Monthly Archives: October 2013

The Impossible

King Herod Agrippa persecuted the believers in the church. He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested the apostle Peter. He imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, the Lord send his angel to miraculously lead Peter out of prison and save him from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to him! Peter immediately went to the home where many of the church were gathered for prayer. He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!” “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be [...]

By |October 22nd, 2013|Archives|Comments Off on The Impossible|
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The Gift Of Speaking In Tongues

Jesus commanded those who are His disciples to: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; THEY WILL SPEAK WITH NEW TONGUES; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:15-18 NKJV  That is exactly what happened when the apostle Paul traveled through the interior provinces and came to Ephesus, where he found several believers. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we don’t know what you mean. We haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and THEY SPOKE IN OTHER TONGUES and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.” (See Acts 19:1-7) It [...]

By |October 21st, 2013|Archives|Comments Off on The Gift Of Speaking In Tongues|
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Genuine Love

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; because those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters. (See 1. John 4:20-21) God called us Christians to be of one mind, sympathizing with each other and loving each other as brothers and sisters. He also wants us to be tenderhearted and keep a humble attitude. We should not repay evil for evil or retaliate with insults when people insult us. Instead, we pay them back with a blessing, because if we do so, God will bless us in return! For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life 
and see many happy days,
 keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good.
 Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, 
and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.” (See 1. Peter 3:8-12) Therefore, [...]

By |October 21st, 2013|Archives|Comments Off on Genuine Love|
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Stay Away For Your Own Protection

We must be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven us. (See Ephesians 4:32) But we are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a Christian yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Don’t even eat with such people. (See 1. Corinthians 5:11) For the simple reason that the Bible says; “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1. Corinthians 15:33 NLT  That is why we must stay away from people who are unloving and unforgiving; who slander others and have no self-control and are cruel and have no interest in what is good. We must stay away from those who betray their friends, are reckless, puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. These are the kind of people who will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. (See 2. Timothy 3:2-5) We also need to watch out and stay away from people who cause [...]

By |October 19th, 2013|Archives|Comments Off on Stay Away For Your Own Protection|
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Favor With God And People

When you are a loyal, kind, and a good person, you will find favor with both God and people! (See Proverbs 3:3-4, 12:2) You would be following the example of Jesus, who grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people, (See Luke 2:52) and who said; “Love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you. If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those [...]

By |October 18th, 2013|Archives|Comments Off on Favor With God And People|
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The Issue Of Men And Long Hair

Here is another Bible scripture that often has been misquoted and twisted in order to tell Christian men that God doesn’t want them to have long hair; “Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair? And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering. But if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other custom than this, and neither do God’s other churches.” 1. Corinthians 11:14-16 NLT  To fully understand this scripture, we need to understand what the situation was like at this time in Corinth. The city of Corinth was known for its immorality and perversity, and the men that were sexually perverted had long hair. The apostle Paul who wrote this letter, didn’t want the men in the church to be mistaken for those perverted ones. This was not God’s commandment to all people throughout all times, but Paul’s special advice to the people in Corinth at that time! The whores in Corinth, for instance, had [...]

By |October 17th, 2013|Archives|Comments Off on The Issue Of Men And Long Hair|
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Tithing Does Not Keep The Devourer Away!

You are a well-known pastor of a large congregation, and every Sunday before taking the offering, you quote your members the Old Testament law passage of Malachi 3:8-11 that says; “Will a man rob God? 
Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse,
 for you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
 that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts,
 “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
 and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes.” Based on this scripture, you falsely explain to your church members how important and detrimental it is not to rob God, but pay at least a 10% tithe of your gross income into the storehouse, which according to you is the church, in order to be protected [...]

By |October 14th, 2013|Archives|Comments Off on Tithing Does Not Keep The Devourer Away!|
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Begging For Relief

In 2008, I wrote a study called “The White House” which was about the then elected president of the United States, Barack Obama. In that article, I compared Obama with King Saul, who was chosen by the people of Israel against God’s will. God warned them through the prophet Samuel of the kind of bad leader their choice king would be. But regardless of all the warnings, the people of Israel insisted on having their king, and ultimately, God gave them Saul so that one day they would find out that their choice didn’t work out to their benefit! The Israelites were also told that, “when that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.” 1. Samuel 8:18 NLT  The story of King Saul is eerily similar to that of President Obama. The people of America were also warned by many prophets of God about how Obama would reign over them, financially burden them to the point of poverty, and bring destruction upon them and the [...]

By |October 13th, 2013|Archives|Comments Off on Begging For Relief|
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Deceivers Get Deceived

Jacob, who preferred to stay at home, was his mother’s favorite. His brother Esau, a skillful hunter, was his father’s favorite. One day, Esau returned from hunting, exhausted and hungry, and desired some of the lentil stew that Jacob was cooking. Jacob offered to give his brother some stew in exchange for his birthright, which gave him the right to a double portion of his father’s inheritance as the firstborn son. And so Esau was misled to sell his birthright to Jacob. (See Genesis 25:27-34) When the time came for their father Isaac to pronounce his blessing to Esau, Jacob and his mother conspired to deceive Isaac into blessing Jacob in Esau’s place. When Esau found out that his blessing had been given to Jacob, he threatened to kill his brother, and Jacob fled. (See Genesis 27:1-41) Jacob took advantage of the weaknesses of others in order to deceive them, as he deceived his brother out of his birthright, and he deceived his father, who was turning blind, into thinking that he was his brother, so that he could [...]

By |October 12th, 2013|Archives|Comments Off on Deceivers Get Deceived|
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No Drunkards In Heaven

Drunkenness is also called the work of the flesh, and no drunkard will be found in heaven, even if he or she claims to be a believer. (See Galatians 5:19-21, 1. Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 5:11) Therefore, it might be a good question to ask ourselves: If drunkenness will not be allowed in heaven, why should it be practiced by a Christian here on earth? Drinking alcohol leads to drunkenness and addiction and often sets off a chain reaction of events, like tipping over the first domino. Drinking causes many to stumble, others to be offended, and many to be weakened. One of the top five reasons teenagers drink is because their parents drink. One half of all traffic fatalities and one-third of all traffic injuries are related to the abuse of alcohol. Accidents and suicides that are associated with alcohol problems are especially prominent in the teen years. It is estimated that over 3 million teens between the ages of 14 and 17 in the United States today are problem drinkers. It is always fascinating and amazing [...]

By |October 11th, 2013|Archives|Comments Off on No Drunkards In Heaven|
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