Jesus continually taught His disciples to believe in Him, not just because they saw miracles, but because He was the Son of God. For us, whom were not an eyewitness to Christ, it is an especial blessing to have Faith. "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed." John 20:29

Faith is not the easy road; it is the straight and narrow way. It is the broad road that leads to easy-believe-ism and finally destruction: "I raised my hand with every eye closed, I signed a contract at a crusade, I was baptized a Catholic so the worst would be Pergatory, I have fire insurance." But Faith requires evidence of belief, as James says: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." (James 2:17 & 18)

Hebrews 11:1 describes Faith: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Many people who claim Christ are not satisfied with the evidence of things not seen; out of their own lusts, they try to duplicate miracles, signs and wonders to draw the deceived. "Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But He answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:" Matthew 12:38 & 39

Now, why would Jesus call them "evil and adulterous"? He did so because they had evilly left their first love; like an un-faithful wife, they coveted 'greener' pastures and shared their beds with other gods.

Once again, we must examine ourselves to see if we be in the Faith, that we not be like this adulterous woman, whom in the last days is spoken of as drinking the blood of the saints. Yes, let us believe in Jesus as Lord without wavering or shrinking back, leading simple lives, knowing we have riches in the Kingdom because we believed without seeing the promise.

Steven   5/31/2006

Over the years in preaching the Gospel, whether on the streets or in The Church, I've heard it said by  many people, whom claim to be Christians: "Is what you're doing here effective?"

This is a good question, if properly asked; it is important to always examine what you are doing to see if it is effective. When I go to work there had better be results of my toil, lest I get fired for being lazy and unprofitable. But, as Christians we must make a distinction between faith and what we see. For instance, when I go to work, I see with my own eyes my job productivity, but, when walk with Christ we walk by blind faith, such as Abraham did.

"Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, [so many] as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable." Hebrews 11:12

Does this mean that faith has no tangible results? It does, however most of the time we do not see them with our own eyes, like Abraham in the verse above, whom was promised many descendants, but never saw them. Hebrews 11 tells us that many of the Brethren, a great cloud of witnesses such as Daniel, David, Samson, Gideon and the prophets, all walked by faith: "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:" Hebrews 11:39

We whom preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, likewise do not receive the promise here, but we know that in the Kingdom we will see the results of our ministry; for example, you heard the Gospel from somewhere. What if the person whom spoke the Gospel to you decided that since they were not seeing 'results', that continuing thus was futile? And the person before him, and the person before him... going back through Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, Martin Luther, Wycliffe, Paul the Apostle, Peter, James, John, right back to Christ?

Because we believe in Christ, do we immediately see Heaven? No, it is by faith that we believe in Jesus Christ, without seeing the promise. We believe that He has forgiven us of our sins and we believe that we are washed clean, being given eternal life with God and made sons and co-heirs with Christ. But, we don't physically see any of this, save for small glimpses that God allows, like the renewing of our minds, teaching us to walk by faith and providing for our needs.

The fact is that our Christian walk is built upon faith, and thus is the crux of the issue; maybe we need to examine ourselves to see if we be in the faith or whether we have bought a religious system in which all the visible works and results are provided for us.

So, is it effective to preach the Gospel? If the Gospel is preached from the Scriptures with boldness and without shame, not shrinking back from the calling... the Gospel is always effective. Whether people repent, or turn to scoff, it is always effective. The Gospel, the power of God, is the great dividing line; the more people hear it, the more they are either convicted or hardened.

"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. For 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

The Gospel has the power of dividing soul and spirit, of joints and marrow and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, (Heb. 4:12) and thus it is so important to present the Gospel, the Word of God, that it may do it's work, despite what our eyes see, or don't see. Just as we have believed in this Gospel by blind faith, we also must trust that this Gospel, when preached, has the power to save others by blind faith.

- Steven  5/30/2006

This year the Lord has granted us the great privilege and honor of presenting His Gospel of Jesus Christ to Old Sacramento, at the Jazz Jubilee. The Lord always honors the Gospel when it is preached, and this weekend was no exception. On average, each day, approximately 50 thousand people poured into Old Sacramento, and we figure about a quarter of them got to hear the Gospel from just our small group, between the preaching, the signs and the tracts; there from our group was Brother Chris, Matt and Steven. But, we weren't the only group out there preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ; the Lord seems to have initiated a migration of Gospel preachers whom feel a burden to preach in Old Sacramento.

We met two Brothers whom had been saved from Islam, and were handing out tracts; they felt the passion needed to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the muslim community. The leader of the two, named Elijah, mentioned he was going soon to Deerbourne, Michigan to preach to the large crowds of muslims that are congregating there. Also out and about was a small group from Jews for Jesus whom felt the need to come out and present the Gospel. Three Brothers from the local community, Joshua, Emil and Todd, felt compelled to start walking with Bibles in hand, not sure where they were going, but they ended up at the Jazz Jubilee handing out cds of Gospel testimonies. Several members of the local Russian churches, in their ongoing campaign to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Sacramento, continued their faithful commitment to Christ by coming out armed with The Gospel. Brother James came out with his family to pass out a cart full of Bibles. Brother Dave, from a local congregation, came out to pass out Chick tracts. Brother Tom and Brother Wally from The Jesus People came out as well to pass out tracts to the crowds. A group from a local seventh-day adventists were also present, passing out books about their denomination and how to attend their church.

God seems to be moving here in Sacramento; not that people are seem-ably coming to repentance, but that He is moving more believers to come out and preach the Gospel. We covet your continual prayers for us when we go out and preach; you may not live in the same city, or state or even the same nation, but you can pray for us. Pleased pray for the Brethren mentioned above that came out preaching the Gospel.

Blessings,

Steven

Even if the wicked believe in hell and take every pain and contrivance to avoid it, if they continue to reject Christ, they are not secured from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. In hell, they will lift up their voices and cry, "I intended to take effectual care; but death came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief: Death outwitted me: God’s wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then suddenly destruction came upon me!"

ºGod is under no obligation to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant. A natural man may imagine or pretend he is seeking and knocking, but whether he prays or takes pains in religion, until he believes in Christ, God is in no wise obligated to keep him one moment from eternal destruction.

APPLICATION

The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons who associate themselves with Christianity. What you have heard will come upon everyone of you who pretends to love God, but are unconverted. You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, like the good state of your bodily constitution, or your care of your own life and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing: if God should withdraw his support, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.

Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. If God did not prevent it, the solid earth would not bear you one moment from sinking to hell. The sun does not willingly shine upon you; the fields do not willingly yield their increase to satisfy your lusts; the air does not willingly serve you for breath, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies. God's creatures are good, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. They want to serve God; you want them for your own corrupt pleasures.

The wrath of God builds like great waters behind a dam; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, until outlet is given. The longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw his hand from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.

The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow. All you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin to a state of new light and life, are in the hands of an angry God. However you may have reformed your life in many things and may keep up a form of religion in your families and in the house of God; however unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it.

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider over the fire, abhors you and is dreadfully provoked. His wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire. He is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you were allowed to awake again in this world after you closed your eyes to sleep; and there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.

O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, over which you are held in the hand of that God whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against any of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. And consider here more particularly,

1.Whose wrath it is. It is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the gathering of the most terrible and powerful kings, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. Luke 12:4, 5, "And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear him."

2. It is the fierceness of his wrath that you are exposed to. We often read of the fury of God; as in Isaiah 59:18, "According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries." So also Isaiah 66:15, "For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." And in many other places as in Revelation 19:15, we read of "the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." The words are exceeding terrible. Consider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in an unregenerate state: the implication from God’s fierceness is that he will inflict wrath without any pity. When you are in hell, when your torment is so vastly disproportionate to your strength and your poor soul is crushed and sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom, God will have no compassion upon you; he will not forbear the executions of his wrath. Nothing shall be withheld, merely because it is so hard for you to bear. Ezek. 8:18, "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them." Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare. God will have no other use to put you to, but to suffer misery; you shall be continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only "laugh and mock," Proverbs 1:25, 26, Psalm 2:4, etc.

