"Many of my pastor brothers love to tell us that our free will is so precious to God that because of His great love to us He dares not violate it. But He sure violated it in the fall. God apparently to some does not mind violating your free will in order for you to perish, but He becomes suddenly reluctant to violate your free will to save you. Where was your free will when Adam plunged you into death???"
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Friday, April 26, 2013
Monday, August 20, 2012
Roadblocks to Paradise
A very large group of people is standing in the middle of the road, barring the way into Paradise.
The puritan asks: "What are these sinners doing here?"
The moralist bawls: "The prostitute wants to join the feast!"
The guardian of social values yells: "How can the adulteress be forgiven when she has sinned?"
The penitent rends his clothes: "Why cure a blind man if all he cares about is his il
The puritan asks: "What are these sinners doing here?"
The moralist bawls: "The prostitute wants to join the feast!"
The guardian of social values yells: "How can the adulteress be forgiven when she has sinned?"
The penitent rends his clothes: "Why cure a blind man if all he cares about is his il
lness and when he doesn’t even say thank you?"
The ascetic protests: You let that woman pour expensive oil on your hair! Why didn't she sell it instead to buy food?"
Smiling, Jesus holds the door open. And the Warriors of the Light go in, despite the hysterical shouting.
- Paulo Coelho
Related post: The Cosmic Turtle
The ascetic protests: You let that woman pour expensive oil on your hair! Why didn't she sell it instead to buy food?"
Smiling, Jesus holds the door open. And the Warriors of the Light go in, despite the hysterical shouting.
- Paulo Coelho
Related post: The Cosmic Turtle
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Lessons from the Rapture
Harold Camping’s followers were sincere, but misguided. Instead of being connected to The Shepherd (Jesus), they were blinded by Mr. Camping and his doctrine. While we take turns in poking fun at them, we tend to forget that there is a chance that we may not be that different from the Camping followers. Yes, we have our scripture guns ready with scriptures to disprove Camping’s prediction. But the fact of the matter is, all of us can be misguided, if our beliefs are based solely on what’s coming from the pulpit, television preachers, traditions or books that agree with our core head-knowledge that were formed (again) solely from the pulpit, television preachers or traditions.
Contrary to popular assumption, Christianity is not about ignorantly swallowing what’s coming from the pulpit. Unfortunately that has been happening throughout generations. And this is one reason why people hop from church to church, doctrine to doctrine or sadly in some cases, abandon the journey altogether. Christianity, to me, is about an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus and His expression through us. Genuine relationships happen only when we spend quality time with the person we want to connect with. Conferences, church, Sunday school, theological knowledge or meetings cannot replace that personal connection.
Institutions might detest questions, but God is not insecure as we assume He is. We can come boldly to His throne of grace with questions that we would not dare ask our churchy contacts for the fear of being ostracized. Although there is nothing wrong with an open discussion with friends, they cannot replace the insight from the Source Himself. The Bereans did not blindly swallow Paul’s words. They did not think it was rebellious to double check the Scriptures to see if Paul was not making things up. We now have access to the Scripture in a gazillion translations and formats, but the problem usually is, we read it through our own doctrinal spectacles. Truth will not be contained or limited by a doctrine that tickles us. This is why we need to move out of the way and actively depend on the Holy Spirit to enlighten the scriptures.
Ministers should encourage the listeners to connect with the Vine, for it is from Him, the life - His life - flows. Books should connect the readers to the person of Jesus. If not, we will continue to see blunders like the May 21 Rapture Prediction happen in various shapes or forms – no matter what camp we are in. I don’t care an iota if self-serving, mindless, man-made doctrines fail. There is no sweeter smelling aroma than that which comes from the slaughter of a sacred-cow doctrine. I am concerned about the hurt that a person goes through when he realizes that he was led by the blind all along. Churchianity is oblivious to this hurt and disillusionment. And we wonder why people are leaving organized Christianity in droves.
Unless the message connects the listeners to the Person of Jesus Christ and encourages them to depend on the Holy Spirit, they might rather be taught about cooking; for without His active presence, Christianity becomes nothing but a dead religion.
Unless the message connects the listeners to the Person of Jesus Christ and encourages them to depend on the Holy Spirit, they might rather be taught about cooking; for without His active presence, Christianity becomes nothing but a dead religion.
