Beholding His Glory

A SMALL STILL VOICE

2012-02-01T16:05:00.003-05:00

One of the greatest assurances and comforts we have as children of God is that same still voice of God that speaks to our heart and soul. It is hard to explain the uttering of this small still voice seldom is it heard by our ears, but we know it as the truth when we hear it. The truth is like that. When we hear the truth we just know it; it hits us deep in the gut; weakening our knees and our hands fall to our side in compliance to this small still voice speaking to us. How blessed we are as it brings conviction and correction to us, as it probes and makes inquiries about our character and integrity. Even the sinner is not immune from the probing and searching, sinner and saints alike are naked before this small still voice. In Romans we read, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” (Romans 1:19-23) In verse 20 we read, “being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” Because of this small still voice within every man the sinner will have no excuse before God. Even people who have never heard about Jesus Christ will be judged by God and this small still voice will open up the truth about God to them. All that God created speaks volumes of God and His nature and it is that small still voice within us that communicates God grandeur, power, and authority to our heart. My friend no one will have an excuse when they stand before God on judgment day even the sinner (and if the sinner how much more the saint) will have to give account of their actions and words. God would not be a God of righteousness if He did not give all men a chance at salvation.

In 1 Kings we read of a great story of how Elijah was hiding in cave from the children of Israel and the LORD passed by and spoke to him, “And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:11-12) We think and even look for (like Elijah) God in big things in our lives; like in strong winds, earthquakes, and fires God is seldom found in such great things, but God is always found in the small still voice in those small things the small things we think are insignificant in our lives God is closely scrutinizing us in it. As a matter of fact the smaller the area in our lives the more God is closely examining us and it is His small still voice that let us know how we are doing. Now for us to be able to hear this small still voice we must be still long enough to hear God speak. Strange how the times I know that I know I heard God speak to me with His small still voice I almost missed Him. God is not loud, nor is He a blabber mouth, nor does He expect us to be. God is not moved by situations and circumstances, but is calm and speaks in a small still voice. But often we are too loud and busy with our living we drown God out of our lives from all of the many distractions in our lives. Most Christians cannot even sit still in a car and mediate on the LORD or His word, oh no we have to turn on our radio, play a CD, or some MP3 (even Christian media) singing at the top of our lungs while squirming in our seat. I am sure you have seen someone in the next car thinking they were auditioning. But sadly their inability to be still and quiet before the LORD disqualifies them for service by God. I can imagine God holding His ears and saying, “please just be quiet for one minute so I can speak to your heart.” But no we sing on and our thoughts are millions of miles away from God. God speaks to us in that small still voice when He says, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Palms 46:10) Guess what? God meant it! God wants us to, “be still and know that I am God.” The only way we will even be able to come to know God is when we can become still in our mind, heart, and spirit. Coming to know God is found only in our stillness before Him. But our lives are filled with cakes, circuses, and the many distractions of life. Octavian, who later became Julius Augustus, developed the Circus Maximus (for gladiatorial combat and entertainment) for the people and fed the people cakes (or bread) so that their bellies would be filled while their insatiable appetite for sport (like us today with basketball, football, baseball, etc.) and distractions (art work, singing, dancing, music, gardening cooking, and the 1,000s of other things in our lives that we do willingly or unwillingly to drown out God. This concert of cakes and circuses (from Latin panem et circenses) was sinister it was used as a superficial means of appeasement. It was the basic Roman formula for the well-being of the population and hence a political strategy unto itself. In the case of politics, the phrase is used to describe the creation of public approval, not through exemplary or excellent public service or public policy, but through diversion, distraction, and/or the mere satisfaction of the immediate, shallow requirements of a populace. So too today our lives and many denominational churches around the world (especially in America) are filled up with cakes and circuses and the results are diversion, distraction, and/or the mere satisfaction of the immediate, shallow requirements of a populace just read the newspaper, watch TV, or attend a local church in your town and you will discover this for yourself.

When we moved to Sneads Ferry I continued to work at Brewster Middle School, but now I have a 45 minute drive to work. What beautiful scenery along the way to school; crossing a high bridge over a huge bay where in the morning you may see shrimp boats trolling the water to the back side of the Marine Corps Base, then down some lonely roads through the industrial area and main side then over to the school, but what a blessed time of communion and fellowship with the LORD. What a time of mediation on the word of God and contemplation. What a wonderful time to be quiet and still before the LORD, till I spontaneously break out in prayer. What a special time to be silent and still before the LORD. Did you know there are three kinds of silence? The first is perfect. The second is even more perfect and the third is the most perfect. In the first the silence of our words there is virtue that is acquired. In the second the silences of our desires quietness is obtained; and in the third the silence of our thoughts . . . this is goal the internal recollection of our senses. To lay hold of the silence of thought is to arrive and abide at the center of our being where Christ dwells. It is there God communicates Himself to our spirit and there in the inmost depths of our being, He teaches us Himself. He guides us to this place where He alone speaks His most secret and hidden heart to us through His small still voice. We must enter into this through all silence if we would hear the small still voice of God speaking to us.

Please let me expound on these three areas a little more. God must be able to bring us to silence so that we can hear that small still voice in us and if He is going to be able to trust us with our portion of ministry. The first area is silence of words. “The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 26It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD. 27It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 28He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. 29He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.” (Lamentations 3:25-29) There is not a lot of talking when we have our mouth in the dust. We seem to have a hard time shutting our mouth. We want to let people know how much we know and just how smart we are. Well, dead men do not do a lot of talking. Many words reveal we are alive to our flesh and God has not been able to kill us. We must allow God to work in our lives to the point we will have nothing to say. Our words have been silenced in us and now when we speak God’s words will come from our mouth. Our words are under restraint and stilled and now God’s words can flow freely from us. God must be able to bring our words to nothing. I had returned from a ministry trip to India and Nepal. Karen and three other ladies went with me. Well, one lady never shut up. She would get into the van and start talking. She would get out of the van and still be talking. Where ever she went she was talking and sadly she was saying nothing of real importance. Even more sadly her talkative nature and opinionated words disqualified her for true service in God. Her many words reflected the lack of mature understanding and God’s work in her life.

The next area in our lives God must bring to silence is our desires. I am amazed how Americans are so full of desires, well God showed me why. If we have the ability to fulfill our desires on our own we will desire even more, but if we cannot fulfill our desires on our own then we will not desire many things in our lives. Americans have the ability to satisfy their desires from their prosperity. We now see this thinking in the Church being taught by the prosperity teachers, get from God all you can. Allow God to give you the desires of your heart. Well my friend, the last thing I want is the desires of my heart. I do not trust my heart one bit. Unless our heart has been dealt with by God we will desire things not of God and get off track and fall out of the way. Jesus taught, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) We are filled with whatever we hunger and thirst after. If we hunger and thirst after the world and its things we will be filled with them, but if we hunger and thirst after righteousness and the things of God we will be filled with them. God must be able to bring our desires for things to a silence. He must be able to bring a stillness in our spirit for what we want to see come to pass in our lives, in our ministry, in the world. Remember, God is God and we are not. Even Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (where oil is pressed) was brought to a place of silence to His desires. In Matthew we read, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Mathew 26:39). “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt,” Jesus had a will, a desire that was not what the Father wanted, but He submitted His will, His desire for the Father’s desire. We too must submit our desire for the Father’s desire if we are to ever come to a place of knowing God and His ways. God must be able to kill our desires, even for the so called Godly desires that are not of Him. In John we read, “The thief (not the Devil) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Today our focus and thinking is after this abundant life of things, but Jesus was not talking about earthly things and desires He was talking about the life of God and having “it (the life of God) more abundantly.” If God is going to be able to use us He must be able to kill our desires, bring them to silence in us so that He can fill us with His desires and will.

And lastly God must be able to silence our thoughts. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (Isaiah 26:3) It is no wonder many Christians are full of fear and dread, their minds are not “stayed on thee.” Their thoughts are never at rest, never still. Their thoughts are always looking for ways to fulfill their destiny. Rest never comes to the one whose thoughts are always laboring and anxious. A mind laboring in much thought can never build a trust in God. But a mind “stayed on thee” is trusting in Thee. If our mind and thoughts are on God we will then begin the building process of trust in us which is far beyond faith. The spiritual order is: faith, trust, and rest. Rest is the place God desires to take us all to, but before we can come to a place of rest we first must come to a place of trust. And when our thoughts come to a silence in us we are then able to trust God for everything we need and as we trust God more and more we then are able to enter into His rest. All of this happens as we allow God, through His dealings and judgments, to silence in us our thoughts. The last hurdle to inward strength and peace is in our mind and thoughts. The goal is to be able to come to an inward stillness where God is at the center of our life, an inward stillness where nothing shall be able to move us. If God cannot get us to a place of inward stillness then we will be moved by our emotions and feelings and this will never do. Brethren God must be allowed to bring us to place of stillness and silence so that we can hear His small still voice, if not then He cannot use us we are disqualified for real service. Written by David Stahl

SIN AND SINS

2012-01-16T09:07:00.002-05:00

Sin is the one thing that will separate us from God for all eternity. Our sin is never just forgiven oh no, it must be dealt with by God and us. Paul asked the question “who could separate us from the love of God” (see Romans 8:33-39), sadly the answer to Paul’s question is us. Everything in our lives can be dealt with by God, but it is only the sin in our lives that will separate us from God. We have no power to deal with sin in our lives and it is only through God’s grace and mercy can we come to see this truth and the answer to our sin is only found in Jesus Christ. God has already made way to deal with sin in our lives, yet sadly countless of millions of people through the ages have gone off into an empty Godless eternity in their sin separated from Him forever. Oddly today in most churches most people are worried about their sins and work double time to try to take care of them and have never really allowed God to deal with their sin, but unless our sin nature is dealt with our sins will continue to defeat us time and time again. I think one of the biggest misunderstandings in the Bible is the difference between sin and sins and their mutual collaboration of death in our lives if not dealt with correctly. Sin is an anti-Christ nature totally contrary to God and His purpose and will that everyone receives when they are born into this world inherited from Adam because of his rebellion and disobedience to God in the garden. A new born baby has committed no sins but through their mere birth into this world (even into the arms of Christian parents) is stained with sin all the days of their life (being cute, cuddly, and defenseless does not change this truth) and unless they willfully and knowingly receive God’s papitulation (sacrifice or atonement) for sin they will die in their sin and be separated from God forever. Sin is not the individual fleshy acts of: murder, lying, stealing, adultery, etc. oh no these are sins, but sin is doing what God told us not to do. God told us; do not steal and we steal, do not lie and we lie, etc. doing what God told us not to do is the carnal sin nature of disobedience. As He told Adam, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ¹⁷But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16) Adam had no sin at creation (and Eve also), but choose to do what God said not to do. Verse 17 is the first recorded time in the Bible where God told Adam he could not do something and of course Adam chose wrongly. When I read these verses I see just how serious God is when He speaks and how we must pay attention to what God is saying. When God’s speaks He always gives us choices. In Deuteronomy He said, “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;” (Deuteronomy 30:15)so to with Adam, “Of “every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.” I believe (some of my friends and non-friends would defer with me) God really allowed Adam to eat “of the tree of knowledge” He said “Of every tree” and He meant it (God always means what He says), but He also said if you eat of the Tree of Knowledge “thou shall surely die.” So too in our lives God gives us choices and consequences to our choices. “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: ²⁰That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days . . . .” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) Please understand I am not beating up on Brother Adam I do not know what I would have done if I was in his shoes. The writer to the Hebrews explains it like this, “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: ²⁸So Christ was once offered to bear the sins (not sins, but the sin of many people like you and I) of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” (Hebrews 9:26-28) Do you see the difference? And when He (Jesus) returns we shall see Him being without sin not sins. And why not sins? Because our sin nature has been dealt with and now our sins too can be dealt with. Did you know sin was the biggest topic Jesus spoke about while on earth? I wonder why few churches today speak on sin? Who me? I have this ungodly nature that needs to be dealt with by God? Oh no I am okay; I go to church, I sing in the praise and worship team and choir, I pay my tithes, I even pray and fast, oh no God loves me (this is true) all I need to do is be a better person and stopping doing bad things. Well maybe we today do not believe in our sin nature like Joel Osteen and other preachers?

Now sins (not sin) are different, but come from our sin nature. Sins are individual fleshly acts of our carnal sin nature that we have not allowed God to purge from our lives. And always deals with a willful and knowing choice. I do not know about you my friend, but every time I do something not of the LORD I know it. The precious Holy Spirit convicts us of these ungodly acts, a most blessed thing indeed. Paul goes into great detail to explain sins and how to allow God to deal with them in our lives, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. ¹⁸But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. ¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, ²⁰Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,²¹Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:16-21) Please know this is not an all inclusive list. Our sins like our sin must be dealt with by God and us. Like with our sin God made a way to deal with our sins, “Whom God hath set forth (Jesus) to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” (Roman 3:25) and in 1 John we read, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation (sacrifice, atonement) for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Now we have no choice (like we have with sin) with our sins, if our sin nature has not been dealt a death blow then we will have no choice but to “fulfill the lust of the flesh” and will always commit fleshly acts against God and man. We cannot help ourselves, man has no internal will power or ability to stop sinning. Man has no ability to control his desires or emotions. The only way to control our emotions and desires is to allow God to deal with our sin nature regenerating (give new life to) our soul, mind, and spirit. This my friend is a most difficult process of God in our lives and just saying words does not do it even if many lost denominations teach this wrong doctrine. There must be remorse (maybe even tears), a sorrow for what sin has wrought in our lives. There must be a true confession in our own words and our own heart, not others words. We must confess (agree what God is saying about us is true and God is saying, “we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)) from the bottom of our sin sick heart and soul we have a sin nature that needs to be dealt with by God and recognizing God has always done His part (through His Son Jesus dying on a cross) we now are doing our part so that our sins too can be cut down in our lives. Paul and John share this same truth, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹For the scripture saith,” (Romans 10:9-11) and from John, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10) Today we make it so simple by “just repeat (the sinner’s prayer) after me” and your sins will be forgiven, well that is not what Paul told the church at Colossi, “Mortify (kill or put to death, same Greek word we get the word mortician) therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: ⁶For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: ⁷In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.⁸But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.⁹Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;¹⁰And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:” (Colossians 3:5-10) Here is another list of sins. Once we truly are converted (not just repeating the sinner prayer which is not found in the Bible) our sin nature has been dealt and we now have the strength to allow God to work in our lives to be able to kill our sins (with our help) replacing them with His righteousness, peace, and joy. As Christians we are not to be down in the mol grubs and the dumps, but steady and sure in all things knowing God (no matter what the situation or circumstance) is able to give us beauty for ashes. You would ask where do the ashes come from? Well, in the Old Testament when the sacrifice has been burnt up only the ashes remain and we are the sacrifice. No ashes no beauty in our lives as simple as that.

One of the last times Jesus was talking with the Disciples He told them, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. ⁸And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹Of sin because they believe not on me; ¹⁰Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; ¹¹Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” (John 16:7-11) Please notice Jesus’ words here, “he will reprove the world of sin” not sins. And why not sins? Because our “sin” nature must be dealt with first (by God and us) before our sins can be dealt with. So many people look at God and say He is mad at me, well that is the furthest from the truth, God gave (giving is at the heart of the Gospel) His only begotten Son (Jesus Christ) God could give nothing more precious to save a sinful man from their sin and once sin takes root and is established in lives, relationships, and places sins manifest and bear great fruit and until the seed of sin has been uprooted and the ground (our heart) has been cleansed from its crimson stain sin and our sins will remain and give life to death in us and we in others. It all boils down to whether we desire for God to cleanse our heart and lives, He has done His part He is not mad at us the war is over on the earth and in the heavens, but now is raging within our mind and thoughts. Sin or sins, sinner or saint it all depends not on God, but on have we allowed God to work in our lives (as He so desires) or not. Written by David Stahl

BUT THE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE

2012-01-07T14:07:00.001-05:00

Of all of the articles I have written lately my last article “Another Pastor is Killed” by far has garnered more email comments than any article in a long long time. I really was surprised by the number of comments; some against (maybe 10%), but the majority (almost 90%) were strongly in support of my article and many requested more teaching on this subject, because they said it is taboo to talk about such things and certainly not Christian to address manipulation and character flaws when uncovered. But maybe that is why many churches today have revolving doors, people coming and going, because of the lack of honor and integrity they find in most churches. How can God be glorified in this? This and my last article should also serve as a warning to those in church leadership who take their responsibilities carelessly and shiftless before God and the people. So I asked the LORD about a follow on article and He gave me the green light. Please understand I am not trying to beat up on Faith Covenant actually I feel sorry for them the leadership ought to have known better. My heart is to see them repent and come clean before the people and God before it is too late.

Now there is so much about how God operates and the things of the Spirit that are so far beyond my ability and understanding, but I like that. After all who wants to serve a God they can figure out? One (of many) of the things I am amazed about is how God can kill us and at the same time make us alive? In 1 Samuel we read, “The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.” (1 Samuel 2:6) In the New Testament we see the same concept and Spiritual principle by looking at the law through the prism of sin and grace. “And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: ⁵Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; ⁶Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter (to write with reference to rules and requirements), but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-7) How could rules and requirements kill us? Well, Paul was not talking about the writing of rules and requirements to do things in God, but was talking about the rules and requirements we self-apply to ourselves to be sufficient in God. These attributes and characteristics my friend will kill the Spirit of God in our lives. Every time we step outside the framework and ways God has established for our lives to operate we begin to operate in these self-applied sufficient characteristics and qualities. And God must be able to kill these self-applied sufficient characteristics and qualities, through His dealings and judgments, in our lives so He can make us alive to His precious Holy Spirit flowing in us and out from us to situations and circumstances in our lives. When we incorrectly function in a given situation the letter of the law is strengthened and the Spirit of God grows weaker in us. And the longer we go in this direction the weaker the Spirit is in us. God will never be able to strengthen us with might in the inward man if we continue to walk contrary to God’s ways. Now I am not talking about sin alone here, but I am also talking about operating in the things found in the Spiritual realm. Those things of: wisdom, honesty, integrity, judgment, and mercy to name just a few. In church today we seem to be good at signing, playing instruments, dancing, thinking we bring down the Spirit so He can bless us, but how good are we at walking in the Spirit so that He can bless others in our lives? So that things can operate correctly in the Spiritual realm for the good of the local Body of Believers? As things are done on earth so they are also done in heaven. Yes my friend I think we will have a lot of explaining to do when we get heaven. Whatsoever we bind (gathered up like sheaves tied together in a field) on earth shall be bound in heaven. I would think we will be surprised (not at sin because we know when we sin) to what have we bound in heaven?

Now I know this is a hard lesson to learn and I know I am not there yet. Please hear me and hear my heart. Grace and mercy never trumps righteousness and truth. God has a complete counsel He operates through. Many in the church today operate in only the grace and mercy partition and willfully miss out on righteousness and truth. It seems truth and righteousness today has little importance in our lives. Why worry about being held accountable for our works and deeds we have mercy and grace to take care of our sins, shortcomings, and even our character flaws. The more we are brought face-to-face with truth (especially about ourselves) and righteousnesses the more we will be able to walk in and handle the things of the Spirit correctly. Jesus told the disciples, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. ²⁴God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24) We seem to go after what we call the Spiritual things (praise and worship, etc.), but woefully fall short of the truth part. Well how do we worship God in truth? By doing and saying truthful things. It has nothing to do with singing, dancing, leading intercessory prayer groups, etc., but it is our heart condition that God brings into question. When we operate in truth God can make our spirit alive to righteousness and kill our earthly, carnal ways. Now here is the challenge how do we operate in truth and not offend people? In my last article the heart condition of the loving pastor was to “seek peace with all men” (a noble desire) and cause no offense, but to do this the LORD would have had to impel the sword of the Spirit into all hearts concerned to kill us so He could make us all alive. This my friend is a painful process most (if not all) Christians avoid like the plague. We seem not to want to offend people well the preaching of the Gospel is an open offense to the world and all who are of the world. If I teach or preach the word of God and have not offended you then I have failed to use the word of God correctly as a mirror to reveal your heart and intents. And it is how we respond to this offense inwardly that will determine whether God can kill us and make us alive. Notice the order, the killing comes first and the making alive comes second. The more complete God can kill us the more complete He can make us alive in newness of His life. Oddly the more we get offended by God and His word the more of the life of God we can come in to. One thing about Paul I always admired was his ability not to be a PC Christian. His truthfulness overshadowed his witness of the Gospel and he never held back his feelings. In 1 Timothy there is no doubt who Paul delivered unto Satan, “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: ²⁰Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” (1Timothy 1:19-20) Today we would have bleeped the names, but not so with Paul. He wanted everyone to know who he was talking about. We too must hold fast and call a spade a spade. Before you can cut the head of a snake off you must identify the snake and before you can stop the snake from biting people you must cut the head of the snake off. Also in 2 Timothy we find Paul again not hiding the truth, “Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: ¹⁰For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. ¹¹Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry. ¹²And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. ¹³The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. ¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: ¹⁵Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.” (2 Timothy 4:9-15) When we call a spade for what it is we are protecting the unknown hearts and starting the reconciliation process. Remember the goal in “speaking the truth in love” is so that they (the ones in err or error) can grow up in all things. Our concern is always for the one who is walking away from the truth. Make no mistake my friend offense will make us either go towards or away from the truth. At the heart of every issue is an issue of the heart and our heart must always be towards reconciliation and restoration. When I speak on offense I often share, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. ⁸And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.’ (1 Peter 4:7-8) Now this is true, but it is our charity (or love) that is to cover the sins of sinners and babes in the LORD, those personal attacks and words they direct our way. It is the love we have allowed God to develop is us that covers our heart and ears from the words and deeds, but our charity or love is NOT to cover church doctrinal issues that would lead people in error. An “error” is to make a mistake that can be easily corrected with limited damage to a relationship, a human flaw, but “err” (Strong’s #4106, to cause to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way) is something more diabolical and sinister. To “err” is when we intentionally for our own personal gain lead someone astray from the truth of the word of God. Oh no my friend these issue are to be addressed openly before the church when uncovered. James tells us, “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; ²⁰Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20) After we are truly convinced of our sins being forgiven the next greatest thing that will get us into trouble with God is Spiritual authority. When we move in direct rebellion (like when we force a pastor to resign) to God’s leadership we “err” and God is paying attention. It is the biggest deal in our lives to God and He closely scrutinizes us in it all the days of our lives. Most Christians have little knowledge of Spiritual authority, but I promise you my friend if you get Spiritual authority wrong it may cost you your life. When we started the church in Germany some Africans brought in a Nigerian pastor to lead a rebellion to take over the church, well God protects His word and His children. One Wednesday night in a home this Nigerian was holding a meeting with some of our folks and as he was speaking he dropped over dead. They wanted me to claim his body I said no and he was cremated in Germany never to be buried in Nigerian soil, but here is the real sad part of the story. Right before his death he came to a service to hear me speak and realized he was wrong, but could not set aside his ambitions and what was already set into motion. He confessed this to others leading the rebellion and seeing his sudden death they left the church in fear, see Acts 5:11.

Now we must be careful not to confuse doctrinal issues “err” with personal issues. I have a friend (I still call him friend), but not so with him. One day he asked me a question that related to his character and I told him the truth, which caused him to turn his back on me and Karen. I was amazed I looked at him as a mentor in the LORD (maybe that was my mistake), but still his offense was too great to get over so he severed our relationship of over 30 years quoting from Romans, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” (Romans 16:17) Now I agree with Paul we must first judge and second separate (order matters) ourselves from them and if the pastor we must move them from the church over doctrine issues that would lead people astray, but never ever over personal issues or character flaws. We have no doctrinal differences and to me I still love him, but his offense seems too great to consider restoration. I hope and pray in 2012 he changes his heart and once again we can call each other friends. For this to happen we both must allow God to kill us the more so that He can make us alive. Written by David Stahl

ANOTHER PASTOR IS KILLED

2012-01-02T14:29:00.002-05:00

Well another pastor is killed. Many of you know we have moved to Sneads Ferry, North Carolina how glad Karen and I were and so thankful when God led us to the church He wanted us to go, but now I see it was only to support the pastor as he was being forced to resign (through no fault of his, but did so to keep the peace), to notify the unknowing people of the ungodly words and deeds (as directed by God) of the board members, and give the board leadership a warning from the LORD to repent before it is too late. Now when I say “killed” I do not mean this literally just in the heart and eyes of the people. Did you know when we usurp the Spiritual authority of a Pastor that God has put in place we are killing the pastor in the hearts and lives of the people just as if we put a gun to their head and pulled the trigger. Did you know when we destroy someone’s witness, good name and character we have said in our heart I would desire to take their life and kill them first with words, actions, and then if that is not satisfying enough often people literally (even though not intending to) take the physical life of someone. In this case it was only the killing in words and actions of one of the humblest people I have met (especially being a pastor) in a long long time. Usually it is overseas where we meet humble pastors, so this fellow was a rare breed indeed. In the short four or five months we have observed him Karen and I really admired his gentleness, humility, and he also was a very fine preacher. Now we know God will take care of this pastor and we also know God will take care of the other folk (board members) that rose up in direct Spiritual rebellion to him.

When situations like this come up in churches we seem to take a fallback position of letting peace reign at the cost of truth and righteousness, which are God’s position in situations like this. We think God is love and love must reign, well that is not the picture of God’s heart in these situations. Did you know love is not always soft and gentle? Did you know Jesus was not always gentle and meek? When the Bible talks of Jesus being meek and lowly (Matthew 11:28-29) it is referring to His character and attitude toward people, His heart condition, but the Bible often tells of times when Jesus rose up in anger to exhort His spiritual wherewithal to expose wicked men and men who would take advantage of people and situations of life. Jesus was master at dealing with the religious folks of the day, but Jesus always dealt harshly with the religious people who ought to know better. Speaking of the scribes and Pharisees Jesus never left any doubt where He stood with these religious liars and thieves. In Matthew we read, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. ³⁴O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matthew 12:33-34) and again in Matthew we read, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. ²⁸So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28) and continuing “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, ³⁰And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. ³¹Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. ³²Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. ³³Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:29-33) It does not sound like Jesus was trying to keep the peace here. Of course not, Jesus was exposing and uncovering the evil that was in their hearts and the manipulation and deceitfulness of their motives. In these church situations our traditional religious teaching wants to give grace and keep the peace, but we are to give grace to the sinner and the babes (they do not know any better), but those who have walked with the LORD for some time ought to know better we must hold their feet to the fire and hold them accountable for their words and deeds, yet this is not what we see in most if not all churches. We have this perverted view of doing the right thing in God by not wanting to offend or hurt someone’s feelings, we always want to keep the peace. Jesus was a peace maker (this is true) so we too must be a peace maker, well not so fast Jesus was also man of righteousness and truth, He was the living truth on earth and always did the right thing. He did not spare feelings or mince words Jesus always shoots from the hip and aims at the heart of the issue, our heart. When we go after saving the emotions and feelings of people (thinking we are keeping the peace) we actually are causing greater division and strife among the body of Believers by not exposing and uncovering the truth. Just the opposite outcome my friend in reality because we have now covered up wrong ungodly practices and motives of some people. In Acts Chapter five when Peter dealt with Ananias and with Sapphira his wife he did not try to cover up their actions, but dealt directly with them holding them accountable. My friend, in God there are consequences for our actions, especially in the church when we are leaders. The consequences for Ananias and with Sapphira out from their disobedience to God and Peter (God’s indirect Spiritual Authority) was, “Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. ¹¹And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.” (Acts 5:10-11) So too this will be our outcome if we move in disobedience to God, but please notice the outcome God was looking was not peace or togetherness, “And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.” God was not picking on Ananias and Sapphira, but used this opportunity to let the people know He means what He says. My friend the agape type of love everyone wants to have flowing in their lives means dedicated and at the core of its essence is divorced of all human emotions, thus is was not an emotional propitiation for Jesus when He went to the cross it was a mature selfless action of sacrifice. This is why we must speak the truth (not looking to keep the peace and share feelings) in love. If we do not speak the truth people will not “grow up” in all things. We need to stand up for the truth in all situations (even church disputes and disagreements) and speak the truth (what is really going on) and not spare the liars and truth breakers, but spare the innocent and those not knowing what is going on by exposing and uncovering the deception and manipulation of those in rebellion. In Ephesians Paul instructs us, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; ¹⁵But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” (Ephesians 4:15-16) If we do not speak the truth in love (that does not mean in keeping the peace) God’s idea for speaking the truth is so that spiritual development and maturity can happen within the individual members of His Body. This is why church after church continues to strive for position and placement within denominations and why church leadership continues to strive and dispute with pastors they (both all times) are immature and want their way instead of God’s way. But only when speaking the truth again and again will the precious Holy Spirit have an opportunity to be heard in situations such as church splits and the killing of pastors. Pastors if God has put you in a place of Spiritual Authority then stand your ground and speak the truth in love. Be like a tree planted by the rivers of life and be not removed. God cannot use timidity and remember peace at the sake of truth and righteousness is devilish. There is a placed for humbleness, but when that does not work we must speak the truth in love and then God will show up to protect His word and His children. In Numbers we see what happens when God’s authority is questioned, “So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. ²⁸And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. ²⁹If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. ³⁰But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. ³¹And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: ³²And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. ³³They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.” (Number 16:27-33) Before this Moses fell on his face three times to intercede, but God had nothing to do with Moses’ words. And please notice it was not just the rebellious leaders it was also, “their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.” Over 250 people were killed by God for Korah’s and the other elders rebellion, remember rebellion not against Moses, but against God. When we rise up in word and deed against a pastor God has put in place (God’s indirect Spiritual Authority) we are rising up against God. God is serious about His Spiritual Authority the Bible is full of verses that warn us of speaking and moving against God’s Spiritual Authority. Here are two examples: in Galatians Paul warn us, “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” (Galatians 5:15) and in Proverbs we read, "Forwardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. ¹⁵Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. ¹⁶These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: ¹⁷A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, ¹⁸An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, ¹⁹A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:14-19) It is not about speaking against a man, but God and His Spiritual Authority and if you get this wrong you may be dead wrong. I have seen this time and time again over many years of serving the LORD. I have personally seen God take people literally out from life to protect His word and His children.

