Walking With God Chapter I, Part IV

Greetings folks:

Last week I went over the different power sources. Now I’m going to go over how each source orients us into walking with God. Let me just start by saying that these power sources don’t necessarily determine whether or not we go to Heaven, they just determine how we are growing in relation to God and how we are growing spiritually (see next unit). These are just different power sources. There’s one power source left over, and THAT one may be determinant of Salvation, but I’m not going to discuss that one.

Remember when I said that both forms of humanism use certain techniques to justify behavior patterns? Well if you look at the behavior pattern, you’ll find the power source. Let’s take a look.

In secular humanism, remember that God has been removed from the equation and that people are trying to fix their flaws in an earthly system. When this doesn’t work, they get depressed and move into circles that justify their behavior patterns. Think about the man who is fussing with his wife. They are both saved but the wife wants him to step up in his masculinity and he’s shrinking away from the task. He’ll find comfort in the arms of a group that will tell him his wife is wrong, or he’ll just go find himself an extramarital affair. But that would be the actions to justify behavior patterns…not necessarily the behavior patterns. This man (not an actual man) is clearly running away from God’s Call to him as a husband/spiritual household leader to justify the things he’s not doing right (in his mind). And once he gets in deep with his other sources, he’ll find sources to justify that behavior. It’s a very interesting application of the fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). Spirit and flesh can’t be in the same place; they will clash. This is the choice that the flesh flees from the Spirit (of God) and seeks to do it’s own thing. The prime flaw in this is that people operating out of this power source will be temporal, and thus, always have some sort of worry or “not-peace”.

The Kingdom says that we are no good and we need a Savior (thank God we have one [John 3:16-18], amIrite?]). I’m doing this one first because if you asked someone in the third power source, they’d tell you Kingdom (although it’d be a throwed idea of the “Kingdom”). In this idea, all things come from God. And there’s an innate set of understandings that (1) God loves us no matter what (2) He’s the best thing for us and (3) There is no greater source of authority than Him. The Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Long-Suffering, Kindness, Meekness, Self-Control (Galatians 5:22-23)…all these are within God’s Standards. Spirit and flesh clash…and this is the choice that involves the Spirit booting fleshly things out. This is where that Peace of God (Philippians 4:7) comes over us and supercedes all understanding (like humanism). There’s an innate genuineness in the Kingdom Power Source. While the King is perfect, the Kingdom itself is eternally working toward His Ideal Model but you could take any snapshot in time and see flaws. The primary difference between this and the secular humanism is that submission to God leads to the “fixing” of the flaws (which themselves play a role in our need for a Savior both from damnation and from ourselves [Philippians 2:12]).

Religious humanism is arguably the most complex of the three power sources. Why? Because it talks about God. Well, sort of. There’s nothing about the God of the Bible necessarily because God is the First and the Last and there is no other God beside him (Isaiah 43:10, 44:6). And if we have an immutable God of the Bible, a God that can change to justify behavior patterns is a false God. God has a set of Standards as laid out in Exodus 20:4-18, but there are also a set of essential doctrines (later study) that provide boundaries for the Kingdom and who God is. Again, people are justifying their behavior patterns, but they throw a God on it to divinate them. The issue with this is, is that these are the same people going out and evangelizing into false faith systems and leave the lost with more question marks than they had before. Or, they leave them with exclamation points. How? By using the Word to wound as opposed to uplift and teach (Galatians 6:1, Ephesians 4:29, 2 Timothy 3:16-17). This disenfranchises folks to anything with “God” attached to it and drives them into secular humanism or some other religious humanism that justifies their behavior pattern.

Walking With God Chapter I, Part III

This week we get back on track with walking with God…and more specifically, different types of power sources. I want to explain some things first though.

First off, why is the knowledge of different power sources important?

1) We have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:15-16). This essentially means that God has given us the ability (although it has to be grown into) to discern all things (including people around us). Why do we want to do this? When we figure out what’s going on we can show them the love, teaching, and reproof necessary specific to them, to show God to them so that God may be glorified and the person be…encouraged.
2) Piggybacking off of number 1, all things that they do will flow from the power source they come from. Think about it. The fruit (or works) of the flesh are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders,[drunkenness, revelries, and the like (Galatians 5:19-21, KJV) while the fruit (or works) of the Spirit love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). See the stark contrast between Spirit and flesh?

