“And thou…shalt be brought down to hell…  (Matthew 11)

Hell is more than a swear word.  Hell is more than a place one tells others to go and not mean it.  Hell is not a place where sinners will get together and enjoy warm beers and smoke cigarettes. Hell is not a place where only “bad” persons go.  Many good persons (human standards) will also go to Hell.  Yes, my Reader, the cliched sweet little old lady down the street will go to Hell. Yes, children that know the difference between good and bad and are at the age of accountability will go to Hell.  What is that age?  That age, methinks, is different for everyone.

A well known person died recently. This person was a very good person, again, by human standards.  This person was very smart and very wise.  Many smart and wise persons, in their own right, would seek his councel.  This person seemed to always have the answer.  Politically, he was independently, right leaning. Religiously, he believed in God, but not in the Son of God. A tv station memorialized him over the course of the day and had a special on in the evening.

Reader, this is a man that I, like so many others enjoyed each week night. I enjoyed the day long memorial. I laughed at his humour, dry wit, and deadpan and I was sad again, and I thought about this man.  Reader, for all the good this man has done for so very, very, many persons, he failed to entrust his life, his person, spirit, soul, and body to Christ and to be saved. He failed to entrust his eternal future to Christ. And that is the real reason I mourn.

This good and even great man (By human Standards) entrusted his finances to an accountant in life. This good man entrusted his goods and possessions to a lawyer in life. This man entrusted his body and well-being to physicians in life. This man entrusted many things to many persons in life but he did not entrust his eternal soul to Christ.

Reader, In terms of time and space, this earth, this planet is nothing. But Hell, on the other hand, is eternal and forever. How often do you, reader, hear someone say, or you yourself say, “Time is flying by so quickly.” The answer is all the time.  I would venture to say, when one enters Hell, time stops. Time stops because time stops.  Heaven and Hell are outside time. Heaven and Hell are in the eternal dimension. Heaven and Hell know nothing of time. Heaven and Hell know nothing of being on time, being early, or being late. In Heaven and in Hell time is a non-entity. There is no Father Time there or here, for that matter. Only Father God.

The count down to your eternity has started.  It began at your birth or in truth at your conception. The clock is ticking, it always has been. Your entry into eternity is nearing, it is always nearing, it always has been.  Eternity has it’s sight set upon you at every nano-second, there is never a time, no matter how small, eternity does not have you in it’s sight. You do not know when you will enter eternity, but reader, you know you will.  A person reading this article could fall into eternity before finishing. One never knows.

Life and time is a great ocean and eternity is a great white shark. You do not see it, but it sees you.  It most likely will not come at you from the right or the left or from the front or the back, no, eternity will come from beneath and it will take you where you do not want to go and you will have no say in the matter, no say at all. This is the eternity all will experience if they know not Christ, If any man love not the Lord Jesus, s/he will be damned. If anyone trust not Christ, they are condemned to Hell, If any person seek not to obey Christ, Hell shall reach up and take that person at any moment.

One reason religion is not a welcomed topic of discussion is the reality of Hell.  Some may say, differences in interpretation is the problem.  That’s not it because usually one party knows the Scriptures and the other party does not, the latter party has no interpretation. They only know what they have been told and they care not to research or investigate the Word for themselves. The reason persons shy or run a way from religious topics is because it usually ends up on eternity.

I studied Jiu Jitsu.  I noticed that most fights, street fights, end up on the ground. With that observation, I thought Jiu Jitsu would serve well as it is a sysyem that fights standing up AND on the ground.  I write that in order to show the same thing happens in religious conversations. We have observed that no matter where a religious discussion begins, it always ends up on eternity or in other words, Heaven and Hell. With that observation, let us see why it does and why it is so volatile a topic.

We have all heard the term, “logical end.” When discussing religion, the logical end is eternity or Heaven and Hell. Normally, the reason the topic is brought up is because there are two (2) sides in the extended family. One (1) is saved and is loved by and loves the Lord. The other side is lost and falling to pieces. This seems to be true in most families. Therefore, the point of the topic being brought up and due to logic, the topic will end up on Heaven and Hell.

Persons who are not saved do not want to talk about Hell, because at their core, they are scared of this place.  They try to escape the probability of going to Hell by making it a by word, “What the ….!”  “Why the ….”  “Go to ….”  “What in ….”  etc.  In time Hell is merely a by word and not a destination.

Another reason persons do not want to talk about Hell is deceased family members. For a person to sit down, listen to the Gospel and then act upon what they have heard (Sin, Self Christ’s Life, Christ’s Death, Christ’s Resurrection, Repentance, and Belief, Love, Trust, and Obedience), not only are they being saved, they are confessing and coming to a reality that loved ones in the past are in Hell. That is A LOT to take in.

Persons avoid the topic of religion because they know they are being confronted with their mortality and reality that they will be judged.

Reader, Reader, Reader,
If you know not Christ as your very own Lord and Saviour, you are in dire straights. Your life could end at any time.  Look back, beloved, Look back at the many time you….you could have died or been killed.  Were those time scheduled or did they happen out of no where? They happened out of no where and in the future when danger comes your way, it will not be scheduled and it may be the last time you come to the brink of death.  Reader, you have an appointent with death. you will not be early, you will not be late, you will be right on time. Reader, you live today because God allows you to live today. There is no other reason you are alive today.

Yes, your cardio may be great, you might be in the best shape of your life. But it is an angry God who allows you to live…your heart is in His Hand.  As Jonathan Edwards said, You are a spider hanging on a line over the pit of Hell at this very moment…what if God chose to simply let go of you for a mere second?  What would happen to you?  You would fall…fall…fall…fall…………… all the way……………to eternal torment, where your conscience will never give you a moments rest…..”why did i not just bow the knee to His Lordship…why?….why?…why?” You will ponder that thought forever.

Hell is described as a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth or crying and grinding your teeth from either anger or pain or both. Hell is a place where the smoke of your torment, your torment, reader…your torment rises up and up. Hell is described as “outer darkness.”  Reader, Hell is no party.  Hell is a place of utter lonliness.  Hell is a place where the demons that have been restrained, will be restrained no more. It seems to me and I am not dogmatic on this, but it seems to me that the only relief demons will have is being allowed to tear and rip at you.