The LORD got me up three days in a row between two and three o’clock (Thursday through Saturday) before the Sunday I shared these words at Faith Covenant Church (FCC), “Count the cost! Take heed! Ichabod! Ichabod! I am greatly angered at the leadership. Woe unto you Faith Covenant Church. Leadership your days are numbered, my punishment is coming, repent, others quickly take your families and run out of this death before it is too late.” Thus says the LORD. Make no mistake my friends these words apply to any church that rises up in rebellion to a pastor that God has put in place. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and the rest of the leaders thought they were chiding and railing against Moses but they (like the FCC leadership) were wrong it was God they were rebelling against and my friend God always shows up to protect His word and the people He has invested His Spiritual authority in. As I look back on this sad time the only regret is I did not share my heart as clear and God’s words as forceful and stern as God wanted me too. Sadly in the end another pastor has been killed in the eyes of the people and God’s authority and glory has been pulled down again on earth. Written by David Stahl

THE END IS NEAR

2011-12-28T15:02:00.007-05:00

While growing up I would often see people walking around with a sandwich board draped over their shoulders with the words written something like, “the end of the world is near.” Usually you find these folks around bus or subway stations, airports, in a city center or plaza any place where people transit. Now I always thought this always seemed so silly, but the older I get and the longer I walk with the LORD the more my view of these folks and their message has changed. Now I do not know about the end of the world, but I do know the end is near for the year 2011 and wonder what 2012 will be like. We are only a few days from the end of one of the most tumultuous years of loss of freedoms, loss of homes, loss of lands, loss of fortunes, not to mention the staggering loss of life around the world from Europe to Asia to Africa and to the Middle East death became a companion to millions of families. I wonder what 2012 holds for the world? Will political wrangling and partisan bickering in our government continue destroying the greatest country (America) that God has ever graced into the world? Will life become more of a struggle for mere survival? Will brother continue to strive against brother? Will food be sold for the soul of a man? One thing for sure we know life for Christians in the future will only get tougher and even deadlier. We talk of faith and even preach from the so called “Hall of Faith” from the Book of Hebrews, but it is in the end of Chapter 11 that really talks of the great need for faith in our lives, “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ³⁵Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: ³⁶And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: ³⁷They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; ³⁸(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. ³⁹And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: ⁴⁰God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:33-40) Not too many sermons lately from these verses. Is this what we are to look forward to in 2012 and beyond? We can see this now somewhat as political correctness and Christian bias is beginning to sway the opinion and common sense of the average person and if this continues in time a viral hatred for Christians will develop around the world and persecution will once again be the order of the day for all Christians. Or will the heart of man repent and turn toward a loving God? I would think not. Many Christian leaders believe (now it would be wonderful if it happens) there will be a great end-time harvest of souls, well the Bible nowhere support such thinking. The Bible says, “now is the time for salvation.” Does God promise us tomorrow? The end-time harvest wishing and message is just another way many Christian leaders (you know them because you see them on TBN and other Christian TV programming) can make money fleecing the flock and deceiving the masses of unwitting people, but at any rate they will be deceived and lost because they have little desire to know the truth. Oh how sad how the one and only message (the Gospel message) which was meant by God to save mankind has been perverted, used by greedy and ambitious men (the apostate church worldwide) to deceive many folks in the world. All we have to do is read the Bible and see the state of man’s heart condition near the end, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. ²For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, ⁴Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; ⁵Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. ⁶For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ⁷Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:1-7) Here is the heart of man in Paul’s day, sounds like today. How many conferences and seminars do we run to trying to learn, but in the end know not God and His ways? I wonder if this be the same in 2012? I wonder if the world’s financial market will collapse in 2012 as predicted? I wonder how many people will die from hurricanes, floods, tornados, droughts, and famines? Is this just mother nature at work or God’s judgment on a wayward and unrepentive man? Looks and sounds like judgment to me. I hope we will not have to steal food or maybe worse have to kill to survive in 2012 and beyond?

My friend we must not live our lives according to end-time prophets and teachers, but live our lives in Godly righteousness and simplicity. Each day of our lives must be focused on seeking the kingdom of God which is not a physical place or a means to life, but a state of sublime submission and commitment to God. Paul tells us what the Kingdom of God is, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 14:17). I wonder why so many people try to make the “kingdom of God” a ministry or service to God? Jesus told us, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. ³⁴Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:33-34) We must live day by day as if we truly believe like the disciples that Jesus was coming back soon. It is sad how some Christians have become content to make this earth their home. We must live our lives for God as if each day was our last on earth (and soon stand before a Holy God) after all no one is guaranteed tomorrow. I wonder in 2012 if the leadership in the churches worldwide will humble themselves and be the example to the world, repenting of their gross waywardness to God and deception of man? Jeremiah tells us of a time when in his life he hoped for this, “For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, ¹⁴They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. ¹⁵They cried unto them, Depart ye; it is unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn there. ¹⁶The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders. ¹⁷As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save us. ¹⁸They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.” (Lamentations 4:13-18) Could 2012 hold for us the truth found in verses 17 and 18? If so, oh LORD please have mercy on us.

Did you know the disciples thought the end was near and that Jesus was to come back in their time? We must live our lives for God today and worry not about tomorrow. Doing the things we need to do today to be ready for His return. Many Christians say when Jesus returns (and I believe He is) it will be His second coming, well that makes no biblical sense. For those who can read and those who study the Bible we find Jesus came the first time as a baby, “And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2:21) was crucified (died physically) on Calvary and went to hell to win victory over death, hell, and the grave “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. ⁹(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)” (Ephesians 4:8-10) and “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”(Revelation 1:18) came back to earth His second coming and was seen by over 500 eye witness, then was caught up in the clouds “Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: ³To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:” (Acts 1:2-3)and “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11), so when Jesus comes back this will be His third coming not His second. This third coming makes Godly sense because the number three symbolically all throughout the Scriptures stands for a complete work of God. Jesus’ third return will complete another part of God’s master plan for mankind whom He loves very much.

My friend the outlook for 2012 does not look bright for those outside of God. To survive in 2012 and beyond we must be hidden in Christ Jesus. This is much more than words this is a heart attitude of dependence on God, this is a mindset that fixes our attention and focus on God, and this is a way of life that transcends mere earthly living that no matter what happens in our lives; as Job said, “though God slays me yet I will trust Him” or Esther “if I perish I perish” (now that is real faith) we rest in being hidden in Christ Jesus. We are not seen by the world and nothing can harm us. We must fall in love with Jesus again in 2012 and never lose our love for Him and for a lost mankind. I really believe the 2012 year will be a foundational year to usher in many things waiting for man in the future. Now I do not know, but I know who knows, God knows and if He is not telling we do not need to know. All we need to know is God knows and that is enough for us. Our part is to just love Him and allow Him free reign in our heart and lives to conform us into the character and image (icon) of His precious Son Jesus Christ through His dealings and judgments in our lives. I really believe the minute hand on God’s clock has moved closer to 12 o’clock and the appearance of His precious Son is nearing. We must live in the first 65 Books of the Bible worry not about the Book of Revelation and all of the end-time prophecies they are beyond us. If you hear someone say they have a special understanding of the Book of Revelation I would gather up my family and run from them as fast as I could. Once we get past Chapter Three of Revelation words and Scripture become mysterious, blurry, and steeped in great symbolism. John had to be in the Spirit (as a dead man) to even receive it. We must worry not to the things we do not know, but allow God to show us our weakness. Blessed is the man who knows His weaknesses not his strength. Blessed is the man who knows His weaknesses not his strength. Yes 2012 will be here very soon and we cannot stop its arrival and the end of 2011 is near an end. What we did or what we did not do for God soon will pass way, but what will not pass away are the rewards for our actions in 2011, we will have to either face them hidden in Christ Jesus or alone in 2012. Remember a reward is something we receive from God out from our words and deeds. Good or bad they are our rewards and we will receive (because we earned them) them for our obedience and faithfulness in 2011 and in the past. Written by David Stahl

A MEDITATION ON CHRISTMAS

2011-12-07T15:52:00.003-05:00

When I meditate on this time of the year and what we call the Christmas (word not found in the KJV of the Bible) season I must conclude this is the most divisive time of the year just ahead of Easter. I wonder why these two holidays divide so many people in the world. Now I will tell you from the start Karen and I do not celebrate Christmas how can we the word is not in the KJV Bible, but we do celebrate the birth of our precious LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. As Christianity began to spread many were alarmed by the continuing celebration of pagan customs among their converts. We even see this throughout the New Testament Church as Paul constantly battled against pagan and cultural traditions from taking root in the young Church. At first the Church forbade this kind of celebration. But it was to no avail. Bible historians claim that the Christmas celebration was invented to compete against the pagan celebrations of December. The 25th was not only sacred to the Romans but also to the Persians (Babylonian Chaldeans) whose religion Mithraism was one of Christianity's main rivals at that time. Oddly enough it was during this period the three Wise Men (also Magi) (Matthew 2:1) learned of the Star of Bethlehem by reading the prophecies of Daniel the Great Magi (Daniel 1:1-7). Sadly this religious deception continues today, even though the faces and names has been changed the spirit and intent has not. We Christians seem to be good at making up things to satisfy our flesh for fulfillment.

Now as I said Karen and I do celebrate the birth of Christ, there is a huge difference. As we watch the news we cannot believe all of the fighting to keep Christ in Christmas. Where in the Bible did Jesus ask us to remember His birth? Now I can find plenty of Scriptures in the Bible where Jesus has asked us to remember His death, “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. ²⁵After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. ²⁶For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.” (1 Corinthians 11:24-26) Who wants to remember Jesus’ death when we can remember His birth? Yet few Christians really remember His death (Romans 6:3) while they go crazy in remembering His birth. I wonder why? Yes there is a wonderful story about the birth of Jesus in the Bible, but where are we commanded to make His birth an annual holiday like we in American have made: Independence, Veterans, or Valentine Day even Halloween? And when you merge religious with traditions and customs you have an unbeatable national money maker. Is not Jesus’ birth much more? Yes my friend I am afraid we have gotten off track and the merchants of the day (and for 100s of years) have capitalized on our selfish greed (maybe only in America, but I think not) and great presumption. The same way Hollywood has recently discovered the untapped market for Christian movies. I find it really strange how many Christians today would rather go to a movie then to Church to hear about Jesus. I wonder why? It is not about fighting to keep Christ in Christmas or even about a baby in the manger. You know we really like seeing baby Jesus in the manger, but you know my friend Jesus is not a baby any more, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” (Romans 8:34) Today Jesus is not a defenseless baby in the manger He is our victorious King of kings, Lord of lords, and some day soon He is coming back to earth not as a baby, but as a judge (to kick butt) and rule (to set righteousness in order) in the earth. Something else we are puzzled about is why Christians want to beat up on the Atheist in Washington State who put a sign beside a manger display in the Capitol building. I thought we were to witness to them and tell them about Jesus? There is not much of a Christian witness when we shake our fist and gnash our teeth at someone over a wooden display. How can this sign destroy the eternal timeless message of our precious savior Jesus Christ? It cannot and will not. Has the love of God been displaced by Christians wanting their traditional religious symbols? I too can speak for God and sadly I must say yes.

Jesus did not come so that we could decorate our trees and yard with gold and silver balls or blinking lights. Jesus did not come so Christians could deck the halls with a blow up Santa Claus and reindeer on their roofs and lawn. What do we do with these verses? “Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. ³For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. ⁴They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers that it move not.” (Jeremiah 10:2-4) Maybe we should ignore them or maybe the Holy Spirit made a mistake? I think God is very clear in what He is saying, but we continue in the lie with Christmas trees (a German custom) out from our American tradition (now transported to the world) and because we do not want to offend family members. Just look at the Christmas trees in churches today? What do we do with these verses? The answer will be what we do with Jesus. Never forget the Gospel message of Christ is very offensive and at times even divisive to the non-believers, but truth is truth. Either we will stand for truth or compromise for the lie for the sake of peace on earth. The truth is Jesus did not come so we could have songs to sing at our annual Christmas musicals. It is amazing how old Christmas recordings from people long ago come back to life every Christmas. Jesus did not come so we could run ourselves to death, buying presents for people, while going further into debt. It is no wonder support in America for missionaries and humanitarian programs dwindle to almost to nothing this season of the year. I am afraid the true character and nature of man comes out during Christmas. We even plug in a written list to a jolly fat man in a red suit that drives a sleigh of reindeer around the world in one night to make sure we get want we what for Christmas. Why do we think we should get a present on some one else’s birthday? Our selfishness and self-centered nature really comes shining through. Oh Lord please forgive us for the indulgence of our wrong attitudes, greed, and lust. Jesus did not come to give us a Christmas season to feed our passions. The Bible is very clear why Jesus came. Jesus tells us in His own words, “The thief (not the devil) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 101:10) Jesus came so that we “might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” not to get a bunch of Christmas presents to satisfy our flesh. Jesus came so that we might (our choice not His) have the life of God dwelling within our heart and lives. The creative eternal life of God moving in us and out from us to the world. Also in John Jesus tells us, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) Jesus came so that we might have life eternal (one part of salvation) which is knowing His Father (and ours), so that we too could “know the only true God” as Jesus did. So we too could know the sublime unity of knowing God as Jesus did. I would think that would be worth far more than anything we can buy each other. Did you know, Jesus (even though the Prince of Peace) did not come into the world to bring peace as many of the major denominations and religions of the world tell us. Religious deception always leads us away from Christ into the traditional religious worship of the customs of man (like Christmas and Easter) and into a good works salvation thinking. Oh no Jesus Himself said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. ³⁵For I am come to set a man at variance (Strong’s #1639 to cut into two parts, cleave asunder, sever) against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. ³⁶And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. ³⁷He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. ³⁹He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39) Jesus has come to cut our hearts out of the world with His word, the sword. Jesus has “come to set man at variance against” or sever every relationship where we love someone or something more than Him. Jesus came so that we could take up our cross (not Jesus’) and follow Him. Jesus came so we could lose our life so that we could then find our life in Him. We know and are persuaded if we lose our life for His sake we shall find it. We also know many of our friends will disagree (we hope and pray this is not the case) with this article, but that is okay getting the truth of the Gospel message out is more important than our friends getting offended at us. If they get offended at us over this article we know they probably are not our friends anyway. We have learned this truth the hard way. Please do not allow yourself to be deceived (your choice) by any pastor or person that says, “it is not a Heaven or Hell issue or it does not really matter” oh really? This thinking my friend is just spiritually wrong and a very subtle form of deception that has been carried on for 100s maybe 1,000s of years by the religious denominations and merchants both working hand-n-hand to get customers.

Sadly at the heart of why we focus on the Christmas story and baby Jesus in the manger is so we do not have to deal with a risen Savior. How much more religious can we (like the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17)) who could not totally sell out be than to bow down and worship the Christmas story and the sweet little baby Jesus in the manger? This satisfies our religious flesh and helps to ease our guilt and feeling of disobedience from rejecting God’s word to us. Who wants to allow God to deal and judge in their hearts exposing areas where we must allow Him to work? It is much easier singing another song about Christmas as we buy presents for our family or even as we buy a present for some poor people who live down the street who we neglect the rest of the year. It is far less painful to go to every church musical and spend all we have than for God to be able to show us who we really are. Who wants to allow God free rein in our heart and lives to conform us into the image (icon) and character of Jesus Christ? Very few people do and the rest continue in this traditional religious lie year after year. I think I will end with a very sobering word; if you need a traditional religious holiday to know God sadly my friend your heart is very far from Him and you will never come to know Him. Let us turn our hearts away from the religious traditions of Christmas and allow God to bring the truth of His character and nature to us. It is our choice whether we desire presents on Christmas morning or the knowledge of God, we cannot have both. Written by David Stahl

LESS NOT MORE

2011-11-24T11:38:00.005-05:00

I wonder why we think more is better for us? We strive to get more of things at great peril in our lives and to the shame of other things in our lives. Society tells us get all we can in life, get a better house, get a bigger house, get a newer bigger car, bigger is better less is bad more is good, well that is not the way God operates. In God less is better than more. I know that will raise some eyebrows with my name it and claim it friends and even anger from my word of faith friends, but that is okay with me; for the truth to be said is more important than friends who would wilfully walk in darkness and distort the word of God. If we critically look at the Bible we will find the progression is from big to little, large to small, more to less. This thinking more is better is very destructive to our walk with the LORD and our walk with our brothers and sisters in the LORD and friends and acquaintances. In God the way up is down, down is less. John the Baptist said, “I must decrease and He must increase.” The more we can become of a lowly, humble heart the more we can become like our precious savior Jesus Christ. Gain in God is not measured by how long we can speak in tongues, how long we can preach and teach, how much money we give to the church, or the numbers of good works we do for the LORD. Oh no, God measures our gain in Him not by what we gather (bind) to ourselves, but what we lose of our self. How much of our self can we allow God to empty us of? How much of this world will we allow God to empty us of? Did you know the only way to be full of God is to allow God to empty us. The condition to be full of God depends (not on God but us) on how much we have allowed God to empty us and at the same measure we allow God to empty us of the world, our desires, and our hopes (so He can fill us with His desires, hopes, and plans) at that measure we can be filled with God and His glory. Why do we think God comes and fills us with His glory and virtue and leaves the old carnal nature within us? Can God put new wine in an old wine skin? Of course not the old wine bottles would bust. Jesus told the disciples, “And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. ³⁸But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. ³⁹No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.” (Luke 5:37-39) As the new wine is made it undergoes a very violent fermentation process for weeks until it is settled and brewed and if you put new wine in an old bottle the violent process of maturing will explode the old bottles. We allow God to empty us of our old ways and thinking when He gives us a new heart (Spiritually speaking) to hold the new wine of the Holy Spirit that He pours into our lives. This process of becoming something in God starts when we allow God to empty us of the old (wine) ways and thinking. We cannot empty ourselves oh no, this is a process of submitting to God’s dealings and judgments in our lives whereby He brings things (both sin and not sin) in our lives into judgment and then we can chose to separate or not separate them from our daily living. ll throughout the Bible we see this process of more to less in operation. One of the best examples is the story of Gideon’s victory over the Midianites. We read in Judges, “Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. ⁴And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. ⁵So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. ⁶And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. ⁷And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.” (Judges 7:5-7) Gideon went from an army of 22,000 to 300. The progression in God is always downward not upward, less is more. Even Jesus never could do much with many people He always used a few to touch many. In Matthew we read how Jesus fed the multitudes not once, but twice, “And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. ²¹And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.” (Matthew 14:20-21) and in the 15^th Chapter we read, “And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. ³⁷And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. ³⁸And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.” (Matthew 15:36-38) yet after feeding 9,000 people (some could have been the same folks) when He spoke of Him being the bread of life and they had to eat of Him they had no stomach for His words. I have found in my travels the masses (the more) like to be fed with earthy (natural) food, but it is the few (the less) that like to be fed with the heavenly (Spiritual) food. This is why huge churches share in no real communion (all hearts one in the Spirit), but operate on a natural level, where small churches (for the most part) know each other more intimately and can share each other’s burdens. Again, big is not better in God. Always remember if people are running after something, someone, or flocking to a big church God is not. We even see this truth play out in the life of Paul. What an outstanding teacher and world traveler Paul was surely Paul would have millions of people following him, after all Paul wrote 2/3 of the New Testament and brought great correction to the Church, but we read in 2 Timothy, “This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:” (2 Timothy 15:15-16) Now know when the Bible says “all” it means “all” not some or a few it means “all” every last one. Everyone in Asia turned their backs on Paul. The folks in the Churches at Antioch (where the term “Christian” was first used), Ephesus, Galatia, Troas (where Paul got his Macedonian call Act 16:6), “that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me” yet the Gospel message (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ) marched on. On a massive scale we know when the children of Israel left Goshen they numbered over 2.5 million people yet only two Joshua and Caleb made it into the promised land. God had to pare down the people to see what was in their heart, “All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. ²And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.” (Deuteronomy 8:1-2) We too must allow God to pare us down to see what is in our hearts. God must bring us way down by way of the wilderness in our lives so that He can humble and prove us for service. Salvation is free for us (not Jesus it cost Him His life), but everything else we get from God will cost us something of ourselves.

In God the direction is less not more, downward not upward. In God numbers, ability, and strength do not matter only obedience, commitment, and faithfulness matter. Our way with the LORD is a way of less not more. It is limitations and restriction (less) that bring us to fulfillment and completion. Today in the church I hear songs that say “we are free to run in God,” well that makes no Spiritual sense and is not supported by any Scripture. The only freedom we have in God is to choose whether or not to enter in to God’s restrictions and limitations for our lives and to walk in the way God chooses for us to go. Everything else is direct rebellion to God’s word. More my friend? Oh no, less my friend is God’s will for our lives. Written by David Stahl

PREACH THE WORD

2011-11-08T17:44:00.004-05:00

One of the most disturbing trends (other than the spreading of the prosperity doctrine world-wide) in the church is the move NOT to have a Sunday night nor a mid-week service. If they do have something on a Wednesday night it is centered around eating or choir practice and not on the preaching of the word of God. I find it remarkable how in the Bible when Jesus got a bunch of people together and fed them they had no stomach for the things of God, but just wanted their bellies full. I guess there is nothing new under the sun. Most churches today in America have one service; a Sunday morning service where they go all out and some even preach a 15-30 minute sermon, but sadly most churches in America have substituted eating, fellowship, and other church activities for the preaching of the word of God. Now this trend has been going on for some time, but recently it has really become noticeable to those who can remember a time in the church when the Spirit of God moved among the people and lives were truly changed. I thought maybe this is why America has been going downhill for some time. When the preaching of the word of God in any home, church, country, or civilization stops the only way for the sociality to go is down away from God and His ways. On a recent ministry trip I asked the LORD why this trend is increasing and He told me. Believe it or not if you ask God something He will tell you if you have ears to hear what He has to say. But on the way back I was meditating on this thought and thinking about some churches where this is going on and the LORD told me, “these churches and others really do not believe in the power of the Gospels message so they have substituted other messages, activities, and functions into the church thinking they will bring people in to see what the church has to offer, but this my son will never work.” There is a spiritual principle here in operation; what you lead people with is what you have won them to. So if you lead people to church with eating, singing and dancing, showing a good Christian movie, or other things then you have won them not to Christ, but to those activities. Now if you lead people to church with the preaching of the word of God then you will win them to the word of God and to Christ. There is a Baptist association of around 15 or so churches in Jacksonville every Super Bowl they throw (no church that night if they are still have a Sunday night service) a huge Super Bowl party at their administrative building to watch the game and maybe at half time they say something about the LORD. Their thinking is people will not come to church, but they will come to a party and maybe someone will say or do something that will lead them to Christ, but sadly all they have done was to lead people to the Super Bowl. And they do this every year. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing, but expecting to get different results. They keep having this Super Bowl party every year expecting to lead people to Christ when all they have done is lead people to the Super Bowl and here is why they really do it (like other denominations) they lead people to the Baptist denomination.

The Church does not seem to do well with eating, here a few examples. The communion table in the Gospels was always set in jealousy and confusion. Before the meal the Disciples were arguing among themselves who would be the greatest in the kingdom. The New Testament Church in the Book of Acts had problems when they mixed food and God. “And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. ²Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. ³Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. ⁴But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. ⁵And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:” (Acts 6:1-5) I guess the Disciples were serving the least and problems came as with most things in the church. Moses made the same mistake the Disciples made here. God told Moses to judge the people, but the Bible (Exodus 18:13-26) says, Moses (verse 24) “hearkened unto the voice of his father-in-law” and selected leaders that were “able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness;” to judge the people. They may have been God- fearing and up right men, but God told Moses to judge the people and out from that we now have the Ten Commandants which are good (and many people still follow, but did you know you can follow the Ten commandments to the letter, die, and go to hell? As I said before I truly believe it was not God’s idea to give us the Ten Commandants. God told Moses to judge the people because God knew Moses’ heart condition and it was his heart condition that was the basis and baseline for his judgment. But when Moses selected other leaders there needed to be a new basis and baseline of judgment for the people and because of Moses’ disobedience he had to use the Ten Commandants instead of the work God did in his life. Here in Acts the Disciples should have dealt with the issue, instead of adding another layer of human flesh into the church structure. When the “whole multitude” was pleased this should have been a sign to the Disciples not to do this. Anytime church leadership is lead by the people things that God has put into place are up rooted and disappear. Later in 1 Corinthians we see another contention around eating and church. “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. ¹⁸For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. ¹⁹For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. ²⁰When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. ²¹For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. ²²What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.” (1 Corinthians 11:17-22) What a telling statement about the spirituality of the Church at Corinth. Paul was saying they were better off not coming to church because when they did they depart worse off than for the better doing all of this eating and other activities. Sadly this is the same spiritual conditions we find today in many churches.

Now please do not misunderstand me here, I am not saying we should never eat, but we must never substitute the message of the Gospel for eating, singing and dancing, church activities and programs for the preaching and teaching of the word of God. I was shocked when God told me, “these churches and others really do not believe in the power of the Gospels message so they have substituted other messages, activities, and functions into the church thinking they will bring people in to see what the church has to offer, but this my son will never work” because God has established the message, format, and median to deliver His message to the world and this my friend does not change with the times nor with cultural shifts.

Let us be honest the culture in most of America has shifted away from a conservative home spun lifestyle to a more liberal contemporary lifestyle. And this my friend is not good for America. The more America goes after this liberal contemporary lifestyle the less of God will be in America. Sadly you can track it over the years and sadly you can see the ruination of the people and the country.

My friend God’s message does not change. God’s delivery method is still the same one on one. How can we make disciples if we never talk to people? How can we make disciples if we preach and teach over the internet? The Gospel message (the death, burial, and bodily resurrection) is still the basis for our salvation. But did you know many churches today in America do not believe in the bodily resurrection, burial, or even the death of Jesus. Paul said it true, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. ¹⁷For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17) Many churches today in America and others parts of the world are “ashamed of the gospel” and it is the gospel that “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” not eating, drinking, church programs and activities, Super Bowl parties, and the like. Sadly over the years many false preachers and teachers have crept in and weakened the foundation of many churches and turned their heads from the truth of the word of God so that they could establish church organizations, denominations, and institutions that will serve their agendas and pursuits. Paul also dealt with this with issue warning us this was going to happen and even gave us the answer when he was with the Church in Galatia, “Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. ⁹As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:7-9) Not once but twice Paul admonished the Church, “If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” I do not know about you my friend, but if I attended church that spends more time eating, singing, and dancing then preaching the word of God I would get my family and run as fast as I could out the door. The facts are clear and indisputable, yet many Christians stay in churches that do not preach or teach the word of God and wonder why they are not growing spiritually in the LORD. And yes, my friends we are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ.” God expects us to grow up and become mature men and women of God able to handle some responsibility in seeing the Gospel message shared with every man, woman, and child in the world, but this will not happen if we are always getting offended and falling out of the way God has for us to go. Jesus told us the way is narrow and straight, He meant that. To walk in God there is no wiggle room, our way is limited and restricted to the things God has established for us to do and say. In God we do not get say what we want, but are under restraints to our desires and wants by the Holy Spirit.

I am afraid in this age of contemporary “anything goes” world the preaching of the message of the cross has become out dated. Other messages have taken its place, but how is that working out? America and other so called Christian countries slip further and further into moral and ethical decay, sodomy, lesbians, and anything else that appeals to their imagination and evil heart condition. God’s message does not change and His message is the price upon the cross His Son died on. Paul again helps us, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-19) The wise and prudent of this world think God’s ways are out dated, “let’s have a Super Bowl party and say we are having a church service.” Well, God has a word for you, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” God will get the last word. Let us fear the LORD with all of our heart, mind, and spirit, and get back to His ways of preaching the word. Written by David Stahl

SPIRITUAL GIFTS AND WONDERS

2011-10-27T18:18:00.002-04:00

Desiring or seeking signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts, in most Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, seem to be the main focus (and some of the most controversial points of church order and doctrine effecting our daily Christian living) and projection to God’s manifestation on earth, but not so to function and application in God’s divine spiritual plans for man. Instead of making our needed adjustments to God where we can purely operate in the spiritual gifts we go after things that tickle our fancy and puff-up our imagination to what and who God really is. Now please do not misunderstand me here I greatly believe in signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts disputing the existence (as some denominations and religions do) of these wonderful throughputs of God’s spiritual manifestation and edifications to the Body of Christ (and out from the Body of Christ to the world) is nothing but foolishness. There is to be a fire hose flow of signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts from God to the local assembly and then out to the world, but it often seems these signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts get log jammed in the local assembly of believers as we think this brother or sister is really spiritual if he or she can speak in tongues or prophesy, but this is so far from the truth. Being spiritual has nothing to do with our ability to execute the spiritual gifts and abilities God has given us. God made a donkey speak and we think we are something special when we speak in tongues, prophesy, or when God uses us in some special way. Let us never forget signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts are for the nonbelievers and I would say for the babes in the LORD. In 1 Corinthians Paul corrects this misapplication of truth to the Church at Corinth (who had every gift of the spirit in operation, but said that they gathered together for the worse than the better (1 Corinthians 11:17)) when he said, “In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. ²²Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.” (1 Corinthians 14:21-22) It is no wonder the church is full of nonbelievers or babes they are going after signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts lacking spiritual growth and development to be able to correctly be used of God. We make a grievous error thinking we are more than what we really are in God in the spiritual realm neglecting the foundational principle of simplicity, integrity, and humility.

Operating in the gifts of the Spirit does not manifest spiritual maturity in our lives, spiritual maturity alone is developed in us as we allow God to deal and judge in our lives. If operating in the spiritual realm builds spiritual maturity in us then Saul would have been a very spiritual man, but this was not the case. Not once but twice Saul prophesied out of a heart of anger, jealousy, and bitterness. In 1 Samuel we read, “And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. ¹¹And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.” (1 Samuel 18:10-11) How could this be, “God came upon Saul and he prophesied” while he was trying to kill David with a javelin? Then again in 1 Samuel, “And he (Saul) went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 19:23-24) Again the Spirit of God was on Saul and he prophesied, no more no less. I promise you my friend if the Spirit of God falls on us we will prophesy and more, but do not think it is something special we have done to receive such a wonderful blessing. Our part is to be the vessel God can flow through and bring impact to the expression of God. Saul’s heart condition (in both cases) was wrong and all God could do was speak through him, but if Saul’s heart condition was humble and lowly of heart then God could have used him to fulfill His (God’s) purpose in the prophesy. In this mighty manifestation of God and in spite of God’s power being all over Saul his heart for David and for God was still unchanged.

It is when we are seeking the giver of the signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts God’s fulfillments in spiritual things can be accomplished in our lives and more importantly in the lives of others. In the Gospel of John we read of a wonderful story of Jesus healing a young boy without touching or even seeing him. “When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye (speaking to the disciples and the crowd that followed after Him) see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. ⁴⁹The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. ⁵⁰Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. ⁵¹And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.” (John 4:47-51) What a scolding Jesus gave the disciples, “Except ye (speaking to the disciples and the crowd that followed after Him) see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” You know seeing is NOT believing. In God NOT seeing is believing. This is why all of our efforts and hard work seldom yield any investment in God, but when our faith (when we hear God speak to us) is energized and God’s purposes are being met then things always work out for His and our glory. One thing I have observed over my many years in the LORD is how being zealous for God and even the things of God can get you off track faster than sin. With sin you have a way back (confession and repentance) to get back on track, but being zealous, well it is sadly like presumption; we do not know that we do not know. Zealousness distracts our attention from the heart of the issue and gets us off center. Zealousness (and most important) leaves us with a sense of well doing and feeling like we have accomplished something for God when in reality we have not. In 1 Corinthians Paul was sharing this point with the Church at Corinth, “There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. ¹¹Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. ¹²Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. ¹³Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.” (1 Corinthins14:10-14) Here Paul was not praising them, remember the Church at Corinth had every Spiritual gift in operation yet Paul said of them, “they were carnal, unlearned, full of division and fractures.” Zealousness will cause us to run after signs and wonders, and gifts. The Rich Young Ruler was zealous and Jesus could not do much with him. Luke tells us the Rich Young Ruler, “came running after Jesus,” but when Jesus pressed him for a commitment into servant hood he could not totally sell out and why? He was zealous to do the good works and the rituals and traditions of religion. Take heed my friend not to become zealous for God, but just love Him, become (a process of learning and knowing) obedient do what He directs, and He will take care of things from there.

