“Diotrephes…receiveth us not.”  (3 John)

A Paraphrase…”Our Family doesn’t want your hope and prayers…we want action…” That is what an aunt of one of the children killed in the Florida School shooting said in an open letter to America.  This aunt went on to degrade the NRA and any politician that is in league with the NRA.

Reader, as we have stated before, the gun is not the problem, but the SINful nature and the seduction and indoctrination of this nation’s youth by devils and liberals. However, this is not the point of our article.  The point of the article is the aunt’s demonstartion and manifestation of the liberal mindset.  “our family does not want your hope and prayers, we want action.’  Yep, there it is. The honest thought and feeling of a distraught and hurting liberal minded and feelings orinentated progressive.  Reader, I’m not going to insult you or this aunt with a pretentious and practiced or cliched bullet pointed, “I’m sorry for her loss, etc.”  My anger and sorrow should be presupposed by you, my beloved Reader.

Let’s get to work…  This women, this aunt has just betrayed and exposed the liberal mind-set.  “We don’t want your hope or prayers, we want action.” Reader, i am not getting political, as Scripture tells me not to get entrenched with the affairs of the world.  Some may see her comment as political but this writer sees the admissision of the liberal hatred of the spiritual and holy.  The proper answer would be, “Thank you for your hope and your prayers, let’s put feet to those prayers and let’s act and see what can be done about this violence.”

Reader, there we go, the heart of the unsaved is exposed.

Godspeed.

“[B]odily exercise profiteth little…”  (1 Timothy 4)

“…[W]ork out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”  (Philippians 2)

Reader,
When Paul tells us bodily exercise profits little, he is not saying, eat, drink, sit on your couch and get fat while reading your Bible.  It is a comparison to godliness or the exercising of our faith and our spirituality.  Lord Jesus was certainly physically fit.  Consider the art and trade of carpentry in that day. Also in that day children were active with greco-roman wrestling and other physical activities.  Our Lord probably…I SAID!!! PROBABLY, took part in these activities. We are not being dogmatic on this subject, it is simple conjecture. Buuuut…(to be read really fast) itwasChristWhodroppedJacob in the Old Testament match up between Jacob and the Theophony or Pre-incarnate Christophony.

Okay, we had our fun, now to business.  In this article we want to discuss (DV) our spiritual exercise or our spiritual working out to become Christ-like.  Christ-likeness is the Christ-ian’s goal, the Christ-ians finish line.  Christ-likeness is the Championship belt of the Christ-ian wrestler, who wrestles against powers and principalities in high places.  Christ-likeness is the olympian’s crest.

How does one exercise or work-out spiritually? We exercise our spirit by exercising our faith in prayer, Working-out our faith during troubles, trials, testings and tribulations. This exercising of faith during trials and testings will earn us experience, and this earned experience will lead us into the victory that is our Very Firm Hope in Christ and our God-promised, Scripture prophecied, and God’s planned and predestinated transformation into Christ-likeness.

Let us exercise our longsuffering, let us work out our joy…Reader, This is important…focus on this next thought…Our Joy is to us….pay attention to this… Our Joy is to us what God’s Glory is to Him.  We are strengthend by the Christ-centered, intrinsic and supernaturally innate Joy that lives within us. Do you know that? Not in terms of cognitive retention and memorization, but do you know that Joy Experiencially?  Reader, Our child-like faith still sings and shouts, “There is JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my heart Where?  Down in my heart, Where? Down in my heart…Down in my heart to stay…and if the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tac, sit on a tac!!!”

Let us exercise our love for others inspite of their indifference to us, Let us exercise our temperance by denying ourselves and taking up the Cross and Following after Christ, following after righteousness, goodness, faith, hope, and all other blessings.

Reader,  Drop and Give me Ten (10) Old Testament Precepts, and twenty (20) New Testament Precepts….Down!!!  GO!!! Go!! GO!!!!

Godspeed.