Hell is a place that experiences God’s mercies no more. Air, water, food, shelter, the most basic means of “normal” will be gone but not forgotten. The thirst will be endless, the hunger will be endless, there will be no air to grasp at. The sense of suffocation will be endless.

And the worst part is you will always be at the beginning of your just punishment. The second worst part, it never ends for there be no end to eternity.

Reader, Reader, Reader, RUN, Run, Run to Christ call upon Him NOW. Tell Him you will repent and you do repent of all your sin and of all that has offended HIM.  Tell Him your Only plea is Christ and His Sacrifice. Tell Him you will submit yourself to His Ways, His Words, And His Works.   DO IT NOW.

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“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…”  (Revelation 14)

“And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  (Philippians 2)

If you know me, you will know I do not like the celebrity awards shows.  These shows offs compare themselves with themselves and compare themselves among themselves, which Paul says, is unwise or to use another word, foolishness. These extravaganzas are the epitomy of this wicked world. These persons are dressed to the stars and the “lights, the cameras, and the action” are all present to glorify the persons of the hour. The celebrated persons bask in the glory and say the dumbest things.

Barbra Streisand: “I would like to thank the little people.”  Sally Field: “You like me, you really do like me.” But on occasion you see something that is surprising, Marlon Brando declining his Academy Award because he was not in competition with the other nominated actors. His thought was each actor would have to play the same part in a movie for it to be a contest. The irony is: all that glamour, that pomp and circumstance is, all of the persons involved, including the actors, are all “little people.” When compared to the Jehovah Godhead.

Fame is the name of the game for some persons. Some types of personalities strive for attention, celebrity, glamour, praise, worship, and even notoriety. With today’s social media, one can becomes famous for doing bad things. Some sinners will do anything to get noticed. Some serial killers do their “work” for the notoriety. The similar personality type is the attention seeking celebrity, who will perform acts in order to call attention to themselves. It is all rather narcissistic.

These types will exploit and provoke issues in order to be relevant. These persons will become political to be relevant. These persons will speak or write outlandish comments; these types are crying, Look at me, see me, pay attention to me, say something about me, let’s talk about me,  it’s all about me, myself, and I.

Think about it, why would anyone allow cameras and microphones into their private lives? It’s not about money, it is a desperate need for attention and about wanting to be celebrated by all the little people. Reader, do you celebrate these persons? You should not.

Reader, Who would you say is the most famous person in all the world yesterday, today, and forever? What Name has crossed most every person’s lips for good or bad? What Name is known in most all households? Reader, At Who’s Name will every knee bow and every tongue confess to being King of kings and Lord of lords?  That’s right!!! The LORD Jesus Christ.

There is a tract that reminds us that Christ never, humanly, wrote a book, Christ never led an army, He never reigned over any human kingdom, and He never invented anything. In fact,  “…we esteemed  [H]im not.”  He had  “no form nor comliness…there [was] no beauty that we should desire [H]im.”  “[H]e was despised and rejected of men…”  [H]e made [H]imself of no reputation…”  YET, He is known by most every person on this planet!!!  Reader, That is Fame.

There is no comparing any man to Christ. Their is no comparison to Christ. Buddah cannot compare to Christ, Hindu gods cannot compare to Christ, Allah and his false and pedopiliac prophet cannot compare to Christ. There is no one that can match up to, or be likened unto Christ in full. Some may have Christ-like attributes, some may even be characterized as Christ-like, these are called Christ-ians and the Christ-likeness is our predestined, prophesized, and promised end. No person can be compared to the Person of Christ Jesus, the Lord of the living and the dead.

Persons who caterorgize Lord Jesus with other worldly religious idols are lost and know not Christ, they are none of His lest, the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ shines upon them and, they be saved.

HOWEVER, even though His Name is known, many persons do not, really and in truth, know Who He is and What He has and is doing. To some He is an expletitive or expression of surprise or trouble. To some, He is or, in their shallow and uninterested thinking, was a good teacher or good moral example. To silly and probable reprobate atheists, He is a myth like (s)atan Claws and the Tooth Fairie; He never existed.

Many of the famed and celebrated persons of long ago have been forgotten. Mention a celebrity from a generation or two (2) ago and the person of today has no knowledge of that once celebrated person. But the Lord Jesus, Who lived, was killed, and yet lives again and for all eternity, some two thousand (2,000) years ago is still the most Famous Person on this planet.

Reader, that is true fame.

“Fear not, little flock: for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”                                                                                                                                                 (Luke 12)

“Be not afraid…”  (Matthew 28)

Fear is or can be deabilitating. Fear is a prison. Fear will stop many opportunities. There is a good fear and a bad fear. The Scriptures speak of “the Fear of the LORD.”  This is reverential respect. However, one should fear God if one does wrong just as a child would fear a parent if said child did wrong. The Proverbs tell us that there is strong confidence in the fear of the LORD. That means, if we abide in the fear of the LORD, we have reason to be confident. We have no reason, on the other hand, to be afraid, to be scared, to be fearful or filled with fear, There is no reason or logic to a Christ-ian’s fear. GOD IS FOR YOU. That’s the positive side of the passage. The negative side is, God is against those that would come up against you.

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”  This is a rhetorical question because the answer is obvious. No one, right?  But Reader, there is much that is against us. The world system is against us. Our carnality or our flesh is against us. In some ways, the Government is against us. The leftist mindset or progressive mindset is certainly against us.

Is the Word of God wrong in this one (1) case?……..OF COURSE NOT.

Our enemies, His enemies will not prosper in the end. Think war.  Many battles, you win some battles and you lose some battles but the war is already won.

Many years ago, I heard an evangelist say, “There is no man on this earth that I fear.” I thought to myself, Huh, How can that be? No fear of any man? It sounds a bit arrogant, does it not?