My friend Jesus time and time again (also found in Matthew 12:39, 16:4, Mark 8:12) tells us not to seek a sign or go after spiritual gifts, “And he said, ‘Yea, rather, happy those hearing the word of God, and keeping it!’²⁹And the multitudes crowding together upon him, he began to say, ‘This generation is evil, a sign it doth seek after, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah the prophet,³⁰for as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also shall the Son of Man be to this generation.” (Luke 11:28-30) Jesus is our sign He is enough. If we seek after a sign from God or after spiritual gifts it is a sign of our spiritual immaturity all the while thinking we are on track and spiritually minded. Christians who look for or seek spiritual gifts are out of balance and this reflects in every area of their lives not just the spiritual areas, but also in the natural areas. James tells us, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. ⁷For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. ⁸A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:6-8) We are not to “think” we have received from God, but we are to know through experience (out from our faith) we have received from God, if not we are a “double minded man” who is unstable in all their ways. Now when the Bibles says “all” it means “all.” Not just the spiritual things in the spiritual realm, but also the things of the natural realm. I have seen this play out in so many Christian’s lives, thinking they are doing what God told them to do, but in reality and in the end they confess they were wrong. Zealousness can also play a big part in this. Operating correctly in spiritual gifts are for the well developed and mature Christians and this my friend comes with much time spent before God, many failures, and much soul searching.

Funny how in the German language the word “gift” is translated poison. When Germans move to America they see many stores called “gift shops” and expect one thing, but get another. So too is the immature Christian. When an immature Christian goes after signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts they are like a poison to their spirit and to their spiritual growth and development. If not able to endure the disciplining of the LORD then they will live their lives missing the high mark of the LORD. Go not after signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts, but go after Jesus He is always enough. Written by David Stahl

HAVE MERCY ON ME

2011-10-12T19:06:00.002-04:00

I do not know about you my friend, but I think I need more mercy in my life. I think we all would say a big amen to that. It seems the longer I go in God the less I know and the more I find myself doing things I ought not to be doing. Funny how God has limited me to doing the things I can do lawfully while honing (cornering) me down in my awareness to those things I should not be doing. Not that I cannot do them because I can, but those things I ought not to be doing, there is a huge difference. Things I could do in the past now are out of bounds and off limits. I really feel the longer we go with God the more God expects from us. The longer we go with God the more God expects our walk to be more righteous, faithful, and yes simplistic. All of the fancy things of ministry (traveling the world and preaching the Gospel in huge crusades and conferences) and our Christian living we think are important are not really that important to God as they are to us. God is really focusing on the little things in our lives, on the little things we think are insignificant, but not so with God, He closely examines us in these little things and makes judgments and qualifies us for future things. Our zeal at first is a huge driver in our lives, but God cannot do much with a zealous person. Saul later called Paul found that out the hard way. Peter too learned this lesson when he was older in years. After Peter’s heartfelt confession a place we all MUST come to if God is going to ever be able to use us to any degree, “He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17) Peter finally (after three hard years of Jesus pouring His heart into Peter) was brought to the place where he knew (Jesus) “thou knowest all things.” What a place of confession and awareness of who Jesus is and who Peter is. But please notice what Jesus says to Peter after he is broken, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” (John 21:18) Please notice the last bit of that verse, “but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” When Peter was young (like many of us) He did whatsoever he wanted to do and said whatsoever he wanted to say, but when Peter got old he could not say and do what he wanted, he was restrained “and another shall gird (strengthened, empowered) thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.” When we get older in God we too will be restrained to things we can do and say, restrained to the places we can go and compelled to go to the places we do not want to go, and even compelled to say and do the things we do not want to say and do. There is a divine spiritual principle in operation here that most Christians totally disagree with me on: limitations and restrictions lead us to fulfillment and purpose. Most Christians believe the longer we go with God the more freedom and liberty we have, well not so in God. It is being restricted and limited to only those things God and His word says we can do and say, will we ever hope to operate in what God wants for our life. How can we move in God correctly if we are doing and saying whatsoever we want to? We both know this is impossible, but when we restrict ourselves to God like an apple on a tree growing and maturing then and only then can we come to completion and fulfillment. I do not know about you my friend, but I think it looks like when we get older we need more mercy.

Mercy is something we all want more of in our lives and we even see this time and time again in the Bible in a great way. In Luke we read the account of Jesus heading up to Jerusalem via Jericho which is not very far time wise, but the way is through the wilderness and the “up” refers to the elevation and direction. At the beginning of the story Jesus tell the disciples what will happen to “the Son of man” (the name Jesus used to refer to Himself most often) and what they should expect. In reality these four verses foreshadow the marvelous and glorious Gospel manifesting on earth, yet the disciples did not have a clue what Jesus was saying, “Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” (Luke 18:31-34) Sounds like Jesus never received much mercy here. Jericho was the last town before they hit Jerusalem and also was the place the last miracle Jesus performed in His earthly ministry. Let us pick up the story as they enter the City of Jericho, “And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: 36And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. 37And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. 38And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 39And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 40And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, 41Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. 42And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. 43And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.” (Luke 18:35-43) Here sat a blind man (who called out Jesus Son of David and not Jesus Son of man) what a wonderful sight Jesus healing this blind man and everyone (the disciples and the crowd of people that always followed Jesus) that followed Him, “gave praise unto God” and that was that. The blind man called out (not once but twice) and in spite of the disciple’s interference and lack of faith Jesus healed him. Now here is my point: the format we see today in the church is we are sick, blind, hungry, poor, whatsoever we need and we cry out (like the blind man) and Jesus has to jump through the breakthrough hoop and heal us or give us some supernatural drop of money to make us happy again. Well, that is not how God operates. Notice what Jesus told the blind man, “Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.” Jesus did not say you are healed by grace oh no Jesus said again “thy faith hath saved thee.” Do you know we in the Church today confuse mercy with grace? Did you know there is a huge difference between mercy and grace? Grace is something God gives us that we do not deserve and mercy is something God gives us based on judgments and evaluations by Him. Before mercy can be extended there must be a judgment to determine the degree of mercy. Grace is open ended, all and all. Sorry to my Southern Baptist friends, but salvation is more than grace alone. If we rest in our salvation in grace alone we will not have the balance needed to keep us on track. In Ephesians Paul was correcting the church at Ephesus on this very matter, “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”(Ephesians 2:7-10) How can you buy a gift? And please notice “For by grace are ye saved through faith;” Paul did not say, “For by grace are ye saved.” Grace alone means we have no part to play in our salvation, God does everything and we can just kick back and go along for the ride and do and say whatsoever we want to say and do. But the Holy Spirit through Paul added “through faith” now we have a part to play (not in granting or extending salvation), but in maintaining our salvation. Yes, my friend if not careful we can lose our salvation. I know many denominations teach we can never lose our salvation and this is true as long as we walk in the way that God has for us to go, but if we willfully turn our backs on God and the way He has chosen for our lives then we can lose one of the most precious things in our lives, our salvation. In the words “through faith” we are now accountable for our actions and there are consequences for our words and deeds. God is not the solo party we now have a role to play in our salvation. God can now shine His light of truth and righteousness in our lives and see what is moving. In the grace alone concept God is held responsible and accountable for our salvation. Those denominations that teach this half truth of grace alone (I believe) do it because they know this doctrine will fill seats, offering plates, and push denominational agendas; after all who wants to serve a God who holds our feet to the fire when they can serve a God who comes running every time you call and does all of the work. Our faith appropriates and gives us access into the grace that God has already provided. Paul tells us in Romans, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2) It does not get any clearer than that, it is grace and faith. Grace and faith separated are poison to our understanding of how God operates in the Spirit and death to our spirit, but mixed together they are a life-giving flow of knowledge, power, and of spiritual life. My friend, please do not be deceived by this grace alone heinous doctrine.

It is grace (God’s part) through faith (our part) and the how is found back in Ephesians, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”(Ephesians 2:10) Yes we are the “workmanship” of God. I like that in the German language we are the “beaustella” of God. And the more we allow God to work on us through His dealings and judgments the more we become His. At the same measure we allow God’s work in our lives at that same measure we will be His, no more no less. We have been created “unto to good works” God’s dealings and His judgments, the troubles (that can be our servant if we have the wherewithal), trials, and even persecutions God allows to come our way to hone off our rough edges and mold and make us into a son or daughter of God. God is the master potter; He gets to fashion the clay into whatsoever He desires and we get to spin on the wheel of life as God molds us and shapes us into something beautiful or He chooses to close His hands and pummel us into a heap of nothingness so He can start the process all over again and again until He is well pleased with what is in His hands. He is master potter and we are the clay and the clay does not get to talk back, all we get to do is just go around and around on the wheel of life allowing and giving Him access through our faith to our lives. I am sure we all can agree on the wheel of life we often beg for mercy, but mercy is not God’s intention, oh no, God’s intention is perfection (selflessness) and God knows for perfection to happen in our lives He must speed up the wheel, press us out again and again on the wedging board (where the impurities in the clay are worked out), grind the clay through His fingers, and heat up the kiln 10 times hotter. Why cry out, “have mercy on me oh Lord” instead we should cry out “have your complete way with me on Lord” not mercy, but blessed devastation then and only then will we have the sight that can see the spiritual things of God. Written by David Stahl

SLAVERY

2011-09-29T13:58:00.002-04:00

When we think of the word “slavery” many thoughts and images come to mind. Most often today we in America think of the brutal treatment Africans endured during their journey coming from Africa to America on slave ships and once in America some of their lives were not much better. Yes this sordid and very sad period of American history was not one of America’s finest moments. Did you know the Bible has much to say about slavery, but please understand the slaves in Biblical times were treated much better (most often) than those of the Africans and please understand the Bible never has condoned any form of indentured servitude where one man owned another. Many today in America would push this lie wanting payback, but if they do they do it at their peril of distorting the truth of God’s word and will receive just compensation for the discord they sow among the Brethren. In Ephesians Paul encourages the servants (slaves) to be obedient to their masters, with fear and trembling, “Servants (Strong’s #1401, a slave, bondman, man of servile condition) be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; 6Not with eye service, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;” (Ephesians 6:5-6) and in Titus Paul encouraged the Church (who at that time was mainly made up of slaves and bond servants) to encourage the slaves to be obedient to their masters. “Exhort servants (Strong’s #1401) to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; 10Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.” (Titus 2:9-10) Slavery at all levels has been around for millions of years and make no mistake my friend, slavery is alive and well in the world today. I have seen all kinds of slavery in Africa, Asia, and even Eastern Europe. My friend within man’s heart (especially one not dealt with by God) runs a great selfish desire to enslave the lives of people for their own personal use and gain and I am convinced and I know this will be the case and outcome for mankind until Jesus comes back and runs the show on the earth. We see this slavery concept in everyday life; everything we watch on TV or read in the newspapers or magazines is directed at enslaving our body, mind, and spirit. Most of the people (Christians included) in the world today are slaves to fashion, social habits, and customs. We look at the movie stars in Hollywood and on TV and all the “beautiful people” who dictate what the norm is for society: tattooing, face piercing, music, movie, dress all against what God says is the norm, but still we continue (Christians included) in slavery to what the world says is important and not what God says is important. We continue (Christians included) in what our law- givers say is the law of the land (same sex marriage and abortion), in spite of it being openly rebellious to God’s word and not giving it a second thought and still call ourselves Christians. Yes my friend slavery is a very powerful device in our lives and unless we repent of our waywardness and return back to God’s word America will continue to be enslaved to ungodly thinking which will cause us to slip further and further into greater moral decay and even more spiritual darkness. Wake up America before it is too late God is waiting, but He will not wait forever.

I really like how Paul starts out most if not all of his Epistles; “Paul a servant (Strong’s #1401, slave) of God” or “Paul a bond servant (like a slave, but one who has earned their freedom) of God.” Now there is another form of slavery the Bible talks about that most Christians never learn about, maybe this is why most Christians today never live a victorious life in Christ. It is a place of victory in our lives God desires for us. And we must see that only being obedient to God’s word can we come into this place of victory for our lives. Only God and God alone can enable us (through our submission, allowing God to deal and judge in our lives) to come to this place of victory, we must see this in our lives if we are going to walk with the LORD the way He intends. Sadly many Christians live their lives wrapped up in the world’s form of religion and experience none of the life that God has for us; they are wrapped up in contemporary Christian music and a self seeking or self exalting form of working for God, but never ever BECOMING the work (Ephesians 2:10) of God. They are wrapped up in the ways and doctrines of the apostate church of today and wonder why they have no (not even a little) victory over the world, sin, and their self (in that order) and keep falling way, this is not God’s intention my friend. This other form of slavery I speak of is one of heart submission. We see Jesus working this concept into the disciples after He fed 5,000 men and probably more than 5,000 women and children. In Luke (I like Luke’s writing he was a doctor a man of details) we read, “But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. 14For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. 15And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.” (Luke 9:13-17) Now to really understand what is really going on here we must review a critical attribute of God’s word; God never does anything by accident. Words in the Bible are not just written down, but there is an order (a characteristic of God) to the words in the Bible. Always study the order of things and words in the Bible, if so the Bible will open up new revelations of truth. But, I have always wondered what happened to the 12 baskets of leftovers and why was there 12 baskets and not 10 or 13? I knew there was a meaning here to the 12 baskets so I held it before the LORD and recently God opened up my understanding to why 12 baskets. Notice Jesus gave the food to the disciples and the disciples gave the food to the people and they did eat sounds good, but when did the disciples eat? Well, they ate when the slaves ate. I do not know about you, but when I imagine this story and I see 12 big baskets, I see huge baskets that maybe two people would carry after all they just fed 5,000 men, women, and children, but in reality the baskets they used were about the size of a small lunch pail enough for one person. Hungry people do not leave a lot of scraps and fragments around. Jesus knew of the Jewish custom and tradition of after a feast to gather up the fragments and leftover food to give to the slaves. In Jewish society nothing was wasted especially food. Jesus was teaching the disciples, through these 12 baskets of leftover food, a fundamental concept of the Kingdom of God, “whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant (Strong’s #1401) of all,” but that is not what we (I include myself here at times) find today in the Church, oh no my friend most evangelists, pastors, teachers, preachers, or most Christians do not want to be a slave to all, most (if not all) want to be served and most want to be patted on the back and told just how wonderful they are, well not so in the Kingdom of God my friend.

In Mark Jesus took this slavery lesson a little deeper and right to the point we read, “Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: 34And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. 35And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. 36And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? 37 They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.” (Mark 10:33-37) Here Jesus is telling the disciples what is going to happen to Him, how He would be killed, but the disciples were only thinking of themselves, “Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.” Does this sound familiar? Does this sound like the most popular message (the prosperity doctrines) of the Church today? How selfish and self-seeking of them and us. But Jesus said unto them, “Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? 39And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, "Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: 40But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. 41And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. 42But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. 43But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: 44And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant (Strong’s 1401) of all. 45For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:38-45) Jesus said you do not know what you are talking about. How gleeful and quickly the disciples answered “we can.” This just exposed their lack of the dealings and judgment of God in their lives. This just exposed their lack of knowledge and willingness of commitment to the cost of walking with the LORD at any degree. Quick replies means no thought. You see the disciples wanted to know who was going to be the greatest, but they failed to learn to have this great honor they first must be “prepared” they must qualify or be approved for this honor. They have not learned the lesson the way up in God is down. They have failed to learn what J - O - Y means: Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last. They have failed to understand to be the greatest among the Brethren we must be a slave to all, now not some it says all. For us to be able to do this we must be dead to our self and to our desires and alive to what God wants in every given situation and circumstance of our lives. For this to happen we must be dead. Did you know a dead man does not do a lot of talking or much work?

One of God’s goals in our lives is to be able to bring us into total slavery not like we see in the world, but in the Spirit and in our heart condition before God and man; an open willingness and desire to be a servant not at the works level, but at the heart level and in the Spirit. You know it is easy to be a servant working for God we see it every week as the choir marches in or as the offering plate is passed back and forth and as the grass is cut to make the church grounds beautiful, but it is very difficult to be a servant at the Spirit and heart level, because at the center of this level is obedience to God the greatest requirement to be a servant. How foolish we are to think we are greater than what we really are. We all are just one breath from eternity. We all are saved by God’s grace and His good pleasure. How foolish to think we can manipulate God for our own interest and exalt ourselves above our brothers and sisters. How foolish to think we are in-charge when Jesus said of Himself He has no power and can do nothing. We strut around on stage in a $500 suit, diamond rings on our fingers, and gold necklaces around our necks and think we are someone special, while Jesus (on earth) did not have a change of underwear. Who do we think we are? Is the servant (slave) greater than the Master? Oh LORD have mercy on us! Written by David Stahl

WORSHIPING GOD

2011-09-18T14:14:00.003-04:00

As we walk with the LORD and read the Bible we seem to pick and choose which rabbit trail (message, tradition, custom, or story mentioned in the Bible) we want to follow and hop down. I am amazed to the number of different denominations and religions in the Christian world and to think they all came from the same Bible. One group says we will focus on speaking in tongues while another group says we will focus on water baptism, and sadly the list goes on and on. But what is really sad is how each group says the other groups are wrong and know not the truth. Paul ran up against this same thinking with the Church at Corinth. It seemed there were divisions and contentions among the body of Christians (like today) that weakened the witness of the church collectively. One of the main divisions was who they called their spiritual leader or who they followed. In 1 Corinthians we read, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians1:10-13) How can the Body of Christ be light and salt to the world if it is divided and fighting among itself? I hear and see the same thinking today, the idol worship of evangelists, pastors, and teachers sickens me and I am sure it sickens God to see His Body so divided and confused. One says, “I am of Copeland, Hinn, Hagee, Warren, Parsley, or even Stahl” and sadly the list goes on. This is not to be our focus in whom we will follow my friend, if we want to be called a Christian the die has been cast our focus is to be Jesus, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” (Hebrews 12:2-3) Not too many Christians want to follow Jesus it is much easier to follow a man, because if we follow Jesus we will have to identify with Him and we too will have to “endured such contradiction of sinners against himself” a price most Christians are not willing to bear. But this is the bitter cup we must drink if we are to come after (become like Jesus) Jesus and become what He wants us to become.

You know we see this wrong thinking also when worshiping God. One group will sing only the hymns while another group will sing only contemporary music (and say the other group is wrong), but in reality real worship has nothing to do with singing, dancing, our service to God, or even giving our money, oh no real worshiping of God has to do with bowing down our heads to God in reverence and honor. We find this act of worshiping God in the very first Book of the Bible, Genesis, “And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.” Genesis (24:52) In Exodus we find Moses worshiping God, “And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.”(Exodus 34:8) The list goes on and on, no singing or dancing just silence and stillness before a Holy God. Funny how we can get so far off track and not really know it, but even worse how we can get far off track and not even care. Did you know you can get so far off track you can get over into idol worship? I will be the first to say amen to that. I have seen it and I have done it and I am talking in the last two or three years. One thing for sure if we keep our head bowed down before the LORD and our mouth in the dust we probably will not have too much of a problem in this area.

When the LORD really began to draw my older brother I remember him sayings (as with all of us when God really gets our attention) as long as he was in good relationship with his pastor he could get to God, but there came a time (as with all of us) when he no longer needed his pastor to get to God, he could make his approach to God on his own. I think this probably holds true for all new believers; the one who they see in their eyes (most times the one who has led them to the LORD) who they want to imitate in the LORD and why, because they see within themselves a lack the other person in the LORD possesses. Come let’s face it we all know some people whose light is a little brighter than our own. I can relate to this also. At the age of six I became a Christian my mother led me to Christ, but like most if not all kids as they grew the light of God in their lives was merely a flicker, but it did not go out. As I look back over my years I now can understand Isaiah was talking about me when he said, “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.” (Isaiah 42:3) God was longsuffering and did not break me to the point I could not walk nor did He put out my flame, but kept fanning my fire with people He would bring into my life and situations or circumstances that would keep me moving forward in Him. I thank God for these dealings in my life God knew just how to work in my life (as in all of our lives) to where I would have the stomach to go further in Him. And all through my years as I drew nearer to the LORD my relationship with my mother became more important (more important than a mother son relationship) she became a mentor and spiritual advisor to me and my family. Any time we really needed to get something from God we would call her and tell her our concerns and ask her to pray. Then after some time we would call again and ask her if God told her anything about us. She was the spiritual glue that held the family together, but now she is up in age and sadly her mind is not what it was and we are on our own. Now I guess that is okay for baby Christians, but that is not the behavior God is looking for in His children. God is looking for mature men and women who can hear from God for themselves, who have allowed God to deal and judge in their lives, where He has developed a fine tuned ear for His words. God is not looking for children that partake in idol worship of others. Now many Christians I know would love for you to come to them so they can say “thus saith the LORD” over you or prophesy into your life. I even know some Christians who like to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to seniority in the LORD. I do not know about you, but I cannot find the verses in the Bible that talk about seniority among Christians. I have a (I still call him a friend and love him, but he has broken off relationship, even though I have tried many times to talk, with me and even stopped sending me his newsletter, we three know why) friend who I have known for over 30 years who told me his word from God was deeper than my mine and I should take a back seat to him. But wait, I thought the word of God is from God. It is not my word that I speak when I teach, but God speaking through me. Our job is not to make up words to speak, but become a clean and usable vessel (through God’s dealings and judgments) God can open and pour us out into a lost and dying world of people. A vessel where God’s word can flow unhindered from our lips. People who think they are better than someone else has missed the whole point of being a servant. Now they may be gifted as a speaker and can teach the Scriptures with convincing passion, but they have missed the truth of what Jesus was telling the disciples, “Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. 43But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: 44And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant (slave) of all.” (Mark 10:42-44) Not too many Bible teachers want to be a slave to everyone, oh no most want to be told how wonderful and deep they are in their understanding of the Scriptures, well that is not what Jesus said. Now please do not misunderstand me I am not blowing my own horn, I know I have not made it and I know there are much better Bible teachers (like my friend who I so would still enjoy to listening) out there, but again that is not the measure God is looking for, oh no my friend God is looking for the humble servant and broken teacher. My friend the way up is down and if we want to be (or even think we are) greater than someone in any area we are gravely mistaken. This idol worship can really get carried away. When my teacher Charles Haun would teach in Bible Schools many students would imitate his dress, try to talk like him, and even wear glasses (they were called Haunites) thinking this outward change in them would somehow change their inside, but God does not operate like that. Oh no my friend, our inward man is only changed by God’s inward dealings and judgments in our heart and attitudes, God is after our character and if He cannot get that in us all we will ever be is as tinkling brass and sounding cymbals. Oh we may be able to recite Scripture backwards and forwards and even speak with great swelling skill and ability, but our words will be shallow and never touch the areas of lives God desires to reach.

Did you know a part of man’s make-up (created by God) is a desire to follow. Now this God ordained following is hard-wired in us; not following man, but following Jesus. Again the command is, “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” It is Jesus who we are to follow not man, but from the age of a little child we are taught in schools and in the secular, worldly media; be all you can be and not what God wants you to be. Look at this guy, how would you like to be able to run, jump and score baskets or touch downs like him? Look at his influence around the world and the money he makes, not to speak of the power he has and the glory he receives how would you like to be this guy? Paul directly took this wrong thinking on in the Church of Corinth when he said, “Be ye followers (imitate NKJV) of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians11:1) Now Paul was not saying become like me, like the Haunites tried to do of Charles Haun, oh no Paul was saying imitate or follow me in those areas you see of Christ in me and if I am not measuring up to our standard (Jesus Christ) then do not follow me. It is only those things of Christ we become will have any eternal weight of glory and value in our lives and if we see Godly characteristics in others we are not to follow them blindly as sheep (to my shame I have done that before) or try to become like them, but we are to see these qualities and characteristics God has been able to work in others, “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” We are looking at the Godly work and the fruit that God has developed in them. I do not know about you my friend, but I have not physically seen Jesus today. But I have seen His love and kindness in every act of giving of one’s self for another. I have seen His smile every time a baby’s eyes light up or when I see the clouds come floating by. I have felt His touch every time my wonderful wife rubs my tired legs and back. God is everywhere and is in everything in this world all we have to do is have the eyes and more important the heart condition to be able to see Him.

You know the longer I go with God and the more I do for Him the more I can see my great need to just stay within the lines. When we moved to Germany in 1996, I got a better understanding of the German culture when I drove on their side roads now not heir autobahns, but their secondary roads. You see these roads had concrete bricks that line the outer limits of the road and if you get too far to the right or left you get into trouble. To navigate successfully on these roads (and in the German culture) you have to stay in the center, so too in our Christians life. In Ecclesiastes we find the Preacher giving great advice to his son and to us. And in verse 13 we find all we have to do to please God, “The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. 11The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. 13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:10-14) All of our hard work (running around the world) and book learning (running from this conference or that conference to hear the same thing you have heard before) is “weariness of the flesh,” but here is the whole matter (nothing else to do) “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” And why, “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” My friend if we keep this truth at heart and before us all the days of our lives we will have no problem with worshiping God. Written by David Stahl

THE HAND OF GOD

2011-09-10T15:04:00.002-04:00

The hand of God often times takes on many forms and pressures in our lives and in reality we do not recognize the real moving of the hand of God in our lives because of our biases, prejudices, and religious teachings. Most things we would swear was of the devil are in reality the hand of God directing us and guiding us in His plan and purpose for our lives. We always associate only the good things that come our way as being from the hand of God and discount the things we call bad, but in reality all things come from God; the good and the bad. Isaiah heard this revelation from God almighty, “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 7I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:5-7) Now many Christians refuse to believe these verses and secretly wish they were not in the Bible, but in doing so they miss out on the total picture of God’s eternal sovereignty and creator of all things in our lives, an on-going revelation of God the creator of EVERYTHING in our lives. If God does not create or allow all things in our lives then this leaves room in our mind and heart for other gods to be able to create, affect, and even have influences in areas in our lives. My friend either God is God of all (good and bad) or He is God of nothing at all in our lives. His intent is clear He desires to be God of all in our thinking and heart condition. Now in reality He is and we have nothing to say about it. He was God before us and will be God after us. He is God and we are not, but I find it somewhat funny to know we are the ones who give God the power to be God in our lives. Not by way of control of His power and ability, but by way of control of His power and ability in our lives. Never forget in the Scriptures; all that God has promised us is only His intention in seeing them come to pass, whether they come to pass in our lives is not up to God (they are His intention), but up to us do we meet the condition contained in the promise to bring it to reality. Every promise has a condition to meet. Funny we look at the promise, but God is not looking at the promise (they are His intention) God is looking at whether or not we have met the condition to receive the promise. Let us look at what God is looking at, therein is contains the promises of God.

In I Peter we read a command from God. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7) Notice the promise, “that he may be exalt you in due time.” Now many Christians whoop and holler dancing around the church waving flags while speaking in tongues saying God is going to exalt us, but they missed the condition of “humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God.” Singing, dancing, flag waving, feeding the poor, paying your tithes, working countless hours at the church, doing all of the latest denominational traditions and religious customs will not do it to be exalted by God you MUST, “humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God” to be exalted by God. Therein and therein alone is the promise received from God. And it says “care” not cares. Cares are things like cars, money houses, clothing, etc., but “care” is an attitude. We are to cast our attitude of caring for things on Him, because He cares for us. We think the “mighty hand of God” is a huge hand that comes out of heaven and causes us to submit, but this is a command from God for us to take the lead in the submission, not God. God will not make you say “uncle” or submit; I wish He would it would make things so much easier for us, but He is not after forcing us, oh no He is after a heart and will submission on our part. God already has angels to boss around, now God wants creatures created in His likeness to love Him to the point they will give the very life (the most precious earthly gift) God gave them for Him.

We can see this need to be humbled and to humble ourselves before a Holy God all throughout the Bible. In the life of Jeremiah we read his confession, “I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. 2He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light. 3Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day. 4My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones. 5He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail. 6He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. 7He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. 8Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. 9He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked. 10He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. 11He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate. 12He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. 13He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins. 14I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day. 15He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. 16He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes. 17And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity. 18And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: 19Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. 20My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.” (Lamentations 3:1-20) All of these things God did to Jeremiah (out of his own words) was done so God could humble (verse 20) him. All of these things that happened to him was done by the “mighty hand of God.” You would say God would never do this, well if this is your confession then you do not know the God of the Bible. If God would use these ways and ends to break Jeremiah why do we think God would not use them on us? These my friend are the dealings and judgments of God in our lives that He uses to conform (Romans 8:29) us into the character and image of His dear precious Son Jesus Christ, God’s goal in our lives. God’s goal is not to make us rich, famous, or even good looking, but will do all He can to create in us the image (icon) of His Son. And why? So we look and act like Jesus? Yes to a certain degree, but the main reason God desires we be conformed into the icon of His Son is so we can serve as a dwelling place for God, an eternal habitation. As strange as it may seem God does not desire to dwell in Heaven, oh no (as strange as it may sound and hard to explain), God desires to dwell in the heart of man. Paul in Ephesians shares this timeless truth, “In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:21-22) Did you know God has a building program for each and every one of us? We are the workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) of God, He is building, chipping away at our character, molding our personality, fortifying our integrity, constructing us an eternal abode.

We can also see the “mighty hand of God” all throughout Joseph’s life. From the start God had his hand on Joseph’s life, but often this favor can lead to offence by people as it was with his father and brothers, “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. 4And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.” (Genesis 37:3-4) I have seen God’s blessings turn the heart of men into green, envy and jealousy that can lead someone to do things beyond their understanding. So too was the case in Joseph’s life, “Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.” (Genesis 37:28), but this my friend was the “mighty hand of God” working in Joseph’s life to land him in Egypt the place God needed him to go. Oh you say God would never do that, well in the words of Pastor Yanko, “think again.” God even moved Joseph closer to the place (the palace) He wanted him by being sold into slavery, “And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.” (Genesis 37:36) This does not sound like the “mighty hand of God” blessing Joseph, ah the story has not come to the end. We always see God’s intentions at the end of the story. And to make matters even worse Joseph was falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife and sent to prison (even closer to God’s purpose for his life), “And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.” (Genesis 39:20) All the while Joseph was biding his time waiting on the LORD and doing what he could do in his present situation, God was working on his rise to power. And when God’s timing and plan was right in Joseph’s life God’s mighty hand moved, “And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; 43And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:42-43) Who would have believed Joseph was raised from the pit to palace all according to God’s plan for his life and by the “mighty hand of God?” My friend this is the way God operates. There is always a time of qualifying and approving before He exalts us to a place of importance. Often we do not want to wait God out, but this is a must in our lives if we ever hope to come into the plan and purpose we have been created for. Please do not believe the “name it and claim” doctrines, they will lead you to ruin, confusion, and great distress in God.

