Monthly Archives: September 2016

Be On Guard

30 Friday Sep 2016

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Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.  (Romans 6:18 NLT)

For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5 NET)


Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (I Peter 5:8 NLT)

The Scripture is clear, we are either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. It’s important to remind ourselves that we have been set free from sin, (we are not sinless but its’ dominance has been broken) or we will drift back into our old sinful patterns. Living life by the Spirit is the only way to overcome sin. Having the mind of Christ is the result of Spirit empowered living, that obeys the truth that God has revealed through his Word.

As learners, Jesus’ disciples are in a life long process of spiritual interaction with our Teacher. Learning from Jesus requires the mind being illumined by the Holy Spirit, which happens if we approach the Scripture with a humble, repentant heart. We must allow God to heal our brokenness from the past, or our spiritual growth will be stunted. It’s important not to let dark spirits influence us and set up strongholds in our minds. Asking Christ into our lives and submitting to his Lordship is the first step in an ongoing process of obtaining spiritual freedom.

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; (Ephesians 6:16 ESV)

The Spirit dominated life should be the normal way to live for the Christian. The Apostle Paul commands us to “be filled with the Spirit.” He also warns us of the spiritual battle we are in as followers of Jesus. This conflict requires diligence in the face of a hostile, dark spiritual forces. Our ancient foe shoots flaming darts at the mind of Christians, through all forms of temptations, through media, and political ideology. We must be on guard at all times.

Paul’s Passion

26 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by in Spiritual Formation

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We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:15-16 ESV)

…my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you! I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. (Galatians 4:19-20 ESV)

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1 ESV)

The Apostle Paul lived for the glory of God alone. He preached the Gospel with prophetic zeal to reach the world for Jesus. Paul’s passion was to see the life of Christ fully formed in his spiritual children. That involves being freed from demonic oppression and delivered from seeking to establish our own righteousness, by our good works. Paul sought to free people from oppressive religious observance and systems that do nothing to deliver believers internally.

The Gospel frees us from being controlled by what he called “elemental principles or spirits” of the world. Jesus came to set both religious and irreligious people free. His death and resurrection  redeems us from spiritual slavery to adoption into his family. As God’s sons and daughters we can now cry out, “Abba! Father!” by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Paul describes his passion for the spiritual maturity of believers as a woman in childbirth, which speaks of excruciating pain. And as one mother pointed out, “he couldn’t think of anything else!” The key to our spiritual  maturity is dependent upon our grasp of our adoption into the family of God, not just keeping rules and regulations. This reality can only be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.

Those that revert to law based religion seek to justify themselves based on good works apart from Christ. And they miss the point of the Gospel.

Follow Jesus

09 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by in Discipleship

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While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (Matthew 4:18-22 ESV)

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:57-62 ESV)

When we begin to embrace heavenly realities, our earthly existence is transformed. The harsh realities of life do not disappear, but our perspective shifts from this present age, to the age to come. When we begin to embrace discipleship as Jesus taught it, we begin to be awakened to the shallowness of  much of western Christianity. Many churches that people attend today seem more like pep rallies, than places of worship. The emphasis is on a surface level reading of Scripture, a good pep talk from the pastor, and a focus on the felt needs of the congregation. If you have a pastor and elders in your Church that model the life of Christ, and call you to do the same, count yourself blessed. There are signs of a spiritual awakening in some Churches today. I see many young people who are being challenged to think through hard biblical texts, and the implications of walking them out.

At this present time much of the church in the western world is too distracted by self-improvement programs, politics, and personal prosperity, to grasp the call of Jesus to “follow me.” Regardless of what many popular American preachers are saying, the call to follow Jesus is a radical commitment that may very well cost us some of our health, and our wealth, and yes, maybe even our lives. Then again it may not. God gives wealth to those to whom he sovereignly chooses. But health and wealth are given for the glory of God, and the advancement of his Kingdom, not to fulfill our personal lust.

God cannot be manipulated by taking his word out of context. Healing and material provision are “the children’s bread” but the Apostle Paul went through seasons of both poverty, and prosperity, but experienced contentment just the same. Maybe we should start a contentment movement as opposed to a prosperity movement. In the eyes of much of our seeker friendly, materialistic, comfort driven Church culture, the Apostles would be considered failures in our day. They walked away from successful business, and in Paul’s case, religious prominence, and respectability.  But in God’s economy they were highly successful students of their master, Jesus Christ.

Blue Collar Apologetics: The Authority Of The Bible

07 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by in Apologetics

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The Gospels we read today are the most reliable documents available from the ancient world. The fact that thousands of copies of the original New Testament were spread all over the ancient Mediterranean world, with only slight variations in the text is significant.We can be confident that the Bibles we read today are accurate. Even if we only had quotes from the early Church Fathers, we would have over 90% of the New Testament available to us.The fact that there are variations and accounts that seem to contradict, shows that there was no attempt by the early Church Fathers to change the story.  The way that the writers of the NT wrote the gospels was consistent with the times, in which they lived. One writer might add or leave out certain details. These variations do not change any New Testament doctrines.

When the early Christians got a letter from the Apostles they made copies of the letters and sent them to other Churches. “And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.”
(Colossians 4:16 ESV) . 

C. S. Lewis, one of the great Christian thinkers of the 20th century was an expert and avid reader of mythology. When he read the gospels for the first time, he realized that they were not written like ancient myths but as biographies. You may ask, Why were books such as,” the Gospel of Thomas,” “the Gospel of Peter,” and “the Acts Of Pilate left out of the New Testament?” The answer is that they were not written during the apostolic age. These and many other so called gospel accounts, did not fit the criteria to be added to the what we know as the New Testament today.

Below are some of the notes (not word for word) I took from a recent lecture from Dr. Michael Licona:

  • The Gospel of Luke is referred to as Scripture. (I Tim. 5:18)
  • Paul’s letters were referred to as “Scripture.” (2 Peter 3:16)
  • In A.D. 125 Polycarp (probably a Disciple of John) quotes Ephesians twice and refers to it as part of the “Sacred Scriptures.”
  • Justin Martyr (c. AD 150) Spoke of the “memoirs of the Apostles.” He quotes the Gospel’s numerous times but never quotes the Gospel of Thomas or any other Gnostic Gospels.
  • Irenaeus (c AD 180) Wrote about the “Fourfold form” of Gospel. The Church was looking at the 4 Gospels, Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. Although other “gospels” were available.

Recommended reading: Holman Quick Source Guide To Apologetics by Doug Powell.