Reader, I can now say, I fear no man on this earth. Once one beholds the Greatness, the Awesomeness, the Awfulness (Full of Awe), the Amazing-ness of God, all other persons become puny and small. When one walks with God, there is nothing to fear because God is for you. God is for those that are His. God is for His peculiar persons. God is for His certain man and woman.

Faith overwhelms fear. David said, “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness; [T]hou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.”

Read that again.  God enlarged David to meet his troubles. God and His gift of faith is more than able to enlarge you to overcome your mountain, your trouble, your trial, your problem, your FEAR.  David was the giant and Goliath was a little man.  God was not for Goliath.  The lions were in Daniel’s den because God was for Daniel.  The three (3) friends of Daniel were not harmed in the fire because God was for them.  Reader, God IS for you.

David is very much like Samson. Samson is known to be the Strong man in Scripture. Samson was able to do great feats and exploits when the Spirit of God came upon him. David as well, David killed a little giant, a lion, a bear, and jumped a high wall when the Spirit of God came upon him. Reader, our God is the same God. Our God is David’s God. Our God is Daniel’s God. Our God is Samson’s God.  Do you see my point? What God has done for them, and with them, God can do for you.

Reader, you and I are indestructable. Nothing can harm us lest God allows it. If God allows it, then we know it will be for our good.  You see, no one can stand against God’s person. Faith overwhelms fear.  The Word of God overcomes worry.  The Amen of God ankle-hooks anxiety.  “Fear not” is a command of our Lord Jesus. Our Lord would say to those that would be afraid, “Ye of little faith.”  God gave you and me Faith in order to cast off fear,  “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Reader, Reader, Reader, God gave us His Spirit, the Spirit of Christ.  God gave unto us the Spirit that allowed the Old Testament saints to do their exploits and feats. Reader, the Omnipotent God, the Omniscient God, the omniPresent God lives inside of YOU.

“THE LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 

Godspeed.

“For I long to see you…”  (Romans 1)

I was blessed to spend time with family in Mississppi recently.  I took a twenty-one (21) hour train ride to see my family, “for I long[ed] to see [them].” We visited my Aunt, two (2) cousins, one (1) cousin-in-law, and Three (3) second (2nd) cousins, all bloodbought by the Lord Jesus.  It was a little taste of Heaven.

My Aunt was probably the very first person to really show me God. She drove a van for a church, where she attended for decades and decades and decades until they treated her like a dog.  [SideNote: I wrote about that two (2) years ago and I spared know one, especially the pastor that was so “growth” minded, he forgot about the faithful. He’s gone now as most of his type usually leave because the congregation “just isn’t serving enough.”  Whenever a preacher gets “counting” on the brain remind him of 1 Chronicles 21, where (s)atan caused David to number his people for war. Enough on bad preachers and worse pastors].

Back to my Aunt. She was, like I said, my first taste of God. She would drive the church van year after year and I would visit each and every summer from as early as I could remember well up to my late teens. In fact it was she that took me to the pastor’s pasonage when I was seventeen (17) when the Spirit was drawing me to Calvary.  (By the way, the pastor I just spoke of is not the bad pastor).  She sat with me as the pastor spoke to me about Christ.  Thank God for my Aunt of aunts…I will for all eternity be thankful to that dear, dear and much loved woman…humanly speaking, without her, I would be lost.

The rest of my family in Mississippi love the Lord, too. God is blessing my cousin-in-law with two (2) promotions within months of each other and his raise is GREAT.  His raise equals some persons annual income.  Reader, that is of God.  His wife, my cousin, and daughter to my Aunt, is just a few years younger that me and she home-schools her two (2) very adult like children. Her son is like Dexter, the child Genius. and her daughter is excels all the young girls around her. My other cousin, is a few years older than me, she and I are very similar in many ways. I also saw another second (2nd0 cousin, mentioned above.  I see her turning into such an accomplished and very smart young woman. If anyone ever targets her for anything ill-intended, they have chosen the wrong person.

This family of mine, who are so like-minded with me and me with them, are a joy to be around.  This family listens to Christ-ian music, wears Christ-ian t-shirts, attend a good church, and the Lord Jesus is very Present in their homes.  It has been said before, the persons you love the most are always the farthest away.  Most of my family are either in Mississippi, Iowa, or Tennessee, or Indiana.

My Miss. family live on a road in a very rural part of town.  A cross the road from them, they have pet cows and pet Donkeys. To northerners or elitist types that may sound “hill-billy.”  This family is a classy, composed, and Christ honouring family you would be blessed to even know. Oh, and by the way, there’s nothing wrong with hill-billies.  There is plenty wrong with elitist and judgmental thinking, though.

My Aunt is a do-er, if ever there was a do-er.  She cannot do enough for you.  She has not been well lately, and I thought this the opportune time to visit and help take care of her.  It was my joy to do things for her, but like Peter’s wife’s mother, as soon as she was feeling a bit stronger, she’s ministering. She is a good balance between Mary and “Martha, Martha,” and that is not easy to do, but she pulls it off nicely, and makes it look easy.

I have been blest with good aunts and uncles and cousins. One of my favorite aunts on my Mom’s side (my Mississippi family is on my Dad’s side.) went to be with the Lord a number of years ago and she left a void as all loved ones do. We have a picture of her and it just doesn’t seem possible that she is with Him and not here now. My Uncle Jerry was a bif influence on me in my younger years, when it is important. To name all of my family would not fit the scope of this article, you know who you are and you know you are loved by this writer.

For those of you, that hold to a more “Calvinistic” or correct view of things, think about this….If God knew/loved us before the foundations of the world, in Eternity past, we who are saved, must be…must be…must be, who we are.  If Christ died for our sins, those sins are particular to you and me, right?  Well, then let us think backwards.  For you to be chosen by God and for Christ to live, die, and live again, specifically for you, you had to be exactly who you are. Which means your parents had to be exactly who they are for you to be who you are. Now continue backwards. For your paraents to be who they are their parents had to be who they were and …………. Are you getting the point?  Our family was as preordained as was your salvation…….MIND BLOWN…..POW.

Godspeed.