Even Jesus had his waiting time of preparation as the Father’s mighty hand was working in His life. Paul writes of Jesus, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:6-11) What, Jesus humbled Himself under the mighty hand of God? Yes, Jesus took on the form of a man (empty Himself of all of His divinity) and humbled Himself and became a servant all according and under the mighty hand of His Father. And is the servant greater than the Master? The Writer to the Hebrews shares, “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” (Hebrews 2:10) What Jesus (the Son of God) suffered while on earth? Yes. Now I know the cross was heinous to bear, but I believe the loss of His heavenly identity with the Father was a greater cross to bear. And yes all while submitting to the mighty hand of His Father for His life. And is the servant greater than the Master? So too the “mighty hand of God” will be evident in our lives if we have a heart to be obedient and follow unto death. This is the way to be exalted (humbled by God to be exalted) by God there is no other way: Job, Jeremiah, Joseph, and even Jesus learned this way and we must too.

JUDGE THE SPIRITS

2011-08-24T11:27:00.003-04:00

As we are invited to minister and attend different churches we come across many different doctrines and traditions. Nowhere is this seen more than in the beliefs of running a service. Most churches had adopted the old tried and true format: three fast ones, a slow one, pass the plate, 15-20 minutes of a good sermon (where everyone feels good about themselves when they leave), and then off to their favorite cafeteria or restaurant for the noon day meal. Sometimes we run across churches where they sing for an hour or longer and you give your offering while the music “moves you,” no real preaching, then off for the noon day meal. I guess there can be a great combination in the elements of a service and the order seldom matters, but what does matter is whether or not the Holy Spirit is functioning and directing the services. I will be honest it has been some time since I have really seen a God ordained Holy Ghost move of God, where you know without a shadow of doubt that God has visited this service. Do you know how hard it is to bring a message from God to a crowd of people who expect a good sermon? Most Christians do not know how to react because they have been so programmed into a format for the service (as guided by leaflet service program) and would not even notice if the Holy Spirit began to move after the teaching. And if they did notice I am sure (I have seen it time and time again) He would be stifled and grieved, after all we must stay on track with the program. And then sometimes you can run across a church that has gone overboard in the opposite direction; everything is a move of the Holy Spirit, flags flying, people leaping and jumping around the church while wearing their favorite dance uniform, people dropping on the floors like flies, everyone speaking in tongues at the same time, no order just chaos in the service. When I am asked to teach in such a church I often think of the Church at Corinth, the Church where it was commonly reported some of the leaders and members were having sex (1 Corinthians 5:1) with their mother, the Church where every gift of the Spirit was in operation, but the same Church that Paul said of it, “Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.” (1 Corinthians11:17) The Church at Corinth should be glad I am not God, because if I was I would have destroyed it and started again. We must always thank Him for His mercy and longsuffering. I always wondered (for years) why God would allow the sexual immorality, confusion, strife, division, and debauchery to continue at the Church at Corinth, but while listening to a cassette tape by Charles Haun I think God gave me the answer. Charles said for correction to come there has to be something moving if it is wrong, like at the Church at Corinth. God allowed Corinth to continue in her waywardness until Paul was ready to come and bring correction. God’s ways are not our ways we would cut it down, plow it under, and reseed, but not with God. Oh no God let the sin continue unabated and probably increased while Paul was being developed by God, strange how God operates. One thing I have learned; the longer I go with God the less of God I know. I like it that way, God is still a mystery to me.

Many Christians go to services hoping the visiting “man of God” would call them out of the crowd, lay hands on them, and prophesy over them, well this my friend is wrong thinking. When I pastored in Germany we would have so called prophets and evangelists come from Africa to minister to our folks. Pastor Joseph and I had an agreement that we both would discuss and approve anybody that would represent God before the people at our church. This was always a sore spot with us. Most prophets and evangelists from Africa were nothing more than thieves and robbers fleecing the folks and I would not allow this to happen. Joseph and I would go round and round sometimes and almost every time I would surrender my position I would be shocked and dismayed at the level of piracy and robbery. Many times these so called prophets and evangelists from Africa would want to lay hands on me to bless and prophesy over me; well I did not know these guys from Adam. Do not allow people you do not know to lay hands on you and speak over your life. You do not know what spirit they are of. Oh they may act and seem holy, but you do not know unless you have observed them for some time. It is easy to be deceived here in this area. Paul gave Timothy some great advice in this area, “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.” (1Timothy 5:22) This command is frank and up front, “lay hands suddenly (without a time of observation) on no man.” We do not know what lurks in the heart of men nor do we know the motives of people who come forward for prayer, but God knows. This command is also true having someone laying hands on us. Only God knows the heart and He knows the spirit we are of. I have known people (who have been operating in churches for many years) to have counterfeit spirits and the smaller the church the more deceptive they are. We have found someone who takes the lead spiritually (again and again) in services usually is not operating in the Spirit, but operating in their own spirit and even worse in demonic spirits. Take heed and be not deceived my friend many Christians every Sunday in most Apostolic, Charismatic, or Pentecostal Churches are prophesied over and led astray by religious, ambitious, self-promoters led by their flesh and presumption. I have found out many of the so called prophets and evangelists from Africa and others from America are nothing more than just thieves and robbers. In 1 John we are given a warning to take heed to and help in knowing who is of the LORD and who is not of the LORD. John shares this great advice, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4:1-3) Now please do not say I would never be deceived, I am led by the LORD, well . . . I am telling you there are some very good counterfeit spirits out there and if you have never seen them in operation you will be deceived. I find those Christians who lay on the floor prostrate or bow down in so called worship are some of the greatest offenders. I remember a lady in a church in NJ who would bow down and whip her hair on the floor as big crocodile tears rolled down her face during the singing of songs, but later she was found out for the deception and adulterous affairs she was having. John’s admonition is crystal clear, “believe not every spirit, but try (test in the NKJV, judge in the Greek) whether they are of God because false prophets are gone out into the world.” But how do we do that? How do we try, test, or judge the spirits? Many Christians think they can do this through our emotions, oh no my friend our emotions are one of the most unstable forces in our lives. We must never be led by our emotions, in or out of God. Our emotions at best are deceitful and will only lead us out of the way God has for us to go. We listen to someone sing a song and say, how anointed and judge them as being a very spiritual person, but this is so far from the truth. I remember in the 70s through the 90s there was a favorite song of most churches, “Standing on Holy Ground” the music arrangement was good and the words powerful, but the writers and singers came out of the closet a few years after the song and proudly proclaimed their homosexuality and sadly the church played on. Most churches build their attendance around music; it moves people, it inspires them, it gets people on their feet, well that is not the direction God goes. God’s direction is down not up, God’s Spirit does not move us like music it draws them unto Himself and kills them. Music will never get us to God. The spirit of music is as dangerous as our emotions and it must be judged or we will be deceived. All you have to do is look at history and see how music was used to lead people astray from what was right and how it was used to deceive people. We must take heed and judge music and keep it in the context Jesus and the disciples did. I am sorry, I cannot see Jesus nor the disciples have an hour long praise and worship service like some churches do today. The Bibles records Jesus only once singing and then it was a hymn after the Jewish Passover meal as Jewish tradition dictates. Works is another area we must judge the spirits. Many Christians work and work for God, but never become the work of God, never allowing God to work in their lives. Yet on the outward they are hard workers for God. Anytime the pastor needs something they are there, but when God wants to reveal something in their character they get to work working so that they will not have to allow God to deal and judge in their lives. But how do we judge the spirits as John commanded us? Believe it or not that is easy. When I pastored in Germany we had an international church and as an American I could only bring an America understanding when dealing with relationship disputes in the church. I could not think like an African or an European, I was an American and could only bring an American understanding to the counseling session. After a while of not feeling like I was successful in counseling it finally hit me, I have to judge by the spirit, not the Holy Spirit as much as by the spirit of the two parties. I quickly found the one who took the low place, the one who came humbly, the one who was full of forgiveness was the one in the right. I learned this through observation at the counseling meeting, at church, and as I would meet them in the weeks to come. So too are we to observe people who say they are moving in God, we are to watch their lives, we are to watch their actions, and we are to watch the results of their words. Observation comes over time, that is why the Holy Spirit used the word “suddenly” is used in1 Timothy 5:22; do nothing suddenly in God, but observe over time to see if they be of God or not. Examine their character, notice their friends, judge them before men. See if their lives, “confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” match up with the word of God and their spirit bears witness with yours and the Holy Spirit. If not then, “every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:” Now this confession is not in word alone, but in deed and in the spiritual realm. You know if a prophet in the Old Testament said something and it did not come to pass they were stoned. Maybe we should go back to this I am sure there would be a lot less so called prophets running around the church deceiving people.

You know if we get deceived it is our fault. It is our duty, it is our responsibility, it is our reasonable service before God to be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove. Be not so fast to jump into the spiritual realm with someone, but wait upon the LORD for His direction and His leading. If you truly have a relationship with the LORD you will know between someone who is genuine and who is fake. The church is full of fake, false people who say they represent God, judge the spirits and be not deceived. Written by David Stahl

RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION

2011-08-18T10:06:00.002-04:00

As I watch the political picture unfold in America I try so hard to keep my heart and words in check by the Holy Spirit, but I often fail miserably. I do love America after all I gave over 24 years of dedicated, honorable service to her in the U.S. Navy and would do it again if needed, but there must be a separation in my heart and thoughts if I am going to follow the LORD in what He wants for my life. It is hard for Karen also because she too served her country in the U.S. Navy. We both come from military families; service and love for country runs deep and is a part of our make-up and who we are. Now this is true, but it is also true if we place things of the earth (love of family, country, self, etc.) ahead of God and His word (in the end) we will suffer great loss along the way He has for us to go and will never finish what He has for us to do in this life. I will be honest inwardly I struggle in this area in letting go of this world and as the elections draw closer the more I struggle and I see this struggle play out in America. Oh how America has drifted from God! Oh how America has drifted from God’s word! Everything that plagues America is the direct result of her disobedience to God and His word and unless America confesses as a nation (from the President to the common man on main- street) of her waywardness and repents (goes in the opposite direction) of their ungodly life-styles America will be lost. Oh America God is not mocked, yes He is loving and longsuffering, but there is a time when God says enough is enough. “I will cut you down as a sickle threshes the wheat field and throw you into my fire of righteousness and your will be utterly consumed. Repent from your waywardness before it is too late. Yea I come quickly with My sickle in My hand to strike you down, repent before it is too late, turn before it is too late. Yea I come to smite you and to remove your candle stick from the face of the earth,” thus says the LORD. God tells us to have no other gods before Him and our lives are filled with gods that satisfy our fleshly, earthly desires. We go a whoring after pleasure and ease, building bigger barns (churches, ministries, and denominations) and statues to each other while turning our backs on the one true and living God. God tells us to defend the little ones, but we slaughter the unborn by the millions each year and we think God is not angry? Why do we think God turns His head to His word and truth to protect us? Oh my friend He does not. God’s wrath has been kindled against us since the early 70s when we told God we do not want Him in our lives, we want the right to choose over life or death and not him. America’s schools and universities no longer teach education, but have become bastions of ungodly liberalism that shake their fist at God and dare Him to show up. How can we expect anything less when in the 60’s we kicked God and His precious word out of our schools and told Him we need Him no more. Ungodly perversion covers our land: in the written media, on TV and movie screens, on the internet, and in every life-style. The Godly institution of marriage has been striped and voted out by our President and his government while endorsing: lesbianism, sodomites, and every type of ungodly (unspeakable and thinkable) relationship known to man. Our government dithers while religions from around the world desire to put to death America, her people, and our way of life. Businesses in America cheat the customer at best. America’s banking institutions lie and hoard money taking advantage of the little people. Many of our governmental law enforcement agencies are on the take and show no common sense and justice. Sadly our society has dissolved and we think God is not angry with us? America has drifted so far from the Godly principle and standards that once made this country great, but now our greatness is found only in her military might and we even see this dwindle as we watch the U.S. dollar slip away from the place God first established in America. And yet every Sunday we Christians gather together to sing two fast ones and a slow one, pass the plate, hear a good sermon (not a message from God), and blast out to lunch trying to beat the other religions and denominations to the cafeteria. Who are we fooling? The Church has Christian TV star preachers, pastors, and teachers that make millions of dollars and reign over huge empires. We have churches that fill 25,000 plus, yet America is drifting further and further away. Who are we trying to fool? God? Each other? I think not. America is following the pattern and way of Israel in the days of Samuel. The people looked around and saw everyone else had a king for a leader (a Prophet from God was not good enough) so they wanted one. My friend our wants will get us into great trouble. Please be careful with your wants. If God gives you an opportunity to pick something you want take heed and chose Godly. I tell my Christian friends who vote if you vote you better vote what the Bible supports.

In 1 Samuel we find the story of King Saul. Like many Christians he started out correct, but ended by taking his own life. “And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. 3And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. 7And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 8According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.” (1 Samuel 8:1-8) These eight verses truly reflect the moral decay of a nation. Samuel was old (no problem there) and his sons did not walk in his ways. The grass always looks greener on the other side, but when you get your head stuck in the fence you quickly acquire a taste again for the grass in the field God has put you in to flourish. Here like today in America they rejected God and His ways and later we will see God rejects them. Remember, God is to us what we are to Him. Notice when they rejected God they also rejected God’s man and the teaching God’s man shares. Oh do we see this in America today. So Samuel being obedient (the major key of our Christians walk with God), “And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. 11And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 16And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. 19Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;” (1 Samuel 8:10-19) Here in these verses God is sharing what their lives will be under their decision. God always lets us make choices, but with our choices comes consequences, yes I know that is a dirty word, but I also know the word of God. “And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day." Here the LORD turned His back on them. You say Pastor Dave God would not do that, well . . . the word of God says so and I believe it. Still in all of this, “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;” Just like today in America with all of the crime, murder, death, and destruction America (as a nation) still chooses not to obey the voice of God. After all the Supreme Court has passed laws that directly contradict God’s laws, laws that allow man to stick their fist in God’s face and shake it in open rebellion as the people here did. Things got so bad with King Saul God said, “Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, 11It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.” (1 Samuel 15:10-11) Oh to God we would have some sleepless nights in prayer (me too) for our country, but if we spend 10 minutes a day asking for things from God or trying to get God to jump through the hoop for us we think we have done God a major favor. Just think the people knew well in advance what kind of King Saul was going to be. But in the end God had enough of King Saul. And all along the way of Saul’s troubled life his open disobedience to God caused greater and greater troubles for the people. The outcome of our actions and words usually impacts greater in the lives of others than our own. Finally, “Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.” (1 Samuel 31:4) Saul’s armourbearer was smarter than Saul. He knew even though Saul was over in great disobedience he was still God’s anointed and to touch his life would be a great mistake, greater than disobeying the king. Saul started out on the right track, but in the end took his own life and destroyed the nation. Saul’s sad story rings so true today in the lives of many leaders and people.

When will America learn the Bible is words from God almighty and it is always true. When will America learn, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34) The open rebellion of America to God and His words is ever before Him and man. Unless America’s leaders humble themselves, confess of their need for a holy God, and repent of their ungodly ways America is through, I am convinced her best days are behind her. President Obama, our leader, is running for reelection and I will prophesy he will be reelected as President of the United States unless America humbles herself, confesses of her need for a holy God, and repent of her ungodly ways. Now I wish no harm to come to President Obama or anyone in his administration I want salvation to come to them and America, but like Saul President Obama is anointed by God and has been raised up by God as a vessel of dishonor to punish America for her waywardness from God and His words. Righteousness exalts a nation! You cannot be a righteous leader and endorse unrighteousness, we are known by the fruit of our lives and lips. Take heed America: “I will cut you down as a sickle threshes the wheat field and throw you into my fire of righteousness and your will be utterly consumed. Repent from your waywardness before it is too late. Yea I come quickly with My sickle in My hand to strike you down, repent before it is too late, turn before it is too late. Yea I come to smite you and to remove your candle stick from the face of the earth,” thus says the LORD. Written by David Stahl

STAY IN THE BOAT

2011-08-07T19:08:00.002-04:00

The longer I walk with the LORD the more I see at times my inability to follow God in some areas. Yes to my shame and horror at times I see my shortcomings and even sin and oh how I want to correct them. Now believe it or not this is what God wants to see in our lives. God wants us to see those areas where we have missed it, God wants His precious Holy Spirit to be able to convict us (conviction what a wondrous work of God in our lives) of our sin and our sins. Did you know we have a nature that is contrary to God’s nature what the Scriptures calls our sin nature (verse) and then we have our sins; our immoral, ungodly, and even unethical acts of our flesh (verse). These two areas of humanity are what keep us in a state of fallen mankind before a Holy God. Now it is true Jesus died for our sin and for our sins, but that does not mean we will live in victory over our sin and sins just because Jesus died for them more is needed. Now here seems to be the root problem in our Christian walk with the LORD we must engage at the level of understanding we are in God. In my earlier years of walking with the LORD I went after a deeper teaching from teachers like Charles Haun and others and passed over the milk of the word. Now many years later I see chewing on meat and bones (as I did) as a babe left me today missing some things I needed, after all babies born from a man and woman must suckle at the bottle before they can grow and endure harder foods. The lack I speak of is not of foundational or spiritual principles, but just some areas (I see within myself) of lack in me I see. Now I fully understand why God did it this way, He took me to the School of the Spirit and gave me a crash course. I thank God for shining His all seeing light on me and exposing these areas and I know in time and as I open up to His word of correction I will acquire these things I have missed. Order in God establishes correct function and usefulness. We plainly see this truth in the word of God. Never forget the words in the Scriptures were not just hap-hazarderly written down by the hand of man, as spoken to the heart of man by God, but were particularly arranged and placed for context and spiritual meaning. To say anything else is a pure denial of God Almighty Himself. And in us too is an order and a pattern we must follow to be useful and complete in God.

Now this thought is at the heart of what I would like to talk about in this article. As we have discussed in previous articles truth is progressive and as we walk with the LORD we are to grow from glory (level) to glory (level). In God there is always progression sin to saint, seed to fruit, child to adult no matter what and in all things God has built in us and in all He has created progression. And for those things that do not progress as planned by God they seem to fall by the wayside, except for people. In our spiritual growth and development there is a progression we too must follow: first faith, second trust, and then third rest and if we get this out of order or mess them up we too can fall by the wayside like the mighty oak who puts most of its energy into developing a strong bark, but spends little time in developing a strong root system and when a great wind comes the mighty oak is easily toppled. And why, no tap root, no foundational support, no peripheral nutrient or water gathering capability. The end result will be (as long as no storms comes) all is well, but if we serve God long enough the storms will blow our way God will see to it. When great storms arrive the mighty oak is unable to stand the test of the wind and its strength (its heavy bark) only adds to its quick demise. We Christians today are like the mighty oak tree at times, we spend a lot of our time in developing the outward appearance of our commitment with the LORD while neglecting the inward work of the heart, soul, and spirit and when our test comes we (like the mighty oak tree) quickly stumble (at sin, offense, and the like) and fall out of the way.

I am amazed when I study the Scriptures and read of all the different messages it contains and the longer I walk with the LORD the more He can open up different shoots of truth from these messages. The Bible is full of different messages and depending on our level of spiritual development and our desire we chose the message we want to believe. Did you know the number one message of Jesus’ ministry was sin? But, most Christians camp out all of their lives around the message of love and grace (and this is okay it is a wonderful message), but there is more God wants of us. God wants us to grow up (which means pushing forward from the elementary principles of salvation, Hebrews 6:1-2)) so that we can take on the authority and accountability of God in our lives and do the things He wants us to do. And for this to happen, my friend, there must be a correct understanding of spiritual principles, desire, and commitment to God. It is our commitment that carries us in God and the first sign of commitment to God is reading His ownership manual, the Bible. In Matthew 18 we find an amazing story of Jesus teaching the disciples some basic truths, now most people focus on Peter walking on the water, but that was not Jesus’ focus and nor should it be ours. Matthew (an eye witness) shares, “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”(Matthew 14:25-31) I wonder why Peter wanted to walk on the water? He had to know he would have had to walk on the water like Jesus in order to reach Jesus. How long was Peter with Jesus and he still did not know what Jesus looked like? Lord if it be you do a miracle so I will believe, but we know this was not true of Peter. Time and time again (often like us) Peter boasted of His love and faith in Jesus, but when the rubber hits the road Peter failed even in the face of Jesus praying for him, “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 33And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. 34And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.” (Luke 22:31-34) Oh no my friend Peter had another motive here. And when did Peter doubt? When he left the safety of the boat or when he began to sink? I would say when he left the place of safety and security (the boat) he had no faith in what Jesus had provided for him and the other disciples. This story is not about faith building (even though many preachers and teachers spin it they know it will fill seats and offering plates better than other messages), but this story is about Jesus showing Peter how foolish it is to leave the place of protection and security God has provided. Yes Peter walked on the water (big deal), but in the end Jesus had to save him from his ignorance and presumption and where did they all end up, in the boat. Why do we think Jesus has to do some parlor trick miracle for us to believe He is who He says He is nor should He have to break the physical laws of nature to get us to believe. His word should be enough for us to believe, but no we today in the church want to see miracles and yet we do not believe. Remember, miracles are for non-believers, Believers are to walk by faith (remember this point we will look at this again) not by sight. Now I know I have heard many sermons from well-meaning preachers and teachers (maybe some not so well-meaning) who missed the truth of this story because they had some agenda or point they wanted to stress. When we make our approach to word of God it must never be from our prospective, but from God’s. When was the last time you heard “thus says the LORD?” No the most we hear today is a good sermon with some moral message that kind of goes along with the Bible, but if you really examine the words of the preacher or teacher they go against what the word of God says and does not represent truth. A good sermon will do not for us. What we need to hear is a message from God that does not puff us up, but lays us low and brings us down where God is.

The spiritual principle is found in Romans, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) To get a good handle on this truth it is best to read this verse in the Greek, “So then faith cometh by hearing a word from God.” (Romans 10:17 (Greek)) Faith comes (we get faith) by hearing not my experience, miracles, or even wisdom. When God speaks to us and we hear Him we receive faith. Why do we think we can build up or save our faith for a rainy day? Faith is not ours it is God’s and when we need faith to believe or do something God wants done He speaks to us and give us all of the faith we will ever need. Everything we get from God comes by way of Him speaking and us hearing, even salvation. Faith is the beginning order of the three and if we get faith wrong the other two (trust and rest) will be lost to us. Many say David give me an example of faith , “Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16) Real faith fears not death.

We use to sing a song in church (it has been years since I heard this song) called “Trust and Obey.” Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey. People ask me to give them an example of trust so I give these verses from Job, “Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand? 15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. 16He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him. 17Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears. 18Behold now, I have ordered my cause; I know that I shall be justified.” (Job 13:14-18) What better than our life to put against God’s faithfulness? Trust is a deeper work of God in our life and will require a stronger and tougher dealing of God in our lives for us to possess it. Remember nothing is free in God even our salvation was not free it cost Jesus His life. Everything we get from God will cost us something and trust is no different.

Lastly rest. Rest is the spiritual place God desires to take us all to in Him. The Children of Israel never entered into the land God promised them because they never entered into this place of rest in God. I am not so sure God was talking about a certain geographical land, but a spiritual place of rest we can learn of Him. Did you know the word “rest” has 275 occurrences in the Scriptures (KJV) and the very first reference in the New Testament is Jesus speaking of Himself, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) Jesus says He can give us rest if we take his yoke upon us and learn of Him. So the yoke of the Lord is not for working but for learning. And what are we to learn of Christ, “for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Rest in God leaves us safely in the boat were God put us. Written by David Stahl

JUDGMENT THEN MERCY

2011-07-29T18:14:00.003-04:00

In life there are physical rules in the physical realm we must obey no one is exempt from gravity, heat, or motion. There are biological functions that govern our delicate body, which must follow to be able to operate at its maximum ability. So too in the Spiritual realm; there are divine spiritual principles we must follow to be able to function and operate correctly in God. Take forgiveness as an example. We think forgiveness is doled out unlimited, but not so in God. As we forgive we shall be forgiven. So if we forgive a little we shall be forgiven a little. The opposite is also true and both are bound to God’s divine Spiritual principles. If we forgive much then we can expect to be forgiven by God much. Jesus said, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: ³⁸Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:37-38) In verse 37 Jesus was lining up the principle “forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:” and then in verse 38 Jesus sets the standard of our forgiveness “For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Did you get that at “the same measure.” God operates at the same measure. I wonder why we think God is going to give us more than what we need? This type of thinking is just plain old greed which most church leaders (worldwide) exploit at the disadvantage of the Gospel message. God is to us what we are to Him and the more faithful we are to God the more faithful God is to us. What father would not in his heart have a great love for a son or daughter who is faithful? We read verses in the Bible such as, “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:23) and have ungodly Bible evangelists, preachers, and teachers twist the precious word of God into another message for their personal gain and ambition whereby saying the seed is money, but that is not what Jesus said. Jesus explaining the parable said, “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. ¹¹Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.” (Luke 8:10-11) Yet on Christian TV all you hear is bury your seed (money) into my ministry and God will give you a supernatural harvest of return, well not so in God my friend. God always operates at the same measure and does not honor a lie and subversion of His word. “Give and it will be given unto.” God knows what you have and what your need is. Do not get off track in the greedy stock market game of I will give $5 and God will give me $100 oh no my friend give to God, be led by the precious Holy Spirit, and He will give back to you what you need. Here then is a true trust and confidence in God to meet our needs. The basis of our giving is not built on how much money we have or the abundance of our resources, but on the right heart condition of giving. If we give with the right heart condition God can use whatsoever we give to meet His and our need. The widow lady who gave her last two mites (or one farthing) gave with a right heart condition. Jesus said of her, “Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: ⁴⁴For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” (Mark 12:43-44) I wonder what her reward for her obedience and sacrifice was? If her need was money I am sure (the Bible does not say) God met her need, but if it was something else (peace, joy, health, etc.) I am sure God gave to her in measures she could not contain. God loves to meet the needs of His children. I have seen this time and time again over the many years of walking with the LORD. The more I am faithful to God the more He meets our needs and even some wants. We serve a great God who loves us and yes wants us to walk in His truth and in the precepts of His words.

Another area in the Scriptures that we can look at that has a judgment then mercy principle in operation is the lady caught in adultery. Now I know this story talks about adultery, but you can replace adultery with any sin (lying, murder, cheating, stealing, etc.) and the story will still ring true. In John we read, “And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, ⁴They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. ⁵Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? ⁶ This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. ⁷So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. ⁸And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. ⁹And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. ¹⁰When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? ¹¹ She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” (John 8:3-11) Here the scribes and Pharisees (the religious folks of their day) bring a lady caught in adultery to Jesus to trap Him into speaking against the Law of Moses, one of the most beloved member and law giver of the Old Testament. Notice the scribes and Pharisees came with words to accuse, but Jesus met them with silence. In verse six it says, “But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.” What an unorthodox way to defend yourself -- silence. When Jesus was before Pilate the Bible says, “and Jesus opened not His mouth.” You know in these types of situations all words do is just get in the way. Jesus knew, “A soft (Strong’s #7390 tender, delicate, weak) answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1) Jesus’ silence conveyed His great strength not to be moved (oh how I need this in my life) by words or pressured by people. In verse seven he broke His silence, “he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” and then went back to writing on the ground. In only 15 words Jesus convicted the entire crowd of men and they departed and then Jesus went back to writing on the round. Now left on stage is only the lady and Jesus face-to-face. And Jesus asks, “Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?” And she replied, “No man, Lord.” She recognized Jesus (being in the appearance of a man) was not a mire man and He could not only condemn her, but He could forgive her of her adultery. She also knew He was the only man who could have taken up a rock and took her life. Jesus replied back to her, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

Now this is a wonderful story of mercy and forgiveness we all like and want to relate to it in times when we are caught doing something wrong. We all are like the lady caught in adultery we all at times, “have sinned and come short of God’s glory” right? Many preachers and teachers say Jesus was writing down the sins of the men in the crowd who probably had slept with her and were now trying to cover their infidelity with religious works of men. But, you know things are no different today. Instead of confessing our infidelity (and the like) and getting it taken care of (before God and man) we have programs in churches to deal with the shame and grief we have caused our spouse, family, friends, and even ourselves. We wrap our big sins (over drinking, gambling, divorce, etc.) up in a really nice Easter basket and cover them and their actions with words and meetings. The church counselor has replaced the somewhat busy pastor, after all the church counselor has a degree from the local university and they know all of the modern techniques of counseling people who needs to get honest and truthful before God, who needs the Holy Spirit to convict them so they can get right before God and man we have a 12 step program that takes care of our problems. I do not think Jesus was writing down the sins of the men in crowd if so He would have addressed them individually. Their sins were not addressed (to forgiveness) they were only convicted and they departed. Verse nine says, “being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last:” what a sad state to be in. They had an encounter with Jesus was convicted, but never had their sins dealt with. Is this not the picture of the church (worldwide) today? We come to church, hear the word of God preached and taught (in some churches), we are convicted, but depart without having our sins dealt with. Oh LORD please let this not be my life.

How could Jesus say, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more?” The answer is quite clear, Jesus did not condemn her because He had already judged her and found her guilty. Now I was not there, but I believe what Jesus was writing on the ground was a list of all of her sins. It must (just like ours) have been a big list because twice Jesus wrote on the ground. Here is the principle; judgment then mercy. Jesus was judging the lady in His writing. If we go to court and stand before a judge there must be a judgment rendered before the judge either punishes us with the full extent of the law or gives us some degree of mercy. So too in God, when we stand before Him (the highest judge and we all will someday) He must judge us and make a judgment about us based on His divine spiritual principle before He can execute His judgment (punish) or extend mercy. The judgment must happen for God to know how much mercy to extend. Remember God operates at the same measure, but God is the one that decides to either execute punish or extent mercy. Again, the spiritual principle is judgment then mercy. Paul in 1 Corinthians tells us, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. ³¹For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. ³²But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” (1 Corinthians 11:30-32) The judging of ourselves will limit the amount of judgment by God and man on earth not all, but some. And the more we learn to judge ourselves as God judges (righteous judgment) the less God will have to judge us in our next life to come. Never forget this life is about qualifying or being approved for our position in our next life. We seem to put (me too at times) so much effort into living this life with ease and comfort and fail to be concerned about the requirements for our next life to come. Paul warns us also in 1 Corinthians, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? ³Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:2-3) When will we learn to judge the angels? In our next life? Oh no, in this life as we learn to judge ourselves and the again the spiritual principle is judgment then mercy. Oh I know we have been taught do not judge (who wants to be judged by another?), well this may be true for some, but for those who can handle the weightier things of God: matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith they are a requirement and our reasonable duty before God and man. Written by David Stahl

THIS WORLD

2011-07-12T16:03:00.004-04:00

This world is an amazing place at times. It is a place of unforgettable beauty and goodness, but at other times it is a place of heinous shame and evil. In my short life I have seen the splendor of the ice capped mountain of Everest in Nepal and I have seen the throngs of wilder beasts running at break-neck speed along the Serengeti in Kenya and Tanzania, both sights to behold. I have seen waterfalls and trees that seem to almost kiss the skies. I have brought life into this world and sadly I must confess I have taken life out of this world. There is nothing more special in this world than to hear a new born baby cry for the first time as it comes into this world. With all of the beauty this world can offer yet at the same time it also offers great sadness, poverty, and despair. I have seen the swollen bellies of children around the world; the sickness, disease, and famine of biblical proportions and even the ravages of war in the eyes and lives of people around the world. Yes this world is an amazing place, but my friend if we take a liking to this world it will destroy us. We must keep our heart out of the world, we must never think of this world as our home. Yet we (I include myself at times) Christians do all we can to dig our heart and lives into the dirt of this world. Jesus told the disciples, “Heaven (Strong’s #3772 the universe, the world, the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced) and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) Now Jesus was not talking about “Heaven” our heavenly home for awhile, He was talking about the sky, the clouds, the stars, the planets, etc. Like the disciples then today many Christians get things here confused when the “world” is mentioned and if you get confused here my friend you are in great danger of losing your soul.