“…Who art thou?…I am not the Christ.”  (John 1)

In the above text it is John the Baptist being asked his identity.  Religious leaders had been dispatched to John’s church where he preached and baptized.  John was a “Rock Star” as the world calls someone that is wildly popular and has the attention of all classes of people.  John was the mega-church preacher of his time…the only difference is he spoke pure, unadulterated truth and cared not who he offended for if the truth offends the proper subject, it is a good thing and it is not to be spared nor are the right subjects.  It is a wicked and evil spirited minister that causes the proud to feel good while beating up on those that should be built up and encouraged.

This holy man had no over-top to be concerned with.  There were no utility bills or out-reach funds needed or building funds to beg for.  This preacher had the world as his church, word of mouth spread and advertised the power and authority this man preached with and from.  This is the type of preacher many a young preacher dreamed of being but the world, the flesh, the devil, the man-centeredness of the  church, deacons, bills, church-growth, comments, and time has worn him down.  Not this preacher, not John.

The religious leaders came to see this un- man-taught prophet of God, they came to see what all the talk was about, they came to him, he did not go to them. They came to see who and what this preacher was.  They feared he might be the Christ…can you imagine that Reader?  These religious men feared the coming of the promised Christ…does that seem odd to you?

Before you answer that allow me to meddle in your business with my shepherd’s rod, let me look underneath your wool. This may get a bit uncomortable…. Are you expecting Christ’s return?  Do you long for His return? Do you, Reader, long for His descent?  Do you love the thought of His return? Do you ever consider His promise to return? Or do want Him to hold off, “a while” so you can see you children or grand-children grow up?  Do you want Him to wait until you see your children marry or have a “full life?”

Reader, we are to await Him and His return. The crown of life is offered to them that look for His great and grand return from our homeland.  Dear God, Reader, and for your own sake,  Look for Christ, think upon this great and blessed Hope of all ages, “do not be conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds.”  If you hope not in His return…not for reward or escape, but for Him Alone…to “see Him as He is”….if this is not your soul’s blessed Hope, Reader, repent and beseech God to give you a hope and a desire for His Son. Reader, if your child(ren) are more excited about the fatman from the north pole than you are about the God-Man from the true North….you have a great problem and a great disease called worldliness and your symptom is, backsliding. Reader, Do not take backsliding lightly; backsliding is the gate to the broad way that leads to destruction and to apostacy and to drawing away from God and God has no pleasure in those that draw away from Him. God has great pleasure in and for those that “draw near” to Him, and as David said, “It is good for me to draw near unto [T]hee.”

I have put my rod away… back to our focus.

These religious leaders came to see John and they were hopeing he was not the promised prophet, the promised Messiah.  They addressed him with the obvious question, ” Who art thou?” and John knew their intents and motivations and answered, “I am not the Christ.” John continued  and began to scourge these leaders, calling them vipers. John knew a minister of (s)atan in the guise of a minister of God when he saw one as do all Christ-ians with a sound and a discerning spiritual mind.

Can you spot the false ministers?  The false ministers use the Scriptures very little, they may read a passage or two (2) and then begin to speak their own words and not the Word(s) of God.  These false ministers have little to say about Christ and what they do say is wrong.  The false ministers love the words and pronouns, “I” and “Me” These false minister’s will either flatter “their” flock or beat them depending on the camp or denomination. These false minister usually focus on “building” a church or a kingdom unto themselves and in their unholy and vain likeness. They want a younger audience and not so much to older saints.  The older saints will die off, retire and move away or may discern the minister’s intentions.  The last thing these minister’s want is to deal with a real saint or person of God.

Reader, What is the greatest compliment you have ever received?  Consider the compliment the religious leaders gave John without wanting too.  They thought he may be the Christ, the prophet promised to Moses so very long ago. What a compliment!!!

Today, I asked a women to read the back of a toy package.  I thought the message to the young children, the toy was meant for, was off base and very violent.  The older lady agreed.  After putting the toy back, I said to her, “By the way, I asked you the question because i could sense Christ on you.”  The women turned around, looked at me, her right hand went to her heart and she said with emotion and affection, “That is the greatest compliment I could be given.”  I wished God’s blessings to be upon her and she returned that hope and I departed.