“Ye call [M]e Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.”  (John13)

“…[N]o man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.”  (1 Corinthians 12)

Sometimes a preacher has to get a little tough with those he ministers unto. We see this toughness with the patriarchs and early saints in the Old Testament. Moses was ready and able to get tough when necessary.  The Judges, the Prophets, The Christ, the Apostles, the pastors, preachers, and teachers.  Any and all of God’s ministers must be able to tough love those God has made him responsible for.  Did you know each minister will give an account of himself and those whom God has given him.

I have experienced a number of church services in different parts of the country lately.  I have fellowshiped with a great number of God’s people. I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.  The good news is, there are a lot of persons claiming Christ as their Saviour.  The bad news is Christ is not honoured so much with His title of Lord.

Can a believer actually worship God’s Son if they deny Him His title of Lord?  Lets us make some simple comparisons:
*Pundits call President Trump, “Mr. Trump.” They do this to deny him his rightful and respectful title of President or Mr. President.  I can guarentee you, if you had the honour to meet the President, you will be told before hand to call him, Mr. President. Donald would not do.  Mr. Trump would not do.  Trump would not do.  YET…Christ-ian, you have the audacity to call your Lord and Saviour, The Only Begotten of the Father, “Jesus.”  Christ-ian this will not do. This simply, will not do.
*What if you were to meet the queen of England?  Would you deny her the title of Queen as you do your Lord?  Did Queen Elizabeth die for you and take away your sins? Of course not, but you give her the title of Queen!!!
*What would happen if you, when you were a child, or if your child, ever called his or her school teacher by first name and not Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. or Miss.?  But the Lord Jesus is still just, “Jesus.”
* I dare you to call your doctor by mr. or mrs. and see how quick they correct you and take offense.  You’d never think of such a thing.  But The Lord Jesus does not receive the same response or respect from you!!!
*What would happen if your child called you by your first name, instead of Mom or Dad?  Hypocrite….you call Him by His first Name, that is above every Neme that is Named, but demand your title of Mom or Dad.
*What about the legal system?  Officer, Judge, Counselor, etc…  But God from Whom all law comes is just, “Jesus.”  Next time you get pulled over or go to court, call them by their first name.

What does Scripture say?
*From our texts above we find the Lord Jesus Himself, complimenting his disciples for calling Him Lord and Master and then He say, “for so I am.”  Not for so am I….No, it’s “for so I am.”  The Old Testament Name of God.  Reader, from His own Lips, He is telling you to call Him Lord and Master. Can it be any plainer?
*Then we have Paul telling us that no one can call Christ, Lord except the Holy Ghost make him able.  It is a gift, it is an allowance to Call Him, “Lord Jesus.”
*In other passages we learns that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord.  This is a warning to sinners and an encouragement to saints….but saints of God….YOU ARE NOT DOING THAT NOW!!!!
*His disciple always addressed Him as Lord or Master.  His enemies, like demons, and Pharissee called him, “Jesus.”  The Apostles in their writings gave Him His title and it was very, very rare for them to speak of him as, “Jesus,” lest they were speaking to His humanity and humiliation.  Some might say, “yeah, but, the narrative calls Him “Jesus.”  Reader, Who is the Narrator?  It is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit can call Him Jesus, just as Mrs. Trump can call her husband, “Donald.”  Just as the Queen’s husband may call her Liz in the privacy of their home.  Just as a Mom and a Dad may call each other by their first (1st) names and a child cannot or should not.

Reader,  Please do not think I’m harping on a pet peeve or beating a dead horse.  Research it for yourself.  AND BY THE WAY, if it is such a problem to address Christ as Lord Jesus, maybe there is something going on.  The saint should have no problem calling Him and submitting to Him as Lord.  Maybe you are not submitting to Him as Lord and therefore you cannot address Him as Lord. Maybe the Spirit does not allow you to call Him Lord. Much to consider.

Reader, We have made a tight case regarding this issue.  It seems to us that if you continue to disrespect God’s Son by denying Him His title and addressing Him as did the demons and His enemies, you are going against what you now know to be right and respectful, and reverential.

The earliest of the creeds was “Jesus is Lord.”  Those of you that refer to Him as Saviour but deny Him His Lordship, You deny the very fact that It is the Lord Jesus Who is you Saviour.  In Scripture Lord comes before Saviour.  Look it up in a concordance…if you dare.

Godspeed.

“…[A]re ye not carnal. and walk as men?”  (1 Corinthians 3)

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in in [H]im…”                                                                                                                                      (Colossians 2:6)

“He that saith he abideth in [Christ] ought himself also so to walk, even as [Christ] walked.”  (1 John 2:6)

Christ-ian Reader, This may be my last post for some time, therefore we will seek to provide you with something to remember.

As a pastor, I am required to meddle, snoop, or sniff around those I minister to.  This is what a shepherd does with the flock he has been given the responsibility for.  When a preacher begins to minister to persons, those person are his responsibility and he must take that seriously and the flock seriously.  Sometimes, the shepherd will us his staff to draw a sheep towards him and then use his rod to lift the wool and look underneath. The shepherd does this in order to inspect the skin under the wool.  In other words, the sheep may look great on the outside, but underneath there may be sores, scabs, bites, injuries, insects, etc. “Thy rod and they staff, they comfort me…”

One of the responsibilities of a minister is to see to those whom God has given him, and to help them to their predestinated end, which is Christ-likeness. You, Christ-ian reader, are to become more and more like Christ in your ways, thinkings, will, actions, deeds, and feelings, PERIOD, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  My question to you, Christ-ian reader, is this, “How do you differ, specifically, from a person that is moral, ethical, or even a-theist?”

I have known a-theists and lost person far mor moral and ethical than ssome Christ-ians.  I’ve said it before, I worked for an a-theist (who is now a believer) who was the best man I ever worked for. He was extremely ethical, moral, by human standard, a very, very, good man that treated me, others, and clients very well. I could not say anything about this man in any sort of negative way.  This man was replaced by another person (My former boss was released on Christmas Eve for doing right by his clients and employees  which was a BIG mistake by corporate…which is like it’s father the devil….you understand; i’m not a fan of “corporate” anything).