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Why human reasoning? Because all those things seem pretty humanistic when we think about it. Every time someone in the Bible (or throughout history) was left to their own devices some sort of humanism came up. Well there are two essential kinds of human reasoning, and they are as follows:

Secular humanism: Secular humanism is a mindset of human reasoning that disallows God to show up in the business. They don’t desire God, but view humanity as “basically good” but has to work up a few flaws. What’s the flaw in this system? When someone goes back and works through the same set of flaws over and over again in humanism, they find themselves “broken” and immediately go into circles that would lead them to justify their behavior or allow them to blend in or fit in.

Religious humanism: Religious humanism is much different (and more dangerous than) secular humanism in that many operating out of religious humanism think they are connected to God. Based on that trip to the judgment seat after we die (Hebrews 9:27), that’s going to be a rude awakening for these folks. Why? Because religious humanists take a “god”, any “god”, and they use this “god” to justify their behavior patterns (to again say they are “basically good”). God has a set of Standards (Exodus 20:4-18, the Ten Commandments) and Matthew 22:37-39, but yet we can never meet them (Romans 3:23, Romans 7:7, 1 John 1:8-10). We must rather make our behavior submit to God, as opposed to the other way around…and have the appropriate God as represented by His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). In other words, the Word is designed to both uplift AND convict.

Godliness/The Spirit/Kingdom: The Kingdom says that humanity is no good and needs a Savior. It also says that those who received this Savior (Jesus Christ) will have everlasting life and have a guarantee at the judgment seat (John 3:16, Ephesians 1:13-14). The Law (see above) shows us how much of a “joke” we are next to God’s Standards. Even Adam, who had direct fellowship with God, couldn’t maintain his dominion over all things around him (this was the first commission Genesis 1:28-29, and the first commission to have self-control, Genesis 2:16-17). So thanks to Adam, we shall surely die…unless we get some Christ in our lives and plug into the Power.

Next week I will discuss how the different power sources orient us next to walking with God. Have a good week folks!!

Walking With God, Chapter I Part II

This week I want to go into 4 (not all the) really base fundamentals of our spiritual walk...

First of all….what is the spiritual walk? Well to put it simply, it is the day-in and day-out activities we have with God…whether it be us spending altar time with Him (altar time to be discussed later), prayer, fellowship with Him, fellowship in general, or anything we do that we freely allow God’s Order and Standards to penetrate our minds and shape our imagery, and thus, our behavior patterns. So how do you keep a solid spiritual walk? Later units will discuss more rote details of this process, but here are the four basic fundamentals.

1) We must know precisely where we are in our walk. The Word of God is designed to uplift and convict. If it’s only doing one or the other then we must look deeper into ourselves. The purpose of doing this is to know the very nature of our fellowship with God and get the most out of it. We have to freely let this be guided by God based on His Word (for example, the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20, or Christ’s Commandment in Matthew 22:37 [see previous unit about godly love]). Unless we comprehensively know both our strengths and our weaknesses, we cannot truly edify the Body and know our role in the Kingdom. Therefore we must examine ourselves at the time of fellowship, and there is no greater (as in more intimate) fellowship with God than Communion, which gives us the very charge to make this examination. (Ref: 1 Corinthians 11:27-32)

2) Know that whatever we do, it’s not enough. We inherited our default nature and bodies from the 1st Adam. We all know how that piece turned out…he was so focused on what God had given him (Bone of my bone flesh of my flesh anyone?) that he lost sight of what God wanted him to do. Genesis 3 God sets out the first punishment for sin after the first sin has been committed. And taking a closer look at the Bible, EVERY “great figure” fell (but Christ). Abraham (went into his concubine), Moses (lost his faith), David (slept with another man’s wife), Solomon (had a harem)…and the list goes on. Christ walked the ONLY sinless walk in recorded history, which makes sense because he’s God the Son. The rest of us? Well Romans 3:23 says we all have sinned and have fallen short. So no matter what, so long as we inhabit our physical bodies our PRACTICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS says “We a joke and we need Jesus”.