This woman considered her spirituality and the sense of Christ being about her person to be the greatest compliment she could receive. This compliment was greater than a compliment upon her look, her adornment, her mind, her anything else.  We have had persons approach us and tell us they knew we were a preacher.  We have had sooo many persons approach us in stores thinking we were a manager…a shepherd, I’ve had a man come up to me and yell in my face because there were not enough check out lanes open. They sense something about my person….

Reader, I am not boasting or glorying in myself, God forbid. I am simply stating truth…to state a truth is not arrogance, as Sherlock Holmes would say, “The logician is not concerned with false modesty but states things as they are.”  For a Christ-ian to bear witness to the gift God has bestowed upon them is not boastful, but an accurate accounting of truth; of how things are.  For a person with a good singing voice to acknowledge it and acknowledge God for it is not boastful or arrogant, it is how it is.  To play modest is not humble but it is an affront to God, the Gifter.  Sometimes arrogance and humility can be confused….we have an article on this subject on our site.  False humility is a species of pride and it is an affront and a denial of God. As we confess our sin and sins before God, let us confess our gifts and our Gifter before men without shame or embarrassment!!!  We are the new and better Creation of God, live it, love it, lead with it….we are all a “little Jesus” and that is what God intends, deny it not.

Again, Reader, we ask you, what is the greatest compliment you could receive?  Recently, I told my much loved cousin, my cousin on my mother’s side, Cindy, that, I think she has become the glue that holds and will hold my Mom’s side of the family together. She is the one who alerts family members to news concerning other (AKA, Who just died, it’s sad that it takes a death to bring families together…no one is guilty but everyone is guilty) family members.  If there is to be a get together it will usually be at her house.
My Grandmother or Big Momma held this position before she departed “to be with Christ which is far better.”  When I said this to my cousin, she responded (on FaceBook), “I take that as a huge compliment.”  She knew what I was saying, I was likening her to Big Momma.  For a Christ-ian, and my cousin Cindy is a Christ-ian, to receive a compliment on their Christ-likeness is the greatest thing in the world.

At my daughter’s school, at the end of the year, awards are presented.  The awards are for sports, for academics and school-ery things like that.  However there is another award that is presented and that award is the “Christ-ian Character” award.  To me, as a parent and a preacher, that is the gold metal. My daughters, all three (3) have received this metal on multiple occasions.  This is a compliment of Christ-likeness.  Being young kids they may not see the meaning in that award, but I certainly do. God certainly does.

Reader, It is a Scriptural doctrine that all believers are predestined to become like Christ when He returns. This is the doctrine of the Christ-ian’s glorification or the glorified body, a body like His resurrected Body (Romans 8;  1 Corinthians 15;  2 Corinthians 3;  1 John 3;  and Philippians 3). We are promised a glorified body, a body like Christ’s resurrected Body…this is prophecied, promised and predestinated.  However, it is here and now that God is transforming us into Christ’s likeness, in terms of our thoughts, feelings, will, and action. It is true that God, “which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”   Christ will return and the presence of sin and our penchance for and to sin sins will be purged.
When our pilgrimage of salvation began God saved us from the penalty and terror of sin, He saved us from the demanding power of sin…I know we still commit sins but the SIN issue has been taken care of.  We commit sins but we sin less and less as we grow and grow.  He saved us from pleasuring in lust and the fleshly pleasures of sin.  Again, I know we still commit sins and they are pleasurable, hence our commiting them, but we pleasure not in that pleasure, “Lord, I believe, help [T]hou my unbelief,”…we would be rid of sin if we could. we would be perfectly Holy in practice if we could and that is the difference salvation makes in us who are in Christ and that is the difference between us and those that are reprobate concerning the faith.