My boss was released and another person replaced him, this person was a hire from a mega church in the area. This person managed a large number of persons in his position at the mega church.  I’m not going to speak to his salvation, but he was not comparable to the former boss, in regards to character, care of employees, or clients. This person was very pliable and was not one that could be embraced and comfortably trusted…unfortunate, but true.

So, what is it that differs you from a person that is moral, ethical, or even an upright a-theist? Christ-ian, are you judgmental? easily annoyed? do you have a short fuse? do you focus on the temporal? are you more carnal and worldly, than spiritual? Are you concerned with others, do you treat others in a way you would want to be treat by persons or by God, do you expect too much from others, do you expect too little from others, do you treat others in ways that you be would offend by if you received the same treatment? Do you realize if you treat persons in a certain way, they might begin to push back a little?

Reader, do you know when you mistreat another Christ-ian person, you mistreat God? Do you understand, when you dishonour or treat a person with disrespect, you are dishonouring God and treating Him with disrespect?  “Saul, Saul, Why do you persecute me?”   “Against [T]hee, [T]hee only, have I sinned, and done evil in [T]hy sight…”  When a wife is disrespecting to her husband, she is offending God and vice a versa.. “husbands love your wives.”  When children are dispespectful and dishonouring to their father, they are dishonouring and disrespectful to God, and vice a verse, “Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.” When an employee dishonours and disrespects his employer, he does so to Chris.

Reader, I have said this before and I will say it again, (DV),  The only difference between a Christ-ian, who walks as men, and not as Christ walked, is the love of God!!! The love of God for that carnal thinking, and acting Christ-ian is the only thing that makes him or her different from a moralistic person, an ethical person, or even an upright A-theist!!! Christ-ian reader, are you longsuffering? are you gracious? do you extend mercy to others? Do you treat others as Christ would treat them or as you would hope Christ would treat you?  Are you compassionate? Do you marvel when others show faithfulness?  Do you appreciate others?  Are your standards and expectations too high for a loved one?

Reader, do you think before you speak to another, or shoot a look at someone, or wag your head at someone?  Reader, Are you walking as men or as Christ?  Are you focused on the world? are you envious? Reader, do you know you can effect others with hasty retorts, actions, or gestures? Do you think of others, and esteem them better than your self?

What DIFFERS you from up-right a-theist, moralsts, and ethical persons?  Think about it, how do you differ from lost persons you work with, go to school with, anyone else you spend time with? Okay, yeah, you go to church on Sunday. Other than that, how do you differ from others?

Think about it Reader, How do you differ from the lost persons in your life? Okay, maybe you pray, but outwardly: in your actions, in your will, in your personal ways and thinking, how do you differ from other persons who know not Christ?  Reader, persons could always recognize persons who have been with Christ, can that be said about you? What differs?

Persons who love Christ and walk with Him speak to Him often and speak about Him often, Persons that love Him want to be around other who love Him and are loved by Him. Reader, do you love your spouse? how do you act to that spouse?  Do you speak well about your spouse? or do complain and murmur to lost friends?

My reader, do you walk, talk, and think as [lost] men, do you will as [lost] men will, are you controlled by feelings as are [lost] men are?  Or do you “walk as [H]e walked?”  do you think as He thought?  can you say you will whay He wills?

These are important questions and the way we answer them reveal or betray our true heart and person.

Do you walk as [lost and worldly] men walk or do you walk as Christ walked?

Godspeed.

“He that is not with [M]e is against [M]e…”  (Luke 11)

“…I am meek and lowly in heart…”  (Matthew 11)

Reader, Look at the Scripture texts again. The first (1st) text states, if you aren’t on the Speakers side, if you don’t agree with the Speaker, if you don’t see things like the Speaker  does, you are the Speaker’s enemy, period.  In the second (2nd) text the Speaker says, of Himself, in essense, I am humble. The Person, the August and Regal Person, in both passages is the Same Person. That Person Is the Lord Jesus. He declared and proclaimed, all that He was, is, and will be, all that He does, all that He says, is due to the Father’s pleasure and purpose.

I remember when George W. Bush expressed the exact same position with the exact same Words, as the first (1st) passage above, the media, persons, people, and peoples hit the roof, went nuts, had coronaries, went ballistic, freaked out, and went crazy. The media agents jumped and shomped upon these words; their eyes rolled back into their heads like a Great White Shark, or  like the girl in “the Exorcist,” their heads spun around, their eyes rolled up into their heads, and they vomited all manner of upchuck in black and white.

The “jounalists” called him arrogant, cowboy President and they could not accept the idea or thought of America acting on her own, reponding unilaterally, and not being concerned with nations that decried his decision.  Bush said, any country that is not with the U.S.A. are choosing to be against the U.S.A, and to be seen as an enemy & in the line of fire. Persons, the media, other political leaders could not handle this, Reader, know this, persons do not like a person with a strong personality. Persons do not like someone or something they cannot understand or identify with. Persons who are confident, content and complete in their make-up or wiring are not well received by those that are not confident, content, and complete.

The person, as described above, in the second (2nd) half of the paragraph, are thought to be overbearing, overwhelming, pushy, arrogant, alpha, conceited, self-focused, etc. Depending on the person, the adjectives, in the last sentence, could be fitting but for others it is not fitting. This is where humility and arrogance can get confused in the mind’s of observers.

In the Scriptural texts above, Christ said plainly, if a person is not with Him, loyal to Him, devoted to Him; if a person does not see Him as Preeminent, that person is not worthy of Him and will be considered an enemy.  Reader, Bush was escoriated by the world for making the same comments after 9/11. So, a person that says such things will be thought arrogant, yet Christ also says He is meek and lowly in heart or humble.  WHAT????

Let us put this into perspective, this Man, the Lord Jesus, drew a line and said, if you are on My side of this line, you’re good, if you’re on the other side, you’re doomed.  That is a staggering and shocking statement and we see by G.W. Bush, how most persons will respond or react to someone who says something like that. Christ said many things that caused hearers to want Him dead and some of these hearers even tried to kill Him!!! Some wanted to stone Him and others wanted to throw Him off a precipice.