3. God has continued at length to display both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty monarch of the Chaldean empire, showed his wrath when enraged with Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego; and accordingly gave orders that the burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before. The great God is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful majesty and mighty power in the extreme sufferings of his enemies. Rom. 9:22, "What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endure with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?" When the great and angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. Isaiah 33:12-14, "And the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire. Hear ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites..."

4. It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. When you look forward, you shall see a long forever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable, for, "who knows the power of God’s anger?"

How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul reading this that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation who was to be the subject of this misery, how might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell? You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have seen and known. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect despair; but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity such as you now enjoy!

And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many have come who were in the same miserable condition that you are in, that are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition?

Senior citizens, your case, in an especial manner, is extremely dangerous. Your guilt and hardness of heart are extremely great. Can’t you see how that God has mercifully passed over you year after year? You have need to consider your situation and awake thoroughly out of sleep. You cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God!

And you, young men and young women, will you neglect this precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and coming to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as with those persons who spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness.

And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the King of kings?

And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now harken to the loud calls of God's word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favours to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls; and never was there so great

danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land; and probably the greater part of adult persons that ever shall be saved, will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on the great out-pouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the apostles' days; the election will obtain, and the rest will be blinded. If this should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day,

and will curse the day that ever you was born, to see such a season of the pouring out of God's Spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree which brings not forth good fruit, may be hewn down and cast into the fire.

Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation: Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed!"

Adapted from "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," written in 1741.   5/26/2006

"There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." - Jonathan Edwards

God lacks no power to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands cannot be strong when God rises up. Though hand join in hand, and all the vast multitudes of God's enemies combine together against him, they are most easily broken in pieces. No fortress proves a defense from the power of God, nor can any deliver out of his hands. Like piles of light chaff before the tornado, or fields of dry stubble before devouring flames, they are instantly consumed. If the earth trembles before him and the boulders are thrown down violently, how then can the wicked stand before him?

ºThey deserve to be cast into hell. Justice can make no exception, no objection against God using his power at any moment to destroy them. Rather, on the contrary, justice cries aloud for their punishment. The sword of divine justice hangs every moment over their heads, and it is nothing but God's will that holds it back.

ºThey are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell, by the divine decree of the Law of God, so that presently they wait on death row. Every unconverted man properly belongs to hell and thither be is bound; it is the place that justice and the sentence of God’s unchangeable Law assign to him.

ºThey are presently the objects of God’s wrath, the same wrath that ends in judgment and destruction in hell. Why do they then not go there immediately? It is not because God has forgotten his anger against them. It is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them.

ºThe devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; they are under his dominion. The devils watch them; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.

ºIf God did not restrain them, wicked men, in whose hearts hell is kindled, would soon consume the world in hellish torment. They would soon break out, they would be engulfed in flames after the same manner of damned souls, and would kindle in others the same wickedness that consumes them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isaiah 57:20. For the present, God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further." But if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature, and if God should leave it without restraint, it would immediately turn the soul into a furnace of fire and brimstone.

ºWicked men have no security, though death is not in sight. The natural man may be in present good health and surrounded by every expectation of its continuance. But the manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages is contrary to this expectation. If he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, he is on the very brink of eternity, and the next step will be into another world. The unseen, unthought-of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Ignorant men walk daily over the pit of hell on nothing more than a rotten covering that barely holds their weight. The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many hidden ways of taking wicked men out of the world that the strangest death can happen to any wicked man, at any moment.

ºAlthough a natural man takes all care and wisdom to preserve his life, and he enlists the care of others to help him, his life is not secured for a moment. To this, divine providence and universal experience do also bear testimony. There is much evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them from death. Otherwise, why do wise men see no difference in the statistics between the practical and shrewd men of this world and those who seem liable to early and unexpected death? But how is it in fact? Eccles. 2:16, "How dieth the wise man? Even as the fool."

Adapted from "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", written in 1741    5/25/2006

In football, the goal of every good team is to win. For years I played football in school, and I wondered why our team often stunk. I played defensive center, which is one of the most aggressive positions on the field, smack-dab in the middle of the lineup. But, no matter how hard I played we still lost games, and for one reason: a defensive can only restrain the enemy, but the offense takes ground, which conquers the enemy.

Likewise, this is true of the Christian faith... with one resounding difference; we know we have already won the game with Christ, but yet we are called to play to win. Therefore, our advantage is great, knowing that when we go on the offense we will take ground, and, that ground is won for eternity.

If we wait for the attacks to come, just as in football, we will lose yards; we could have the best defense in the NFL and still lose yards. In fact, the most effective offense is to take only three or four yards at a time and most often it is not the big plays that win, but it is getting those few yards, every time, that wins games. The enemy knows that this is how he’ll eventually defeat the defense.

The defense, meanwhile, is losing three or four yards, which doesn’t seem like much until the offense scores.

In a believer’s life, the enemy is continually on the offensive. Although the enemy sometimes seems to score big, generally he defeats slowly, and steadily, exhaustively strong-arming his opponent.

So, how does the Scripture say to fight this enemy?

"10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;15. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Eph. 6:10-18)

The Scriptures speak here of putting on armor; now, this armor is not defensive only, but is designed to defend and attack. There are six specific pieces of armor mentioned:

When fighting the enemy, girding up our loins or loose clothing with Truth is essential, that we don’t get pulled down in battle by hypocritical living, or otherwise loose clothing that is easily grabbed.

In putting on the breastplate of righteousness, in obedience to the Lordship of Christ, we are protected from fatal blows.

Having shod our feet with the Gospel of peace, we may stand firm, knowing that we are at peace with God.

The shield of Faith; faith that knowing our sins are forgiven, that we will spend eternity in the Kingdom of God and that we are doing the will of the Father by preaching the Gospel of Christ; as we offensively move into battle, the fiery darts of the enemy are continually deflected off this shield.

With the helmet of salvation we know we are positionally righteous before the holy God, through the atoning blood of Christ, that we have been saved from destruction, death and the fires of hell; thus protected from blows to the head, we are confidant in battle and look forward to the Kingdom.

Up until this point, Paul speaks of defensive armor; but, one does not need defensive armor if he is not going to battle. The defense was made merely for the support of the offense; having no defense is to be conquered.

The one and only weapon that all believers possess is "the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God", the Bible; it stands as the most effective, accurate and powerful weapon. Jesus Himself is the author and administrator of this weapon, constantly referring to ‘what does the Scripture say’, even using it to rebuke the devil. This is an offensive weapon, designed to tear down the enemy strongholds and lead men to salvation. We, as believers, are commanded at the end of all four gospels to use this weapon, to preach the Gospel to all people, in every nation.

This weapon is the very power of God, more powerful than a hurricane or an atom bomb, more powerful than all the combined energy in the universe and these things Jesus said would pass away, but that His word would never pass away.

Thus, the Scriptures are the greatest peril of the enemy, for in them speaks of the enemy’s own judgment and damnation. The enemy’s offense is to diminish the effectiveness of the Sword, for that is his only chance to attempt to deceive the brethren and drive sinners away from Christ, pulling them into his own eternal torment.

Therefore, in a believer’s life the only defense is the offense.

So, now, what are you going to do? You know the enemy did not take a vacation this week, nor did he stop his attacks, but yet is  determined to tear down The Church, and lead sinners to hell.

The enemy’s chief offensive strategy is apathy.

"Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints." Jude 1:3

- Steven  5/24/2006

They preached their end-time scenarios. It was almost inconceivable that the 21^st Century would be reached before the Tribulation started (with the easy-does-it church raptured out first). The music stressed a lot of love and a lot of rapture. That’s also when Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth hit the book stands. The word Millennium has a special effect on Dispensationalists, and it was used effectively to sell the new religion of "God loves you and you don’t have to go through the Tribulation," or "God loves you and you can live a thousand years here on this earth (after you have been raptured to heaven then come back to eat vegetarian pizza and drive pollution-free Toyotas)."