Now the Scripture often uses the word “world” to describe and explain things that affect our senses and human reasoning. For example in the most memorized verse in the Bible and even in the next verse we read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17) John had a lot to say about the “world” maybe because he spent his last days on earth in exile on an island; funny how the love for the world seems to grow dim in our thinking and heart as we get alone with God and separate ourselves from all of the hustle and bustle of life’s busy routine. In 1 John we read, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” (1 John 2:15-17) In both examples the word “world” is used many times, but the same Strong’s translation word, Kosmos #2889, is used. How could God give His precious Son Jesus for the “world” in one verse, but in another verse tell us not to love the “world?” For us to understand this we must apply some good old common sense (that God gave us) and do what Paul instructed Timothy; to study the word to find thy self approved so that we would not be found to be in error. Never forget the truth of the word of God (both written and spoken) is contained in the words as the precious Holy Spirit gives us revelation understanding to the words and concepts contained in what God is telling us. If we look at the Greek meanings for the word “Kosmos” we find it has eight meanings:

(1) An apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government.

(2) Ornament, decoration, adornment, the arrangement of the stars, “the heavenly hosts,” as the ornament of the heavens in 1 Peter 3:3.

(3) The world, the universe.

(4) The circle of the earth, the earth.

(5) The inhabitants of the earth, men, the human race.

(6) The ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ.

(7) World affairs, the aggregate of things earthly: the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce us from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ.

(8) Any aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort.

Most certainly (and using our common sense) God would not give His precious Son for any government or earthly order, any arrangement of the stars, nor for the universe of which he made (Genesis 1:16) in five words. In Matthew 24:35, Jesus was talking about meanings, 2-4. In John 3:16-17, Jesus was talking only about meanings 5 and 6. And in 1 John 2:15-17, John was talking about all of the meanings, except for number 5 and 6. And do not make the mistake of thinking the earth is this world it is not. The earth (and the fullness therein) is what God made and gave to man that will never be destroyed. The world is an ungodly system, a way of thinking and doing things that is in direct rebellion to God’s word. To see this system in action all you have to do is turn on the TV and watch the news and popular programming. The world is the legal system that says it is okay to kill babies when God calls it murder. The world says it is okay for men to marry men and woman to marry woman, but God calls this an abomination. Almost every social issue and cause today that is popular in the world is in direct rebellion to God’s word. Also to see the world’s system in action all you have to do is go to a contemporary church and see how they have sold out from the Godly principles of the word of God through; Christian rock and roll music, interpretive dance, flag waving, permissive dress with no modesty or decency, and the folksy, hip-hop, liberal, worldly sermons that deny the authority, revelation, and power of God while exalting the world. God’s idea is for the church (the Body of Christ) to change the way people (the folks Jesus gave His life for in John 3:16-17) operate in the world, but today the opposite has happened the world system has been adopted by the church and it is changing the hearts and minds of Christians world-wide. We must go back to the tried and true principles of the Bible, the old ways lead to life. We most certainly are not to love this world (and be very careful how we love this earth), we are not to put our heart and soul into this worldly system (no matter how good it looks or how good it feels) we are to shun the world and all of its trappings. There is a direct correlation to our spiritual growth and development and the love we have for the world; the more we go after the world the less of God will be in us. I see this in the way we go after technology; everyone has a cell phone and are glued to them, we are addicted to social media (Facebook, etal), our lives revolve around technology and we seldom have time to be quiet and still before God to hear His voice. We cannot even get in a car (alone) and be still we must turn on the radio, put on a CD (at unnatural levels) or text someone, for most people (Christians included) technology has overwhelmed our lives and our relationship with the LORD (for most Christians) is non-existent.

Now do not think you are immune to this love of the world. The Lord really showed me how I am addicted to things from our past. As Karen and I began to look at the furniture, pictures, and the “stuff” we planned to move to our new home I could not believe how strong in my feelings I had for some of the old furniture we bought when we first got married. Furniture we shipped all over the country, from duty station to duty station, even to Germany and back. Furniture and things collected through the years that remind us of places and people from a time that has passed us by. You know we will never be able to allow God to bring new things into our lives until we can allow God to remove the old things from our lives. It was really strange the time we spent after we were told we had to move seemed like we were in limbo or in neutral. It was kind of surreal we were in a holding pattern (to be honest it was confusing at times) just waiting to close and move, but in us was a peace because we knew we were going to be moving and we were heading into uncharted waters in God. This my friend is the place where God can be God (in the unknown) and not some puppet on a sting to command at our whim, but a holy and capable God who cares for us individually and cares for the plan He has purposed and planned for our lives. We see this clearly in the life of Abram. In Genesis we read, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:” (Genesis 12:1) Did you know God is a great disturber? He loves to disturb us and put us in a real fix so He can fix us. This is what He did with Abram. Can you imagine God telling you to leave your country, leave your relatives, and even leave your family? Talk about the unknown and then God says I will show you as you go where you are going, but Abram (in obedience) had to let the old things pass away in his life so that God could show him the land he was to go to and so that God could bring all of His precious promises (that God had for him) into his life. But before God can get us to a place where we are willing to leave our country, relatives, and family God first but be able to cut the world out of our heart and minds. In Matthew Jesus shares some very hard and often misunderstood words with us, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39) Jesus says, I have a sword and I am going to stick it in your heart (if you let Me) so that I can cut you out of this world and it is going to hurt and even cause strife and anger in your family; between your parents, brothers, sisters, and even your children, because if you love them all more than Me than you are not worthy of Me. God has a cross (our will laid against God’s will for our lives) for each and every one of us to die on, to crucify our love for this world and its pleasures. Count the cost my friend Jesus comes with a sword to cut our affections and desires for this world out of us and it will hurt (we will cry) and we will even die, but “he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” The more we allow God to cut us out of this world the more of God’s life we will have in us. Two things I will promise you my friend and that is Jesus is good at wielding a sword at our heart, his sword cuts us coming and going and the second is it will hurt we will have pain, heartaches, and confusion, but if we allow Jesus to do His work in our lives at the end of the surgery we will be able to love the unlovable as Jesus did, endure the persecution and tribulation Jesus also promised us because we will not be of this world we will be birthed from above. Written by David Stahl

LIFE THROUGH DEATH

2011-07-02T16:55:00.001-04:00

The longer I live on earth the more I seem to want to live to see our grand kids have kids and the more my flesh screams to be soothed and satisfied. Now do not get me wrong I do not have some death wish to leave this earth before God’s time and I know God still has much more for Karen and I to do, but I see within me lives a paradox that I battle and even struggle with dying so that I can live. Now you will not hear this spiritual concept taught at most churches (maybe 1 out of 10) most churches teach we are to live in the abundant life of Christ, be blessed in overflow, claim (concept not found in the Bible) it, just tune in to Christian TV and you can pick and choose the lie you wish to follow. But, it is the message of the Gospel (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ) that is the power of the cross. The power of the cross is not about life it is about death. The power of the cross is not about abundance, but limitations. The power of the cross is not about freedom, but restriction because limitations, restrictions, and death to our flesh bring us to fulfillment and completion in God, not abundance, freedom, and life. Paul shares this stark, hard truth with the Church at Corinth and us, “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:17-18) Things have not changed in over 2,000 years, today preaching the preaching of the cross (the Gospel message, death to our carnal selfishness, our self-centered nature, and our religious self-seeking) is still considered foolishness and many still perish. The truth is the more we can die to our intentions, emotions, and desires the more we can live in the God type of life (Zoe) and the more God can use us. But here is the key, we must die. The progression in God is not into greater life, but into greater death. Jesus said, “The thief cometh (not the devil) not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” (John 10:10-11) Jesus came so that we may have life, but for us to be able to walk in the newness of life in Christ He had to die. The hallmark and crowning glory of Christ’s ministry on earth was not all of His parables, teachings, miracles, and healings, but when He died between two thieves. Jesus came for one reason and only one reason to die on a cross so that we might be able to have His life. Jesus was not talking about going to heaven as most denominations and religious groups teach, oh no Jesus was talking about going to die, “except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die.” The only place we are going to after we accept Jesus as our personal savior is to our cross (our will laid against God’s will for our lives) to suffer (soften our heart towards man and God) and die. Jesus takes us by the hand and leads us to places we do not want to go, but if we do go we can be raised in newest of life, God’s life. This too is a type and shadow of what God expects to happen in our lives. Please notice verse 11 says, “the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” Jesus had to die so that we, “might have life and that they might have it more abundantly” the spiritual principle: life though death and the more death we experience in God the more life in God we can experience. Jesus shared this same spiritual principle (used other words) with the disciples and they scratched their heads again. You know the disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying until the Holy Spirit came and yet many today say we do not need the Holy Spirit. It only shows us just how far we have drifted from the truth of the word of God and of the dark heart of the religious, humanistic, apostate (works focused) church of today. Jesus said in John again, “Verily, verily, (a double negative, strongest use of an imperative to express significance) I say unto you, Except (meaning: the only way there is no other way) a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” (John 12:24-26) So the only way, there is no other way to be fruitful in God is to “fall in to the ground and die,” but no I thought God has called us to “life and it more abundantly?” No my friend God has called us to death not to life, God is calling us to lose our life for if we can lose our life surely we shall find it. Jesus repeats this thought in Matthew and added some other qualifiers, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39) Please notice the losing comes first and the finding is second. Never forget order in God really matters. If we do not allow God to strengthen us with might in the inward man (we cannot do it on our own this is called religion) to be able to lose our life we shall never be able to walk in the life that God has for our life. How could we? It is God’s power, it is God’s life not ours! We have no faith, faith is owned by God He even gives us a measure (Romans 12:3) to be saved and live Godly, everything is owned by God.

Paul knew this spiritual principle and the progression of it all too well, “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” (2 Corinthians 11:23-27) Remember truth is progressive and the more truth we can allow God to work in our lives the more it will cost us. And to the extent of our death will measure the extent of our life in God. Remember death in God has a purpose. The purpose of death in God is resurrection. No death no resurrection. We all want to experience God’s newness of life, well to experience God’s newness of life we all first must die, we all must lose our life so we can find it. Is our life in God lost? No it is on the other side of death, both spiritually and physically. We see this in Romans when Paul taught the Church at Rome, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:” (Romans 6:4-5) Did you get that? “We are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.” And verse five brings it all home to our heart, “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:” Never think God highly exalted His Son Jesus because He was God’s Son, oh no if you do you will be grossly wrong. God, “ . . . hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” not because He was God’s Son, oh no, but because He, “ . . . made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Our way is clear and our path is sure, as Jesus is our example we too must fall into the ground and die so that we will be able to be fruitful and walk in the newness of life God has for us all. But, no death no life it is as simple as that. Written by David Stahl

OUR CHOICES

2011-06-15T13:28:00.001-04:00

Our lives are made up from the sum total of our choices and there is nothing in our lives that did not happen beyond our ability to choose correctly in God. This is an understanding we must embrace if we are going to “grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ” because this is the understanding we must have to enable our dedication and commitment for God to be able to endure the consequences of our actions (dirty little words for most Christians today) and the many chastening, dealings, and judgments of the Lord. In these is where the Christ-like character conforming processes of God happens in our lives. It is not the cool waters and green pastures we relish and covet, but the inward retrospection and quiet times before God when He can open our heart and minds and show us our real character before Him. God is so concerned about our character. It is on the back side of the desert (in the wilderness) God’s people are tried and tested not in the well watered plains. I always thought it a bit strange that the good Shepard (Jesus) left the 99 sheep in the wilderness when He went after the one lost sheep. Luke tells us, “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?” (Luke 15:4) Now I cannot believe the good Shepard (Jesus) did not know where the lost sheep was. Does Jesus not know everything? I believe the good Shepard tarried and sought the one lost sheep a while so that the 99 could spend some time in the wilderness. The wilderness will work some things out of us if we allow God to do the work in us. There was a work in the 99 that could only be done in the wilderness and the good Shepard had to allure them there. So too in our lives the wilderness is the only place where God can get our attention so that He can do a work in our lives. In Hosea we find this happening, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.” (Hosea 2:14) And why? Because the wilderness is the only place God can speak comfort to us; there all of the other voices are distant, no one to depend on, and we are all alone with God. God’s goal in leading us to the wilderness (our choice if we want to go) is so that we can learn to lean on Him, “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?” (Song of Solomon 8:5) The longer we walk with the Lord the more we will discover the wilderness is a wonderful (if not the major) making place in our Christian lives. Any one that ever amounted to anything in God was sent to the wilderness to be tried in the furnace of God’s purifying fire, molded and shaped in the hands (as clay) of the Master until they were ready for service. But make no mistake my friend we will end up in the wilderness (God’s making places for our lives) based not on God’s will for our lives (it is always God’s intention for us), but based on the choices we have made. We see the impact of making right and wrong choices from the very beginning of man in Genesis and how his choices have impacted on all humanity. In Genesis we discover a divine spiritual truth that runs as a scarlet thread all throughout the Bible, the word “every.” Now when the Bible says “every” it means “every” it does not mean some or only a few, but it means “every” and here in Genesis 1:29, 2:9, and 2:16 it says “every.” God told Adam “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” (Genesis 1:29) God meant “every.”And in Chapter two, “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:8-9) Now please notice God used the word “every” again (and meant it) and even mentioned “the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” I have always wondered why Adam did not go after “the tree of life also in the midst of the garden.” God did not say Adam could not eat of “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” But in verses 16 and 17 God reiterated Adam’s options of eating of “the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” but now gave Adam an opportunity to make a life or death choice. “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) Most if not all of the choices God gives us are life or death, but we most often cannot see the future outcome of our choices when we make them, oh thank God for His longsuffering. God was telling Adam you can eat of this tree and this tree and this tree and even this tree, but if you eat of this tree (and you are free to eat of it) “thou shalt surely die.” I wonder why God changed His mind between verses Genesis 2: 9 and 16. Did you know God changes His mind sometimes? In Genesis later we read, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”(Genesis 6:5-6) Wow this sounds like today.

Or was God setting something different into motion in the earth to help us walk in the truth of His words? And that thing God set into motion was choice, our choice whether to sever Him or not sever Him, be obedient or not be obedient to Him, be committed or not be committed to Him. Without choice in our lives we are no better than the birds of the air, the fish of the seas, or even the Angels. Choice in our lives gives us the opportunity to walk away from God (what a chance God takes on us) or to draw nearer to Him. The more we understand this option of choice in our lives the more God’s love will grip our hearts and we will see what a loving God we serve and the less selfish and self-seeking we will become. I do not know about you my friend, but at times I can be very selfish and want my way. Why do we think God is going to do all of the work for us or do what we want Him to do? Why do we think God is going make choices for us like save this person we want saved or curse this person we want cursed? One thing for sure “every” thing we get from God will not be because God made it happen oh no my friend “every” thing we get from God will be based on the choices we have made in our lives. Now some Christians would disagree with me here, but I will go even further and include even those things God has allowed in our lives that are not according to His best for our lives. Did you know God will offer us His second best? As I was getting out of the U.S. Navy (USN) in Stuttgart I received a phone call from my detailer (someone who arranges duty assignments for Officers in the USN) and he asked me if I would consider a four year follow-on assignment at U.S. Marine Forces Europe (a three star, U.S. Marine Corps Headquarter in the Stuttgart area) doing the very same job I was doing at U.S. European Command. I even had other Officers campaigning for me to take the job unbeknownst to me. We would not have to move, I could still pastor the church, everything would be as it was, except for God’s will for our lives. My friend God will check us out to see if we really want His best for our lives and He will do this by offering us something that makes perfect common sense to our natural man and satisfies our fleshly desires. Take heed here my friend when God presents you with such a choice. Now I am sure everything would have worked out fine: God would have continued to bless Family Stahl, God would have continued to bless the church, people would have still come to Christ and lives would have been changed, but the down side to this choice would be we (me, my family, and our church) would miss out on God’s best for our lives and we would have known it. Remember; sin is to know right and not do it, to miss the mark, and the mark here for our lives was for me to get out of the USN. We could have chosen to do good things for God and I feel sure good things would have happened, but the best things God wanted for me and my family would not have been done and out from that we would have experienced loss in God and suffered in relationships and God’s favor. Did you know our obedience or disobedience in God can be measured? There is a point along God’s spiritual continuum time-line for our lives where we find (reality) ourselves in relationship to God’s will for our lives and then there is a point along God’s time-line where He expects us to be. The difference between the two points is the delta of either obedience (moving further to the right of God’s expectation) or disobedience (moving further to the left of God’s expectation) in our lives, now experiencing loss is very sad, but after an undisclosed prescribed time of God while walking in loss things gets worse. God told the Children of Israel, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” (Deuteronomy 30:19) Strange how our bad choices effect others in our lives. The deeds of what was to be the “record” that God was keeping apparently came to an end and God said, “I have set before you life and death (a choice), blessings and cursing:,” but please notice what God desires we choose “therefore (because all that has just said) choose life.” God’s choice for our lives is always life, blessings, and victory, but again it is not up to God (this is His intention for us), but it is up to us will we do and say the things needed to walk in the things God has purposed for our lives?

No where do we find this truth so vital and critical than in Ezekiel. We read, “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 11-11) This is God’s intention for us. But it is in verses 13 and 15 we read the real fall-out of our choices, “When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.” (Ezekiel 11-13) What a sobering truth. Please notice, “if he trust to his own righteousness and commit iniquity” then all of his righteousness shall not be remembered and he shall die for it. Our willful choice to “commit iniquity” (lawlessness or to move outside the laws of God) in spite of all we have said and done for God will cost us loss; first the work that God has been able to do in our lives) and then ultimately we shall die for it. But, “If the wicked restore the pledge (confess and repent), give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.” (Ezekiel 11-15-16) Life and death is in the power of our choices; it always has been since Genesis and will always be. God has purposed and plans things this way and is watching and listening to our choices. Written by David Stahl

OUR HURTS AND LOSSES

2011-06-08T19:24:00.002-04:00

One of the toughest things we must allow God to do for us is to get us over hurts and losses in our lives. Now no one is immune from hurts and losses and I promise you the more we walk with the Lord the more we will have to confront them and allow God to strengthen us with might (an inward ability to deal with issues of the heart) in the inward man. God is good at making our way constructive in life to make our living worth the while of learning how to function correctly with Him. Many Christians fail to allow God to deal and judge in their lives and they carry these hurts and losses all along their way and even carry them to heaven where God will have to deal with them at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Please do not think we will be able to sneak into heaven with some unresolved issues in our lives. Sadly the message of grace has cheapened the requirement for spiritual growth and development in the church today. The message we hear today in most churches is: God loves you and He will forgive you which is true, but it is not God’s intention for us to continually use His grace (as a crutch) to ask forgiveness again and again. God’s intention for us is to confess with our own words and then repent (about face or turn away from) of our sin so that we grow in the grace and the knowledge (both) of our Lord Jesus Christ. John tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:9-10) God never intended for a bunch of babies with no spiritual ability, power, and revelation to lead His church. Remember at the heart of every issue is always an issue of our heart. And it is our heart (as God deals and judges in it) where our spiritual ability and character is developed. And guess what that brings us back to our hurts and losses.

Make no mistake my friend hurts and loss in our lives can be very painful. The sting of death hurts, even the death of a beloved dog. Recently our Boxer dog Grimme died, he was better than some people I know and even in this the sting of death was bitter to us. Now we understand he was a dog and not a person, but when our affections and feelings get involved in our decisions we hurt from our loss. We have always liked dogs. Karen has even taught our daughter Connie and others never to marry a man who would beat an animal, if he will beat an animal he will beat you, sound advice even for today. Do you know animals know love when they see it and when they do not see it? When we lived in Germany I pastored a church with people from all around the world who came to church with all kinds of different cultures and customs. One American custom I always liked (and still do today) is to invite people over for dinner. You learn a lot about people when you sit around a dinner table; do they fill their plate first or pass the food. Do they get the last piece of chicken or prefer it for their friends or host. But one thing I would notice was who our Boxer dog Annie (a very loving and humble dog) would go to for some affection. I noticed who Annie would let pet her, but more important I noticed who Annie would not allow to pet her, and time bore out those who Annie would not allow to pet her were real snakes in the grass.

One of the biggest areas we get hurt in is from our friends and our family. Karen and I can personally speak of this. Since returning from Germany in 2003 we have been excluded from our family because we have stood for the truth of the word of God. We have spoken out against the drunkenness and homosexuality in our family for this we have been vilified and marginalized. But that is okay I must answer to God not to my family. He will not thank me for compromising the truth of the word of God for the sake of family peace and togetherness, but I will have to answer Him for how I handled the truth of the word of God in my life, we all will. Now I will be honest I do not understand Christians some times. We understand sinners they cannot help themselves, but lately I have found sinners to be more truthful and with more integrity than most Christians, ah I forgot we have grace to fall back on. I can take you to five churches in Jacksonville (a Baptist, a Pentecostal, and three non-denominational) that Karen and I have been asked to leave or been given the cold shoulder because the pastor found out about Beholding His Glory (BHG). Two of the pastors (the Pentecostal and one of the non-denominational) invited us out to a restaurant to get to know us, but when the check came both pastors waited for me to grab the bill. One pastor (another non-denominational) and his wife we invited over to our home for supper and all they did was eat and grab three of my books not even asking me for cost to cover the books. And another pastor (the Baptist) never went out to supper with us nor even came over to our home even though we asked many times. Yet when all five pastors learned about BHG their attitudes and reactions did a 180 degree change towards us. All Karen and I wanted to do was attend their service, just come and go, give them some money, and not get involved, but once the people started talking to us and we opened up a little the pastors got defensive with us and started guarding their members as if we were going to steal members from them so we could start a church. We assured them this was not our intention, but the pastors poisoned the heart of the people against us and we got the cold shoulder so we moved on. Friend this ought not to be in the Body of Christ, but jealousy, anger, immaturity, greed, and plain old contention in the hearts of pastors and leaders will only yield division, jealousy, anger, immaturity, greed, and plain old contention in them and in the people. Never forget the closer someone is the greater the hurt they can cause in our lives. Just ask a divorce lawyer. We must guard our heart with great diligence, with the word of God, and even some good old common sense from such people who would want to manipulate and take advantage of us for their personal gain. The last time I went to Kenya we had a very busy and ambitious schedule. We spent three or four days in Mombasa (man was it hot and my air conditioner did not work in my room) and then we drove six hours up to Nairobi. Well on the trip our host pastor was getting tired (he is always a real trooper giving of himself and family) so my friend (I still will call him friend) suggested I drive since I had an expired international driving license. Now another name for an expired international driver license is no driver license, but my friend insisted I drive. Driving was not the problem, in the past I have driven from Mombasa to Nairobi, but then I had a license. I suggested we stop for an hour or two and let our host pastor get a power nap and then continue, but not my friend of 30 years he insisted I drive, well I said no, so he berated me soundly and took the wheel. He blasted off gunning the engine and I am not really sure what he did, but the entire time he drove the engine was not working properly and the brakes seemed to fail at times. This continued for some miles so we decided to stop in Sultan Hamud where our host pastor knew some folks who could take a look at our car. After about two hours and after our host pastor and the car (they could find nothing a wrong) rested our host pastor took off driving again for Nairobi. Now here is the best part of this story. When the conference started the next day one of the Kenyan pastors who served as my interrupter shared a story about how he was stopped, arrested, and taken to jail for driving without a driver license. In your country of residence it is important to follow the laws and rules of the land, but when you are a foreigner it is more important you follow the rules and laws. Just because we are doing the Lord’s work we think He is going to cover all of our little omissions of obedience to the laws of then land or following the rules in the name of the Lord, well this my friend will land you in jail just as fast as anyone else. We as Christians are held to an even higher standard of doing what is right and following the laws. I guess my friend of 30 years was not so concerned about following the laws or for my well being as he was about getting to Nairobi or resting our host pastor. But this is the same friend of 30 years who says he is eating up my sin against him (not a Biblical principle) for telling him the truth to a question he asked about his character and got greatly offended. Again take heed my friend it is your closest friends that will cause you the greatest hurts. Did you know God is more concerned about our character than He is about our ability to minister the word of God? Our revelation of God to minister the word of God must match our character if not we know not God because His words (the truth about ourselves) have not gotten down into our precepts and concepts that form our daily living, thus the manifestation of our character will always be fleshly and carnal, even though we can recite the Bible backwards and forwards or masterfully weave Scriptures to support what we are saying. Our character is God’s biggest area of concern in our lives. At the heart of all of these issues (even maybe some in me) believe it or not is pride. At the heart of our hurts and losses believe it or not is pride. Solomon tells us, “Only by pride cometh contention (confusion, anger, strife, bitterness, envy): but with the well advised is wisdom.” (Proverbs 13:10) Now many Christians do not believe this verse. They blame everyone else, even the devil for the contention at work, in their home, or in their lives, but the Bible says it is pride. And it says “only by pride,” there is nothing else that causes contention in our lives. When our pride get hurts we strike back with everything within us to seek our revenge and get our pound of flesh. Our carnal nature wants its way and will do and say anything it can to get even. Think not our flesh is not alive, oh no my friend our flesh is alive and well, subtle and sure waiting for every opportunity to get hurt and play the martyr.

Did you know for us to allow God to get us over being hurt in our lives there must be a constant putting off of things so that we can put on other things? This is a spiritual principle we must operate in to get over hurt and even offense in our lives. In Romans Paul encourages us, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.” (Romans 13:12-13) Now the spiritual order is, “cast off the works of darkness” and then we can “put on the armour of light.” No casting off, no putting on. No allowing God to work in our lives so that we can cast off hurts no putting on the new things that God has for us to replace the hurts. How can we receive the beauty God has for us unless we first get up from the ash pile? In our lives old things must pass away before God can bring new things into our lives. As we move from our present home to a new home and even our dog dying we must embrace these old things and allow God to work them out of us so we can walk in the new things He has for us. And again casting off hurts is painful, but please know when we get hurt it is most often our fault; we have opened up ourselves to people or things maybe we should not have. I was amazed to hear and watch the lies of Harold Camping when he said Jesus was coming back first in September 1994 and then recently in May 2011. It was not the lies of Camping that amazed me, but how the people who followed him were deceived. Millions from around the world believed him they sold or gave away their homes, cars, clothing, everything. I got emails and phone calls from Christians around the world asking my opinion if Jesus was coming back in May 2011. They all were hurt, but they all hurt themselves. No one held a gun to their head and said you must believe Camping’s lies. This is where knowing the truth will really save your life.

Now please let me turn to loss in our lives. We do not want to lose because when we lose we feel bad and cry, but this is nothing more than our selfishness coming through. When Grimme died we cried, we cried not because he died his death was a blessing due to his sickness, but we cried because we were going to miss him, it was out of our selfish nature that we experience loss and we do not like that. We all at the center of our will and nature are selfish and prideful, we do not want to lose anything and when we do our selfishness comes alive and causes us to hurt and our lives are now filled with pain and sorrow. But believe it or not God has a purpose for loss in our lives. Lose in our lives creates more of a place for God’s glory in us if we allow it. The more we lose the more God can come (if we allow Him too) and fill that empty place in our heart. If we never experience loss in our lives we will never be able to experience the spiritual gain God has for us. Did you know God measures our gain in Him not by what we can add, but by how much we can lose? The more we can lose of this world and our self the more we gain of God. This too is why God allows suffering in our lives to help keep our heart out of this world. But at the end of the day, no matter what hurt or loss we have experienced in our lives: death of a family member, an animal, our health, bankruptcy, whatever we must be able to trust them to God’s able and faithful hands, if not we will never be able to get over them in our lives. In our hurts and losses we must be able to say, “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” while keeping our eyes on the Lord. Written by David Stahl

GOD'S DEFINED TIME

2011-05-31T15:41:00.001-04:00

Over the last two or three years as God kind of slowed us down from going abroad six to seven times (that is every other month) a year and resting us I often thought about how we operate in God for a specific time while fulfilling a specific function (pastor, missionary, etc.) for a defined period. When we headed over to Germany back in 1996 we had no idea we would be pastoring a wonderful church and it would grow and many people would be changed by the word of God. We never thought we would be traveling in ministry to the four corners of the world sharing the good news of the Gospel message, but we did. We never thought Beholding His Glory would be birthed, we never thought we would see the failures and victories in so many lives, but we did. When I think back to all God did (the church in Germany, the traveling, the lives that were changed ours included) all I can say is, “This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 24This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalms 118:23-24) Now this is the very thought “this is the LORD’S doing” I have been thinking about as I reflect over the seven years of ministry while living in Europe. Before moving to Europe we were faithful in prayer, studying the Bible, in church activities (attendance, leadership, and service), doing whatever we could do to draw closer to God, but there was no special anointing on our lives. I guess with accepting a special call comes the special anointing. To be brutally honest during this time I really struggled with my faith and with relationships within the church we were attending seeing the lackluster approach to God and the blatant hypocrisy in many lives (even in the church leadership), but in spite of all of this God had a plan for our lives and wanted us to move to Stuttgart, Germany. As I look back over my 24 years in the U.S. Navy I can see how God did many things (assignments, education, favor from seniors) to help lead us along the way He wanted us to go. I remember the church we were attending had a huge going away party (after Sunday service) for us and they even gave us a nice plaque, but while playing softball (at the party) from left field the pastor (he always called me elder) yelled to me in center field, “elder where do you think you will be attending services next Sunday?” And I yelled back, “I do not know probably a chapel on base.” Well little did I know (because of my faithfulness to church and God’s plan for our lives) going to the chapel on base would be the beginning of the unfolding of what God had for me, our family, so many other lives those seven years in Germany, and even all that God is still doing today with Beholding His Glory. Now all of this was not our intention; our intention was to travel to Europe and enjoy our years raising our kids like most American military families who move to Germany. My military intention was to be the very best Naval Officer in the world, but God had other intentions. When we started up (at the Lord’s wishes and on Karen’s birthday) Christliche Gemeinde Stuttgart I naively and foolishly thought all of my co-workers in my office were going to join our church, but was sadly disappointed with they rejected me and me as a pastor. I found out quickly (and painfully) religion is much thicker than friendship. Karen says I am more loyal to other people than what they are to me and she is right I can name relationship after relationship of over 30 years, but that is okay with me I would rather err on the side of other’s presumption and give my friendship than not to be honest and forthright, God expects nothing less. When I think back to our seven years in Germany how could I not think of our four kids. They were raised a lot in their formative years during this time and I will be honest they endured many long church services (some four hours plus) and many things they did not really understand (an international church overseas is much different than a church in the States), but in the end today they all would say they are much better off for the experience living overseas and the lessons they learned in God. It is kind of funny how when we come to the Lord we do so because we have some intentions in mind for us well guess what, God too has some personal intentions of His own for our lives. Often we come to the Lord thinking we will have some kind of fire insurance from hell or we will get God to give us some things (like money, spouse, car, house, better health, etc.), but this all is wrong thinking, all wrong apostate religious thinking like a religious cancer that is destroying the Body of Christ. In Jeremiah we read his heart, “For I know the thoughts (plans or intentions) that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts (plans or intentions) of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13) Usually our plans, intentions, or thoughts are selfish and our motives are self-seeking, but God has eternal holy purposes, His intentions are for the betterment of our soul and a desire to bring us to an expected end, which is also another intention of His.