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Friday, April 02, 2010
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Unlimited FAITH
Faith is a GIFT from God, not something we can manufacture with our effort. It is no longer about "MY" high and mighty faith, but His.
Listen to this heart opening and liberating message.
Unlimited FAITH by Peter Youngren
Disc 1 - Faith or Mental Believing
Disc 2 - The Only Faith that Works
Disc 3 - Your Faith is Closer Than You Think
Disc 4 - Two with Great Faith
Listen to this heart opening and liberating message.
Unlimited FAITH by Peter Youngren
Disc 1 - Faith or Mental Believing
Disc 2 - The Only Faith that Works
Disc 3 - Your Faith is Closer Than You Think
Disc 4 - Two with Great Faith
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Preach The Solution, Not The Problem
Article by Alexander Thomas, Word of Harvest Ministries
Romans 6:6-7
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7For he that is dead is freed from sin
When Jesus died on the cross, He did more than just die for your sins. He took your old man (your old self) or sin nature along with Him. Your old man or sin nature was dead and buried with Jesus. Your old man was dead and buried with Jesus 2000 years ago. That means your old man was dead even before you were physically born on the earth! This truth is not limited to you alone; it is applicable to every person who lived after the cross of Jesus. We may not be able to figure out this truth with our peanut brain. This is like trying to understand the verse “The Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8) with our mind. This is the spiritual reality, but it is hardly preached even after 2000 years.
In the beginning, God called light to remove the darkness, He did not talk about the darkness, He just called forth light. JESUS is the Light of the world and Gospel is about the Light and we are the carriers of that Light. Proclaim JESUS, the darkness will leave. The remedy for all kinds of sin and destruction is revealing JESUS to the world.
JESUS, His Cross, and the Resurrection are the most important subjects in the Bible. The greatest event that took place in the history of humanity is the crucifixion of Jesus and the greatest person ever lived in the history of humanity is Jesus. The whole Bible is a type and shadow of this great event and this great person Jesus. As human beings, our success in life is directly proportional to our knowledge about this great event, and relationship to this great person Jesus. Preaching of the Gospel is the proclamation of this great event and great person to the world. How can we preach a message without touching this great event and the great person, Oh, it is all about JESUS!
After the first century church era, layers of tradition and religion crept into christendom and buried the revelation of Cross and Jesus, and we are now engaged in revealing human wisdom. Preaching human wisdom such as 10 steps to prosperity, 11 steps to healing, 12 steps to peace, and 13 steps to build your faith backed with Bible verses excites people and is profitable. In reality, after the cross there is only ONE step to all your problems; which is, getting grafted with the true vine "JESUS". Believers are well-versed with all the Kingdom principles and techniques, but have absolutely no revelation knowledge about King Jesus. Books and tapes are sold in millions, and the preachers are building kingdoms for themselves. I am not against human wisdom or prosperity, but I am against anything that takes away the importance of Jesus. When are we going to realize that we have fallen from Grace and are separated from Jesus? Wake up!
Our sins are forgiven even before we ever committed them; if this is the truth, do you think sin is an issue for God? The sin issue is taken care of on the cross by HIS SON, once and for all. The world does not know about this great truth and the church rarely preach this truth. The church is still debating on the eternal redemption, not sure whether all sins are forgiven or part of the sin is forgiven. All your sins [Past, Present and Future] are forgiven forever. All your sins were in the future tense when Jesus died on the cross 2000 years ago. If Jesus cannot forgive your future sins, you cannot get saved and your eternity is in the hell fire and damnation.
The church is still focusing on the sin problem; rather focusing on the solution "JESUS". The world has a Son problem, preaching the true gospel to the world is the solution to the son problem. The sin separates you from God, not God from you, and you may not be able to enjoy the abundance in Jesus.
Now if your question to me is, if the old man or the sin nature of the whole world was dead and buried 2000 years ago, why are we still seeing all kinds of sins in the earth? This is because, the new creation happened in the spirit realm and the physical realm has yet to experience this reality. This spiritual reality will be experienced individually when a person believes these spiritual truths. Those who believe these spiritual truths experiences it and those who do not believe it will never experience it. The preaching of the Gospel is to reveal this truth to the world. Shame to the preachers who are still preaching the sin issue without giving the solution to sin, which is JESUS.