This has resulted in several embarrassments, not the least of which is this is now 2004, but the Secret Rapture holds sway nonetheless. The so-called Jesus Movement dwindled into faded memory like other ’60's graffiti, but the Dispensational doctrines were now carved in stone. Many groups were lost, like Shiloh Ministries, and others formed, like the Vineyard (after he was forced to leave Calvary, Lonnie found John Wimber amenable to his Pentecostalism), but the rapture remained the central theme of modern Christianity. To Chuck Smith’s credit, he strategized and found it necessary to tone down the end-of-the-world stuff. He needed to recover his reputation after he found he had been duped into promulgating the hoax that Griffon Vultures were laying seven eggs instead of one, anticipating the coming feast at Armageddon. (True Bizarre Griffon Vulture News: They remain an endangered species along with other vultures, and the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo is trying to raise them and reintroduce them into the wild. In 1998, the Zoo discovered a pair of their "mating" vultures were actually homosexual males. They wondered if the loving couple would raise a chick and they did. This seems in keeping with the present direction of the world. As of 2001, the couple "divorced" and went on to form heterosexual relationships with the females, so the homosexuals out there who love to tout this sort of behavior in nature judge themselves as remaining perverted).

Over the years, the Calvary Chapels have become the new establishment. They are more concerned about the day to day affairs of this life than our eternal hope. They stress Sunday school for children, ministries for women, and retreats for men. Like other denominations, Calvary does not like their members to disagree with their pet theories, especially the rapture. But its main doctrinal weakness is the avoidance of preaching the judgment of God. This results in a rank antinomianism in their ranks, in keeping with the rest of the church. They frown on any use of the Law to convict sinners of their ungodly ways. They are strong believers in the once-saved-always-saved doctrine, to the point where they will condemn anyone who questions another’s faith based on their evil works. They do not practice shunning, unless it is against critics, in which case you are dead to them.

They own a castle in Austria, which suits their other Disneyland aspirations.

That leaves about 30 years of Calvary Chapel history untold. I have several personal stories I could tell, but they are about shallowness, covetousness and adultery. Chuck Smith, who likes to praise himself as non-judgmental, tolerant and loving, is an otherwise decent preacher who limits himself to one-half of the gospel. Dave Hunt frequents his churches. Dave preaches hard against psychology and new age philosophy, both of which have infected Calvary Chapel from the beginning. Dave does pretty good, except that he is consumed with the Pre-Tribulation rapture (which is why Calvary lets him teach) and incensed against Calvinists (which is why I don’t buy into a lot of his theology). Bob Hoekstra is their best preacher. There is much more to tell, of course. This somewhat distorted history of Calvary Chapel merely focuses upon the modern church’s disregard for personal holiness and the fear of God, which I hope has offended the evil and encouraged the good.

The following is not history, but it really is...

The pastor of the Calvary Chapel I used to attend has said this about me: "That’s your problem: You always look at the faults in others instead of your own. You always look at the negative and not the positive. You need to take care of your own problems and leave it up to the Holy Spirit to take care of theirs." This is nothing less than worldly psychology and hypocritical to boot (he was trying to modify my behavior, having seen my fault, which was pointing out his fault).

My Bible says to deal with the faults of others. If they are brothers, we are to bring it to their attention and forgive them if they repent. If they are false prophets, we are to judge them by their fruit, not by outward appearances. Even a casual reading of the New Testament will show how to do this. The enemy hides behind a veil of "non-judgmental, tolerant and loving" appearances, all the while leading his victims down a path of disregard for the holiness of God, without which no one will see God. Casual Chapel and others like them have the charm of Disneyland about them. But our gospel says, "Love not the world, neither the things of the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." Millennium or no.

 - Chris Simonson  5/23/2006

Calvary Chapel began about 40 years ago. It started as an alternative Christianity for the dropped-out generation. Chuck Smith, its  founder, adopted the hippie "peace-truth-love" slogan for an upbeat Christian approach. He was trying to reach a generation that had been taught to love itself above all gods and religions; and he was going to reach them with love. They preached love - so did he. The love he preached was bigger and better than their love, and he set about to prove it with a gospel that was hip and cool. He, like a lot of people during the Jesus Movement, tried to incorporate the hippie message of "tune in, turn on, and drop out" into the message of Christ’s redemption. His gospel was tailored to the tastes of that time: Let it all hang out. And of course they stressed the Beatles’ mantra: "All you need is love."

They passed out tracts with the character "Ben Born Again," sported T-shirts that said "Everything goes better with Jesus" and repeated phrases like, "Truckin’ with Jesus."

Somehow, the Calvary Chapel gospel catapulted into mainstream Christianity. Part of it had to do with the fact that as the hippies grew older, they became the older generation. They became schoolteachers and pastors. But mostly, it was because of their gospel. They presented Christ as a "fix-it" for the problems of this generation. In other words, they preached a social gospel. Unlike many social gospels, their gospel stressed the end of the world. This may seem like a contradiction for a gospel that’s trying to change the world, but due to Dispensationalist theory, this make-over of the earth takes place during the Millennium. Before that, the world was going to go through some heavy stuff called the Tribulation, and the only way out was to get raptured.

The Calvary Chapel gospel consisted (and still does) of how to avoid the Tribulation by believing in Jesus. Instead of presenting the gospel as a means of escaping eternal judgment of God on judgment day, they preached the rapture, a way of getting out of here before the turn of the century, by which surely the Tribulation would have started. After all, it had been two thousand years and they are Dispensationalists, you know. Please my article "Dispensationalism in a Nutshell." The modern gospels, Calvary Chapel’s included, use catastrophe as a means of proselytizing, promising the proselytized a grand view from ringside seats, close to but removed from the action.

According to the Calvary Chapel doctrine on the cross of Christ, one must bear one’s cross as long as it is cool to do so. The "Keep on Truckin’" motif needed a little adjustment to make it Christian, so a cross was added. The dude, along with Ben Born Again, is smiling all the way (with a little perspiration). But even this was too painful, so the motif changed to a stylized dove in a nosedive, spiritually neutral. Could mean peace, could mean spirit-baptism, could mean anything. The cross of Christ became a happy thing, light-hearted, revamped for the surrogate generation. Our suffering in Christ is minimalized; Jesus is the only one who needs to suffer. He paid for our sins and we are healed. This doctrine came straight out of Pentecostalism, to which Chuck owes much of his theology. Our suffering is only a result of our own foolishness, which could be easily cured by attending Calvary Chapel concerts.

Chuck Smith could have not done this on his own. He credits God with everything, and this is what all good Christians are supposed to say. But in truth, he had to hire a guy named Lonnie to make it happen. Chuck found Lonnie Frisbee in the Haight-Ashbury district. That’s right, the heart and core of hippiedom San Francisco. This is where all the flowers in the hair and the homosexuals came out of. These were the drugged out, sexed out animals who were going to change society by releasing us from the oppressive morality of the right-wing churches. But there were converts among these people, Lonnie Frisbee being one of them. Chuck knew that Lonnie had an attractive message of love.

This is what Chuck Smith needed. Some new fire on the dying embers of washed-up Christianity. So he brought Lonnie to his church in Costa Mesa and the rest is history. Lonnie himself cannot be contacted because he died of AIDS. He was a "bisexual" according to the church. I think that means he was a fornicator and a homosexual, but those are words the church avoids. He evidently didn’t practice "safe sex," either, even after he helped form the Vineyard movement with John Wimber. Calvary Chapel, for its part, gives no credit to the late Frisbee.

But, Lonnie did exist and did put Calvary Chapel on the map during his tenure from 1968 to 1971. In this short time, Calvary Chapel became a social phenomenon in Southern California. They had the music. They had the tracts. They had the hippie look. They were riding the crest of the 'Jesus People' movement. They even take credit for starting it... to be continued.