Now the longer I walk with the Lord and the more I see even in the lives of others in Christian ministry and leadership I am ever the more convinced God has specific jobs for us to do, for a specific time, and no matter how much we kick or scream we cannot start our mission until we qualify or have been approved for the next thing He has for us to do. I see now this was what was going on with us in the church we were attending and through the many years of service to God. Now we all have the duty and responsibility to share the good news of the Gospel message to everyone we come in contact with, but that does not constitute a ministry. Sharing the Gospel message with everyone we come in contact with is an expectation God expects of us. Doing or not doing this has nothing to do with our salvation, but it has everything to do with whether God can trust us to fulfil the plans, thoughts, and intentions He has for our lives. If we critically look at the lives of key people in the Bible we will see this spiritual principle in action. In the Old Testament we read about Adam serving God in the garden for a specific time and place, but after he sinned things changed significantly. For most of Noah’s life he was a man who just love and honored God; he was qualifying and being approved at this time to be able to build the ark and save his family (mankind) and the animal kingdom, but after that he was back to just loving and honoring God while living out his life. Abram who later became Abraham was the same way. Before he was called out of Ur of the Chaldeans and before he became the father of many nations, and all of the many wondrous things he allowed God to do in his life he just loved and honored God. After God was finished with him he went back to running his family and loving God. Moses’ life can be divided into three 40 year periods: the first 40 years he served in the courts of the Egyptian pharaoh (as an Egyptian Prince) mighty in word and deed becoming learned and wise in wars and affairs of state, in his next 40 years God had Moses on the back side of the wilderness shepherding sheep. Do you know how dump sheep are? And how they stink? It took God 40 years to get Egypt out of Moses and when Moses stood before all mighty God, “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.’ (Exodus 4:10). And his last 40 years God used him to lead his people out of 430 years of bondage and all recorded in the Scriptures that Moses allowed God to do. For two-thirds of Moses’ life he was being qualified and being approved for the last one-third of his life. Isaac and Jacob’s lives were the same in character and service. I really like Joseph’s life it followed this same spiritual principle. Before Joseph became Zaphnath-Paaneah (second only to Pharaoh in all the world) so that he could save the entire Hebrew nation (including the birth line of Jesus) and the world he first had to qualify and be approved in enduring ridicule and shame from his father and brothers, being sold into slavery in Potiphar’s home, and going to prison because of false charges. And us today? Now the Bible does not say how Joseph ended his days, but it does make a statement about his faith, “And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.” (Genesis 50:25) In the New Testament we see this spiritual principle continued. In the life of John the Baptist John lived a normal life before he was called to be the voice crying in the wilderness, “to make straight the way of the Lord.” His life was lived to fulfill a certain time and a certain mission in God’s eternal plan. In the case of John he never stopped baptizing and never followed Jesus so God had to put him in a place where there was no water, prison. Even today in Israel you can find some of John’s disciples still baptizing in the Jordon River. The same held true in the lives of Jesus’ Disciples. Before their encounter with Christ they were fisher men, a tax collector, a doctor, all living their daily lives, but once they really met Jesus their lives were changed and they served for a specific time and all had a specific function in God’s plan. One of my favorite examples is Saul who later became Paul. Saul was in Bible School and God called him out (go figure) before God could use him. Even having a face-to-face encounter and Jesus speaking to Paul was not enough God still had to take him to the wilderness for three years (qualifying and approving him) to put his word in Paul’s heart. Even Jesus our Master and example was qualified and approved by the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. There is a specific time of ministry and during this time there is a special time of favor and even at times a supernatural anointing. I have seen it and I have felt it, now that does not mean after we pass through this specific time we will lose our anointing oh no just the contrary, we will receive of God what we need next (even by way of supernatural anointing) to do what He wants us to do. Why do we think God is just going to give us things so that we can store them up for a rainy day? God does not give us His power and ability to just have His ability and power, oh no my friend God (like His faith) gives us His power and ability to do the things He wants us to do when we need them during our specific time. And I am here to let you know when it is over it is over. When God closes a door it is best to keep the door closed. I have seen many Christian friends try to keep things going that God was doing in their lives, but God was not in it. One thing for sure, if it starts in God there will be an end time in God. Realizing this spiritual principle often will take a lot of the pressure off of people to perform. They identify with what God has done in the past or what He is doing now and cannot see themselves in any other kind of service for God. I still say God pours us out from vessel (function or ministry) to vessel and as we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Christ Jesus He uses us and what we have learned of Him to share Him with the world and even uses us beyond our abilities and power. Paul speaks of the Church at Corinth, “For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; 4Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 5And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.” (2 Corinthians 8:3-5) We will never be able to give ourselves to others unless we first give ourselves to the Lord. And how do we do that? In that specific time and place of ministry we often find victory and failure maybe both at the same time, but for sure we will always find suffering. And why? Because shared suffering always builds unity and comradeship within any army. Written by David Stahl

OUR SELFISH SELF

2011-05-16T18:59:00.001-04:00

Lately Karen and I have been occupied house hunting. What a wonderful surprise from the Lord, our land lord of eight years informed us we (two weeks ago) had 30 days (but he graciously gave us 60 days) to find a new home because he was going to sell it. What a shock and bewilderment to our routine our world was turned upside down for awhile, but when we got our orientation back things just started to work out for us. Now when things like this happen in our lives (and they will God loves us that much) we must not be moved and run around like a chicken who just lost their head, but relax, slow down, and be not moved. I think the best example I can give for us to be is like a camel or maybe a turtle. Camels and turtles just lumber along, plodding on, and nothing really excites them nothing really moves them, but they get to their destination in due time without all of the stress and worry. We must keep our mind stayed on Christ to be able to have the peace in our heart to make correct decisions. Did you know when we get all stressed out over things in our lives it is really an admission of lack of faith and confidence in God? We are saying (because of our stress and worry) God cannot handle this situation in our lives. God is not able to take care of this circumstance it is too big I have lost my trust in God so I will lose my peace of mind. When we lose heart and faith in God we also lose our peace of mind. Our peace of mind is only found in our trust in God. Isaiah tells us, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” (Isaiah 26:3) The word “stayed” here means fixed or focused, halting in one place. Our mind must be fixed on God as we halt in a place of trust and confidence in God. Did you know if we draw back from God at this time we will lose His presence and direction for our lives? It is not God has abandoned us, but we have left the place of staying and lost the perfect peace of God. You will never know what I am talking about until you for yourself drifts from this place in God and I promise you my friend serve God long enough and you have this to look forward to. Sadly we move or drift from God here because of our selfishness. We do not (I include myself here) want to lose what we want; our flesh screams to stay alive and will do everything in this world to live, but we must allow God to put our flesh to death. Even Paul had struggles in this area. In Romans we read, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” (Romans 7:18-20) Success or failure in God does not depend on conquering the devil (Jesus has already defeated him), but depends on us allowing God to strengthen us with might in the inner man so that we can conquer our flesh. James tell us, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:14-15) Now it says “his own lust and enticed.” This lust (and not wanting to lose what we want) is in our flesh, it is a part of our character, our attitudes, our motives, and we must allow God to strengthen us through His dealings and judgments in our lives if not we will not be able walk in the victorious Christian life God has for each and every child of His. By keeping our focus on God we will be in God’s perfect will and have God’s peace even though the storm rages around us the storm within us is stilled. God does not lead us into defeat oh no my friend God always leads us into victory. This is a divine spiritual principle we must learn to be able to come into the victorious Christian living God desires for our lives.

Often when we talk about God’s peace we often talk about God’s will for our lives. I cannot begin to tell you the number of people that have asked me to pray for God’s perfect will for their lives. Well . . . guess what, God’s perfect peace is God’s perfect will they are one in the same. Praying for God’s perfect will is nothing more than not really believing God knows what He is doing. We have already determined God does not lead us into defeat, His destination for our lives is always victory, if you are looking for defeat you will have to find it somewhere outside of God. Now follow me closely here. Where ever we find ourselves, as long as we are not over in willful sin (and we know it), then we are in God’s perfect will for our lives. All we need to do is continue in what we are doing and if God changes His direction for our lives we just flow with whatever God is doing. His peace is there, even though all hell is coming against us, and we rest in Him. His will for our lives is there and we rest in Him. There is no need to pray and fast for God’s will. How could it be anything different? No struggle or guessing just resting. All we have to do is to keep looking at Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;” (Hebrews 12:2)

While house hunting I made a discovery that really surprised me. We looked at many houses, but we were looking for a home, there is a big difference, but in all of the new houses the master bathroom was grand and spacious: whirlpool or jacuzzi tubs, separate shower, double sink vanities, soft toilet seats, fancy lighting, all of the bells and whistles. But in the older houses the master bathroom was small and plain: usually a combination garden tub and shower, a base toilet and only one sink. I could not get over the difference, then it dawned on me how today the most important room in the house is the bathroom how we like pampering ourselves in the shower or soaking in the tub with music, candles, and perfume water. But not so in times gone by. In the past the most important room in the house was the kitchen and/or dining room. This is where the living of the day was discussed, where relationships were strengthened, where noses were counted, and where we would eat together, laughing and sharing. In new houses today the kitchen and dining room have been made smaller to make room for bigger bathrooms. I discovered in this how selfish we are today, how we want our time spent alone to be spent in luxury and ease. How we go after ease and comfort; in all of these pleasures our selfish self just screams to be pampered and pleased. All of this is nothing more than our selfish self wanting to exalt itself and push out from “under the mighty hand of God.” I wonder what the “mighty hand of God” looks like? Peter tells us, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7) The “mighty hand of God” for Joseph was his brothers, Potiphar, and the Egyptian prison. What does the “mighty hand of God” look like in your life? Do you even know? I doubt it is a huge hand coming off of heaven, but it is probably some situation or circumstance in your life that God wants you to humble yourself in. You know we have a hard time discovering what the “mighty hand of God” looks like because we like to add a “s” to “care.” Verse seven reads, “Casting all your care (not cares) upon him; for he careth for you.” Cares are things like houses, cars, money, a job, health, happiness all of the things we think we are entitled to and try to twist God’s arm into giving us. But “care” is the attitude of caring for things. Peter was telling us we are to cast the attitude of wanting things from God on Him because “he careth for you.” God knows what we want and God knows what we need. Our focus is not to be on what we want or even what we want God to give us, but our focus is to be on what God wants to give us. God knows we need a house. We do not have pray and fast about getting a house all we have to do is be fixed on God and allow His peace to grip our hearts to such a degree we will be in “perfect peace” and able follow His will. Our selfish self wants to do the religious things; pray and fast, lay prostrate on the floor before the Lord (Charles Haun told me many Bible School students would do this, but they were not before the Lord they were somewhere else), but that is not what God is after. God wants us to allow Him to kill our self our flesh so we can walk with Him. Micah helps us here, “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? 7Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:6-8) Our ability to humble ourselves will be the same measure we will be able to walk with the Lord. Written by David Stahl

COMPASSION, MERCY, AND GRACE

2011-05-02T18:24:00.003-04:00

The longer I go with God the more I see how we easily substitute meanings of words and precepts. Now for some words this is not a big deal, but when we start talking about words that affect our concepts such as compassion, mercy, and especially grace our substitution can cause great problems with our understanding of critical Biblical truth and if this does happen my friend we will get off track faster than anything I know. Now I am talking from personal experience. Recently (say over the last two years) the Lord has opened my understanding to some teachings (that were not quite right) from some friends that may take me and God some time (with some heartache) to get me back on track with the right precepts. And if we get our precepts wrong my friend then our daily concepts (the basis of Godly character) will be wrong. This area seems to be a major battle for us in allowing God to form His character in us. We must be careful to who and what we open our spirit to. Also something I have learned over my many years, especially while living in Germany, words matter. The words we say reflect our understanding to certain truths and they reflect the intimate workings of our character. Here is where I often can have troubles. For example let us look at three words: compassion, mercy, and grace that are often miss used or substituted for each other, but in reality these three words have different meanings and their projects are different in precept development and application.

Now compassion is not mercy or grace, compassion is a human feeling or emotion of sadness or pity for someone (friends) or something (animals). Compassion is something that is most often self-generated that touches our emotions and can easily move our spirit and decision- making. Anything that moves our heart (especially quickly) we must be very careful with. Compassion is not necessarily a Christian characteristic. I know many non-Christians who are very compassionate, but know not the Lord. Mercy is not compassion or grace, mercy is a power of our self will to forgive (ah another word we often substitute) or to be kind. When Karen and I take our dog for a walk we have compassion and mercy on the earthworms (we call the Brethren) we find dying on the sidewalk by picking them up and putting them safely in the grass. Mercy is like compassion it is most often self-generated that touches our emotions and can make us feel good about ourselves when we do something right. Mercy can make us feel good, but mercy like compassion is not necessarily a Christian characteristic. I know non-Christians who can show mercy to people, even earthworms. Now please do not misunderstand me here compassion and mercy need to be a part of our character. Micah asked, “Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (Micah 6:7) and then answered his own question, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8) What great advice for today knowing how the worldly religious church has forgotten, it is not about doing for God, but becoming something in God. Here we see it is not about working for God, but becoming (Ephesians 2:10) the work of God. Jesus was great at not talking about compassion, but being moved by it. In Matthew we read, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) Fourteen other times in the Gospels we read where Jesus was “moved with compassion” and if the Master was compassionate should not His servants? And grace is not compassion or mercy, only grace is grace. Grace is the love and favor God shows toward undeserving man. Grace is God not giving us something we deserve. In Romans we read, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace (not our grace or good works) through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:’ (Romans 3:23-24) The Gospel truth is; “we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (we all deserve to be found guilty and punished) and the rest of the Gospel truth is we have “justified (Strong’s #1344, to render righteous) freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” God’s grace (His love and favor for us) renders us righteous (right relationship with God and man) and the more we allow God to work in our inward man and bring us to the spiritual place of seeing what sin has wrought in our lives and how sin destroys every relationship and every area of our lives the more grace we will be able to walk in. Grace and this deeper work of God (some call it sanctification, but few people teach it) is for everyone, but everyone does not receive grace and fewer Christians receive the promise of sanctification. Jesus died on a cross so that all can taste of the goodness of eternal life that is now on earth and into eternity, but sadly everyone will not “taste and see that the Lord is good” and will spend their eternal life separated from God and in hell. In spite of Jesus’ sacrifice many will be lost (their choice) and remember salvation is for only those who accept it. Here are two big differences between grace and compassion or mercy. Grace is a free gift from God “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:22-23) And the second truth is before we can receive grace we must be judged and found guilty. A blameless or innocence man needs no grace. Isaiah tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) Grace is for only guilty people who stand in the way of God’s judgment, but we do not like to admit we are guilty. Never forget, great is the man in God who knows his strengths, but far greater is the man in God who knows his weakness. But God cannot look the other way to sin, He must deal with it. For God and us looking the other way from sin is not compassion, mercy, or grace oh no, sin must be judged and sentenced in our lives before God can extend grace to us, but who wants to be called a sinner? That is easy, only the one that want to be saved. My friend God does not just forgive sin as most denominational religions teach. Oh no, sin must be dealt with by God. Most denominations teach just walk the aisle, repeat some words (the sinner’s prayer may sound good, but the precept or concept is nowhere in the Bible), and God will forgive you of your sins, well that is not true and that is also why there are so many would be Christians who do not live a Godly life and do not reflect the character of Christ and why because they are not saved. They have been deceived by man’s plan of salvation. John tells us in 1 John, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:9-10) The word “confess” here means to agree what God is saying about us is true and that is Romans 3:23. Our confession must be of our own words and out from a broken and contrite (crushed and ground to powder) heart condition not by another’s words. With the sinner’s prayer the one thinking they are confessing is just agreeing with the words of another person. And my friend, make no mistake this is a painful process (you may even cry) in our lives when we begin to allow God to show us our heart and what sin has wrought in our lives. Listen to the words of Paul, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:18-25) Do you hear the pain and anguish in his words? Do you hear the cry of Paul’s heart here? If not then you have missed the truth of his words and you have missed the work God was doing in Paul. Funny, how Paul answered his own question “who shall deliver me.” In verse 25 Paul tells us, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In Malachi we really see what happens when we get our precepts wrong or when we substitute the meaning of a word for another. When most Christians think of the Book of Malachi they think here it comes again; the pastor is going to beat us over the head, again, over our poor tithing, but Malachi is a very fascinating Book. It only talks about tithing a little bit, but the rest of the Book is about Godly character and what God expects of us. In Chapter one we find the people bringing impure sacrifices to God, “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts. 12But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. 13Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. 14But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.” (Malachi 1:11-14) Now some people would say that is okay; the people are having a tough time making it and God does not really expect unblemished and unspotted sacrifice as He commanded. The people and even the priest turned their heads to the truth of God’s words. Today many pastors are turning their heads to the truth of God’s words: so that seats and offering plates will be filled, so that their plans and agendas can be fulfilled, so that their church can climb up the denominational ladder, but just like in Malachi God wanted nothing to do with sin and folly. You can read what God told the priest in Malachi 2:1-9, it was not pretty. Believe it or not the priests were being compassionate and even giving mercy to the people, but that was not what God was after. We can be compassionate and give mercy all day long to people, but if what we do for people does not line-up with what God’s word says and what He expects of us then we are doing more harm than good. We must learn to “speak the truth in love,” if not we do not really care about people. Now I will tell you this is a very tough thing to do. In my family for the last eight years or so Karen and I have been holding the line with the truth of God’s word and it has cost us dearly, but that is okay. I believe my father is in heaven today because Karen and I held our ground with God’s word, a small price to pay for my father being in heaven. We must never forget grace was not free, it cost Jesus His life and for us to be able to have more (than just salvation) of this wonderful gift of God it will cost us something too. The more we can humble ourselves before God and man the more grace we can behold. Written by David Stahl

A MEDITATION ON EASTER

2011-04-20T14:25:00.002-04:00

Around Christmas time I shared some thoughts on Christ not being a baby and now as we draw closer to what many call the Easter season I would like to share some thoughts on this topic. First, the word we use to express the great victory of Christ, “Easter” is found once in the KJV of the Bible and has nothing to do with the Gospel; the death, the burial, and (our blessed hope of glory) the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The word, “Easter” is found in Acts and is talking about Peter, “And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.” (Acts 12:4) and is translated from the Greek as Passover, again it has nothing to do with the Gospel message. I am not going to go into all of the pagan rituals and religious traditional practices that surround the historical myth of Easter my intent is to lift up the name of Jesus. But, my friend we have “truly” (taking something from the physical realm and projecting it into the spiritual realm) drifted so far from the true meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and the great price He paid for my sin and your sin. We have insulted God’s supreme act of giving His only begotten Son and the truth for an emotional swell during the holiday season, to increase church attendance, and to spread ones denominational message under the guise of sharing the Gospel. We do so much in church that displeases God and cover it up by saying we are sharing the Gospel. God please forgive us. God does not need special services that effect our emotions and feelings to share the Gospel message. God needs dedicated and consistent children to follow Him and His basic plan.

A few years ago I heard a statement from a pastor (of a church we once attended) that just shook me to my knees. He said after Jesus was arrested and crucified the light of the world went out. How my spirit quivered within me. How my stomach churned and ached for this fellow’s words were not true, but was in keeping with the emotional Easter tradition. At no point in time has Jesus not been the light of the world. My friend even when Jesus obediently and willfully laid His life down, He was still in control; of all Heaven, earth, hell, and will always be the light of the world. His light will never go out. Death could not hold Him, the grave could not hold Him, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57) Because this is true about Jesus we too can say, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Let us not be led by our emotions and plans to practice an Easter season, but be led by the Holy Spirit to know and understand the true message of the Gospel. This my friend is the message that will change your life forever.

At the Passover Supper (before He went out into the garden) Jesus knew the garden experience was there and He knew that the cross, death, the grave, and hell was waiting Him. Yet Jesus went out with a song in His heart, “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.” (Matthew 26:29) How could He do that? He could sing because He had the victory already in His heart. The victory and trust He had in His Father to carry Him through the garden, onto the cross, and into and out of the grave. He knew His Father would never leave Him nor forsake Him. The victory was first won as the Father pressed out the life and will of Jesus at Gethsemane (which means where oil is pressed), “Then saith he unto them, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. 39And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:38-39) Knowing what was before Him Jesus could still break bread with His disciples, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.” (Matthew 26:26) Knowing what was ahead for Him Jesus could still give thanks, “And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28) He could only do this because it was the most sublime manifestation of faith ever expressed. We think He had faith when He restored sight to the blind, strengthened limbs, and raised the dead. Yes that was wonderful, but we must see the spiritual side of things. We must see the necessity of faith in the realm of the Spirit, not in the flesh (like the Easter myth), but the realm of the Spirit where we have the faith to dare to believe like Jesus. It is Jesus’ victorious life which leads up to His victorious death and that is what presents Him as the Lamb without spot and blemish. When seen on the Mount of Transfiguration, He is a Lamb without spot or blemish, but it is a Lamb that has been slain! We are not saved by His life we are saved by His death. His life is exemplary it is beautiful, but He did not come to display great character and to do miracles, He came to die for us. The way of life is through a region of death and unless we partake of His death we shall never reign with Him. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:” (Romans 6:3-5) The truth of the season is a bitter sweet message of death so that we may live. It is not about new clothing, many church activities, special foods, and musical programs to get people to come to church, but it is about us loving God enough to be willing (like Jesus) to fall into the ground and die, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 12:24) And, to love God’s word enough in simplicity to share it without fanfare and emotional ceremony knowing the Holy Spirit will do His work in lives. Then too we will be able to say we have before the throne (our heart) of God today a victorious risen Lord. Let us keep the love feast of Jesus’ sacrifice. Let us honor Him and His work in us and for those who we are to lead to the cross for His glory. Let not this season be a myth or holiday, but an invitation to life, the life of God. Written by David Stahl

THE EXPRESSIONS OF GIVING

2011-04-17T14:22:00.001-04:00

As I walk with the Lord and the longer I go with Him the more I see a paradoxical (a statement that seems to contradict itself or seems false, but may be true in fact) truth. Nowhere is this paradox seen then in our giving. On one hand there is the selfish, self-centered, and greedy giving where the giver expects to receive “giving to get” and then there is the other hand where the giver gives so that others may receive. You can always tell which type of giver you are dealing with when they quote their favorite Scripture to support their giving and it also often speaks of the spiritual maturity (if you can discern) of the Christian you are talking with. In Luke Jesus’ words can serve as an example of a greedy giver. Here Dr. Luke shares some words that selfish Christians most often use to express their motives and desires, “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: 38Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:37-38) Now what Jesus was saying is an eternal truth, but when we use His words to justify our (that is a plural pronoun which includes me) selfish, carnal nature and ways for getting something for giving or not getting something that we deserve (judgment and condemned) then we have missed the truth of the Scriptures. The selfish giver manipulates Jesus’ words (missing the true meaning) to express, “I do not want to be judged (even though I am guilty and I know it), I do not want to be condemned (even though I am guilty and I know it, but I do not want to be held accountable), I always want to be forgiven if I make a mistake (and I know it), and I always give to God so He will give me back more than what I gave.” One of the greatest signs of spiritual maturity in our lives no matter the depth of our education (even our Christian education) or ability to minister the word of God is when we can receive judgment and correction from others and then incorporate their verdict into our lives. I will be honest I do not like it when someone says, “Dave have you considered this, or that, or you know what you said maybe is not be right. And if they really want to get me going all they have to do is mention my character. Did you know God is more concerned about our character than about how long we can speak in tongues, how much money we give to the church, or more than all the things we do for Him in service? Remember the greatest objective of the spiritual leader is not service, but obedience to the Master.

In John we discover another type of giving from the story of the Samarian lady’s encounter with Jesus at the well. Funny, how we are always changed for the better when we truly have an encounter with Jesus. Here we read, “Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:9-14) Here the giving (by Jesus the giver) is not for the benefit of the giver as in Luke 6:38 above, but for the benefit of someone else. This is a more correct model of giving where we give so that others may receive. We give so that others may be able to come closer to God and come to the “living waters” where the waters will be “springing up into everlasting life” for us. Here a more mature Christian would quote verses like these because they are concerned not about themselves, but about others receiving. What a wonderful place in God when we can come to the place where we would rather see our brothers and sisters get blessed ahead of us. This was one of the many problems the Church at Corinth had during communion. Paul told them, “When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. 21For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.” (1 Corinthians 11:20-22) In other words Paul was saying they did not wait or prefer (allowing someone to go ahead) each other they were concerned about themselves first receiving the blessing. He was saying they were not eating the Lord’s supper they were eating their own supper while other were hungry. What scathing words from Paul. Our motives and intention in giving must always be done not thinking of ourselves and the reward or benefit we shall receive, but on the impact of the person who will be receiving. Giving must never be done blindly or quickly, but with a Godly purpose in mind. When I think of this point I always think of the day in the City of Bosque in the Islamic Republic of the Mauritania. While sitting in the back seat of the U.S. Embassy’s Suburban I caused a young boy to be beaten almost to death by giving him $5 and asking him to share it with his friends; well his friends saw the money and thrashed him soundly and anyone else who recovered the $5. The money was passed hand-to-hand and with the money came the beating. What a riot we had to leave quickly before the folks in the town attacked us. As we were driving away in safety our translator said it will be months, maybe years, before we could return to Bosque. I really messed things up. My heart was in the right place, but my giving was not done with wisdom and when this happens the purpose is lost. Often in giving it is important not to let the right hand know what the left hand is doing.

A third type of giving is where we give not of our resources (money, time, talents), but of our self. This is the greatest of the three types of giving mentioned thus far. God is always after us giving all of ourselves so that we have nothing left to give; where we give beyond our resources, abilities, and this is always seen especially when we give to someone who cannot give back to us. It is easy to give to someone who someday can repay us, but how about someone who can never repay us? How can we do this? When we allow God to empty us. I hear many Christians say (even hear some pray) God come and fill me. There is even a Vineyard Song that says, “come and fill me now,” well that is not the way God operates. God does not just come and fill us because we want Him to oh no, God comes at His sweet time and fills us when we first allow Him to empty us. The condition to be filled by God is first to allow God to empty us of the world and our self. The more we allow God to empty us of these things, the more we can be filled with His nature and Spirit, no more no less. This is a willful process in our lives God is looking for. God will never be able to make us the type of giver He is looking for unless He first can get us to empty ourselves of our greedy selfishness and the love for worldly ways and ideas. God’s expression of giving is then seen in our obedience and dedication not only to God, but to man. We think when we give of our resources or self to man that is the end of the giving, but not so my friend every time we give even a drink of water to a friend or especially our enemies God notices. When I think of giving beyond one’s ability and giving to the end of their self I always think of my dear “Sweet Heart” Karen. When I retired in 2000 we were still living in Germany and to be able to stay in the American military system either Karen or I had to get a Federal job, if not we could not use the U.S. Post Office, we could not shop at the Military Post Exchange, we could not shop for food at the commissary (without paying high German taxes), and worst of all for our household Connie and Joshua could not go to the American High School they were attending for years unless we paid $1,200 per month per child. Well, spending $2,400 a month was totally out of the question. I was working at the High School as a Substitute Teacher (not a Federal job), with a German speaking company called KMP teaching business English and management, traveling in ministry, and pastoring the church, so it was up to Karen to get the Federal job. Now Karen had not worked outside the home for over 20 years, this was not going to be an easy thing for her to do nor would this be an easy thing on our family dynamics. Well, Karen inquired around the base and found out the only Federal job she was qualified for was working at the dining facility (chow hall) on base as a food service worker. What a prestigious job scrubbing floors, cleaned mountains of pots and pan, cleaned the serving line, cut potatoes, scraped food off of trays into big garbage cans, and anything that needed to be done. One day she was a big important officer’s wife and the next day she was the nice kind lady that took your food tray and said, “have a great day.” I could go on and on, but you would not be able to understand what it cost my wife, how she allowed God to empty her and how her sacrifice ensured education for our kids and a way of life we were accustomed. You would never be able to understand what I am saying unless, like Karen, you too endured the whispers, jeers, and snide comments of her one time friends. You will never know what I am talking about unless you too have been emptied by God to the end of yourself so that others can benefit, even enjoy your sacrifice. How could I not love her?