Preach the Solution "JESUS", not the problem.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Focus On Him
And this is the commandment, That we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. - 1 John 3:23
The New Testament commandment is to believe (put our complete trust in, adhere to, solely depend on) in Jesus Christ.
‘Believe’ is not limited to a one-time exercise that we did when we first received Him to our heart. It is a present continuous action. We believe in Jesus, when the newspaper screams “recession” – because our (the believer’s – not necessarily the person who knows a lot of scripture) need is supplied according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We believe in Jesus, when the media talks about “flu” season – because by the stripes that Jesus bore on His back, we (again, the believers – not the churchian) have the provision to walk in divine health.
If Jesus could solve the lack of food issue for five thousand (not including children and women) within a matter of seconds, His miracle working power has not faded away one bit, for Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
His Power is constant. The only variable is our trust in Him. Let us not get distracted anymore and put our focus on Him and Him alone.
The New Testament commandment is to believe (put our complete trust in, adhere to, solely depend on) in Jesus Christ.
‘Believe’ is not limited to a one-time exercise that we did when we first received Him to our heart. It is a present continuous action. We believe in Jesus, when the newspaper screams “recession” – because our (the believer’s – not necessarily the person who knows a lot of scripture) need is supplied according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We believe in Jesus, when the media talks about “flu” season – because by the stripes that Jesus bore on His back, we (again, the believers – not the churchian) have the provision to walk in divine health.
If Jesus could solve the lack of food issue for five thousand (not including children and women) within a matter of seconds, His miracle working power has not faded away one bit, for Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
His Power is constant. The only variable is our trust in Him. Let us not get distracted anymore and put our focus on Him and Him alone.
Abide In Him
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. - Jesus (John 15:4-5)
We know that the fruit comes from the branch (us) not because of any merits of the branch but because it is part of the Vine, Jesus. The branch does not strive to bear fruit; all it does is stay in the vine. It is the life of the vine that brings fruit to the branches.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We cannot manufacture it with our own strength. We can do nothing if we do not abide in Christ Jesus.
The question is how do we abide in Jesus?
The commandment for the New Testament believer, is to believe (putting our complete trust in, adhering to, solely depending on) in Jesus Christ. And as the result of His life in us, we will be able to keep the second part of that commandment, that is, to love one another.
When we believe in His Name, we have the confidence that He hears us when we ask for anything according to His will and if we know that He hears us, we know that we will have whatever we ask according to His will. We also know that when His words abide in us, we will receive whatever we ask of.
It all starts with believing (putting our complete trust in, adhering to, solely depending on) in Jesus Christ – not on our works, tradition, upbringing, education, culture, circumstances or the economy.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Strength
"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." - Philippians 4:13
Our strength is not our will-power or our disciplined lifestyle; our strength is Jesus Christ. And this Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, lives in us. It is when we trust in His Life that is in us, nothing becomes impossible for the believer.
Our task then, is to believe that truth just like a little child would. The proportion of Jesus’ life flowing through the believer is equivalent to the proportion in which the person believes in Jesus, who is in him.
If he thinks Jesus can heal only common colds, then that is the extent to which he receives the healing. It is not because Jesus is limited, but we, with our limited thinking, limit the manifestation of the already freely available provision. We sometimes look at the natural circumstances and we choose to accept whatever comes our way. That need not be the case.
Jesus says in Matthew 28:18, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."
‘All’ in Greek or Hebrew means all. The Person with ‘All authority’ resides in us. There is not one sickness or negative circumstance that will not bow at the Name of Jesus.
Our strength is not our will-power or our disciplined lifestyle; our strength is Jesus Christ. And this Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, lives in us. It is when we trust in His Life that is in us, nothing becomes impossible for the believer.
Our task then, is to believe that truth just like a little child would. The proportion of Jesus’ life flowing through the believer is equivalent to the proportion in which the person believes in Jesus, who is in him.
If he thinks Jesus can heal only common colds, then that is the extent to which he receives the healing. It is not because Jesus is limited, but we, with our limited thinking, limit the manifestation of the already freely available provision. We sometimes look at the natural circumstances and we choose to accept whatever comes our way. That need not be the case.
Jesus says in Matthew 28:18, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."
‘All’ in Greek or Hebrew means all. The Person with ‘All authority’ resides in us. There is not one sickness or negative circumstance that will not bow at the Name of Jesus.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
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