Reader, Why does a meek and humble Man provoke such reactions?  Isn’t a meek and humble person more or less, a wall flower?  Isn’t the meek and humble happy to be called, Matt, and be walked on?  The meek and humble would never dare to incert himself into the business of others, would he? The meek and humble would never boast upon his or her talents or gifts, would they? The meek and humble would never say, “Hey, pay attention to what I am saying,”  or  “If ye believe not that I am [H]e, ye shall die in you sins.”

The meek and humble doesn’t do and say the things written in the above paragraph, do they? Reader, the meek and humble do all manner of great exploits, the meek and humble have terrific confidence, the meek and humble are resting assured, the meek and humble are complete in their person and they know it and they demonstrate it and, at times, it is thought or seen to be arrogant, haughty, high minded, uppity, and prideful, by the truly arrogant, haughty, high minded, uppity, and prideful.

How can these traits exist together in one (1) person and at the same time?  Why and how do the meek and humble, draw such negative and vitriolic attention upon themselves if they are quiet, meek and humble?

The world and the church have misunderstood humility and meekess. Reader, meekness implies strength. Strength and power is a necessity and is required in the meek.  Confidence, comfort, and a sense of completeness or certainty is necessary for a person to be humble. A person must have many traits, gifts, benefits that could cause the pride of life, in order for a person to be humble.

If a person is weak and fearful and gives in to that weakness and fear, that person cannot be meek. A person who has nothing, is worthless, and a drag or stain on society, IN THEIR OWN MIND, is not a humble person.

The truly meek and humble person is a spiritual person. Pauls says, “…to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Meekness, humility, peace and the abundant, abounding, and abiding life is spiritual and not carnal. No one can be meek in the flesh, no one can be humble in the flesh, no one has peace from God, in the flesh, and no one can live a vibrant, exciting, hope-filled, abundant, abounding, and abiding life, lest they be spiritually-minded.

To be carnally minded, Paul says, in contast to the spiritully minded, is death. To be carnal is to live a spiritually boring and dead-like life. To be carnal is to walk as (unsaved) men walk. It is to have a saved soul and a lost life. Reader, Reader, Reader, Be spiritually minded, where your heart and mind is there will be your treasure.  If you are carnal or worldy, your treasure is man-made and materialistic and life is ALL about you, all about the here and now. You are living the best life you will ever live in relation to Eternity. When you enter Eternity in a lost, carnal or worldly state, you enter into torment. If you are a Christ-ian who is carnally minded, when you enter eternity, you will suffer loss.

In summary: We should see that a Christ-ian can glow with confidence, comfort, completeness and certainty; it will be derided and thought to be arrogant and un-Christ-ian by the fleshy and carnally minded to be sure.  Just as the Pharisee labels Christ with arrogance, blasphemy, and wicked-mindedness, so will the carnally minded, though they may be saved, will label you. So, how can a Christ-ian have all of this and still be meek and humble?

The answer is simple, Nothing you are, in the spirit or what good you do in the flesh is of you, it is all Him, “Ye can do nothing without [M]e.” All righteous exploits, works, and service done, in His Name and done by or through faith, is wrought by God through you. Even faith is not of you, “[faith]  is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Meekness and humilty is knowing and acknowledging all that one is, all of what one has, all of what has been and will be, is of God, is from God, and is for God.

Some might think, “Even so, I do not want to be thought of or judged as being arrogant or conceited.”  Paul has a word for you, “But [s/he] that is spiritual[lly minded] judgeth all things, yet [s/he] is judged of no man. You see, the Christ-ian is to judge all things, “Try the spirits,”  “Prove all things” whether they be good/bad,  right/wrong,  true/false. We judge things through the Word of God, we are  judges, we are saints, we are the called, (OWN IT, RECKON IT, UNDERSTAND IT) yet we remain meek and humble, because everything is from God.

Again, (I’m inculcating you, beloved reader), weak persons cannot be meek, only strong persons can be meek.  A fearless person cannot be courageous, courageous implies acting in spite of fear. The Christ-ian person who is CONFIDENT, COMFORTABLE, CERTAIN, CONTENT and COMPLETE is the meek and humble servant of God.

“In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence.”  (Proverbs 14)

All of the above explains how and why, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the [new] earth.

“And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David…”  (1 Samuel 17)

Reader, We have in the titles and the text above a Scriptural principle that all ministers of God will realize and maybe struggles with in life. This principle is, the minister will not be seen by his family and friends and those very familiar with him as do others. Examples are given us in Scripture.

Joseph was despised by his brothers and the brothers went so far as to sell him to traders and told Jacob, their father, that Joseph was killed.  David, also had a good number of brothers and they too despised their brother, David.  We see in the life of our Lord, His brothers did not believe in Him and His claims.

Reader and fellow labourers especially, do you wonder why others respect you, seek your counsel, sit to hear what you have to say, and in some cases even pay your for your service and yet at home you are “just” Dad, or the little brother, and no one sees you as do others? Have you ever wondered why? Now you have your answer. This should not bother you.  This difference in treatment is for your good.

How many times have we seen a minister begin to believe his own press and then fall?  Fellow labourers, we need to remain humble and this is one way God saves us from our self and from ruin. God uses a number of means to keep us in our place.

God will use the familiarity of family and friends to keep us humble as written above. God will use a thorn in the flesh to keep us humble.  God will use sin to keep us humble. Brethren it is a great importance that we remain humble before God and man. When we begin to believe our own press and we begin to think highly of ourselves, it will not be long until God abases us, it will not be long before He sets Himself in array against us. God hates, hates, hates spiritual pride, He hates the proud look.

Brethren never forget, we are ministers, that is to say servants, and yes!, slaves to Christ. There is no room or place for pride and self-centeredness, self-promotion, self- honour. Humility and meekness are absolute necessities for the man of God. However, we are not saying the minister is to be a push-over. Some imagine humility to be a depressed, poor, and weak man.  This is not humility. Humility is simply the acknowledgement that all one is, all one has, all one will ever be, and all one will ever have comes directing to him from God. Humility understands we have nothing that has not been bestowed upon us by God’s grace and mercy. Once a person forgets that, humility is dead.