Lastly when God invest things in us especially Spiritual things we are not to spend them on ourselves. God does not give to us dead ended, oh no my friend. When God gives us things He expects us to give a portion of whatever He gave us away. If God gives us $100, He expects, it is His intention in the giving to us that we give some of that $100 away. God NEVER gives to us so that we can spend it all on our selves. If you do this my friend you are a greedy and selfish person. God always gives enough to us so that we can give something away. No matter the amount God gives to us He expects a portion of what He gave us to be given away. The portion that is given away is what God is after in our lives. He gives us $100 and He is looking for our obedience to Him in what to give. God may say give $10 away or He might say give $100 away, the amount does not matter (it was given to us by God), but what does matters is are we going to be obedient to God and give what He asked so He can invest more money? Most Christians who lack spiritual and earthly things is because God cannot trust them to give them away. The condition to receive from God is to be able to give away what God has already given you. Funny how we are willing to give God our lives and heart, but when God asks for our wallet we feign deafness. Charles Haun always said, “once God gets a hold of our wallets He has all of us” how true. “For God so loved the world He gave” this is why giving is at the heart of the Gospel. If God cannot make you a giver then He cannot use you my friend you will disqualify yourself for service. Written by David Stahl

THE HARVEST

2011-04-04T18:07:00.001-04:00

Recently I have been emailing a wonderful pastor friend from Suceava, Romania who has been going through some very tough corrective surgery on his legs and hips. Over the last 13 years he has opened his Bible school, his home, and heart to me. After the surgeries he has a lot of down time and not being able to put weight on his legs he has plenty of time to put together (writing down what God has done for us and sharing it with people is the very best thing we can do for God) some lessons for the Bible school. God is good at getting us in some positions to where we can do some quality work. Well, he emailed me and asked if I could buy him some VCDs of a certain Bible teacher in the States. A certain church in Colorado use to provide them, but now no more. How could I say no; for years he has opened the Bible school he is responsible for, opened his home, opened his heart to me, and I know of his character and dedication. I asked what happened to the church who use to provide the VCDs and he said a new pastor has come in now and they have not heard from the church in over a year. I thought to myself what was the churches’ (in the past) motive in relationship with the church in Romania? And how could they just break off fellowship without a simple letter, email, or phone call? But then I remembered one of the first things a new pastor must do (if they want to take charge) is consolidate power in the church or he (she in some cases) will have to put out forest fires from the old pastor. And one of the fastest ways of doing this is making a clean sweep of mission’s support and ministry programs. Sad how political churches in America have become, but make no mistake overseas mission programs in churches bring in big bucks for the local church and for the big denominational churches huge dollars so that they can pick and choose who gets and who does not get the money, almost like a reward and punishment scenario. One of the main message projections of churches today in America is “go therefore making disciples of all nations” and to do this my friend it takes a lot of energy, time, and money, especially a lot of money. Now please do not misunderstand me here my friend I too believe in traveling abroad to share this wondrous Gospel message, but over the last 15 years God has worked much zeal out of me and now He can work some wisdom and understanding in me. For ministry to be Godly it must be God focused, but sadly we see money and influence on both ends of the spectrum can often becomes the focal point. From the local church or denomination (not only in the States) they can unite people behind a cause (please be careful in God when people in church gather for an earthly cause), attract people to their church, and collect money to go save the heathens around the world. And sadly (I have seen this from both side) the folks on the other end are friendly and give invitation only because they can get money from folks to push their agenda and plans, make international connections (very important in some circles) to be able to come to the States (or elsewhere), or invite pastors and teachers to come and hold big conferences and seminars. The bigger the conference, seminar, and name invited the bigger the registration fee can be requested. It is no accident the big TV Christian evangelists, pastors, and teachers have their mega conferences and seminars at big resorts in Florida, California, and Texas where they get discounts and kick backs, sadly it has become a business. In all of our years of traveling abroad I have never charged one red cent to come and minister, as a matter of fact we have always either totally funded the BHG conference or seminar or paid a significant portion, but not so with most evangelists, pastors, and teachers that travel abroad. I have a very special pastor friend in Poland that told me (with tears in his eyes) that the Pentecostal Church in Poland wanted to invite a certain famous TV evangelist (my friend was being gracious, but I believe he was talking about Benny Hinn because of similar stories I have heard and after following him in many countries) for three to four days to come and minister. My good friend and a team of others traveled to another country and waited for three days to be able to talk with this TV evangelist’s handlers. After waiting three days on a string to have a quick meeting they were told this TV evangelist charges $250,000 and the host churches will have to provide all transportation, a communication capability, hotel rooms at a really nice hotel, and all logistics. They returned home shocked and contacted their superiors. Two week later my friend called the TV evangelist and told them all they could get was $75,000 and could with great troubles provide the other requirements. He was told they would be in touch. About one week later my friend was called and told the $75,000 was below the work of God in the TV evangelist’s life so he could not come to Poland. What have we done to the Gospel message to make it about money, influence, and power? Whatever happened to the simplistic Gospel message the bible talks about?

My friend the harvest of souls is not to be something to make money, take power and exercise control with. Through the years most churches have gotten this wrong. The harvest of souls Jesus is looking for is about souls, fellowship, and about us being willing to go (to the other side of the world) in obedience to His word. The harvest of souls is about God being glorified and Jesus God’s precious Son receiving all the honor and glory for His work on the cross. Not so that we can save the heathen (we cannot save anyone), but so that God can save souls (ours included) and can work in our lives (becoming more like His precious Son Jesus Christ) and so that Godly fellowship can be established internationally within the Body of Christ. In Ephesians 2:10 we read, “For we are His workmanship” and as we go in obedience to God’s word He is able to work in our lives. The more we go the more God can kill our self-life, selfishness, and self-seeking. I promise God will run us out of our own strength so He (and He alone) can strengthen us with might in the inward man to go and do what He wants done. Now if this is not your perception of going for God please do not feel bad, the disciples got it wrong also. The longer I go in God the more I like the disciples because the more I see myself in them, especially Peter. In John we read, “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.” (John 4:34-38) I cannot begin to tell you how many sermons I have heard on these verses. Now many evangelists, pastors, and teachers often teach that Jesus was talking about fields of produce that was ripe for the picking, but that is not what Jesus was talking about. Remember the harvest is always about souls and God working in our lives, not things. Now Jesus did make a reference to a field that needs harvesting, but the field Jesus was talking about was not of food, but of the people that were walking from the town to hear Him speaking. To understand the Scriptures we must not take verses and chapters out of context. To understand what a chapter is talking about we must read the entire chapter, story, or parable, being explained. In these verses here we are at the end of the story of the lady at the well. Jesus has already shared the well of living water with her and she was about to leave, “And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkfest thou with her? 28The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.” (John 4:27-29) Jesus was still talking with the disciples as the people came out from the town to see Jesus. As they came they were wearing white head coverings (like a scarf) to protect them from the hot sun and as they came 100s if not 1000s of white heads were coming towards them and Jesus said, “behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” Jesus was saying to the disciples; look here comes the harvest I am concerned about, look at the people coming I am concerned about people and their souls. We too must be concerned about what Jesus is concerned about; people and their souls and not the influence and money they can bring us. This was not the only time Jesus used a harvest to convey a Spiritual truth to the disciples. In Matthew we read, “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”(Matthew 9:37-38) Jesus was a master at using the physical realm to express the Spiritual realm. In both portions of Scripture the focus of Jesus’ attention is on the people as the harvest, not things. Jesus tells the disciples (at the end of John 4) that He will send them to the harvest of people that they did not sow other people did the heavy lifting, but they will reap. Other people have gone ahead of them and did the hard work, others have paid the heavy price, but they will get the opportunity to bring in the harvest of souls. Now the Bible is not written chronologically, but I believe in verse 35 Jesus was fore telling the disciples, in a way they could understand, about His death coming in four months as the beginning point of the great harvest.

Real men of God do not need to tell hip funny stories, beg, twist arms, or manipulate people oh no, real men of God count on the Holy Spirit to move in the hearts and minds of people to accomplish what God wants. Real men of God have a correct perspective to God’s order and function. Money is not tied to the wondrous Gospel message as a means to do things, but it is tied to our giving that gives opportunity to others so that others may come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and God is glorified. Giving is the heart of the Gospel, “for God so loved the world that He gave.” My friend you cannot be the kind of Christian God wants you to become unless He can teach you how to give by the Spirit. If we get off track here (like the disciples did with the harvest) all we do in God is missed greatly. I am amazed at how preachers and pastors beat their people over the head with the 10% tithes. They say things like, “you better give 10% of your money or God will not bless you, camel cookies! The legalistic and religious man wants to give 10%, but if we truly give by the Spirit God may require of us to give 70%, 90%, maybe 100% of our resources. Does God only want 10% of our heart? Please make no mistake my friend God wants 100% of our heart, our lives, and our availability. Now at times God may require none of your money, but He may require all of your time, require a change of attitude, or a change of heart condition to bring us to the place where He needs to bring us so that we can help bring in the harvest. We often think bigger is better in God, well bigger in God is not better that is the way man thinks. God is not so concerned about the big things in our lives, but He is concerned about the little insignificant things, the things we think have no bearing, the little things we think are not so important, but to God they are critical. I have found the bigger something gets in God the harder it is to maintain unity of purpose. While pastoring in Germany the less administration, less committee meetings, less programs, and less church by-laws we had the more God could meet our need, but the bigger things got and the more the people got into the picture the more troubles and difficulties we had doing things for God. Again, more in God is not better. The Spiritual projection is less not more; less of our opinions, less of our words, and less of our self the more God can move in our lives. Oh I hope we can see this.

We must be careful not to run with verses, examples, and stories in the Bible and make everything a “ministry.” Yes Jesus did say go to the prisons (Matthew 25:35-45) and visit friends and people, but He did not say go start a prison ministry. Jesus did say go feed and clothe the poor, but He did not say go start a feeding and clothing ministry. These are things we must do every day of our lives not because it is a ministry, but because Jesus told us to do it. We must be led by the Holy Spirit to do the things we are told to do, if not we will get off track as the disciples did in John 4 and miss out on what God is really doing. That is the real loss we experience when we do something other than what God expects. We and God miss out on that which is right (we miss the mark maybe not sin) and God’s expectation is lost. To me I can see this in a disobedient or approval number line. On God’s number line there is a point of our obedience or God’s expectation in a given situation or area and then there is the point we find our self. The difference is either our disobedience (moving to the left, falling short of God’s expectation point) or approval (moving to the right, meeting or surpassing God’s expectation point) at any rate the point is God expects certain things in our lives and we must meet or surpass them to continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. To help prevent us from falling short we must learn to wait on the Lord (as simple as that may seem) and allow Him to arrange circumstances and situations that will accomplish His purposes and plan for our situation and circumstances, if we get ahead or do something different then what God wants we have complicated things for God and for man. In Isaiah we read, “And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.” (Isaiah 30:18) The image of to “wait” here is a servant standing perfectly still with a towel draped over their arm waiting to serve their master. Here waiting is mutual by God and us. Can you see the disciples waiting on the Lord or running off to reap the harvest? The harvest is ripe and the Lord is looking for laborers, but He is not looking for just any laborer He is looking for the laborer who has learned how to wait and who has learned how to do things His way. Written by David Stahl

GOD'S NAME

2011-03-25T13:33:00.002-04:00

In the Book of Exodus beginning in Chapter 20 we read about God giving the Children of Israel and mankind today His 10 Commandments. Funny how some Christians think they do not still apply today. I have always wondered if God wanted man to follow these 10 Commandments why did He wait until Exodus 20 to let man know what His standards for living were? Why did He not give the 10 Commandments to Adam? I think there is much more here in God’s heart and law (the 10 Commandment) than what we understand and commonly teach in our churches. In verse seven of Exodus 20 we read, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7) Now many Christians believe this verse means we are not to use God’s name while reeling off a host of unsavory words of profanity; well this is so far from the truth in which God is trying to express in this verse. Now good common sense and moral teaching tells us we should never use the same word (God) when cussing that we use to identify our heaven Father. Now if you are doing this please stop, but God is not talking about our language here He is talking about our heart condition before Him and how we misuse the power and authority of His name. Our thinking that God is talking about us not cussing (and we should not) only diverts us from the truth of this verse. The word “vain” here in this verse is Strong’s #7723 and means emptiness, vanity, falsehood, and has nothing to do with our language, but looks at our motives and desires when mentioning God’s name. The vainness is not of the tongue, but of the heart. What do we want to get from God and man when we invoke the name of God? What is our purpose and desire when we bring God into the picture, how do we use His name to meet the end results? Do we manipulate people using God’s name to get what we want? Do we make God bigger in the eyes of people to match a selfish goal in our lives? If so we are making God smaller. Do we use the word of God to get people to give us money or power?

In a church we use to attend there was a fellow (would be evangelist) we will call him Anthony for the sake of this article. Well, Anthony often would ask me if I could set up a huge crusade in Africa or India, something that would draw 100s of thousands of people so he could preach. Anthony was not interested in starting small oh no he wanted something huge for his first time outside the country. Well an opportunity to share in joint services between churches in Romania and then some in Bulgaria (it was the first time this ever happened) came available yet Anthony was reluctant to commit to it because it was not big enough, but in the end he said yes. One of many problems Anthony had was he did not have the money for the plane ticket and other expenses so he starting asking people of means in our church if they could give him some money to make the trip. He told me what he was doing and smiled when he said, “Ye have not because ye ask not.” My heart and spirit sank, his focus and motive was all wrong. He was trying to get the money by all means possible, but it is God who provides our need not our wit and ability to spin words to charm or manipulate people into doing what we want them to do. Money (even for ministry needs) should never be a focus of ministry. The focus of ministry is always about relationship between people. If money is the focus then it is a carnal and earthly pursuit with no Spiritual value to our soul. I tell my many pastor friends overseas Godly ministry comes out of Godly relationships, the need for money must never be what bring us together. Yes money buys things, but God can make things happen far beyond what money can buy. Since 1996 when we headed over to Germany God has always provided all we needed without begging Him or twisting the arms of people. Every time God wanted something to happen the funding came in and the need was met. For me this was great blessing for it served as a constant confirmation to me that God was behind what I felt He wanted us to do. Amazingly the funding came from strangers from most unexpected sources. The first time I went to India God brought Belinda into our lives. I met Belinda at the base health clinic in Stuttgart, Germany where she worked as a physical therapist technician and an E-7 in the U.S. Army. I really got to know her when she laid hands on my back during my physical therapy treatments. One day as she was working she said, “I would like to give you my tithes.” I said, “okay I am planning to go to India soon.” After my treatment she said she wanted to see me next week for another treatment and for the rest of the money, but for now here is a start. She handed me a check for $700. I could not believe my eyes. The next week I showed up as she requested. She said, “you better sit down.” I said, “okay.” You know obedience is always the right answer. I thought she was going to give me a check for $300 rounding it off to $1000. I was wrong she handed me a check for $1300 rounding it off to $2000. I needed every penny for my ticket and to bless the people along the way. Belinda continued to support BHG for years and even when she returned to the States in spite of her great struggle with breast cancer. Our hope for Belinda is that she is with the Lord and in our heart there is a very soft and very special place for Belinda. God will use any circumstance, situation, or person He wants to use to meet our need. We need not try to save our self or make things happen to meet our need, but rest in God knowing He knows what we need and He knows how to make all things work out for His glory and our good.

We do not need to invoke God’s name to receive from God. Again, He knows what we need before we even ask. We must be very careful when asking people for money if not careful our dependency and self-sufficient strength on the money and the person becomes greater than our faith in God to meet our need. Too often our first stop is to our friends of means who has helped in the past. Now God may use this individual, but this is His call not ours. Our job is to be able to discern God’s leading in this situation. Sadly when we do this we miss out on the God of the universe not being able to meet our need in ways far beyond our understanding. My friend either we will operate in the strength, resources, and power of man or of God, it is our choice. Sadly today when God come into the picture it is only after our friends have said no. We in the church have really mastered this asking man and God for things. Now I will be honest lately (like Anthony did for his trip to Eastern Europe) I too have been burdening (asking) the folks on our ministry email distribution list to keep our clinic in Aveile, Nigeria in their thoughts, prayers, and finances each time I would send an email out. This my friend is wrong and I ask your forgiveness. God knows what we need; it is His maternity clinic, this is His idea, and He is duty bound to take good care of it without me twisting arms or manipulating people. In Mathew Jesus touched on this thought in a very familiar portion of Scripture. “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:7-11) Jesus was not telling us here to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking (many preachers and teachers believe it and minister this wrong thinking leading many Christians astray) until we get God to jump through the hoop for us or beat Him over the head with His own words. Oh no my friend we do not get to God’s heart by repetition or nagging. Jesus was telling us to take heed; if we ask for something, something will be given to us now it may not be what God has in mind for us, but it will be something. The same goes for seeking and knocking. If we seek something we will find something, again it may not be what we are seeking for or what God has in mind for us, but we will find something. If we knock on enough doors one will open. Now it may not be the door God wants us to walk through, but it will be the door we have knocked on and it will be the one opened unto us. Jesus ends His words (verse 11) by saying, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” Jesus was saying to let our desires be known to God (no nagging) then rest in knowing God knows all things (even what we want before we ask) even the intents and desires of our heart (the good and bad ones) and He knows how to give us, His children, good things. It is not that God needs to know what we want, He already knows, but it is because we have a great desire within us (and feel better) to tell Him. Within us is a desire to tell God what we want (like a child tells his parents) and when we do we are satisfied and content within our spirit until we do not get what we have asked (like little children) God for. I am so glad God has not given me what I have asked for in the past. God knows all things, He knows the future, and He knows His plan for our lives. Jesus was telling us to stop all of this asking, seeking, knocking, and just rest in our heavenly Father knowing He knows what He wants for our lives.

How sad it is when we hear people invoke the various names of God: Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Shalom, and all of the other names mentioned in the Scriptures in an attempt to be able to tap into some supernatural power as many TV pastors and evangelists will tell you to do. This my friend is nothing more than our greedy, selfish desires groping and hoping to use these words as a magic wands, but my friend God’s power comes by way of our obedience, submission, and surrender not by invoking His names. Remember our usefulness and authority in God will only be as far as our submission and surrender will carry us. There is no magic formula or words we can conger up to get what we want from God we must receive His “good things” by commitment and obedience to Him and His word. And it funny how we think we get to pick and choose one of God’s names and then “claim” (word not found in the KJV of the Bible) the power and it magically manifest in our lives. This my friend is nothing more than wrong thinking out from wrong teaching and is just plain greedy, selfishness, and self-seeking in our lives. We take God’s name in vain every time we mention or invoke it not in accordance with the word of God (the Bible) and His will and plan for our lives. Last week the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) had their beg-a-thon (they have it now three times a year) on as well as other TV Christian networks begging people for money so they can do the work of God. But does not God own all of the wealth in the world? Does He not own the cattle on 1,000 hills and even the hills? Why does God’s servant doing God’s will have to beg people for money? Something is just wrong here. Could it be maybe they are not doing God’s will and could be it they are not God’s servants? Does God need a Spiritual Diseyland so Christians can go on vacation? Is this what the Gospel message has been watered down to? When Beholding His Glory started finances were never a problem; everything that God wanted me to do was funded with more than enough and still is today.

In the mid 60s after returning from a trip to Kenya East Africa Paris Reidhead delivered “Ten Shekels and Shirt” (I strongly recommend you listen to it or read the text) a powerful message from God that debunks and strips the wrong thinking of the secular apostate church (TBN crowd) today. Reidhead said, “The philosophy of the church today is humanism. And you can define humanism this way: Humanism is a philosophical statement that declares the end of all being is the happiness of man. The reason for existence is man’s happiness. Now according to humanism, salvation is simply a matter of getting all the happiness you can, out of life.” Is this not what we see in most churches today? Christians going after happiness instead of God’s will for our lives? And yes Christians going after happiness instead of God’s dealings and judgments in their lives. The church has adopted a humanistic philosophy and approach to God in application and tries to mix in some parlor magic tricks to make it seem spiritual, but “That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit and that which is born of the flesh is flesh.” (John 3:6) Pastor Reidhead boiled it all down concluding; “we all work for God at His good pleasure and that is our reward no more no less because of who He is.” Our reward is God being glorified; it is not about our happiness or us using God’s name to receive supernatural power or resources, but just God allowing us to be used is God’s good pleasure. When I first started traveling overseas in ministry I would say look what God has done; now to a certain degree that is true, but it is not what God has done in the world through me in ministry as much as what God has done in me. God does not need me to do the work for Him, but I need the work of God to be done in me. Paul said, “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) “We” not the good works. “We” not the names of God are the workmanship of God. Let us not get lost in the humanistic approach of the nominal church today; using God’s name in vain for personal gain and power, but just submit and surrender to God’s work in our lives and become more and more His workmanship day after day. Written by David Stahl

GOD'S POWER

2011-03-09T15:22:00.003-05:00

Where is the spontaneous move of God? I can remember growing up sitting in church and suddenly like a mighty rushing wind the power of God would move; everyone would be crying and praying on their face before God (now that is true worship) people would run down to the altar no need for 15 -20 minutes of twisting arms or manipulating. Now the two characteristic marks of early Pentecost that I remember were originally in the moving of the Spirit and spontaneity. These two marks I think are all blurred now. I have been in many Pentecostal meetings, but this substitute that we have now these two marks are not evident. There was an originality of the Spirit, but no one today wants to make room for it. We encourage the Spirit, but tell Him what we want Him to do. This is wrong. When the Holy Spirit wants to work we do not need to instruct or encourage Him we just need to flow with what He wants, but in most services it has come to a method where He has no original design because He is so coached. I remember the Holy Spirit might use one person as a channel to flow through to provide the theme for the meeting it would be the key for that one gathering and the meeting would center around that theme. Now the next night the Spirit may not move on that person (the one the night before) and choose another. The move of God was spontaneous; it was not studied or encouraged. I hope and pray that raising our hands when the recognized harmony of the music is just right or speaking in tongues out of order in a service against what Paul instructed us (1 Corinthians 14:5-6, 18-19, 21-23) is not what the Holy Spirit has been reduced to in our church services. We do need the power of God moving in our church services it is the missing piece the world is looking for. It is what separates the world-wide church from the rest of the world’s meetings. Not the gifts and power of God just to show the power, but the gifts and power of God to show God’s power to a lost and dying world who need a God who can save them from their sins. To answer this critical question I would like to share some reasons (not in order of importance) why I believe the spontaneous power of the Holy Spirit is not present in our church services today:

The first is we have programmed God into doing what we want Him to do in our services and do not allow the Holy Spirit free reign to move in our hearts; we hamstring God out of design. In most churches when we come in we go for the piece of paper that gives us the order of things to come and when we do this week after week we are programming ourselves into what is expected in our service. It is a subtle and an oh so sinister programming the flow of a service in our spirit: three fast ones and a slow one, take up the offering, some announcements, 15-20 minutes of a sermon with a good moral story (not a message of thus says the LORD), and out to beat the other denominations to your favorite cafeteria style restaurant. Every second is spoken for, but what if God just wants us to just sit still and be quiet before Him? What if God does not want us to sing, dance, or wave some flags? What if God just wants us to pray? Lay on our face before Him? Will we give God room? Do we have the Spiritual leaders with a Spiritual ability to recognize the shift of the Spirit to accommodate God’s desires? In most churches I have been in lately I would say no: they plow ahead and do what they have written out in their programs, they sing the songs, they give the announcements, they do what they want to do, as God watches.

The second area is a huge issue in the church world-wide. I cannot begin to tell you of the number of pastors (around the world) I have spoke with that struggle with this one issue. We have denied the truth and ignored the word of God by allowing women to take leadership roles, preach, and teach in our churches. The Holy Spirit is very clear here, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” (1 Timothy 2:11-13) The Holy Spirit did not forget women and has provided for their role in the church and in society, “The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” (Titus 2:3-5) But this is not what you see in most homes and churches today, this is not good enough for some ambitious women like Jezebel and even some ambitious women we personally know who have leave their husbands to tramp all over the world thinking they are doing God’s will or worse ambitious woman who have emasculated their husbands stripping them of their spiritual authority in their home. Sadly the folly of these ambitious and rebellious women to God’s word is destroying the Spirit of God in homes and in our churches. Say what you will and justify what you may, but God’s word is clear women have NO leadership authority from God within the home and our churches. Now some men will give women this authority, but I have seen time and time again the great confusion, falling away, and destruction (in the end) that comes out of it. God has ordained men to be in leadership positions in the church. The Bible does not support women as: elders, deacons, bishops, apostles, evangelist, preachers, pastors, or teachers. No need for a prophet or prophetess the Holy Spirit is now here. Nowhere in the Bible does God give His permission, now women may be qualified (educated, a great speaker, know the Bible), but so was Jezebel, “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” (Revelation 2:20) Women may be qualified, but they are not authorized and this my friend is the difference. For those churches who choose to reject God’s word and order, so be it you will reap what you sow.

The third area I would like to discuss is we have gone after emotions (we want to feel good and be blessed) instead of the leading of the Spirit of God. What happened to those verses in the Scripture that talk about enduring trials and tribulations? Whatever happened to, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12) Do we not want to be godly? Most people in church do not want to suffer, they do not want to overcome anything. Sadly we want to use the power of the Gospel to soften life’s problems. Well my friend this is not God’s idea. If we desire to see the power of God again we must get back to enduring life’s many problems with a song in our heart and the word of God on our lips. Why do we think the Holy Spirit should reward our lazy, slothful behavior? We read of the hall of faith in Hebrews 11, but when was the last time you heard a message (or even a sermon) from verses 33-39? “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:” (Hebrews 11:33-39) After doing all of these mighty things of God by faith, “And these all, having a good report through faith receive NOT the promise.” Why would or should God give us the promise and not them? Who do we think we are? Do we think we are better than the Christians in Hebrews 11:33-39? They saw the power of God because they endured tribulations and even death. How about us?

The fourth area why the power of God is absent in most churches today is because in the early 70s there was a deliberate movement away from evangelism to teaching in most Bible Schools. Not much money, power, or fame in evangelism, but in teaching you can get a big international ministry and travel the world, feed and heal the masses in huge crusades, get your picture in all kinds of Christian magazines (an oxymoron) and on Christian TV. In teaching you can get a huge international church and then hit the conference and seminar circuit that are advertized in those Christian magazines or on Christians TV (another oxymoron). This time in history also was when we started to see great crowds of people gathering in tents, stadiums, and conference centers instead of a church. All Godly ministry must be built on Godly relationships and must be filtered though the church, a local body of Believers. If not then it is man focused and profit driven, sounds familiar does it not? Power and manipulation are the characteristics and not the spontaneous and original move of the Spirit of God. Also in the early 70s Evangelist, pastors, and teachers started watering down the word of God to the people by preaching what the people wanted to hear (making them happy) and not wanting to offend them. Remember if you want people to give you money just tell them what they already know and what they want to hear. They started preaching or teaching a sermon (a story with a moral or religious lesson) and not a message from the LORD (thus says the God). And why, it was easier, a good sermon we can get off the internet, but a message from God now that will require us to spend time before Him and endure His dealings and judgments in our lives to be the vessel His word can flow through.

This last area we will look at I wrestle with even today in my heart because I love my country of which I gave 24 years of loyal, dedicated service in the U.S. military. I read the Bible and it tells of the spiritual condition of the world and of man’s heart condition in the last days (oh how I see this before my eyes and even see this in me at times) and I know God must judge America and the whole world for their waywardness. But I also know why America was created by God; not to spread freedom and democracy around the world but to spread the glorious Gospel message around the world. My friend there is no freedom and liberty (this thinking is the product of the liberal social philosophy of many denominations and religions) in God only restriction and limitations that will bring us to fulfillment and completion. And if the church world-wide and American does not walk in the restrictions and limitation of God’s word both will be erased from God’s plan and from history. In most churches we feed our selfish flesh as it cries out, “look at me I want to sing, I want to dance for the glory of God,” but in reality this all is a lie and a sham we sing and dance, clap our hands because we miss the ways of the world like people at some rock concert and now we have justified and incorporated worldly ways in church to satisfy our fleshly worldly desires. Now please do not get me wrong if you want to sing, dance, whatever in church have at it, but Christian music is just that, music it is entertainment and we must not allow ourselves to be caught up in the emotional feeling thinking we can make an approach to God through music, any talent, or skill. A holy God insist on more than singing, clapping, and dancing to come before Him. The Bible says, “Those with clean hands and pure heart shall see God” that is see God now on earth and in the eternity. Our approach to God must never be with singing songs, playing music, waving flags, painting, drama, etc. God is not looking for these things to get us to Him, He is looking for an approach with our whole heart by the Spirit of God. God cares little about how well we sing, dance, jump, run, or paint, but He is greatly concerned about how faithful, committed, and obedient we are to Him. These are the characteristics God is looking for in His children. Sadly, (and I cannot explain it) we see older ladies (ages 40-60) who should know better, but dress and wear make-up like they are in their 20s, where is their modesty and womanhood. My friend unless the church goes back to a simplistic conservative delivery of the word of God the church will become irrelevant in the world to reach lost souls. I will even go further, if the church does not go back to a conservative, Bible-based, Holy Spirit delivery of the word of God America as a nation is doomed. If the church in America fails so does America. Our churches have become political pitting black against white in class warfare, Democrats against Republicans. America’s strength is not her military and money, but God. God does not care about the White House He cares about a pure and holy temple where He can eternally abide. This is why He desires to conform us into the image and character of His dear precious Son Jesus Christ. Yet we have allowed the church to be divided out over political matters and have ignored the weighty matters, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matthew 23:23) the things God holds near and dear to His heart. Unless America and the church world-wide goes back to a simplistic, conservative method of sharing the Gospel message and turn their backs on the social liberal method that has gotten then both off track their best days are behind them. Jeremiah was interceding for the nation of Israel and here is what God told Jeremiah to tell Israel to do, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. 17Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.” (Jeremiah 6:16-17) God has been telling the church world-wide and America for many years in many ways these words and has sent many watchmen of which I am one. I have qualified and been approved by God for this position. Let us not deceive ourselves anymore. What we call the Spirit of God moving today is nothing more than our flesh seeking after God. Let us expect more from the Holy Spirit by being willing to do the things of God to see the Spirit move again like in the old days. The way back to the heart of the Father is back on the “old paths.” We must get back to the basic, simplistic, one-on-one delivery of the Gospel then and only then will we see the spontaneous and the originality of the power of God again in our service and in our lives. Written by David Stahl

ANOTHER JESUS

2011-02-24T12:46:00.002-05:00

In today’s world our lives often centers around the many choices we have. I remember when we came back from Germany; Karen, the kids, and I went up to New Jersey to visit Karen’s wonderful dad, mom, brothers, and her sister. Well, one day we went to the Path Mart with Mom Kreiss and I was asked to go select a salad dressing, pretty simple right? Well not so simple if you have been use to a selection of three or four choices. I turned the corner on the salad dressing aisle and saw a sea of choices. I could not believe the number of different salad dressings I could choose from. It almost became overwhelming, but I struggled through it and selected ranch. I never forgot the view of cascading colors and labels in the 100 foot long, six feet high aisle. Sadly the Christian world often is like the salad dressing aisle we have so many different types of churches and denominations to choose from. If we do not like this church we can just simply go to another, who cares what the Holy Spirit wants. In Kenya they have a term called “churching” to explain the constant shuffling from church to church while warming their hands at others fires. But even sadder with each different church or denomination also comes another Jesus. Just by common sense one would have to know they all cannot be preaching and teaching the same message; there must be a different slant, a different understanding, a different doctrine and with each difference comes another Jesus. I really believe the denominational infighting, confusion, and deception has done more damage to the Body of Christ than Satan. Satan has been defeated, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:15), but the willful spreading of outright lies and half-truths (which are also lies) for the sake of money, power, control, and authority by the denominations or non-denominations (large fellowship groups with churches around the world) to further their agenda and doctrine (because everyone else is wrong) on the earth are sharing another Jesus.

Paul had to deal with this destructive, deception at the Church at Corinth. Paul shares, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4) The Gospel messages as is our walk with the Lord is simplistic and if we make it anything more than what the Bible says it is we are getting over into presumption (very dangerous) and deception. The message, the Gospel message is: the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the message of the cross, “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.18For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:17-18), but this message is not popular with the nominal church collectively and most denominations and non-denominations today, oh no, it is all about them and their special twist or slant to the word of God or some special revelation God has given just them. To them all I say shame on them and ichabod – the glory has departed.