 - Chris Simonson  5/22/2006

What does 75% mean to you? 75%: normal, average -  75%: good enough - 75%: vote of confidence - 75%: sufficient ministry

Tell that to an athlete participating in the World Olympics: “Just give it your 75%!”

Tell that to an astronaut: “This good old rocket will get you 75% to the moon.”

Tell that to a king: “75% of the people voted for you, so we’ll keep you on.”

Tell that to God: “I completed 75% of what you asked. You must accept that.”

God did not send his Son into the world so that he could make up the other 25% we were short. We are bankrupt! “They have all turned aside; they have become altogether unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:12).

God did not ask us to evaluate our own good deeds in order to justify ourselves before him. “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20).

If you attempt to please God by giving Him 75%, 80%, 90% or even 99% of your best effort, you will be mistaken, my friend. You must give up your entire life in order to be saved!

God does not want your best; He wants you to realize that all your goodness is as filthy rags before him. You are by nature wicked and deserve nothing but his wrath. You cannot be saved until you come to this realization. In God’s eyes, you can’t even earn a measly1% toward your salvation. But God, sending His Son, does what we cannot do. In what the flesh was unable to do, God did Himself. He sent his Only Son, Jesus Christ, to be the 100% righteous son we could never be. He became the 100% satisfaction for the payment due.

You can be 100% righteous with God if you come to know the Lord Jesus and trust in him for your salvation.

Oh, and for the smug self-righteous 75% Christians:

Luke 17:10: "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'" Luke 18:9: Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men - extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 'I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' 13 "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

- Chris Simonson  5/19/2006

We, the Consumers: Part Two

Religion is all mixed up in this. Christianity is no exception. There is nothing like Christian drugs, dispensed by money-crazed doctors, to liven up the day. Illicit sex is rampant in the church. Homosexuality is ruining the foundations of everything holy and harmless. Priests/pastors, not satisfied with normal married lives, go for children and same-sex relationships. They heartily defend queers, calling them gay. They have to. Some of their best paying subscribers are queer and sexual predators. Perhaps the reader has lost the connection between this and my original thread, we, the consumers. A little scripture may help:

Ezekiel 16:49 " Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy."

In case the reader does not know about Sodom, let it suffice to say that the term “sodomite” means “homosexual” in our euphemistic jargon. Attempts by homosexuals and their smiling, nodding, pastors to cover over this simple meaning only proves that they are hiding their true intent, the sexual predator content of their minds. As consumers, they have lost the sensitivity of nerve endings through gross behavior, and must seek more and more to stuff their horseleach appetites. The care of others goes by the wayside. Why is it that queers have to tell us all about their wonderful works helping others? Why can’t we just experience their love ourselves? The answer is in the question.

We don’t want to experience their kind of love, or if we do, then we have already fallen. No, they have to wave a flag just like the other hypocrites, showing us how they take care of the poor and the needy, when we should really know different. They want us to consume their movies and their albums, so they can raise funds for AIDS research. They say they care about the children living in animalistic societies dying from their parents’ promiscuity, but they won’t tell the truth about how to stop AIDS. So they teach us to consume more and more, saying a nickel from every dollar will go into a worthy cause. This is not the same as helping the poor and needy, folks.

So, in conclusion, it is fitting that we as a nation are fulfilling the Scripture that says, “... for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them.”

We, the church, ought to repent in sackcloth and ashes, turning from our consuming desires and returning to the Lord. We ought to seek the Kingdom of God and let the rest come to us instead of pursuing the things of this world. We ought to take our goods and help others, or at least give money to those who are truly serving the gospel of Christ. Otherwise, let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we face the judgment of God.

- Chris Simonson  5/18/2006

We, the Consumers: Part One

Imagine, if you will, a society devoted to consuming things. It’s manifesto starts like: “We have been given the right to consume, and nothing will stand in our way!” Food is packed into stomachs, then because more money is available, expensive food is packed into stomachs. Then these overweight creatures spend more money on drugs and programs to get rid of the flesh hanging on their carcasses. But there is more money. So they buy things.

Anything, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the manifesto of glut. They don’t buy food for the starving, for instance. "The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough." Proverbs 30:15-16.

A horseleach is probably a really nasty leach. Her daughters suck the blood out of everything and give nothing in return. A leach is despicable. And yet, our schoolchildren are taught that this is all part of nature, and that nature alone decides what is worthy. It’s called the survival of the fittest. The fittest are those who leach off others and come out with the most possessions, or the most females, or the most power. This is the natural result of teaching evolution. To cover up this heinous idea, they talk about love and nurturing, nurturing and nesting, nesting and families, turning men and women into natural creatures whose main duty is to consume things and teach their children likewise.

This is to be expected from those who are products of evolution. Claiming to be wise, they say they are evolved from the same stuff that birds and animals and reptiles came. They are like natural animals that obey natural wisdom, made to be taken and destroyed (2 Peter 2:12). But this is not fitting for God’s creatures. That is why God will judge them utterly for their misuse of their heritage as men. This is not fitting for those who claim to know God and love him. Consuming things is for animals. They are interested only in their nerve endings and how it affects their mental health. That is why sex and drugs are so prevalent in a society bent on consuming things. Rich men and women, popular as entertainers and the pick of society, destroy themselves looking for more and more pleasure, and drugs and sex offer the most intense sources of pleasure. Poor people can’t afford drugs and fancy sex partners, so they are stuck. 

Primitive, animalistic, societies allow or encourage sexual perversions as part of their overall belief system. They are nature worshipers, driven by spirits of all sorts. They teach their kids in tribal schools to revel in expressing their animal lusts, telling them that this empowers them and gives them self-esteem. Behind all this is a driving commandment to consume things.

Ritual cannibalism is natural. So is casual sex, “as long it doesn’t hurt anyone.” And so divorces increase (which hurts no one?), vengeance increases (this never hurt anyone), selfishness increases (your stuff is my stuff and I’ll take it, O.K.?), hatred increases (don’t argue this), suspicion increases (this is real healthy, right?), jealousy increases (no harm done?)...you get the point. The only reason people believe the lie that sex outside marriage is O.K. is because they want to behave like animals...

- Chris Simonson  5/17/2006

God Loves You & Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life

Maybe; maybe not.

If one means by this that God loves you just the way you are, and that he is just waiting anxiously for you to come to that realization so he can begin to bless you…you couldn’t be farther from the truth.

However, if you mean something Biblical, like "God is not neglectful of His promise, in the way that some men count neglect, but He is bearing patiently with us, not anxious that anyone should perish but that all men might come to repentance," then you will be hitting closer to the truth.

Now, I realize that’s not what the verse says exactly, but it’s a whole lot closer than "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life."

Where in the Bible does it say that our salvation depends on realizing that God loves us just the way we are? It seems to say the opposite: "…we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." (2 Eph 2:3). Again, "…you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." (2 Eph 2:12). Or, once more, "On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you once walked, when you lived in them." (Col. 3:6,7).

In other words, when we were apart from Christ, we were under the wrath of God, not His love. And if we think to ourselves that we were never apart from Christ, then we are probably not saved at all, having never experienced what is called repentance.

Today’s preaching, if you can call it that, tries to cozy up to the subject of sin. It stuffs a lie into the skin of the truth to make it look like real linguine, but it is more like lousy linguistics. For instance, it says that sin is "missing the mark" from their study of the Greek. Well, they are definitely off the mark on their Greek. If a word progresses from one meaning to another, these scholars evidently don’t know about it. A study of linguistics, linguine, or something on their part, is badly needed. Sin is not "missing the mark." It is sin. It is transgression of the Law of God. If we don’t know what that law is, or feel that we are loved by God in some personal way apart from any knowledge of the law, then we don’t know about sin. If we don’t know about sin, we don’t know about salvation.