Reader, we have much, very much, soooooo much to be expecting, Let us be looking to the East and let us be lovingly and longingly, “Watch[ing] and pray[ing],” for the sky to rip and tear like paper and to “Look upon His Face, the One Who saved [us] by His grace.”

Godspeed.

“And it came to pass afterward that [Samson] loved a women…whose name was Delilah.”                                                                                                                                               (Judges 16)

“David arose from off his bed, [and] saw a women washing herself; and the women was very beautiful to look upon.”  (2 Samuel 11)

Readers,

I love my wife with all my heart. My love and loyalty to Christ is greater, however.  When in the world I was not without a pretty girl.  My Wife was not my first love, but she is my last love.  Having said that, Christ has been my great love,  My wife is the wife of my youth, but Christ has been my Valentine from eternity past. Christ is my preeminent love and He shall always be. Like David and Jonathan, I love Christ Jesus as my own soul.

Reader, does this shock you?  Does this make you uncomfortable?  Do you wonder, ” What does his wife think of that?”  My wife thinks the same as I do,  pardon my use of words, but my wife and I have an open marriage…we both have a love for Christ and He lives with us and is part of our marriage.

Are you made even more uncomfortable, Reader?  Understand, the saint’s loyalty, love, and fidelity to Christ transcends any similarity to human relationships.  This is the mystical and spiritual bond between saint and Saviour.  In our home Christ is my great love from eternity past through eternity future, my wife is the wife of my youth and she is one with me, we are of one mind and one goal…we are of one essense as the Trinity is of one essense and is of one Communal Mind and will. My children understand this, they come after Christ and and they come after the wife of my youth.  We have raised them in this same spirit, Christus Solus or Christ Only.  They will love Christ more than their husbands and if the husband is right for our daughters they too will love Christ ahead of their love for our daughters.

If this seems foreign to you, if this seems uncomfortable to you, if this makes no sense to you, hence the problems and the unfullfillment you find in your marriage.  The Christ-ian marriage is a marriage like any other, there are trials, there are mountains. there are valleys. The Christ-ian has dry periods, and periods of pleasure, joy, happiness, laughter and satisfaction.  In the down time, in the dry times there is no thought of what could have been or if only or the thought of divorce.  Why?  Because both spouses have pledge and vowed unity to Christ.  Even if there is a time when a Christ-ian couple thinks, “Life would be better without X,”  The promise and vow to Christ steps in.

Falling in love is never something one should base any kind of long term relationship on.  A marriage should not be built upon falling in love. Reader, “Falling in love” is nothing more than a chemical reaction of the brain!!!  Those feelings of excitement and wanting to see your special person are tricks of the flesh.  Peas and chocalate have the same chemicals in them that are released in your brain when you “fall in love.”  Reader, Let’s think logically. What happens when a person falls?  The person that falls gets hurt!!!.  A relationship must never be built upon “falling in love” or feelings or the lusts of the flesh.

Falling in love is a trick of the flesh and a simple release of a chemical in one’s brain…the excitement,  the ‘will s/he call me,’  the ‘I can’t wait to see him or her,’ it’s all a chemical release from the brain, a trick of the flesh!!!.  A person that falls in love will soon fall out of love. Marriages cannot and must not be based of the tricks of the flesh!!!

Falling in love and love are two (2) different things.  Falling in love is a feeling and love is a choice, a decision.  The Christ-ian must not base a life long unity on feelings that will go away or settle down.  The Christ-ian does not date person after person to find a spouse. A Christ-ian does not date to simple have a good time.  No1 No! No! The Christ-ian considers carefully the person they are interested in.

The Christ-ian considers things like how does this person treat his or her parents,  What intentions does this person have for the future? What is his or her family like?  Does this person have good prospects for the future?  The very vital requirements are, does this person love God…really love God?   Does this person attend Church? Is this person serious about Faith?  Will this person make a good parent?  Is this person responsible and dependable?   What are this person’s friends like? Does this person treat me with respect? Does this person respect my family? Does this person treat animals well?  Does this person consider my feelings and ideas?  Does this person listen when I talk to him or her?  Does this person follow Christ? Is this person loyal to Christ?  Does this person submit to Christ and His authority?  Will this person see that and want Christ to be the head of our home?  Does this person seek Christ’s will and counsel in all matters?

