"Entry into the presence of God is by the blood of Jesus Christ alone." When we try to use worship as the means of coming into or being in the presence of God, we have perverted the very nature of worship. Worship is ministry to the Lord, it is giving a gift without strings attached. We don't enter into His Gates by thanksgiving and praise, we enter with these things. We enter by the blood of Jesus Christ and nothing else."
"What we need is faith in what the blood has provided, and be active in that faith (as opposed to passively carried with the flow of music), that by absolutely no merit or service do we earn or come into God's presence... We draw near with hearts in full assurance of faith because of what Jesus' blood has done. It is appropriate that we draw near with worship, but worship does not purchase His Presence... we cannot buy a drop of God's goodness or mercy."
(JoshuaGH, www.revivalschool.com forum)
AND TO THAT I SAY 'AMEN'
Friday, September 12, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
"The Shack"
William P. Young, the author of the controversial best-seller The Shack, defended his novel against critics and told of its redemptive impact it had on his own life.
Calling himself “an accidental author,” William P. Young told a crowd of roughly 300 people Wednesday morning that the controversy surrounding his New York Times best-selling novel, which has sold more than 1 million copies since its debut last year, was “good.”
Critics have accused The Shack—about a man who encounters God at the scene of a past personal tragedy—of lacking theological integrity and promoting unorthodox theories. Well-known author and radio commentator Charles Colson has been the most vocal in warning people to avoid the book because of its low view of Scripture.
But Young said the fictional story was not written as systematic theology. “It’s a parable or a metaphor,” Young told author and radio host Chris Fabry during a 10-minute interview for a mock radio program. “Tell Chuck Colson that it’s not an allegory.”
His comment drew laughs, but Young was more somber as he discussed how he was sexually abused as a child of missionaries while attending boarding school in New Guinea. Young shared that he recently received a call from the main perpetrator of his abuse, who asked for his forgiveness after reading The Shack. “It was wonderful and [peaceful],” Young said as he fought back tears.
Calling himself “an accidental author,” William P. Young told a crowd of roughly 300 people Wednesday morning that the controversy surrounding his New York Times best-selling novel, which has sold more than 1 million copies since its debut last year, was “good.”
Critics have accused The Shack—about a man who encounters God at the scene of a past personal tragedy—of lacking theological integrity and promoting unorthodox theories. Well-known author and radio commentator Charles Colson has been the most vocal in warning people to avoid the book because of its low view of Scripture.
But Young said the fictional story was not written as systematic theology. “It’s a parable or a metaphor,” Young told author and radio host Chris Fabry during a 10-minute interview for a mock radio program. “Tell Chuck Colson that it’s not an allegory.”
His comment drew laughs, but Young was more somber as he discussed how he was sexually abused as a child of missionaries while attending boarding school in New Guinea. Young shared that he recently received a call from the main perpetrator of his abuse, who asked for his forgiveness after reading The Shack. “It was wonderful and [peaceful],” Young said as he fought back tears.
Speaking Life
Speaking Life
~ Godly Character ~
by Don Finto
We are again experiencing the disappointment and even disillusionment that comes when perceived servants of God fail.
This is a dangerous time for us. How will we respond? Will we privately rejoice because we saw flaws and cautions that others did not see? Do we discount those who were healed, who came to faith or who experienced the move of God? Are we to assume that everything was a farce? Was there never any real hunger for God? Was it all sham and hypocrisy?
Years ago when a prominent television evangelist’s moral failure was exposed, another television evangelist was publicly harsh and judgmental in his assessment. The Lord laid on my heart to write that television evangelist a letter. “Brother, be careful. ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:1-2).’” A few weeks later the sexual failure of the man who had done the judging was paraded before the American public. Most of us would affirm the gifting that was in both these men, but their character did not match their gifting.
Character and gifting are different. This is why we can sometimes see extremely gifted-of-God men and women who fail morally.
Remember the mightily gifted Samson whose character never matched the gifting.
Do not forget David, the murderer/adulterer. Was David anointed? Yes. Gifted? Yes. Did he fall? Yes. Was he restored? Yes. Were there consequences of his failure? Yes. Yet God later described him as “a man after my own heart (Acts 13:20).”
Have we considered the fact that Peter lied three times on the night of Jesus’ betrayal, but fifty days later was God’s chosen spokesperson to call the nation to repentance? I wonder if that young servant girl to whom Peter had lied was in the crowd that Pentecost day. If so, how difficult was it for her to hear the gospel through Peter’s flawed, yet restored lips?