If God loves you, then you will come to know about sin. You will find out what kind of a sinner you really are. You will submit to the teaching on the transgression of the law and it will do you good. If not, then cry out to God for his mercy so He can show you the truth about your condition. The wicked care nothing for the light and will avoid it at any cost, even though they be good little priests doing good deeds in the community and violating children all the while. They are convinced they are loved by God, and so are their dupes. This sort of religious spirit gives Christianity a black eye, or so the devil would like to think. It only really just shows us that the world is full of deluded hypocrites.

If God loves you, then you will come to know that you cannot possibly keep all the demands of the law, and yet He still requires it of you. The only people who know about this are people who have either tried and failed, or people who are so rotten that they know they’re rotten. We’re not talking about children, here. If a child does not know evil, he is the one whom Jesus speaks of when He says, "Of such are the kingdom of God." But I am not talking to children, am I? I am talking to hardened sinners who feel a heartfelt need to justify themselves. Some try to justify themselves by doing exemplary deeds to offset their evil deeds; the moderns just chant to themselves "God loves me no matter what" over and over again.

The Law is like a harsh searchlight that catches us while we are trying to run for cover. There we are, etched against the shadows, grotesque fleeing figures no longer desirous but gargoyles against the shadows, black smudges of recoiling horror. Stripped of our vainglory we now appear as we appear to God, colorless, ugly creatures of darkness not fit for the light. This is no fun. But what was our prayer? Should we not pray that God would reveal to us that which is displeasing to Him so that we might better serve him? We do not want to go backwards, back into the shadows again, but we want the law to do its work and kill us under its light. Then we can be resurrected again into a warm and true love in Christ, a love that appears glorious and brilliant under any light, because the law came by Moses; but the greater light, grace and truth, come through Jesus Christ.

This is the necessity of the cross. Without a wholehearted participation in the cross, there is no salvation. The self-righteous reject such nonsense. This is foolishness to them. They have their love for Jesus and that’s all that’s expected of them, they will tell you. They feel as though they have had or are presently having some religious experience of God’s love and that’s enough. Any more to them is legalism, or fanaticism. These same Christians who go to Casual Chapel will practically excommunicate you if you bring their covetousness to light. There is much talk of the Spirit. But do they know that: no Cross; no Spirit. They long to be seen as spiritual but they as fervently avoid the cross. To them, the cross is for Jesus to bear, and they applaud from the sidelines. They build fancy shrines to the cross, they manufacture temples and basilicas, they drive cars with fishes where triple A decals belong, and they make long prayers, but they have no cross. Their faith is a complicated thing that consists of making reasons to avoid dealing with their covetousness. They speak in tongues, give seminars on how to save the lost, and pay their gardener double on Christmas, but they have no Spirit because they have no cross.

The covetous person feels that God’s wonderful plan for them is to have their world and eat it too. Jesus is sort of a whipping boy who does all the suffering while they admire Him from a safe distance. They are ashamed of their Savior and deaf to their Lord’s commands. If He says to sell all that you have and give it to the poor, they retaliate with Greek, Hebrew and Wall Street infinitives, supposing that gain is godliness. Well, does God love them or not? They live in their wealth and call it meager existence. None of their cars is over 5 years old. They must drive 30,000 miles a year to keep crude oil prices down. They are patriots and saints.

No wonder that God has called the wisdom of this age foolishness. No wonder that He has chosen the foolishness of the message preached to save the elect. The rest trust in uncertain things, like their false assurance of God’s love, or Ford’s latest warranty. The main way to check whether you have false assurance is whether you hate the preaching of the gospel. If you love to hear how God loves you no matter what, then you probably hate what Paul says. He says, "For He will render to every man according to his works; to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality: He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-willed and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness: There will be wrath and fury; there will be tribulation and distress for every person who does evil..." from Romans chapter 2. Yes, the kindness of God leads us to repentance, but we must not for one second think this means that God has become demented and forgotten why he saved us in the first place. We were saved "unto good works" Ephesians 2:10. His love for us can be quite daunting at times, but that is because we are flesh, and He is Spirit.

If you are God’s elect, then he loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. All things will work together for your good. You may not like it, and you may look around at others wondering why they seem to be blessed and you seem to be cursed, but things will still be working to your good. You will still seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, even though it doesn’t net you a new car like your religious neighbors down the street. Maybe you will have trials beset you all around. Maybe you are learning the lesson: Every branch in Me that bears fruit, my heavenly Father purges, prunes, cleans off; so that it may bear more fruit. If not, you will die away, become combustible garden refuse, which is burned in the fire. God does not want this. He wants us to abide in His Son. The suffering that results is proof of the life of Christ that is in us. Because we have him in us, we are hated by the world. Simple. That’s His wonderful plan for our lives. Are we willing to be loved by this God?

Let God love you. It will mean loss for most of us, because we are so used to having way more than we could ever use in ten lifetimes. Does God care if we live in a $500,000 home? I seriously doubt it. Greed stifles God’s love. Greed will take us down. You cannot love money and God. You will come to hate one of them and love the other. If you let God love you, you will love God back. However, if we do not love God, but are just trying to impress him with our imagined good works, then we are accursed. We cannot be righteous before God, nor can we do good works, unless we die in Christ (by being attached to the vine, we are no longer alive to our own ambitions but dead). If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed, said Paul. There is no wonderful plan for that man’s life, but a certain fearful looking forward to judgment, which God will render in flaming vengeance upon His enemies.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be upon you, though thus you must be awakened from slumber.

- Chris Simonson  5/16/2006

There are many opinions floating around about how to run Gospel, Inc., and many of the authors of said opinions have made shipwreck of their respective departments. Oh, sure, they have mounds of paperwork, pie charts and meeting minutes to show they have been doing something, but the issue is Productivity; in the Kingdom, paperwork is no substitute for souls won.

So, the question today is: what is our business plan for success, in such a hostile market?

1. Chiefly, we should always remember to invest in our people, with our time, talent and money, making investments both in their needs and in their passion to sell the company.

2. We should always make every effort to please The Investor, realizing that profits did not consist merely of words and cheap promises.

3. Meet as often as possible, every day if need be, strengthening one another in proper productivity; let us not pretend that one meeting a week will suffice, as some have done in past, whom are now unemployed.

4. Always remember that for every step forward we take, our rival, Lucifer Inc., takes five, spreading their addictive, award-winning message of Wealth & Apathy.

5. Continually warn those enticed by apathy and wealth that the end of such a path is utter bankruptcy, from which there is no return.

6. Be prepared to confront apathy, even if it begins to effect your own co-workers; encourage your team to avoid the bare-minimum, but to be resolved in their commitment and passion for the company in whom they have placed their trust.

7. Consider what the overall objective is: to win souls for the Kingdom and to strengthen your fellow workers. Bearing this in mind, avoid the snare of thinking productivity and growth can only be accomplished by buying larger and larger facilities, but having nothing to show for it.

8. Avoid the 4-Wall, Big Box Mart Mentality; stay busy, stay focused and encourage each other to get out of the office and hit the trade-shows with boldness and bullhorns, always knowing that tomorrow's work plan may be too late.

9. Retirement Investing: never forget that retirement is always a heart-beat away; invest everything you have wisely, that you accrue awards which earn eternal dividends.

10.  Walk confidently by faith, knowing that you've chosen the winning company, that all other corporations will one day be thrown down, permanently indicted along with their corrupt, lazy and apostate business plans.

In short: keep to the GuideBook.

 - Steven

Often, I hear Christians complain that they don't really want to go out on the streets to preach the Gospel, as perhaps it is "not their ministry". But, the fact is, in this day and age, there is a copious amount of ministry you can do without ever leaving home. God has provided enormous opportunities online to preach the Gospel and defend the Faith.

True Christianity, as the Bible defines it, is becoming a thing of the past and sound doctrine is going the way of the Dodo. So, what can you do?