3) Know that it’s “okay”. No God doesn’t want you to sin. But He knows it’s going to happen…probably a lot. Our God is a long suffering God and gave us His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Salvation comes by Grace through Faith in Christ (John 3:16-18). We shouldn’t be sinning but even if we do, we have a mechanism of forgiveness to re-establish fellowship (1 John 1:9, to be discussed in several weeks). However, beating ourselves us is just as deceptive as the sin that brought us to that point. Romans 8:1 explains that there is no condemnation for members of the body (those in Christ Jesus). So we shouldn’t sweat that we sinned beyond comprehensively examining the sin and putting it and the cares that brought us to it to God. And thus we shall receive the power to defeat our iniquity by getting empowered by the Spirit (Romans 8, Galatians 5:22-23, Philippians 4:8)

4) Seek out God for everything that we do. Have you ever heard that term “What would Jesus do?” As cliché as it sounds, that should be our default setting. It clears up a lot of our insecurity and gives us a lot of insight. God is a faithful God and He gives grace and knowledge to those who genuinely seek Him out (Psalm 119:1-40). The very charge itself made by Christ is to seek out the Kingdom and its righteousness. (Matthew 6:33). A similar charge is to let our let so shine (Matthew 5:16) As any given Kingdom is a representation of the King, this is how we get close to the King.

Next week I'm going to talk about different power sources. Have a good week, and pardon the late send!

Walking With God, Chapter I Part I

I will start off with just with a brief introduction. Do you know what it means to be a powerful and productive believer? More important, did you know that this is what God wants for us all? Did you know that God wants us all to produce after Himself How do I figure? Let me show you.

There are two great commissions that God discusses in the very first chapter of the Bible. To go out and do two things: subdue/take dominion, and to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). God is the wisest thing He knows, and as we already discussed, God is love. So God loves us enough in order to give us these things that He knows in order so that we reflect His Image (Hebrews 1:3) and Likeness (Galatians 5:22-23). However, in order to do these things we must walk with God and defeat the things in our business that separate us from Him.

If we take a look at 1st and 2nd Corinthians, as well as many of the epistles, Paul takes a deeper look at the mechanism of things that separate us from God….you know, sin. However, we sin because our belief is not fortified in Him. Why do I say that? Because Philippians 4:6-7 tells us so. When we worry, we lose security (faith) in Him, so that leads us to sin, but when we go to seek Him out and defer the totality of our business to Him, then we get that peace that empowers us to go do whatever it is we need to do (Philippians 4:13). Let me just take a moment to give you a bit of a nugget to munch on. When reading Phi 4:13 in the amplified version, it says that my sufficiency is in the sufficiency of Christ (paraphrase).

Check it out on www.biblegateway.com if you don’t have access to an AMP Bible. It’s some good stuff to know that Christ is all you need.

The Duck Pond: A long overdue post.

Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)

We've all heard this verse right? No problem. It's a great verse that we should default ourselves to everyday.

Speaking of everyday,

Matthew 6:11-12: Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And what to do everyday?

1 Timothy 6:17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy
So seek ye first the Kingdom and it's righteousness , go get DAILY bread, and God gives us what we need to enjoy Him.

Everyone got it? Good.

"But Professor, there's no commentary!!!"

Shush I'm coming to it. I had to throw some Scripture out there, some of which I've used before, to set this one up. Now roll with me for a moment here.

A few months back I had a friend talk to me about a guy she was interested in. She was concerned about the direction of where it was going. A legitimate concern. And I thought about a duck pond where she was living, and this is what I said to her:

"You see a duck pond. You like the duck. The duck entertains you. It pleases you. It's fun. You're having a good time watching the duck. But if you mess around worrying about 'Where is the duck going?' or 'Is the duck hungry?' or 'Is the duck looking for its baby ducklings?' or 'Where will the duck be in a day/week/month/2 months/year?', you KILL your experience by messing around worrying about it. So sit back, enjoy the duck, and get your nature on."