Sometimes, when we sin, we are restored to our ministry and destiny. At other times, according to God’s own choosing, we forfeit a portion of our inheritance. This was true of Moses who, in that moment of pride said, “Must we bring you water from this rock (Numbers 20:10)?” Because of his sin, Moses never entered into the land of his inheritance. He was still the leader, but his time was cut short.
It is appropriate for us to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1), while at the same time realizing that we are all works-in-progress. We cannot only affirm as gifted those whose walk is perfect, yet “if someone is caught in a sin, [we] who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).
May this recent exposure call forth an examination of our own lives! What about our own marriages? Are we loving our husbands/wives? Are we walking in pride? Are we accountable?
Lord have mercy upon us! Turn our propensity for judgment into mercy and intercession. May the disappointment and disillusionment that is ours through the sin of another, work in us a radical pursuit of You, Lord, Your Presence, and Your gifts! May Godly character be worked in all of us! And may we be so open to Your will in our lives that when the fire and glory of God descend upon us, we will not disintegrate, but will be ignited with Holy Spirit power for the glory of God the Father and Jesus our Messiah and soon-returning King!
Don Finto
www.calebcompany.com
Caleb Company, 68 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203
~ Godly Character ~
by Don Finto
We are again experiencing the disappointment and even disillusionment that comes when perceived servants of God fail.
This is a dangerous time for us. How will we respond? Will we privately rejoice because we saw flaws and cautions that others did not see? Do we discount those who were healed, who came to faith or who experienced the move of God? Are we to assume that everything was a farce? Was there never any real hunger for God? Was it all sham and hypocrisy?
Years ago when a prominent television evangelist’s moral failure was exposed, another television evangelist was publicly harsh and judgmental in his assessment. The Lord laid on my heart to write that television evangelist a letter. “Brother, be careful. ‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:1-2).’” A few weeks later the sexual failure of the man who had done the judging was paraded before the American public. Most of us would affirm the gifting that was in both these men, but their character did not match their gifting.
Character and gifting are different. This is why we can sometimes see extremely gifted-of-God men and women who fail morally.
Remember the mightily gifted Samson whose character never matched the gifting.
Do not forget David, the murderer/adulterer. Was David anointed? Yes. Gifted? Yes. Did he fall? Yes. Was he restored? Yes. Were there consequences of his failure? Yes. Yet God later described him as “a man after my own heart (Acts 13:20).”
Have we considered the fact that Peter lied three times on the night of Jesus’ betrayal, but fifty days later was God’s chosen spokesperson to call the nation to repentance? I wonder if that young servant girl to whom Peter had lied was in the crowd that Pentecost day. If so, how difficult was it for her to hear the gospel through Peter’s flawed, yet restored lips?
Sometimes, when we sin, we are restored to our ministry and destiny. At other times, according to God’s own choosing, we forfeit a portion of our inheritance. This was true of Moses who, in that moment of pride said, “Must we bring you water from this rock (Numbers 20:10)?” Because of his sin, Moses never entered into the land of his inheritance. He was still the leader, but his time was cut short.
It is appropriate for us to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1), while at the same time realizing that we are all works-in-progress. We cannot only affirm as gifted those whose walk is perfect, yet “if someone is caught in a sin, [we] who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).
May this recent exposure call forth an examination of our own lives! What about our own marriages? Are we loving our husbands/wives? Are we walking in pride? Are we accountable?
Lord have mercy upon us! Turn our propensity for judgment into mercy and intercession. May the disappointment and disillusionment that is ours through the sin of another, work in us a radical pursuit of You, Lord, Your Presence, and Your gifts! May Godly character be worked in all of us! And may we be so open to Your will in our lives that when the fire and glory of God descend upon us, we will not disintegrate, but will be ignited with Holy Spirit power for the glory of God the Father and Jesus our Messiah and soon-returning King!
Don Finto
www.calebcompany.com
Caleb Company, 68 Music Square East, Nashville, TN 37203
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Who are Todays Pharisees?
“So if you want to know who today’s Pharisees are, here are some of the questions to ask. Who are the religious people who follow the traditions of the elders, and who - on the basis of that tradition - believe they can tell the true prophets from the false ones? Who are the guardians of the faith, the fully initiated, law-abiding, pledge-paying, creed-saying, theologically correct people who can spot a heretic a mile away?
According to John, these are the people to watch out for, because they think they can see. Furthermore, they think they can see better than other people, and they are not shy about telling you that you are not really seeing what you think you see, or that what you are seeing is wrong. They do not do this to be mean, either. They do this because they love God and maybe even because they love you too. They are doing it to protect you from believing the wrong things.” Selah
According to John, these are the people to watch out for, because they think they can see. Furthermore, they think they can see better than other people, and they are not shy about telling you that you are not really seeing what you think you see, or that what you are seeing is wrong. They do not do this to be mean, either. They do this because they love God and maybe even because they love you too. They are doing it to protect you from believing the wrong things.” Selah
Sunday, August 31, 2008
"The Donkey"
Danny Steyne
A few months ago the Lord spoke to me "ordain the donkeys and the fools!" He was telling me to release those who had no desire for their own reputations, but would carry the Glory regardless of what others thought of them.
