told them adultery was no longer a sin, or how bout stealing? Maybe lying will be ok...ya never know, murder might be the next sin God will change His mind on. The fact of the matter is that God has made it unquestionably clear in His Word that not only is homosexuality a sin, but God does not change His mind.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God."

Numbers 23:19
"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind."

Seems pretty cut and dry doesn't it? However, Jay Bakker says, "Well, I mean, I know the arguments. I know the scriptures. And the scriptures are very – you could argue on them all day. I believe they’ve been taken out of context, and I don’t believe that, you know, we’ve researched enough of the background on those scriptures." False teachers like Jay Bakker claim that 1 Corinthians 6:9 is narrowly speaking of homosexual prostitutes, and that it does not at all encompass the damnation of a supposed monogamous homosexual loving relationship. This is a lie, plain and simple. The word translated, "effeminate" does speaks of male prostitutes, however, "homosexuals" is a totally different word, and is differentiated from these effeminate prostitutes with a "nor". Thus God is declaring that neither of them will enter the Kingdom of God. Jay Bakker's doctrines are exactly what Peter warned of when he said that unstable and untaught men would distort the Scriptures in hopes of catching some off guard as to carry them away (2 Pet 3:14-18), because of this constant threat, we should be on the alert and diligent to be established in the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet 1:12).

Romans 1:18-32

Here, Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, shows us that God's wrath is revealed against men who suppress the truth. The Bible says these men fail to honor and thank God even though He has made His power and divine nature evident to them through His creation, and because of their lack of honor and thankfulness toward God, "God gave them over to degrading passions". Before we go wondering what that means, Scripture explains that degrading passions consist of "women exchang{ing} the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." This really couldn't be more clear, I mean, seriously, it couldn't. If God meant to condemn merely homosexual prostitution, it would have been easy for Him to make that obvious. Or would false teachers like Jay Bakker think that when God said adulterers would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, that we should question if God meant all adulterers, or only a narrow specific kind of adulterer. We know that God is holy (Rev 4:8; Rev 15:4), perfect in purity (Deut 32:4; 2 Sam 22:31), and free from all sin (2 Cor 5:21; 1 John 3:5), so when we consider Him and His character wouldn't it make more sense to err on the side of righteousness than to assume that a holy God would tolerate willful sin?

Especially when He so clearly states, through Paul, in Romans that the act of homosexuality itself is impure, improper, depraved, wicked, evil and ranked among all unrighteousness, whether it is greed, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossiping, slandering, insolent, arrogant, boastful, being disobedient to parents...all of this behavior is considered by Christ as unloving, and those who practice such things are worthy of death. (Rom 1:28-32)

Many people debate whether homosexuals are born gay, but that debate is pointless. King David says rightly that from birth we are sinful (Psalm 51:5) and Paul proclaims that by nature we are children of wrath (Eph 2:3). Since we know that mankind is fallen through Adam (Rom 5:12-14), we should be aware that all of us have an innate sin nature (Gen 4:7) and we are all prone to sin (Jam 1:13-15) within ourselves. Homosexuals may say that from a young age they had certain "feelings" and "tendencies" toward being gay, however, from a young age I had tendencies to lie, and to steal, just as we all have sinful tendencies. Being a liar and a thief came naturally to me, so because of this, do I try and justify my lying thieving ways? No, for Christ calls us to repentance, we are commanded to turn from our sin (John 8:11) and we are commanded to deny ourselves to the point of death (Matt 16:24). Practically speaking, through the power of the Holy Spirit, I am to renew my mind in the Word of God, being transformed by the living and active Word into the image of Christ (Rom 12:1-2), so as to die to self, which is sinful, and live to Christ. The same goes for a homosexual, if he is to be saved, he must die to his desires turning from his sin, and follow Christ in all obedience.

Now...this teaching, although biblically accurate is attacked by men like Jay Bakker who say it is external religiosity to ask someone to "change" and is exactly what the Pharisees stood for, and that it is the very thing Jesus spoke out against. Jay Bakker claims that all you have to do is love God with all your heart, and it doesn't matter if you are a practicing homosexual or not. The problem with this argument is that, the Pharisees had taken God's law and added all sorts of externals to it, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN (Matt 15:9). Whereas I, and many others who are like-minded with me, am merely pointing to Scripture, and echoing the words of Christ, the Prophets, and Apostles in saying do not be deceived (1 Cor 6:10)...no sinners will inherit the Kingdom of God, that goes for liars, and adulterers, just as it applies to homosexuals. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:11 that the Corinthians were once all those things...liars, drunkards, thieves, idolaters, homosexuals...but they were washed, they were sanctified and they were justified through Jesus Christ. This did not happen because of some hypocritical love for God, in which they continued to wallow in their sin...NO...they were ONCE those things, meaning they had turned from them, they had abandoned them, they had deserted them for Christ. It is not a coincidence that Paul says do not be deceived before listing all the characteristics of those who would be banished from entering God's Kingdom. Paul said do not be deceived because we are prone to justify our sin, and we are prone to deceive ourselves into thinking we are not that sinful.

Please, do not be deceived in thinking homosexuality is not a sin. Do not be deceived in thinking obeying Scripture is legalistic...because on judgment day, many will stand before Christ and say, "Lord, Lord"...these men are deceived, thinking that they know Christ...saying "Lord, Lord" you know me! But He will tell them, "I never knew you! DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS" (Matt 7:23). The very ones who will be cast into hell are those who have no law, they are lawless, and they continually practice that which transgresses against God's Word, but, in spite of what Jay Bakker teaches, the true disciple of Christ "delights in the law of the LORD" (Psalm 1:2). Practicing homosexuals do not pay heed to the warnings of being self deceived (Gal 6:7) found in the Word of God. These men loved their sin more than they loved Christ, they loved their sin so much they would not stop practicing it.