Reader, The above are the right considerations one should look into when searching for a spouse.  One must not be led by their heart….it is the fool that follows the heart. The mind must always direct the heart in all matters, especially in choosing a person to spend the rest of your life with, especially when choosing the future parent of your child.

Reader, if these seem to be old fashion views, I know not what to tell you other than these work and the world’s concept of love does not.  Falling in love and basing one’s long life (DV) on the feelings of love will break a heart and ruin a life and harm the child(ren) from the fatally flawed and false felt fling.  Choosing the right person based on sound truth will make for a good and fruitful marriage that will glorify God.

Godspeed

Godspeed.

“There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”

“And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, everyone by another, and every one by his neighbor : the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.”  (Isaiah 3)

Another School shooting. This time it was in Florida. Seventeen (17) persons were killed and fourteen (14) persons were injured and taken to the hospital.  The killer was a former student of the school. He was taken to the hospital for medical attention. These shootings seem to be the pathology of young America.

Reader, there is no fear of God or punishment with many of this nation’s children.  The children are taught evolution, natural selection, and the strong survive and the weak are lost to nature.  Psychopaths are born and sociopaths are made…The rejection of absolute right and absolute wrong, the rejection of morals and ethics, the rejection of males being males and females being females, the rejection of God and His Law all lead to this pathology.

Our nation is so lost; God and His Law doesn’t even resonate with persons and families any more.  There is no fear of God, no fear of Hell, no fear of God’s wrath. Many persons today see no reason to be.

The world looks for reasons behind these demonstrations of depravity.  What is the cause they ask. What is the problem?  Why do these things happen? Who are these persons who kill so freely? What are the motives or intents?

*Guns are the problem.   *Video games are the problem.   *Poverty is the problem.  *Poor education is the problem.   *Republicans are the problem.  *Democrats are the problem. *Parenting is the problem.  *Biology is the problem.  *Mental illness is the problem. *Bullying is the problem.  *Violence in movies is the problem.  *The glorification of killers is the problem.  *The culture of me, me, me is the problem.    *The desire for fame or notoriety is to blame.  *Poor role models are to blame.  *Drugs are the problem.  *It’s…  *It’s..    *it’s…  Etc. Etc. Etc.

There is no doubt that the above problems and blames may contribute to the violence we see regularly in our country. However, it seems, to this writer, that the above contributions are symptoms of a deeper germ. In other words the above contributions are not the cause but the effect of something else.

What is the the cause of these effects?  Reader, this might sound “old fashioned,” but the cause, the root, the germ is Sin. Sin is the cause of all the effects above.  Sine is the cause of school shootings.  You might object and say, “No, the effects are the sins.”  Reader let us qualify our terms.  The Bible speaks of sins and the Bible speaks of Sin. Sins are the effect of Sin.  Sin is the disease and sins are the symptoms.  Sin is the cause and sins are the effect.

Sin is mentioned and eyes roll and heads drop and wag.  Sin is an old fashioned idea or concept to persons in and of the world. To many evil is a concept but does not actually exist.  It isn’t evil or sin that causes these mass murders, it’s mental illness (By the way, Joyless Behar accuses Christ-ians that believe God interacts and communes with His saints is a mental illness….Reader, Christ-ian, Brother and Sister the serpent is at the door and soon it will be coiled at your bed side). This world cannot accept that the real and true problem is a spiritual problem.

In this world there is no consideration of the reality of the soul, of the spirit of man, of GOD, of an afterlife, of eternity, or eternal consequences being pinned upon todays sin and sins. This world believes this world is all there is.  Parents, government, and schools speak not of consequences of sin. They go out of their way to avoid the topic of God, sin, Heaven and Hell.  I have a memory of questioning my sixth (6th) or seventh (7th) grade  science teacher about Adam and Eve when she was teaching evolution. I remember some other kids laughing at my question….that was a long time ago and things have gotten far worse.