Here are a few suggestions:

There are thousands of discussion forums on the Internet, as well as message boards and chat rooms, in which to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ; prayerfully evaluate what gifting God has given you, by the knowledge of God's Word that you have, and target a group with sound doctrine, patience and Love. For example, one may have a knowledge of Apologetics, due to listening to Walter Martin's 'Maze of Mormonism' sermons, and may feel impressed to preach against such deceiving and diabolical doctrines; I recommend that such individuals log onto LDS forums and chat rooms, and preach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Or, if God has called you to preach to the misguided 'yutes' of America, perhaps you'd want to visit TalkCity, YahooChat, Chat Avenue or even (*wince*) the PaganNetwork. Internet forum categories are vast: occult forums, religious forums, pagan forums, catholic forums, new age forums, theology forums, darwinian forums and many more; some of the many religious forums include The Bible Forum, ThelogyWeb, CrossDaily, BibleDatabase, ChurchUSA and Bible Truth Discussion Forum.

Warning: I do not recommend that believers go to homosexual forums; Christians should not fraternize with those whom are given over and defiled. However, this subject is a great dividing-line to bring up in Bible forums & chats, i.e. "Are homosexuals going to Heaven?" (since we know from 1 Corinthians 6:9 and other Scriptures that they are not.)

Even the sites that call themselves 'Christian' seem to be entrenched with those whom oppose the very Gospel they claim to have faith in. However, this provides an opportunity to stand up for the truth of Christ, knowing that others are viewing these posts and watching, whom are in the valley of decision. Despite being criticized or even reviled, it pays (with eternal reward) to use the Scriptures as a defense, not only for those Christians which are being confused by these wayward doctrines, but also for those blasphemers that oppose the Gospel, whom will be judged accordingly.

Warning: I strongly recommend that wives, before getting on any chat room or forum, whether Christian or not, communicate their desires by asking their husbands first, as not to be seduced by those with smooth tongues and a sweet answer. Often my wife and I get on the Internet as team to preach the Gospel, under my direction and leading. But, this is not for everyone, for some wives are flat-out rebellious, and some husbands are flat-out lazy and apathetic with God's Word; but, we as Christians have no excuse. However, I encourage the men in this, if it is possible, to teach your wives to discern spirits and false doctrine, at the same time washing them in the Word of God.

The Internet is not better than being face to face with someone and communicating the Gospel to them; it is but one more reason not to wallow in spiritual lethargy, to wake from your slumber, and prepare for the evil days ahead by sowing seeds for the Kingdom.

Steven  5/12/2006

( View some of my current and past Debates HERE.)

Once in a great while, the churches may come against abortion together, or some other social issue, but their gospels differ widely and they don’t care about that. To them it doesn’t matter whether their cohorts teach a false gospel that lead most men to destruction of their souls. To them, the real issue is that all life is holy, which cannot be taught from the Scriptures. Witness the unholy union of Mormons, Catholics and evangelicals on this very issue. The reason things are the way they are is because the leaven has practically leavened the whole lump. But we are admonished to purge out the leaven and become a new unleavened bread in Christ. We can’t leave the world or the USA or the body of Christ in order to do it.

Instead, we must perfect holiness in the fear of God individually, then corporately. This is done by obeying the doctrines of the apostles. Paul is especially suited for Gentiles, but Dispensationalism has ruined most of his teaching. If you go to a church that pays no mind to the need for holiness and church discipline along the line of Paul’s teaching, then you will not go very far in Christ. You will probably become cold and listless. But if you find some believers that are like-minded, then you will find strength and comfort in your mutual faith. We cannot recommend a church or a denomination, but it is important to find one that is not loaded with sectarianism. Shouts of "We Baptists!" or "My Church!" or "Our Pastor!" drown out fellowship of the Spirit. In order to serve Christ, you may have to separate yourself from the hard party liners. But in order to find fellowship of the Spirit, you may have to go to their well-funded churches. You may find some that need fellowship or even the gospel (not that we ourselves don’t!). There are many young people who do not know Christ precisely because of the churches’ hypocrisy. The hypocrites whine about tolerance and love, but they practice evil. They begin to attack the true ministers of God’s love by demeaning their gospel, fearful that church attendance may go down, or that if the Spirit gets hold of the congregation, they may lose their stipend, or there may be persecution from the wicked.

Yes, we can come out from among them. Babylon the great will certainly fall, and we will be comforted at her destruction. But we cannot physically leave and go somewhere. We must separate ourselves, as have all courageous men and women throughout church history, by preaching the gospel. If you are really the Father’s, you know what the gospel is. You read your Bible and don’t go for wishy-washy new age interpretations of God’s love. You know that God is to be feared, not patronized. You know that the grace of God in your life is directly proportional to the realization of His wrath upon sinners. You have confidence that no matter how much wrath God has against sin and against sinners, you have come out from among them and you are coming out from among them. You know that all is by faith in Christ and not in a church, a movement, or a pastor/priest.

There is a seal. This is the seal: God knows those who are His, and let everyone who names the Name of Christ depart from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19). If you are of the modern opinion that you are sealed in Christ just because your pastor said so, then this verse means absolutely nothing to you. But if you have examined your faith over and over again to make sure that you believe in the Jesus whom Paul preached and found no cause to correct him (Paul), then you can begin to find assurance from the Holy Spirit. If you have found assurance from the Holy Spirit, then certainly, you must find evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Are you "assured" and yet remain an adulterer? You will not inherit the kingdom if you are an adulterer. Period. Do you find "evidence" in your life but you are a homosexual? Don’t kid yourself any more. It would be better to drop Christianity and know you are going to hell as a result, than to keep on in your false way.

There are many evil things that men do to themselves and to others. But we must come out of that realm. The time is short; our salvation is nearer than when we first believed (Romans 13:11). Paul says to the believer, "You are the temple of the living God." But this does not mean we are the temple of God and that’s it. No, Paul continues by quoting the prophet: "As God has said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people’ ‘Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty’" (2 Cor. 6:16-18).

Chris Simonson  5/11/2006

You may not believe any of this. You have been taught by your church that Jesus loves you and no man can possibly snatch you out of the Father’s hand. But you should take notice of whether you are in the Father’s hand in the first place. Coming to the Father is not a matter of casual ritual like saying the sinner’s prayer. Nor is it a matter of chronic ritualism (like being in the Catholic Church). Having done something in the past, or practicing outward religious acts like lighting candles, does not make you an entrant of the kingdom of God. Salvation through Jesus Christ is a present fact, not a memento to our emotional need at sometime in our past. Nor is it something we aspire to by carrying statues of Mary. If we believe that Jesus is the right man, then we should do what Paul says and come out and be separate. If we do not come out and be separate, maybe the Holy Spirit is not working inside us like we pretend.

God knows those who are His. God sends His Holy Spirit to reassure us of who we are in Christ. However, there are many who think they have the Holy Spirit precisely because they are deaf and blind sinners and can really tell nothing at all about the Spirit. They are perhaps like the gentleman who had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit (he thought) and it was accompanied by lots of tremendous feelings of love, acceptance, speaking in tongues and other cathartic fireworks. Then, two weeks later, he decided to take some mescaline, and lo and behold! the same thing happened, or so he testified. The point here is: we cannot measure our acceptance with God by internal, subjective, manifestations. We must take these internal experiences and measure them against the external written Scriptures, or we become little gods deciding we are loved just the way we are. God resembles us and we are ripe for a fall.

That’s what Paul is trying to get across to the new church at Corinth. He sees a vector for idolatry infecting the assembly. He also sees the Corinthians becoming distant from him by their hardening of heart. He shows them how open his heart is to them, and commends them for taking action against the fornicator that was leavening their church earlier. But there is more to be done. They are admonished to cleanse themselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit. Then Paul launches into the care of the churches. When we become hardened, we become denominational. The sectarian spirit does not come about by division over doctrine so much as self-interest, pride and jealousy. This is a defilement of spirit. Churches will not communicate with one another, except at pastor’s conferences, which are a joke. It is no wonder that the doctrines then become divergent.