"This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil." - John 3:19

Repent and be saved! Christ will justify and cleanse you from every filthy thing that has stained your soul. Do not be deceived by your own wicked heart (Jer 17:9) into thinking God tolerates sin. If we truly trust in Christ, it is written that the old things have passed away, and we ought to be new creatures with new desires...new creatures who no longer love the darkness of our evil deeds which we once were slaves to. If we are new creatures, we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, and if we "walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please" (Gal 5:16-17). Self denial is a characteristic of Christ's disciples, self indulgence is a characteristic of an unregenerate person.

ith all the recent brouhaha (I seriously can't believe I just used that word, and highly doubt I even spelled it correctly) over Mark Driscoll and his language, I sincerely hope this title won't be considered scatological humor, its just that when I realized what I wanted to blog about, I instantly thought of the beginning of Kindergarten Cop when Arnold kicks down this door to some crack house and responds to some astonished crack head asking who he was by saying, "I'm the party pooper," just before pumping two slugs into the druggies chest.

With that in mind, I really felt that it was an appropriate title because this bit of Scripture will truly rain on some peoples parades and confront their partying ways, hopefully piercing their heart with conviction.

1 Peter 4:3
"For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries."

I recently came across a professing Christians myspace that said, "I am a christain but i am flawed. I will go out with my friends and dance the night away (cocktail in hand) on a satureday and be at church bright and early Sunday morning letting God continue to mold and shape me as he see's fit. Thats just me. I'm random. I'm spontaneous." (The typos in the quote are not mine)

Now...before I get into it, I first want to point out that her saying "I am flawed" does not at all constitute a true confession of sins. True biblical repentance bears fruit, (Matt 3:8) resulting in righteous behavior, and ultimately a radically changed life (Rom 10:10), whereas this girl admits that what she is doing is wrong, however, she continues to do it anyway.

So...does this way of living harmonize with the Word of God? Can one have a divided heart, living a life of wanton pleasure, and at the same time truly be a disciple of Christ? Peter says earlier in this same epistle that we ought to be obedient children, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, commands us to no longer be conformed to our former lusts that we indulged in, in our ignorance, that is, before we were called out of darkness and to the light of Christ. We are also commanded to be holy just as God is holy (1 Pet 1:14-16). Furthermore, Peter says we should be putting aside all hypocrisy (1 Pet 2:1), which plainly means that we are not to be out dancing the night away, cocktail in hand, Saturday night and then turning around to play Church on Sunday morning. Peter goes on to say that we should be following in the footsteps of Christ who suffered, in fact, throughout this entire epistle Peter clearly shows us that the Christian life is one of suffering (not partying) by saying, "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose" (1 Pet 4:1a)

Our purpose isn't to pursue our needs, wants, desires and pleasures, but to live for Christ. Scripture makes it perfectly clear that we are not to be out partying like rock stars, because that is the way non-believers live their lives, but our purpose is to be unified to Christ in His sufferings (Phil 1:29; Phil 3:8-11). Or do we honestly think that some how that doesn't apply to us, or that we can escape such things when the one whom we profess to follow endured it?

Have we so quickly forgotten what Christ said in John 15:18-20, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master ' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also."

Christ suffered, and since we are obviously not greater than He is that means we will suffer also, so it is inevitable that our lives will be that of persecution and suffering if we are truly His disciples. But...why must we suffer? 1 Peter 4:1b-2 says, "because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God."

It's a good thing, because if you are suffering for Christ and in the same manner as Christ, that means you are preaching the Word and suffering without reason, then you can count it all joy (James 1:2-3) knowing that you are being transformed into His likeness and that spiritual maturity brings holy living, which results in a life that has ceased from sin but that lives to do the will of God. Your priorities have changed.

That brings us full circle to our original verse...stop living and partying like non-believers because the time for all that type of behavior is over. The reality of the situation is that Christ died to save us from that sinful behavior...actually, that exact type of behavior is what killed the Son of God. If we have truly been called out of such ignorance and darkness, our eyes should be opened to the fact, and we should also realize that "the end of all things is near" (1 Pet 4:7), so instead of dancing the night away, with a cocktail in hand, we should be sober and alert awaiting the return of the Almighty. Not waiting, as in sitting there and doing nothing, but doing the will of God. As the old Puritan said, we should be preaching the Word as if Christ died yesterday, rose today, and is returning tomorrow. We should be acting with a sense of urgency, because really...this is life and death we are talking about.

Lastly, on a personal note, this particular subject is something that I have struggled with greatly in my own life. It was only a few years ago that my life was centered on getting wasted. Shortly after being called to Christ, I was unaware of these commands in Scripture, and I was unaware of the necessity to become Holy as He is Holy, so I continued in this sinful duality, and half heartedness toward God. I thank God, however, that He has not left us in the dark concerning such things but has revealed these commands and warnings in His Word, and that is one reason why it is so imperative to be addicted to Scripture as I mentioned in my last post, so that we can be transformed to the image of Christ through His supernatural Word knowing the very mind and will of God (Rom 12:2). Remember...if we hear the words of God and turn our back on His calling to pursue sin, we really ought to be stricken with fear and the possibility that we are not truly regenerate for the Scriptures say...

Hebrews 10:26-31
"For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, 'VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY' And again, 'THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.' It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."