A minister can proclaim his gift of preaching and teaching, he can speak well to his gift and some might think he is arrogant, but the minister, while loving, using, and confessing his gift, he acknowledges God as the giver, gifter, and maintainer of said gift. I have heard persons compliment others on their gift or service and the person begins to deny the talent of gift and pretend they are just so-so.  Reader, this is a great affront to the Giver and Gifter!!!.

Imagine you give a loved one a great gift, a precious and novel gift,imagine someone compliments that gift, and then imagine the one to whom you have given the gift says, Eh. Whatever…it’s not that important to me.” Reader that is what we are saying when we pretend a grotesque-humility in order to be thought meek and lowly. While we are acting so stupidly, God is in Heaven and He is saying, “WHAT!? WHAT did she say about the gift I gave her!!???”  Reader, recognize the gift, receive the gift, own the gift, treasure the gift, honour the gift, share the gift with others, speak well to your gift, and acknowledge the Greatness of the Gifter.

Reader, God has gifted me with preaching, teaching, faith, prayer, discernment, and understanding. I am so thankful for these gifts, these gifts and the Giver defines me and my life. We are not being arrogant, but factual. Some may think this is boastful and maybe it is, but if I am boastful, I boast in the Lord, as did Paul and all of God’s right-minded servants. Samson is a good example here. Samson had great strength, he served the LORD as judge, and he provoked with great exploits. The thing is, Samson always knew where his power came from and that power came from God. But if you were a contemporary of Samson, you would think him arrogant, bold, deceitful, womanizing, and licensious. What you wouldn’t know is it was all according to God’s BIG picture plan.

Samson was usually going out to other towns and cities. Could this be because it was in these places he was recognized as something special, whereas at home, he was Samson and thought to be as described above.

Having written the above, we must warn fellow labourers about the pitfall of pride. Fellow labourers, your sin and sins should keep you humbled. Acknowledging the LORD in all your ways will keep you humbled, those who are familiar with you, like family and friends will keep you humble. A great ugliness is a pride-filled minister who has forgotten what God does not, we are made of dust.

Godspeed.

“For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?  now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”  (1 Corinthians 4)

Pride is hated by God, especially spiritual pride.  Pride is an enemy to man. Pride destroys persons. Pride wrecks friendships, marriages, all types of relationship whether the relationship be personal, public, or business. Pride is the cause of words that hurt. Pride hinders and hampers forgiveness. Pride destroys the souls of persons, people, and peoples. Pride is the pinnacle of sin. It was (l)ucifer’s pride that expelled him from the third (3rd) Heaven. It was 9l)ucifer’s pride that put him in the garden and put him in a position to tempt Eve.  Pride, we are told, goes before the fall. Pride is a destoyer of men.

It has been said that there are four (4) motives for murder: money, revenge, sex (envy), and drugs. The fatal four (4), however there is a kingpin behind the fatal four (4), there is a George Soros behind the fatal four (4), there is a power behind the fatal four (4) and it is PRIDE.

The word itself has within it the words ride, dire, rid, ripe, and pried.
*Ride: Pride will ride and drive a person to destruction, causing pain for many others. Pride will keep a person from forgiving, admitting fault, confessing sin, confessing one’s lost condition, enjoying life, making friends, etc.
*Dire: Pride will put you, position you, point you to dire straits, a place of despertness and Folly. Pride will cause a person to make decisions that are not thought through. Pride will cause a person to answer questions he know nothing about.
*Rid: Pride rids a person of friends, family members, associates, business, co-workers, a good reputation, character, morality, ethics, money and worst of all, God’s blessings and will bring about God’s anger.
*Ripe: Pride makes a person ripe for perniciousness, perdition, and prepares a person for perishing.
Pried: Pride will cause a person to pry into places, not profitable for them.

The reason pride is so wicked is it is one of the greatest affronts to God. Pride offends God greatly. God will deal harshly with a prideful person quicker than any other type of person.  Herod was a puppet king in Jerusalem, and he was a great orator or speaker

The people praised his ability to speak and all that praise went to his head.  The persons, hearing him, said he speaks as a god. Herod revelled it that, and then he was eaten alive, from the inside out, by worms.  Pride caused a king to be killed by worms. A great person wants to die an honourable death by another great. This great and regal person died by worms, not an honourable death, this speaks to God’s hatred of pride.

Pride is not logical, nor is it reasonable, ever. Pride is non-sensical. Pride should be evicted, dismissed, dispatched, done away with, mortified, killed, slain, smitten unto death, etc.

Why is pride such a problem?

Pride is a problem because it denies God, it denies persons that were helpful and caring, it denies everything and everyone, but self. No one on this earth has anything that has not been given and received. Given by the many mercies of God. Without air, we die.  Without water, we die.  Without soil and elements, we die. Without the sun we die. Without the Divine breathe of life, we never would be.

*Strong persons owe their strength to God
*Beautiful persons owe their beauty to God.
*Intellectual persons owe their intellect to God.
*Talented persons owe their talent and it’s glories to God.

The persons pointed out above, rarely give God the glory for what they have, lest they be in Christ. Persons thinks they did it/do it all. These persons deny God His glory and they fail or refuse to acknowledge His mercies, grace, and kindness, OH! AND His longsuffering. These persons, by taking the glory that belongs to God’s goodness and kindness, bring upon themselves His anger, wrath, and fury. The persons remind Him of the enemy, (s)atan, because these person are of their father, the devil.

Reader, If you want to be proud be proud of what God is, and of Who God is. If you want to be pride-filled be filled with pride in your God.

Please forgive errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. The wife of my youth wanted to sleep, so I did not look over this article.

Godspeed.