With the teaching of evolution, the soul and spirit of man is despised or set aside as not relevent.  This was not Darwin’s intent, he speaks of the Creator and the breathe of life in his book, “Origin of the Species.”  Those that have taken his mantle have turned his erronious ideal into science, which cancels out any thought of the soul or spirit. When young persons are inculcated (Teaching by repetitious drilling) with this soul-less and spirit-less lie they absorb it and accept it as the teacher is a proper authority figure. To further this great error, the children’s parents do not bother to attend any kind of church service with their children which could (DV) could off-set the secular and false science and the indoctrination of devils and seducing spirits.  With all this mixed together we get what we have been getting!!!!!!!

When a vacuum is created something will fill it.  In Romans 1, Paul states that mankind had turned from God, creating a vacuum, and then Paul tells us that humanity is now, “Being filled with all unrighteousness.” Paul includes murder and inventors of evil things, maliciousness, covetousness and DISOBEDIENT CHILDREN in his list of deeds that are unrighteous. Know what else Paul says regarding the filling of unrighteousness? Paul says that humanity that is filled with all unrighteousness is

“without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful : Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”  

Paul continues to describe the unrighteouness-filled vacuum of humanity with these demonstrations and manifestations of Sin….fornication, wickedness, envy-filled, contensciousness, deceit, haters of God, despiteful, PROUD, boasters….The school shooter boasted on his site about being a professional school shooter.

Readers, the world looks at the symptoms of all the violence we see and never look to the root, which is SIN.  Nothing will change in this world, their world, the Adamic world unless and until they do as the Jews did in the Old Testament and that is, Cry out to God in the spirit of REPENTANCE, turning their back upon SIN.

Reader, This is the answer…this is the only answer…this is not my answer, but the answer of God…the problem is no one is asking the right question or deducing the real cause of all the violent symptoms our counrty is seeing.

Godspeed.

“Thou shalt not take the [N]ame of the LORD thy God in vain ; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh [H]is [N]ame in vain.”

Reader,
This article will take up (DV) the very serious issue of the Lord’s Name. We recently attended a church service. In this church service there was zero (0) preaching or teaching.  The service was used to plug small groups. In the commercial the small group leaders spoke about their small group meetings. They tried to be light, cool, and funny. Then they said something questionable but covered it up with, “In Jesus Name” and they laughed…Ha! Ha! Ha!
We heard a Christ-ian comedian also using the words, “In Jesus Name” to make her audience to laugh.  Reader, this is taking the LORD’s Name in Vain!!!…by Christ-ians!!!  These persons know not what they are saying or doing. These persons are bordering upon blasphemy…I do not doubt their salvation and that makes everything worse.

The Name of our Lord Jesus is a Holy Name.  I know not how parents would name their child, Jesus.  I understand that Jesus was a common name in Christ’s time, but after the resurrection of Christ, that Holy Name is retired. How parents, today, can name their child, Jesus is unknown to me. I understand, in Mexican culture many children are named Jesus, pronounced, Hay-zues, but taking the Name of God’s Son?… this I cannot understand.

The Name of our Lord should be used or invoked only in these ways:
*Prayer
*Preaching/Teaching
*Sharing the Gospel Message
*Singing and Worship
*Exorcisms
*Discussing Scripture with another believer

Other than the above occasions, our Lord’s Name should not be used. To use His Name in cursing or joking is most unacceptable and dangerous.  “Jesus is my homey” t-shirts are an affront to God.  “Jesus loves you but everyone else thinks you are an ,,,,,,,,” is taking God’s Son’s Name in vain.  When using the Name of our Lord; the Name of our Lord should promote goodness and grace and truth and never in jest.