The ministry of the donkey is remarkable in the Bible. It was to this ministry that God entrusted carrying the elements needed for sacrifice when Abraham would take his son to Moriah to offer him up as a sacrifice. It was to a donkey that God entrusted carrying provision to the family of Israel in times of drought. It was a donkey that brought a wayward prophet back to his senses. (Yes, once in a while even donkey's get to speak!) It was a donkey that would carry the promised seed to His birthing place, and a donkey that would carry the Son of Man in His Glory as He road into Jerusalem in triumph! Donkey's are simply reflections of the obvious. How can God take the stubborn and use them for His purposes! Psalm 76:10 "Surely the wrath of man shall praise You!"
God is brilliant... He uses the foolish to confound the wise! 1 Corinthians 4:10 "We are fools for Christ..." His ways are higher than ours. He can use Cyrus, the pagan, lost, unvirtuous, king of Persia to be His Anointed servant... when it smacks at our apparent righteous plans. Isaiah 45:1 ""This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of - to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut!" Early last December (2007)I was flying out west and fell asleep. I had a vivid dream in which I heard the Lord say, "The next president will be a Cyrus, and will be a blessing to the Church if they will recognize it!" Cyrus was not recognized by his values, he was recognized because his heart would help God's people. It was Cyrus that literally provided the wealth and provision to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
As I have pondered the events of the past few weeks and months that have apparently begun a severe "judgment that begins in the house of God" (1 Peter 4:17) I have asked the question several times, "Lord, how can we reflect You even through these circumstances?" As I write this from outside the USA, two prominent figures in the country I am in had failures exposed that drew yet another mark across all of our lives as we heard the revelations of brokenness and deception that quickly brought these brothers lives in from an extremely visible height of emulation to the depths of disillusionment that caused many to evoke hatred, bitterness, scorn, and even shame.
When someone of prominence hits the mark of failure, we so often in self-righteous anger feel it our duty to devalue and demean all that was done through their lives, and as such we feel like the ones who were "duped"...but the stories should be enough for us to realize that many have been used who were less than perfect...and on many occasions were downright deceived and intentional in their failure. Paul wrote, "some preach Jesus out of envy and rivalry, thinking they would discourage me" (transliteration) but Paul was not discouraged, he understood that the ways of man are subject to the ways of God! God moves, even though many men walk in error.
All of us have our "opinions" of what is right theology. That alone should tell us that "somewhere, someone is in error!" All of us "believe" we are correct, but eternity will reveal the truth of what we held so dear. The issue for all of us has never been whether or not sin is in the earth, but whether we "see" Grace abounding on the earth. (Romans 5:20-21) It is not difficult to "see" sin...it takes barely any discernment at all to see error...but true discernment "separates" what is God from what is sin. Grace always abounds and even more so in the revelation of sin, but we as God's people must learn to "see" it, rather than foster the spirit of accusation. (See Zechariah 3:1 & Revelation 12:10)
A few months ago the Lord spoke to me "ordain the donkeys and the fools!" He was telling me to release those who had no desire for their own reputations, but would carry the Glory regardless of what others thought of them.
The ministry of the donkey is remarkable in the Bible. It was to this ministry that God entrusted carrying the elements needed for sacrifice when Abraham would take his son to Moriah to offer him up as a sacrifice. It was to a donkey that God entrusted carrying provision to the family of Israel in times of drought. It was a donkey that brought a wayward prophet back to his senses. (Yes, once in a while even donkey's get to speak!) It was a donkey that would carry the promised seed to His birthing place, and a donkey that would carry the Son of Man in His Glory as He road into Jerusalem in triumph! Donkey's are simply reflections of the obvious. How can God take the stubborn and use them for His purposes! Psalm 76:10 "Surely the wrath of man shall praise You!"