There must be a coming together in the essentials of God. In Ephesians Paul sets the standard for Christian commonality and brotherhood being “one.” “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:2-5) How do we miss this? Could it be we have failed to meet the requirement of “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” by wanting our way and not God’s way and our revelation and not God’s revelation? Or maybe we have failed to keep the absolutes absolute and the optionals optional. The absolutes is the Gospel message, the message of the cross (death to our selfishness and self-life), holiness (without having no man shall see God), faithfulness, commitment, perseverance, obedience to God these are the absolutes. The optionals are all of our feeble religious practices we do to try to reach a holy God, things we have done in the past that worked somewhat so we keep doing them in hope God can be found. Or things that have been handed down to us in ritual worship and if not done God will not honor our worship. For example in most Pentecostal churches in Africa the ladies and men sit separated; ladies on one side of the church men on the other. Now is that wrong? No, but if it is done thinking it will get you to God, yes. In most Pentecostal churches in Eastern Europe and many Apostolic churches in the States ladies must wear a doily or some head covering. They get this from the Bible and adhere to it as the Gospel. Is this wrong? No it is an optional, but it becomes wrong when another lady comes into the church who is uncovered and is shunned. I remember when I first went to Moldova I was given the ground rules: to minister within the city you must wear a coat and tie, but if you are outside the city you need only a coat. Except for those churches where you cannot wear a tie because the point of the tie points down to hell. The problem is we have made the optionals absolutes and the absolutes optionals. We have made the major things of God minor and the minor things of God major and in doing so we bring another Jesus to the church and to the world. They have distorted the word of God and now they have a new Jesus to save them from their sins, but Paul in 1 Corinthians tells us if we do this we will have to “well bear with him.” In other words we will have to put up with or deal with this deception on our own and never receive the intent of God’s wholesomeness, wellness, and grace.

We see this deception and confession with the beloved John the Baptist and John’s disciples. In the Gospel of John we read, “After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. 23And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. 24For John was not yet cast into prison.” (John 3:22-24) To whom was John baptizing? Jesus was already on the scene and had already started His ministry. Why did not John the Baptist join Jesus? After all he recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Messiah, the Holy and anointed One. Do you know even to today there are disciples of John in Israel still baptizing? In spite of John’s deep and insightful revelation of who Jesus is (as seen in verses 27-36) John was sharing another Jesus. Not the one before the people’s eyes, but one that he made up from a prior revelation of God. We see this deception and confusion again in Matthew when John was in prison, “Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2) Did you know there often was a great conflict between Jesus and His disciples and John the Baptist and his disciples and the people. The people were often confused to who they should follow. For example, “Then there arose a question between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purifying. 26And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.” (John 3:25-26) This is why Jesus had to put John in a place (prison) where there was not a lot of water to baptize people. So too if we bring another Jesus to people in the world God will put us in a place where we cannot do any more damage to the Body of Christ. Make no mistake my friend God will not allow us to keep messing things up; He has paid a great price for the redemption of the Body of Christ (His only begotten Son) and He will not lay this sacrifice aside for any of man’s foolishness and religious practices, no matter how well intended. God will be longsuffering (and hopes for a change in our thoughts and behavior), but like Jesus was with John the Baptist there will come a time when His patience conflicts with His plan and His correction is made. Take heed my friend. One of Paul’s main themes in all of his writings is, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthian 1:12) These words will ring true and sure in our heart and lives today if we bring another Jesus before the people, a Jesus that is not found in the Bible, another Jesus, a Jesus that has been invented by our ambitions, our plans, and our misapplication of the word of God, a Jesus that has no power and no ability to save us from our sins. This is the Jesus I see today in most churches. And sadly this is the Jesus the world sees. No wonder the world is confused and hoping for help, but can only be helped by the real Jesus as presented by the word of God and by those people who really love Him.

Many today are waiting for Jesus to come back to earth, now I believe He will not because of what I see in the news on TV or what the guessers on Christian TV says, but because the Bible says so. If the Bible says it then it will happen, but most people in the world expect Jesus (when He comes back) to be the weak defenseless babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying a manger, but He will not. When Jesus comes back He will be THE (one and only) conquering King of Kings and Lord of Lords in all power and glory with a sword of righteousness to judge the nations and all souls. John gives us a fore clue, “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:14) Karen always says, Jesus is coming back to kick our butts. Jesus will not be the savior of the world in all of His meek and lowly manner oh no, Jesus will, “smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” How can the people of the world see this Jesus as a conquering King, “to rule with a iron rod” when every year around the 25th of December Jesus get’s to be born and then over what we call Easter (translated as “passover” in the Bible) we get to kill Him. But that is not who Jesus is today, oh no my friend Jesus is (for those who honor, serve, and love Him) Lord, ruler, and master of our lives. He desires to sit on the throne of our hearts to rule and reign over our lives, but who wants to have a ruler over them when they can be the captain of their own ship, do what they want to do. Well, in God you cannot do and say what you want to say and do. If we desire to walk in the ways of God so that He can share His heart with us, we must do and say only those things the Father wants us to do and say. We must restrict our lives to only those things that are found in the Bible. This doctrine of liberty and freedom in God is from the pits of hell; there is no freedom and liberty in God, only the limitations and restrictions of God’s word and in them is fulfillment and completion. Liberty and freedom lead us out of God’s way to our way. Isaiah said, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) What way was that? The way we wanted to go and not the way God wanted us to go. We must preach and teach only those things in the Bible not those things we think are needed to be shared. When I pastored I was so tempted at times to preach against sin I personally knew that was moving in lives in our church, but I also knew the Holy Spirit knew far greater than I how to reach minds and hearts. When we preach and teach the word of God the power of the Holy Spirit is released to do the work of God in our lives. But when we teach and preach the latest self-help, 12 step, Christian fad from the latest Christian best-seller we release the spirit of the world. Just look at the deception of the world from preachers and teachers like: T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Paula White, Joyce Meyers, others, and from the self-proclaimed so called spiritual people like Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Phil has done in the lives of many Christians. It seems every other month these charlatans have a new book out for a donation to their ministry or to be sold for great profit in Christian books stores. Now I am a writer, I have written three books, and I know how long it takes to write a book and my friend it takes much longer than 30 or so days. For the truth to be known most if not all of the “big time” TV celebrity preachers and teachers get books from ghost writers and they put their names on the work, shameful on both parties. When we preach or teach anything (other than from the word of God) we are preaching and teaching another Jesus. We must get back to the word of God and nothing else! Back in 1996 Charles Haun (my teacher) gave me some of the greatest advice and guidance I have ever heard when we last talked on earth, “just give them Jesus” he said. Written by David Stahl

GRACE AND TRUTH

2011-02-15T14:24:00.002-05:00

Jesus is full of grace and truth. The Gospel of John and 1 John begins very similar in words and thoughts, Jesus becoming flesh and dwelling among us. I like the 1 John version, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:14-17)

As I study the Scriptures one thing that has always fascinated me is those verses that have a run (two or more words) we must meet to be able to walk in the truth the Holy Spirit is expressing. For example in Matthew 6:33, “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” It is one thing to seek the kingdom of God (in man’s perspective in God’s kingdom we can get a job and make money, even manipulate and control people), but it is a different thing all together to seek His righteousness. Not much glory, power, and authority in this, but death to our self-seeking, selfish, fleshly desires which is the requirement to having God’s righteousness. Or “the LORD killeth and maketh alive” in 1 Samuel 2:6. Or in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now abideth faith, hope, charity.” Two things I have learned while studying the Bible; words matter and the order of these words matter more. Usually the last word in the run has been particularly ordered by the Holy Spirit highlighting the greater importance. So too here in our text, the Scriptures says, Jesus was “full of grace and truth.” Jesus was “full” there was no room for anything else in Jesus only grace and truth. There is a spiritual principle moving here; to be full of something we must empty ourselves of other things to make room. So too in our lives we are to be full of grace and truth, but to be able to be full of grace and truth we first empty ourselves of all of our worldly desires, hopes, and ambitions. Oh yes, believe it or not my friend we are to be like Jesus here, we too are to be full of (both) grace and truth. Now this is God’s intention for our lives (us being full of grace and truth), but if it never comes to pass in our lives it is not because God has made it so oh no, it will happen because we have chosen to move in obedience to God’s intention for our lives. God has given us the power to decide in these eternal matters of the heart. God really has no say (it is His intention He wants to see it happen), but whether it happens or not is up to us. Now if we are only full of grace we will not be able to judge righteous judgment and if we are only full of truth we will not be able to express love to others as Jesus did. The end results in all we do for God and man must be love out of a genuine concern for their spiritual and physical well-being.

We have received grace in our lives because Jesus first gave grace and now we can give grace to others. God saves us from our sins so that we can save others; not from their sins only God can do this, but we can save our friends from doctrines that do not line up with the Bible, wrong choices and decisions they have made, and etc. If we see a friend (or anyone for that matter) in a burning building would we not do all we could to save him from the fire? Yes of course, well how about eternal things? How much more should we be concerned for our friends and acquaintances to tell them the truth? But the main point here is unless we receive grace from God we will never be able to give grace to man. A man cannot give what he does not have. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace are we saved through faith,” now this is the process – salvation through faith, but how about the other word Jesus was full of – truth? We must never sacrifice grace for truth and we must never sacrifice truth for grace. Jesus was full (and we are to be also) at all times of both. When sharing the hard truths of God’s word it was done in grace. Karen always tells me I can tell people almost anything, but whether it is received or not often depends on how I am saying it. We must never sugar coat the truth, but at the same time we are not to cram that last bit of truth down someone’s throat. I hear many Christians say they have a great desire to know God, but they run from conference to conference, church to church, from the latest Christian movement to the next, from one mighty and anointed song to the next when all they have to do is, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) Believe it or not we do not have to do all that running around to know God all we have to do is take a good long look at Jesus, because He is like the Father, “full of grace and truth.” Unless we can walk in the truth of God’s word we will never be able to give truth. Remember a man cannot give what he does not have. The best we will be able to do is judge situations and circumstances out of our experiences and our sin sick present heart condition. The basis for our judgment will not be grace and truth, but presumption and religion that sounds good, smells good, feels good, but in the end if not grace and truth and will lead to destruction and death. Still with that being said we still must judge as Jesus judged, He is counting on us to give righteous judgment in the earth. If not His children who then will be able to give righteous judgment? In Matthew Jesus said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:1-5) Jesus was not telling them not to judge situation and circumstances in their lives and others; the Scriptures are full of verses that encourage us to judge, but He was telling these “hypocrites” not to judge until they can clearly see from God’s perspective and out from a Godly heart condition. There is a lot of trash goes on in the church today because many Christians fail to hold people accountable to the Godly standards of the Bible all because they do not want to judge. Well my friend this is just flat wrong we must stand up from integrity, honor, and truth. We must call a snake a snake when we see it. To do otherwise just speaks of our lack of integrity (what God is looking for in His children more than anything), not having a Godly character, and no concern for the truth of the word of God. We seem to be quick today to share the feelings of our brothers and sisters that have stumbled out of the way and gotten off track not wanting to offend, but what does it profit someone to think well of you as they are going further and further away from God. Yes, my Baptist friends we can lose our salvation if we willfully choose to turn our back on God. If we turn our heads and look the other way to things that are not consistent with the word of God (sin) we are not extending grace, oh no, we are committing sin. If I am getting off track I would hope I have friends who care enough about me and my soul to come to me (in humility and grace) and share their concerns, then leave their words and softy heart at my feet so that I can inspect my life (before God) through their observations. But that is not what usually happens. Usually we beat our brothers and sisters over the head with our words and leave them bruised and bleeding because of our callous heart. Now I have experienced both ways and the second format does not work. We must be full of truth at all times and extend grace after the judgment is rendered. Remember one cannot extend grace until after the judgment. It is after judgment (be in our lives or others) has been rendered that grace or punishment is executed. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; we all are deserving of hell’s fire and an eternal death the judgment has already been made, God has spoken, but for Jesus through His shed blood on the cross of Calvary grace has been extended to a sinner such as I. Grace for grace now I can give grace.

In church we are told to give God praise from the bottom of our heart, but how can we do that if our heart has never been changed by the power of God? And for our heart to be changed we first must come to a place of self-judgment about our heart condition by the Holy Spirit. And then allow God to begin to work on our heart through His dealings and judgments. Singing songs will not do it, working for God all the days of our lives will not do it, attending church all the days of our lives will not do it, but coming to a honest place of self-reflection of our ungodly heart condition before God and then in obedience submitting our will (as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane) to Him so He can work on us as a lump of clay on the wedging board of life. We must come to an understanding of what sin has wrought in our lives and it must devastate us for us to really have a true conversion. Sadly many people have walked the aisle (some repetitively) repeat “the sinner’s prayer” (which is found nowhere in the Bible) and go off about their way thinking the work of God was done in their heart, well my friend they are no more saved than Grimme our boxer dog. Believing or thinking so does not make it so. I can sit in a garage all day and believe or think I am a car, but that will never make me a car. There must be more to our conversion. There must be conviction from the Holy Spirit, there must be “Godly sorrow,” there must be great sadness and yes even tears, we must feel bad, even be devastated for our past actions to be birthed from above. If not there has not been much of a work done in our heart, thus there will not be much work done in our lives. Paul helps us again here, “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10) Did you get the thought “not to be repented of?” What Paul is saying here unless there is “Godly sorrow” in our repentance we are doomed to repeat the wrong process over and over (as many do daily), but God has made a way to do it right the first time. Jesus died once for our sin and He expects; it is His intention for us to repent (about face, go the opposite way sin is going, stop sinning) once and then “grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ.”

You know we cannot measure the depth of sin nor can we measure the heights of salvation, but we can measure the change in our lives as we allow God to work in our lives; conforming us and transforming us more and more into the image and character of His precious Son Jesus Christ. We must be able to see God (and God alone) as the one who brings us from defeat into great victory. But unless we come to see the frank sin and short comings in our lives we will never be able to see Jesus “full of grace and truth.” We will never be able to give grace for grace to those lost and going to hell, and the greatest loss we will experience will be never (no never) becoming like Jesus the expressed image of the Father who too is full of grace and truth. Written by David Stahl

NOT OF THIS WORLD

2011-02-07T12:21:00.002-05:00

The Scriptures are full of warnings. Warnings to us to take heed to our character what God is most concerned about. Warnings to us to take heed how we do things. Jesus told the disciples be careful how you hear, do we hear things with the right heart condition? All throughout the New Testament the Scriptures time and time again warns us not to be conformed to this world, but sadly most Christians today have not heeded this most critical warning. Brethren this is a very serious matter in our lives, but it seems we just ignore the Scriptures so that we can satisfy and fulfill our fleshly desires. Peter tells us, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 11Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;” (1 Peter 2:9-11) James lets us know what being undefiled looks like, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27) John really drives the point home when he said, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15-16) Paul again hits the heart of the matter, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2) And Jesus (our example) also told us to take heed to ourselves in this area, maybe His words is the reason we fail to heed. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John 15:18-19) With all of these verses (and many more) why do we (now I used a pronoun here so I could include myself) still have an appetite for the garbage of this world? The Bible tells us we are to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5), well how can we have the mind of Christ if we keep filling our mind up with the cares and news of the day? The Bible instructs us to be separated from the world, it says we are a royal priesthood unto the LORD, we are a called out of the world Body of Believers, and a chosen generation unto God, but from what we see and hear (as Karen and I travel) no difference in the lives of most Christians we meet than those in the world that defy the draw of the Holy Spirit and shake their fist in defiance at God’s word. My friend our earthly hungers and thirst for the things of the world drives us out of God. Oh LORD please forgive us and strengthen us in the inward man so that we will be able to overcome in such areas.

Now one should expect those in the world not to know the truth of the word of God, but my friend this article is not written to those in the world as much as it is written to those in the church. The big saying now is the LORD looks on the heart so it does not matter what we do, what we wear or what we look like, well my friend this is just a bold face lie to satisfy our flesh. God is very concerned how we act, what we say, and what we look like make no mistake. Yes it is true God does look at the heart, but He also knows if there has truly been a change of heart then there will be a change in the way we talk, look, and act. Now we cannot change our self; as we cannot save our self, but God can save and change us as we allow Him to work in our lives, through His dealings and judgments in our lives. There is an old saying that says: if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and sounds like a duck it probably is not a chicken. So too in God, if it looks like the world and walks like the world and sounds like the world it probably is not a Christian.

As we travel around the States we cannot believe all of the Youth Pastors with body piercing (ears and face) and tattoos. Whatever happened to our body is not ours it is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Today Youth Pastors mark their bodies with sticks of metal and paint because they think they will appear “cool” to the youth in the church; wrongly thinking somehow the kids will be able to relate to them better, well this is just plain foolishness. This is nothing more than direct disobedience and rebellion to God’s word while satisfying their flesh. Shame on those Youth Pastors who do this, repent and stop leading the youth of your church out of God’s way and to hell. If you want to go to Hell so be it, but please do not deceive a young person into going. Another area is fashion. We cannot believe the lack of modesty in most churches. Please ladies cover your body. Men you do not need to wear tight pants to show off your manhood, it is a shame before God. We are not to sport the latest fashions in and out of church. We are to be well dressed and modest in taste and style. We are not to dress like the world, remember if the world is going after something God is not. Another area is technology. We cannot believe how Christians go after technology (especially during preaching) having to have the latest electronic distraction the world is selling. Old, but workable in God is okay. I have said this for years and will say it again the more we go after technology the less of God will be in us. Technology drives our spirit. It separates us from the day-to- day contact with people who need to know about a Savior who can save them from their sins. It is flashy, God is not. It often does not work, God does. I do not even like microphones, why because often they can be more transforming than the Holy Spirit. Funny how when you get one in your hand suddenly you think you are someone you are not. Another area is politics. I cannot believe how the Body of Christ is so fractured and divided out along political lines. Heaven will not be separated by Democratic, Independents, or Republicans. God has placed His Body in the moral high ground and when we get involved with the political wrangling of the day we willfully pull ourselves out of the Spiritual place God has placed us. Heaven will not be separated out by color, yet we find Sunday between 9 and 12 is the most segregated time in America. Sadly, most black churches support the radicalized social justice movement of collective salvation instead of individual salvation as the Bible teaches while most white churches are trying to make as much money as they can so they can build bigger buildings, but Jesus said, “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” (Matthew 18:10) not to fight for social justice or to make money. The more the church of today (world-wide) goes after money and human rights the less they will be concerned about the lost. I must also mention you cannot be a Democrat and be a Christian knowing the position the Democratic Party takes on abortion, lesbians, sodomy, and gay marriage. I owe no allegiance to any political party I am a Christian, but one thing for sure if you vote and you call yourself a Christian you must vote the Bible if not you are a liar and the truth is not in you. Today I see the church dithering as they play politics, titillating with the excitement of control and power as souls are being lost for all eternity.

Not being of this world means we are not to have a favorite TV program. Most Christians can tell you what is going on with American Idol or their favorite TV program, but cannot tell you what their pastor preached on last Sunday. We are not to have a favorite sports team. Most Christians are so plugged into sports: basketball, football, baseball, you name it. Why, the local Baptist Churches in town on the night of the Super Bowl close down services at their churches, but meet at the Baptist Association and host a Super Bowl party under the guise of evangelism. The church does a lot of deception with the world’s business under the banner of evangelism. Who are they trying to kid? Please do not sit there and try to convince me that the LORD will get some time during the game or at half time. They should be ashamed of themselves for selling out to the world. At least come clean and admits it, be honest with yourselves and the community we will have no services tonight at our churches because we love the Super Bowl and our denomination more than we do Jesus. Often we are so plugged into the world we could care less. Now I know I am taking on some of the unspoken taboos of the church and even going after some religious sacred cows, but these things need to be said. We are not to have a favorite song and that can include Christian songs. Where in the Gospels did Jesus and the disciples sing? Paul talks about making melody in our hearts not in church where our flesh can get puffed up. Why do we spend so much time singing (with amplified instruments, lights, smoke, flags, and more) and money on instruments? In some churches one would think they were at a worldly rock concert. Music, in most cases, is a great distraction to the flow of the Spirit of God. Most churches have adopted worldly formats that serve to enhance the attendance gimmicks (like Super Bowl parties), emotional manipulation, indoctrination, and in some cases out right propaganda. Now I do believe the hymns are okay and acceptable to God because they were birthed out of a genuine love and need for God, birthed out of great loss, despair, and a desire for Him, but look what we have today (where are the song books) in most churches a selfish, self-seeking selection of songs telling God to come and bless us. The focus is not about us going to God, but about God coming to us and giving us what we want. The focus is not on the blood of Jesus or the message of the Cross, but on the gifts and blessings of God. We even have contemporary music that supports the Christian Dove Awards? How much more worldly can you get? Are you kidding me an awards show like the world has that exalts the flesh and glorifies man and his achievements? Oh no my friend most churches have sold out to the worldly Hollywood style singers and movie makers while covering their deception with a religious veneer to sell an ungodly lie to the people. Be not deceived God is not mocked a day is coming where the truth will be known. Why during the altar call do the musicians get up secretly while everyone else is to have their eyes closed and head bowed? They sneak to their instruments to set the mood for manipulation and brow beating by the pastor which makes up for the lack of Holy Spirit convicting power in their message, this my friend ought not to be. Make no mistake my friend when the Holy Spirit is really dealing with someone’s heart they will not need the pastor to make them feel bad, oh no they will run with lightening speed to the open arms of Jesus. And why always the altar? Can not the Holy Spirit reach someone in their seat or in their bed at night? Why is there always a requirement to have people come to the altar? Oh I see it must be a public confession of accepting the LORD, well I am not so sure about that my friend God is every where is He not? I believe verses like, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33) have been hi-jacked and twisted to manipulate people to make an open and public show of an inward work of the heart. Here Jesus is not talking about “walking the aisle,” but living their lives for God before men on a daily basis. If you have to convince someone they need the LORD they do not really want Him. I will even go further; this public display of “walking the aisle” sometimes is more about the pastor’s ego (I know I have done altar calls) being mighty and anointed, but not so my friend we cannot save our self, it is the Holy Spirit who draws, and it is God who saves no matter where we are. Please do not be deceived into making a public display to please man. God is after the inward work of the heart not a public display of religion. I have found those who “walk the aisle” out of guilt are doing it because they have been manipulated by words and do not really feel in their heart a genuine need and sense of repentance. Without this holy work of God in their lives they will play the part of a Christian, do and say all of the right things, but the Godly sorrow that leads to real repentance and the inward cleansing of the soul will be far from the truth in their lives. Why do pastors use the “cool” terminology, hip phrases, and hand gestures of today or why do they dress in special clothing with monograms or their ministry name on their shirts. Now please do not get me started on diamond rings, gold necklaces, and $500 suits. If we do and wear these things we are trying to win people to a worldly Christ. Christ was not “cool,” He was lowly in Spirit. Isaiah tells us, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:2-3) Did you get that, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:” He was a man of sorrows not the life of the party. Pastors who use “hip” language think it will endear them to the people, but God does not care if you are fond of your pastor or if he is fond of you, but God is concerned if you are obedient to His words. Our best in God is on the other side of our obedience to Him. This is the loss in disobedience; missing out on God’s best for our lives and settling for something else. I have a good friend and great Bible teacher who is offended at me, sadly God told me greater revelation for him is waiting on the other side of his ability to restore fellowship with me. God is not into division among the brethren and always desires reconciliation. It seems we Christians are so concerned about the economy, our pay checks, and retirement plans. Whatever happened to God being able to take care of us? Can God take care of the birds? Yes! How about us?

Do not kid yourself we will never be able to overcome the lustful desires of our flesh and Satan if we first do not overcome our desire for the world. And my friend I am speaking from first-hand knowledge. Remember our testimony is not what we say about our self, but what other people see and what they hear come out our mouth. In revelation John shares these words, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11) “The words of their testimony” was not what they said in some testimony service, but what the other folks in town was saying about them. They “overcame,” their lives were an open testimony before the world. Their lives testified before the world of the power of God and His ability to keep them. Make no mistake my friend those in the world and God know who are in Christ Jesus and who is in the world.

PEACE OR A SWORD

2011-01-26T18:05:00.002-05:00

If we look around the world today (much more than in the past) we find no peace, no civility, and no fulfillment. Now many Christians would say that is because of that mean old devil Satan (we will talk about him later), but this thinking (and the doctrines that are supported by this thinking) is so far from the truth. They say this because they do not know the truth of the word of God and need someone to blame for their greed, arrogance, and disobedience. What blame themselves for not doing what God wants them to do? Heaven forbid. What place the blame right where it belongs; on a sin sick heart that is in rebellion to God? But, this is nothing new blame shifting started in the Garden of Eden when Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent, but God wanted nothing to do with this and punished all of three guilty parties. So too God will punish us for blame shifting we must pin the rose on the guilty party and that party is us. Now do not think some of this chaos and confusion is by some accident, oh no my friend believe it or not most of this lunacy, confusion, and loss of peace in the world we see play our right before our eyes is from the hand of God. Jesus told the disciples, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39) But you would say I thought Jesus is the Prince of peace and the King of all kings, well He is, but He Himself said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Jesus has come with a sword in His hand to cut those who love Him out of the world. He sticks His sword into our hearts to cut out all of the worldly affection and desires from our lives. Jesus will do whatsoever we allow Him to do in our lives to separate us from the world. This separation theme from the world runs all though out the New Testament. Paul in 2 Corinthians tell the church at Corinth, “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:16-18) Did you catch that? We are to separate ourselves from the world even some people in the world, now it says “them” which is a pronoun for people. In the first Epistle of John we read, “I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. 15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:14-16) John tells us, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” How can we love God with our whole heart and love the world? Yet we Christians of today dig our heels into the earth desiring bigger houses, better cars, a bigger portfolio, a better retirement plan, a life of ease for what? In the world we will have no peace of mind God will see to that, yet the world offers us distractions (sports, cooking, TV, hobbies, traveling, reading, legal and illegal drugs, alcoholic drinks, and the list goes on and on) to give us some type of peace and fulfillment that keep our minds off of what God is trying to do in our lives. These distractions have even joined the churches of today. We focus on the cares of the day instead of the cares of eternity. We get so caught up in our favorite sports team, our favorite TV program, our favorite movie star, our favorite food, and the list is endless, but God desires we focus on Him and the things He wants to see come alive in our lives. When was the last time you just sat motionless and still for some time and meditated on the Lord? Or said no to a passion or desire you know in God is not healthy for you? Sadly God’s best for our lives will never be birthed in us unless we make a conscious decision in our heart and especially our mind not to get involved with things of the world.

Now there is an order, like all things God has ordained in our lives, we must follow to be able to be used by God; if not we disqualify ourselves for service through our disobedience. The order is this: we must first overcome the world, then our flesh (in that order) before we can overcome Satan. Do you know we give too much power to demons and Satan? Are they all not defeated? Yes, Paul tell us in Colossians through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, “And having spoiled principalities and powers (that includes demons and Satan), he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:15) If we are true Christians Satan and his minions have no power in our lives unless we give rise to it. Satan was defeated on the cross when Jesus died and for us to have the victory over him we must see him defeated, yet many Christian churches pray (in the open air) telling him what they are going to do to him in Jesus’ name. How foolish they are giving him power; who cares what Satan is doing or what we are going to do to him? My mother never wanted to speak his name, he is defeated and she knew it. My friend we must be more concerned with what God is doing instead of what Satan is doing. God alone holds our lives in His hands, God alone holds our future, our very breath, not Satan. If we never come to the place in God where we can overcome the world then we will never get victory over our flesh. Many Christians battle (do good, pray, and fast) sins of the flesh and wonder why they have no victory, well it is because they have never overcame the world and their worldly desires, thirst, and hungers have never been quieted in their spirit and still draws them into fleshly projections. Their love for the world gives rise and power to our flesh. For the flesh to be conquered first we must still the desires, hungers, and thirst in our soul for the world. It is the old crawl, walk, run scenario. We must see the world for what it is and allow God to break its attractions in our lives. Now I do not know about you my friend, but this is a consistent struggle in my life. The older I get the more I see and feel my life I am losing. The older I get the more I love my wife and family, but Jesus said, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37) The older I get the more I desire a greater life of ease, but Jesus said, “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39) What we have to lose our life? Yes, so that we may find it. Please notice losing comes first then we find. We will never be able to conquer our flesh unless we allow God to cut us out of the world, our flesh will rule and reign over us as lord and king and most certainly we will never be able to conquer anything in the demonic in the spiritual realm if we cannot conquer our flesh. How can we? Our flesh will be tempted and we will succumb to our carnal desires. We see this spiritual principle play out in the 17th Chapter Matthew. The disciples prayed for a young lad to be healed (like in the past), but this time nothing happened. So the father brought his son to Jesus to be healed, “And Jesus rebuked the devil (a demonic spirit not a sickness); and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”(Matthew 17:18-21) Now many Christians think Jesus was telling the disciples they did not pray hard enough or fast long enough, but that was not what Jesus was telling the disciples. What Jesus was saying was they could not cast the demon out because they themselves had a love for the world that was still alive within them. The focus of the disciples always seemed to circle around earthly things; they rarely caught a glimpse of the eternal things that Jesus daily walked in. They were earthly while Jesus was heavenly. They even asked Jesus to teach them to pray. I wonder why? So they too could do the things Jesus did. They wanted the power, but not the requirements to receive the power. By telling them “this goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” Jesus was telling them you have to be more heavenly minded. Prayer is a direct address to the Father, a direct communion and communication with Him that will enable them to move and operate with God in the spiritual realm where demons (I do believe in them because I have cast some out and the Bible testifies of them) and such exist. And fasting; did you know fasting is good for the soul? Fasting is sacrificing one hunger for another. Fasting quiets our spirit and shuts our mouth where we can hear from God. Fasting kills our flesh. The longer we can fast the greater death we will experience in our flesh, but remember first we must get the victory over the world before we try fasting, if not it will be a waste of time.

The title of this article is really a question we all must answer. Do we want peace as the world gives or do we want the sword of the Lord stuck into our heart and lives? If we choose peace as the world gives we may have civility and happiness for a season, but contentment and fulfillment is far out of the question. Peace as the world gives is not the peace that “passes all understanding” as the Bible says, but a peace that keeps our thoughts and heart numb to the reality of the internal lack within us that cries out for more of God in our lives and what will satisfy our inward desires. The only way we can experience this peace, that passes all understanding, is if we allow God to work, through His dealings and judgments, in our lives. If we choose the sword (as Jesus did) our lives will be painful, frustrating, and confusing at times and we will experience loss in our lives, but that is okay my friend God measures our gain in Him by what we lose not by what we gain. Remember, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:39) The world says have more to be more, well not so with God. God says, have less to be more. When we have less of the world we will be able to have more of God. Having more of both is impossible though many Christians try with all of their might. It is amazing how man is put in a vise between his desires and passion to save his life and God working in our life. I do not totally understand this. On one hand man is driven by his own lust and the other hand God doing whatsoever we allow Him to do in our lives to bring us to salvation and glory. But it is not God that decides the outcome, but man. The battle for our heart, mind, and lives is one of our will. Jesus prayed, “not my will, but thy be done.” Here Jesus had a will (not sure what it was) that was contrary to the Father, but He submitted to the Father’s will, what we all must do as we submit to the sword of the Lord. Written by avid Stahl