**I am not telling people to date ducks or fornicate with them (or other people)**

Matthew 6:34: Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (ESV)

So today's issues are enough to be troubled about eh? Have YOU ever been in a courtship or relationship worried about what tomorrow will bring in it? No answers please, just think about it.

Philippians 4:6-7: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

And let's not forget Psalm 23:1 "The LORD is my shepherd I shalt not want." and Psalm 27:1 "The LORD is my light and my salvation; of WHOM shall I be afraid?"

Take "whom" and add "or what" to those verses. So where am I going with this? Well these concepts are not lost in any aspect of your life, but in courting/dating, it's best to not worry about tomorrow at the cost of today.

But Professor, what if the "duck" and I get along VERY well? I want to plan for tomorrow, right?
Deferring to God, yes. In your humanism? No.

Why? Because God's Comprehension is better than ours and He knows tomorrow today. He'll let you know what you need to know. But don't WORRY about it.

Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (ESV)

But if you wanna know something and don't know what to do, first you must seek the Kindgom (Matthew 6:33), set your mind on things above where Christ is at the right hand of God (not earthly things (Colossians 3:1-2), and if you don't know something still...

Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. (ESV)

God will give you direction toward what He wants you to do with that "duck" just like everything else in your business. Remember, God created both you AND your "duck" and He has the best thing for each of you.

The next section unit will talk about what happens when you DON'T plug into this model...and what you should do when you figure out that you aren't plugged in. Hope this helped! :)

A Solid Godly Church: What Do YOU Expect church to do for YOU?

What do you expect church to do for you? Is there an expectation level?

Remember when I talked about spiritual leadership? One of the requirements I mentioned was this:

2) Make sure the ministry message drives congregation to get God for themselves and is serious about doing it, and making sure that he doesn’t, either deliberately or accidentally, put himself on the throne reserved for Christ). (Genesis 2:26 (God’s default Model) Matthew 6:6-12, 33-34; Colossians 1:28)

Do you want God for yourself? No answers please…just think about how much you want God.

A while back in church we talked about in Deuterotomy 6:1-7 and how it applies to our Biblical Reasoning to lead our families. I’m going to put a slightly different spin on verse 1 (obey God’s Commandments) and verse 5 (love Him with everything that you have). Well how do we do that? Why do we do that?

First, the how: By sowing to the Spirit. When we get saved we get the mind of Christ and the sealing of the Spirit. We get it and it protects us from eternal damnation, but it also gives us the tools to grow in Him. This will be evidenced with us giving less of our fleshly nature (Galatians 5:19-21) and more of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Our good works grow so that we can get what we need to represent and abound in Him.

Now, the why: Remember that John F. Kennedy quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”? Well the same thing applies. What we can do for the Kingdom is grow in Him so that his Image and Likeness be spread and we are the most powerful thing in any given situation we land in. (Genesis 1:28).

And on this day, I pray each of you follow Him so that He can grow you up for what He has planned for you.

A Solid Godly Church: Why do YOU go to church?

Greetings folks:

First of all, we will not forget. Take a little time out to thank God for the perspective you gained for 09/11/2001, as well as Jesus taking care of any overhanging loose ends when He returns. He will serve justice to all, and His Justice, no one can subvert.

Now that I’ve said that, I want you to think about something regarding our unit. Why do you go to church? I’ll wait….

Matthew 22:37-40 “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Think about verse 40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Do you love God? Rhetorical question. If you love Him, obey His commandments, and all

“But Professor, it’s not stated in the 10 Commandments that we should go to church every Sunday.”

Ah, yes, but they do state core basics we need to live off of to avoid sin, grow spiritually, and get closer to Him.

While God is greater than even his Church, church is the primary place where you learn these things (see entries on church leadership and hierarchy). Not necessarily your church, but we should desire our church to give this kind of love and grow in it so that we may keep His Commandments. Be sure to check yourselves though (1 Corinthians 11:28), and make sure you have genuine motives on going to church.

Romans 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

If you fail to be genuine in your love and your faith when you go to church, if you don’t have the faith that you will get something from God that will better equip you to serve Him, then you need to roll out of where you are and seek Him directly, or repent for how you feel, because you’re wasting your time going to church, if the love and faith are not there. Have a good one folks!