Read 2 Corinthians 7, 8 and 9 in light of one church caring for another. The only care that exists in this country is along denominational lines, and it is pride running the show. If any work is done, the pastor has to have his name on it. If evangelism, then it is for each church or denomination. Even para-church ministries, like World Vision, toot their own horn and spend millions on fund-raising (they are actually one of the more responsible practitioners of the social gospel). You certainly don’t hear these ministries putting in a good word for the "other guys." The local churches, the ones that claim that "they’ll know us by our love," have "outreaches" which consist of stealing from one another’s churches. They are the great believers in attracting people to church by sales appeal (or sex appeal, whatever). This merely attracts them away from the church in which they were brought up.

Chris Simonson  5/10/2006

Come Out and Be Separate (2 Corinthians 6 &7) - Part One

Paul interprets the prophecy to mean that we as individuals must not be bound together with unbelievers. Those not interested in becoming holy look for other interpretations and run to Revelation to make up some stories about the end times. Instead of perfecting holiness in the fear of God, they proclaim to know what Babylon is and warn everyone to flee the organized churches, or the United States or whoever has become their target. One cult, the Children of God, got passports and left the United States, which was no loss to us. They now call themselves the Family (from the Family of Love) and practice adultery and fornication to spread the "gospel." Their women lure men by posing as prostitutes for God, thus introducing them to the Family. If you visit their website, you would not know how evil they are. They just talk about Jesus and his love.

Many in the church today have fallen into this kind of mentality. It’s O.K. to divorce your wife and marry the attractive sister over there (as long as she divorces her husband, that is). Or, the way to win souls is "friendship evangelism." Within baby churches like Golgotha Chapel, the fornication and divorce rate is rampant. That’s because they love to preach on love. They hate to talk about holiness in the sense that it means "to separate." Paul says to Timothy that within a great house there are many vessels. We take this to mean the visible church. Paul warns Timothy to separate himself from the unclean vessels within that house.

That’s a pretty big house. In the last two thousand years, we have a church that is represented by everything from the abomination of desolation down to underground churches that are hated by mainstream Christianity. We have huge organizations like the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and the dozens of Protestant denominations. Each one of these sects has within its territory those who are deceivers and Jezebels, who teach their parishioners to fornicate. Sometimes, the entire sect teaches fornication. Witness the homosexual churches and those churches that are pro-homosexual, like the Episcopalian church. They pretend to be loving, tolerant and non-judgmental, but they hate Christ and the holiness of God - you can prove it to yourself if you begin to call them to account for their lifestyles.

Sometimes, in order to come out and be separate, you really must physically leave a particular church. You would have to leave the Family, for instance, in order to obey the command. This is almost true of the Catholic Church. She teaches so much against the true religion of Christ that it would be a miracle to stay on and remain a believer. You would have to be a missionary to them, or so ignorant as to be forgiven, in order to not provoke the wrath of God. Anyone who stays with the Episcopalian church had better be making a lot of noise against her fornications. All churches hate to be admonished. If you do not admonish them, however, then you become a partaker of her judgments. If you just sit there and smile, you too will be deceived and lose your faith. You will be like the blind being led by the blind. You may get so weird that a cult like the Family will snatch you up and bind you hand and foot to destruction.

Chris Simonson  5/09/2006

"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24

There are many modern 'Christians' that espouse, whether openly or secretly, in lifestyle or in word, that the road to Heaven is paved with gold. Most modern 'Christian' fellowships have continued this fantasy by making sure that every possible level of comfort is achieved for their parishioners: from the ambient temperature of the assembly hall, to the perfect pitch of the singers; from the eye-pleasing decor, to the pleasant, floral scents in the bathrooms; from the fresh baked goods and hot coffee, to the artistic Sunday services for children... all the way to the smooth speech of the pastor, whom starts each sermon with a joke and finishes with a penitent smile.

But, the Truth is, the way to Heaven is the Via Dolorosa, the road of suffering. As Jesus said, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. This cross is not felicitous for the apathetic, modern "Christian": it bears many splinters and weighs heavily upon the shoulders of the flesh; it is cumbersome and is seen by many and reproached by many. The road of suffering is not pleasing and is full of condemnation. It is a road on which one denies himself of earthly pleasures, cutting off whatever gets in the way of serving Christ. The road is life-long and arduous, and is paved with the rocks of the Earth.

The road of suffering ends at Golgotha, where Christ meets us, bearing our sin and death for us, giving us eternal life in the Kingdom of God, where the roads are indeed paved with the purest gold. On that Day, we shall be reconciled to God once and for all, and those whom brought shame and reproach to the name of Christ shall be judged. For, those whom chose the broad, golden road of earthly ease and comfort, they shall suffer for Eternity in outer darkness where Jesus said "there is weeping and gnashing of teeth", because they were ashamed of Jesus and His Gospel.

Again, which road are you on?

Steven  5/08/2006

Let’s sail into that harbor and see if we can recognize the place. We notice first of all that the waters are very still. That is because there is no wind, not the slightest breeze. We must row into dock, because the sails here are useless. As we near shore, we notice the stillness of the whole landscape. No people. No birds. Nothing is moving; nothing is alive. But it is a very pretty scene. There are happy-looking cottages along happy-looking streets. The fences are newly painted and the flowers growing against them are perfect with no signs of fading. Everything looks new and fresh. But there are no men going about their business, no wives calling to them as they leave for work. There are no children playing. Only silence.. Then, finally, we see one little girl sitting on a porch, looking down a sidewalk.

We did not notice her at first because she is not moving. She does not respond to our calls from shore. Soon, we are overcome with sadness. We cannot stop crying and mourning. The sadness is in the very air we breathe. We understand this is a place where one comes to grieve past losses. Every time there is a loss, every time there is a hurt, every time the Good is trampled, this is the place that absorbs that grief. This place has been here since the day the man she loved said, “Little girl, I’m not your daddy.”

Let us now look up from that place into the heavens. We see Him who is Good looking down. We hear Him say, “Remove it from your heart!” What does He mean? This is a cherished place, known only to the little girl. This is her place of refuge and no other’s. How could the Good One tell her (or us) to remove it? Our tears flow down and join the waters of that harbor and the water is bittersweet. Oh, bitter memories do not depart! Let me mourn and find solace in my secret place! No others can know it. No others will hurt me here.

The One who is Good continues, “These waters cause Death. I give to you the water of Life, but you must forsake this harbor and come to my port where all ships are not only safe, but they are useful to Me. My harbor is full of men and women who know that Obedience is Love and much commerce is done there. But you must forsake the Harbor of Sorrow that Leads to Death.”

He shows us the Harbor of Life. We notice that there is plenty of sorrow and suffering in this harbor. Men are hateful; husbands unjustly treat women. Women are full of self-ambition and fight their husbands’ wills. We even see children disobedient to their parents. Bad things happen in this harbor. As though we are seeing this all through the little girl’s eyes, we ask Him to whom this harbor belongs “Why, in the Harbor of Life, is there so much pain and suffering, so much hurtful disobedience, when You have said that these are men and women who know that Obedience is Love? There is much sorrow here, the type of sorrow that we (looking through the little girl’s eyes) are not familiar with. It is very horrible!”

He says in return, “Yes, there is sorrow everywhere, but it is good sorrow. The other name of this haven is the Harbor of Sorrow that Leads to Life. You must take my word for it. You must take it by faith. Look now upon the Crucified One who stands at the entrance to this harbor. You see nothing but pain and sorrow on that tortured face. Listen to Him as he tells you that you may pass into this harbor only if you are willing to partake of His pain and sorrow.”

But as you look into that face of pain, you see the eyes are not just full of pain. They are full of love and compassion. They are full of the Good One’s Love. “This is where you will find the Good and this is where you will find Love and nowhere else,” He says. “Stop looking in other places. You have found your cure for sorrow in My Son.”