“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”  (Acts 4)

Reader, Any honest and God called, God taught, God guided minister, whether they be preacher, teacher, pastor, missionary, evangelist, or whatever they call themselves, bishop, elder, etc.  will tell you two (2) things. Number one (1) the Scriptures, when taught and when learned MUST, MUST, MUST be within the context of the writers intention(s) and meaning, period.  There is no give, there is no lee-way given and non expected period.

Number two (2) and this one may sting…God is number ONE (1) always, only, and forever. You, who ever you be, wife, child, mother, father, boss, friend, whoever you are, you are and will always be number two (2), but know this….if the right with God and balanced and you are number two (2), know this, he puts you before he puts himself.  It is a woman, child, or whoever that can take second place to God and be content.

To those in second (2nd) place, let me counsel you.  If you are lonely, if you feel left out, if you feel distant, if there exists a wall between you and number three (3) number three (3) being the one (1) closest to God it is because you need to be a number three (3) in your own relationship with God. My beloved reader, if you want peace and  you want contentment in the place where you are, put God first (1st), your loved one(s) second and you take third (3rd) place because thrird (3rd) place brings you closer to everyone and third (3rd) place is the place of peace.  Reader, read 1 Corinthians chapter three (3), the first (1st) three (3) verses, that’s 1 Corinthians 3:1-3.

Going back to the first thing a honest minister will tell you regarding text and context. While it is essential that the reader or studier understand the writers intentions and meaning first (1st) and foremost, one can apply the writing in different ways.  Applying  the writing in different ways is not the same as interpreting the passage dofferently than the writer intended, understand?

For example:  In the chosen text above from Acts four (4), we find the apostles, after they had been put under arrest or held over night, being released and forbidden to and threatened, if they continued to preach in the Name of Christ.

The arrest is    [SideNote: Reader, Sometimes i use present tense when referenceing the past because I’m trying to put us in that time. It’s not bad grammar but a tool or conceit.]    due to the healing and preaching in the Power of the Holy Spirit and in the Name of Christ, for we are told,  “…many of them which heard the [W]ord believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”

The number of five thousand (5,000) speaks to the number of men and not to the number of women and children present. The women and children are not meantioned because when the husband/father believed and was saved, so did their house, generally speaking. That is why we read in Acts that So and So was saved AND THEIR WHOLE HOUSE, meaning family and sometime servants.

Back to the reason for Peter’s arrest. Peter specifically,  had been preaching on the topic of resurrection and using the Lord as the Example. Peter was spirit filled or baptised (I know baptised with the Spirit is uncomfortable for some, but it’s there, in the Book, plain as black and white) with the Spirit and he healed a man and preached Christ and was then arrested.

The next day, the authorities warned or charged Peter, not to continue preaching and acting in the Name of Christ. Peter’s reply is, “For we cannot but speak [about] the things which we have seen and heard [and loved.]

Reader, In the above sentence I highlighted the words of Peter. You will notice I also interjected some words that are not highlighted. We do this in order to apply the words spoken by Peter to another dynamic. AGAIN, we are not misinterpreting Scripture, all of the above gave you the context of the text, now we are going to apply it to ourselves and everyday life.

Reader,  A.W. Tozer said, “Preaching without application is heresy.”  In other words, the minister can preach a message, a burden, a sermon, and if he does not demonstrate how the text, teaching, Scripture is to be applied to everyday life, some, many, maybe most will apply the teaching however they want, they will justify themselves, condemn others, and walk in darkness.  A word from God’s minister must, must, must have an application.

An Example: Once I used Noah and his family as a spring board (In reverence) to the doctrine of election. A person, later approached me and thanked me for the message. He told me, he completely understood the message and was in total agreement. This is what he said: “From your sermon I now know, anyone and everyone can be/will be saved.”   Reader, that was diametrically opposed, that was the opposite, that was contrary, that was yang to yin, to what we were teaching!!!

That’s a true story, though somethings were changed to hide the id. of the person in the story…duh duh (Law and Order reference)

Reader,We will apply the words of Peter to your life.

A person talks about what s/he likes, loves, is in to, adores, identifies with, wants to be. You and I should pay attention to the comments, complaints, words, sayings, shoutings, screams, mumblings, murmurs, sighs, cries, utterings, and mutterings of those around us. Why should we pay attention?  Because you, me, we, mwie (Pronounced, MWEE, Hybrid of me and I, as in mwie loathe the personal pronoun, “I.”) all talk about what we are interested in.

Humans, all of us talk about that which we are interested in & involved with. Humans talk about what they like and love. Mwie (Remember hybrid word in place of “i” and “me”) all talk about what interests us and what attracts our attention. This is how we engage others and get to know others and understand others.  Mwie (beta test: like it or no?) should listen to and hear; hear and listen to what others say, how they say it, when they say it.  There have been times when an attacker of innocense (No one is innocent by nature, Mwie use the word innocent as meaning: not deserving of.) told others about their plans and the others didn’t take them seriously, and many persons died.

We should pay attention to what others are saying or we could/might pay a greater cost later.

We can know where a person is, mentally and emotionally, by listening to what they talk about. A preacher that doesn’t talk about his Master is not a good preacher. The Avon lady that doesn’t speak about her products isn’t a good Avon lady. A pro athelete that doesn’t speak about the game, is in it for the $$$$$$$$, only. One can learn much by how a person speaks, what a person speaks about, and when a person chooses to speak.

A person who talks about violence and killing and spends time playing virtual/video games should be heard and listened to. Words give us a picture and an understanding of what is behind the face.

Mwie are in our element and at home when and while discussing the Preeminent Christ, The Godhead, the Scriptures, Christ-ianity, The Christ-ian life, cults, the wife of my youth, my children, plants, perennials, pruning, jiu jitsu, logic, Critical thinking, politics, S. Holmes, insects, comics, Pro-wrestling, MMA, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Batman, Criminal Minds, Law and Order:Criminal Intent, Psycopathy, Sociopathy, Crime, etc. etc. etc.

The paragraph above introduces you to who mwie are.

Christ said it best, “From the heart, the mouth speaketh.”  Reader, listen to others so you can know/read them better and trust what your ears AND your insticts hear.

Listen and hear the words, the tone, consider the timing, etc.
Godspeed.