God is brilliant... He uses the foolish to confound the wise! 1 Corinthians 4:10 "We are fools for Christ..." His ways are higher than ours. He can use Cyrus, the pagan, lost, unvirtuous, king of Persia to be His Anointed servant... when it smacks at our apparent righteous plans. Isaiah 45:1 ""This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of - to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut!" Early last December (2007)I was flying out west and fell asleep. I had a vivid dream in which I heard the Lord say, "The next president will be a Cyrus, and will be a blessing to the Church if they will recognize it!" Cyrus was not recognized by his values, he was recognized because his heart would help God's people. It was Cyrus that literally provided the wealth and provision to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
As I have pondered the events of the past few weeks and months that have apparently begun a severe "judgment that begins in the house of God" (1 Peter 4:17) I have asked the question several times, "Lord, how can we reflect You even through these circumstances?" As I write this from outside the USA, two prominent figures in the country I am in had failures exposed that drew yet another mark across all of our lives as we heard the revelations of brokenness and deception that quickly brought these brothers lives in from an extremely visible height of emulation to the depths of disillusionment that caused many to evoke hatred, bitterness, scorn, and even shame.
When someone of prominence hits the mark of failure, we so often in self-righteous anger feel it our duty to devalue and demean all that was done through their lives, and as such we feel like the ones who were "duped"...but the stories should be enough for us to realize that many have been used who were less than perfect...and on many occasions were downright deceived and intentional in their failure. Paul wrote, "some preach Jesus out of envy and rivalry, thinking they would discourage me" (transliteration) but Paul was not discouraged, he understood that the ways of man are subject to the ways of God! God moves, even though many men walk in error.
All of us have our "opinions" of what is right theology. That alone should tell us that "somewhere, someone is in error!" All of us "believe" we are correct, but eternity will reveal the truth of what we held so dear. The issue for all of us has never been whether or not sin is in the earth, but whether we "see" Grace abounding on the earth. (Romans 5:20-21) It is not difficult to "see" sin...it takes barely any discernment at all to see error...but true discernment "separates" what is God from what is sin. Grace always abounds and even more so in the revelation of sin, but we as God's people must learn to "see" it, rather than foster the spirit of accusation. (See Zechariah 3:1 & Revelation 12:10)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Angels & Wondrous Things
Today the Lord lead me to Judges 13:19. It simply says: Manoah (Sampson's father) took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it upon the rock to the Lord. And HE did a wondrous thing while Manoah and his wife looked on-
Right below that phrase "did a wondrous thing" is a box that says - "did a wondrous thing" pala, strongs #6381 To perform a miracle, marvel, wonder, or supernatural deed, that is: something beyond the human ability to grasp, do or acheive. (or understand)
From this my thoughts wandered back to the comments on blogs about the miracles at Lakeland done by my Savior and Lord. And the disputes and rants about Todd or anyone else for that matter- saying they had spoken to or seen Angels....
Chapter 13 in Judges - V3 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman (Manoah's wife) and said to her.... V6 As she was telling Manoah about the angel, she described him as "very awesome". V9 The angel of God came to the woman again... V11 Manoah arose and followed his wife to talk to the angel. From verses 11-18 Manoah talked to the angel of the Lord.
My point is this: Why is it that "wondrous things" and "very awesome" angels are no longer part of our lives as Christians - when it is very clearly part of the Bible? Why is it that disregarding events that occurred in the OT is ok? Why is it that the wondrous things that we do in Jesus name, are called occultism, mysticism, new age and a few other vile things- by CHRISTIANS? Why isn't it: God created all these wonderful things and awesome angels - and what others (new agers etc.) have is a direct perversion of what God intended to be good? If anyone has any revelation on this, (but revelation only please) clue me in!!
Thanks for listening!
Right below that phrase "did a wondrous thing" is a box that says - "did a wondrous thing" pala, strongs #6381 To perform a miracle, marvel, wonder, or supernatural deed, that is: something beyond the human ability to grasp, do or acheive. (or understand)
From this my thoughts wandered back to the comments on blogs about the miracles at Lakeland done by my Savior and Lord. And the disputes and rants about Todd or anyone else for that matter- saying they had spoken to or seen Angels....
Chapter 13 in Judges - V3 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman (Manoah's wife) and said to her.... V6 As she was telling Manoah about the angel, she described him as "very awesome". V9 The angel of God came to the woman again... V11 Manoah arose and followed his wife to talk to the angel. From verses 11-18 Manoah talked to the angel of the Lord.
My point is this: Why is it that "wondrous things" and "very awesome" angels are no longer part of our lives as Christians - when it is very clearly part of the Bible? Why is it that disregarding events that occurred in the OT is ok? Why is it that the wondrous things that we do in Jesus name, are called occultism, mysticism, new age and a few other vile things- by CHRISTIANS? Why isn't it: God created all these wonderful things and awesome angels - and what others (new agers etc.) have is a direct perversion of what God intended to be good? If anyone has any revelation on this, (but revelation only please) clue me in!!
Thanks for listening!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Peace
Strive to live at peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 (AMP)
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