Many years ago, a man who found the Good One in suffering and sorrow wrote some words to those in the harbor of the Good One. His name on this earth was Paul. He is all grown up now and gone to heaven, where he is no doubt running through the fields of the Lord even as we ponder these things! Paul wrote: “If I made you sad with my letter, I don’t regret it, although I did regret it then. I see that the letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while. Now I’m happy - not because you had such sorrow - because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you were sorrowful in a good way; thus we did not hurt you in any way. For having sorrow in a godly way results in repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets. But the sorrow of the world produces death.” 1 Cor. 7:8-10.

Even before Paul was one called Isaiah. He spoke of the One who was to come and take away our worldly sorrow and mourning. He said of Him: “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He himself bore, and our sorrows He carried…” Isaiah 53:3-4. He spoke of Jesus who is the Crucified One.

Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my load is light.” “He who seeks to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” “If anyone wishes to to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.”

Yes, there is plenty of sorrow and pain in the Harbor of Sorrow that Leads to Life, but there is also plenty of life and love! It is the way of salvation and the way of righteousness. Let us therefore leave behind those things that hinder us and set sail for the shores of salvation.

Chris Simonson  5/05/2006

A six-year old girl waits anxiously for her father. For some days now, he has not been home. He has been her best friend for the last couple of years. She is innocent, or nearly so. Her world is one that knows only good of her father. He has been there to share in this world and support it. She is a cute little giggly girl and her father has been the source of much of her happiness. When she has hurt, he has kissed her and comforted her and taken care of her hurts. He has been the shield between her world, Innocence, and the other world called Reality. Her little world is full of happy things. Each flower, each blade of grass, even an ant crawling along in the sun, brings joy to her and this brings much happiness and hope to her father. The future looks bright for the little girl, but daddy is not home.

Suddenly, she hears something. Her mother is outside, yelling something. Is that her daddy’s voice? Yes!!! It says, “At least let me see her one last time, for God’s sake!”

He and her mommy have been angry with one another lately, but that is always the way it has been. But she thinks excitedly, I must go see my daddy! She runs out of the house and sure enough, that’s his car in the street. Oh, happy day, he’s back! Down the sidewalk she runs, past her angry mother who warns her not to go, and she runs out to the father she knows will make it all better. But as she runs up to his window, he does not get out of the car. The engine is still running. There are tears running down his cheeks. Her mother’s voice fades into the background. Daddy, oh daddy, why don’t you get out of the car and smile at me and take me up in your arms and why do you not kiss me? Why do you not smile? Innocence does not know what is coming.

“Daddy, come on, let’s go play!” she says.

All he says, however, is “Little girl, I’m not your daddy…” and then drives away.

As he drives off, she is left standing there in an impossible world. Yes, her momma is still there, yelling at her to get out of the street, but No, how can this be? The Good, the Innocence of her little world are leaving in the form of a car with a man in it turning the corner down the street, never to be the same again.

She doesn’t know all of this, of course. She is but a little girl. But as the years go by, she finds out. She grows into a healthy, beautiful young lady, much adored by the boys who take her mind off her loss. But soon her Innocence has been stripped from her. She lives a life of pleasure that knows only self-gratification. But she still remembers the Good and tries to do it. She has actually met the Good One Himself when she was quite young and recognized Him as such. She wants to be good herself, but something seems to block the way. She finds herself doing evil and enjoying it, even though her conscience bothers her.

She meets a young man who claims to know the Good One and she marries him. Her hope is that her husband will be able to show her the goodness of the Good One and restore her to a right relationship with Him. However, there is something very wrong. Her husband seems to add to her burden of guilt. He adds to her hurt, her deep hurt. He strips her now of her dignity, the only remaining thing she had left. He does not love her, but actually goes out of his way to hate her. This she assumes must be the case, or else he would surely heal her. His wounds are unbearable. She sinks into despair. Her heart is breaking. When will the Good come? She still tries to do the good, but something is still blocking the way. She assumes it is her husband.

What she doesn’t know is that deep within her is a secret place that harbors her own destruction. It is a place that she nourishes and cherishes, not knowing it is evil, nor how its deadly influence shadows her life... Continued in part Two

Chris Simonson  5/04/2006

The Church, the Body of Christ is made up of all those whom have professed Christ as Lord and obey His commands, men, women and children. I am not against men, women and children meeting together in Christ, but the emphasis cannot be placed upon that as the official meeting of The Church, the men meeting together, as spoken of in Hebrews 10:19-25, lest we move away from the pattern of the Scriptures into sectarian traditions and modern feminism.

Even some women, led by the spirit of feminism, understand the power of this regular meeting, and they make sure that they meet once a week, encouraging this over the pulpit; they are serious about attending for at least 2 or 3 hours at a time so they can teach the husband's wives doctrine. Just a thought.

Steven  5/03/2006

Which is More Important: the Brethren Meeting Together, or our Sunday Service?

... and, which can be based upon the Scriptures as more important? Do we just take lightly the meeting together of the Brethren as if it is an extra-curricular ‘church’ activity? For, which is better: feeding a starving man once a month, or teaching him to cultivate his own crops? Both are beneficial, but one is merely a welfare program while the other truly has the man’s interests in mind.

Do we build a doghouse with the Brethren, yet contrive to erect a massive house on Sundays, with the women and children. If you were to offer a banquet to be held on Sunday, and ask “Which of you has a magnificent dwelling to offer as a place for this lovely banquet", you would most likely see many a hand raising. But if you were to ask, “Whom has a home where the Brethren can meet once a week?” there would be naught but eerie silence, as we have seen.

I believe God is looking for a few, good men to edify the Body of Christ and to preach His Gospel. Soldiers would not be effective in the battlefield if they hardly ever trained together as a unit. Last time I looked, most soldiers don’t have their wife and children with them on the training field, nor do they bring them into battle. Any good marine will tell you he has another marine there to check his pack and weapon. And, yes, if one has not noticed the roar of cannon, we are in a battle; the enemy has made a point to target the authority of the Body of Christ, the Brethren; when we meet together, we should meet as if we are at war.

God, through His Word, has sent us draft notices and has warned us against the over-inflated, long-haired, lukewarm, hippie-dippy, feminized, draft-dodgers. Jesus spent time teaching and preaching to the multitudes, but He revealed doctrine to and had kinship with the 12 disciples, His Brethren, when He and they were assembled together. Likewise, Christ has kinship with us and reveals His Word to us, when we meet together as Brethren; as David said in Psalms 133, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for  brethren to dwell together in unity!  2. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 3.As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, Even life for evermore.”

Steven  5/02/2006

Recently, I went on a Pilgrimage of sorts to different churches, dropping off information flyers about our upcoming gospel-preaching outreach to the 2006 Jazz Jubilee. I ran across a well-known but smaller church in a quaint, foothill town. The pastor was out of town but I managed to catch one of the elders as he was about to leave. I handed him the flyer and communicated to him that we are looking for a few, good Brethren to come out and preach with us at the event, and if they could not find Brethren to come out with us, to pray for our ongoing Saturday Night preaching as well as the Jazz Jubilee outreach.

The conversation eventually directed towards the church building itself. The elder looked at me and said:

"Well, it's for sale. You wanna buy it?" 

I said that I did not need a church building but that it was a good idea to sell, move into home-churches and give the money to those in need. The elder looked down and chuckled, as if it was a joke.

"Well...", he said, "We're actually trying to get more of a high profile to attract more people."

When did the Body of Christ decide it was in the business of attaining a "higher profile"? And, where in the Scriptures do you find The Church behaving so: buying properties so they can turn around and sell and get bigger and bigger places of meeting?

Why not take that same money and have the church split into various home-groups in their local areas, set men over those groups, and have the pastor rotate to these groups each week? When tithes are collected, let the money go to the preaching of the Gospel and brethren and their families whom are in need, here and around the world.

But, instead we have this mentality of "We MUST take our half-million dollars and build a 1.5 million dollar facility, go into debt, all to the end of gaining a higher profile, so that we can attract more parishioners and have more of the same."

Church: when are we going to repent of this decadent covetousness and stop making gain of the sheep?

Steven  5/01/2006