We were in a book store and a known customer came in and began to talk with the store’s clerk.  He was telling her about a storm damaging his property. He went on and on and on about how bad everything is.  The store’s clerk responded with “Jesus Christ” fifteen times (15)…I counted them.  My ears were about to bleed if she did not shut up!!!

I left the store in frustration with this person’s cursing with our Lord’s Name.  This incident stuck with me for a week.  We went back to this book store, which by the way, is about forty minutes (40) from my home and approached the clerk and reminded her of her cursing in our Lord’s Name.  I said to her……
“Miss, this is going to come from left field. Last week you were talking with a customer about his storm damage, and you used the Lord’s Name fifteen times (15).  This will get you into much trouble.”  She graciously accepted the rebuke and warning but she didn’t understand.  She conceded that speaking like that is not professional and she would be more careful in the future.  She thought I was saying she would get in trouble with her customers.  She didn’t get it.  I clarified with her that I’m speaking about trouble with God.  At that she simply said thank you and all was done. They know not what they say or do.

Reader, His Name is Holy and Powerful.  We are allowed to use it in the proper circumstances, but other than the proper circumstances that Name should not be used.

Godspeed.

“…How can a man be born when he is old?  can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?  (John 3)

Nicodemas, in his night time visit with Christ seems to try and lighten things up or appeal to humour…this could be a fallacy.

In this Article (DV) we will again list fallacies persons use in argument or on making a point.  Recognizing these will help you spot the weakness of person’s statements, beliefs, arguments, and even a person’s pathology. We will use a bullet point form to list the fallacies persons use every day.  We will restate some of the fallacies we have written before.

*The appeal to authority: This is using an authority figure to support  one’s point.
Ex. “The preacher said so”  or  “The President said…”  or  “The Pope says good works paves the road to Heaven.”
Authority or power does not equate to truth or give weight to an argument if the authority is wrong.
A response to this fallacy could be, “So what?”

*The appeal to experience”  This fallacy tries to use experience to shut you up.
Ex. “Look, he’s been here for years and you are just starting out.”  or  “I’ve been doing this for years, trust me.”
A response to this fallacy could be, “I know you have much experience and you certainly know what you are doing, but, if you will, I read an article on this and it showed X.”  This may sound like an appeal to authority and it is, but as authority can be wrong, authority can be right. Experience is the best teacher, it has been said and it is a wise person who defers to experience, but experience itself, does not equate to truth.

*The appeal to fear:  This is used by CEO’s, the media, politicians, and some preachers.  Ex.  “We can’t do that, we don’t know what will happen.”  or  “The Republicans will take away your social security benefits.”  or  ” Trump is going to destroy this country.”
A response to this fallacy could be,  “Hey, let’s calm down and look at this logically and seriously.”  Fear is a good thing if it is used properly.  When a preacher teaches on the doctrine of Hell, he is using fear, but fear is being used correctly and with the proper intent.  when a politician tells the elderly that Trump is going to take away their social security, it is fallacious and the intent of using fear is wrong and dirty.

*The appeal to pity:  This is used by charities. This fallacy greatly angers me.  It is a low blow by advertisers or charities.  I am not against charity…I am all for charity,”…the best of these is charity.”  “Don’t you care?’  or  ” For only thirty-three cents ($.33) a day…”  or  “How can you sit there and eat that while children are dying from hunger?”  This fallacy is very dirty.  The things the user of this fallacy depicts through word or picture or tone of voice may be true, but they are using a fallacy to break you down.  A response to this fallacy could be, “Give me the facts of the matter, you need not play on my sympathy…that is offensive to me.”  I’m reminded of a quote by the unrecommended comic, Sam Kinnison, “You’re right there, give the kid a candy bar!!!”

*The appeal to demonization:  This is used by politicians very much of the time.  An Ex.  “White supremicists support Donald Trump!”  White supremicists or ignorant fools, as I call them, supporting Trump does not make Trump one of there’s.  The Catholic Church has canonized many a saint, but this does not make them Catholic and unworthy of our consideration and reading. Augustine is canonized by the Catholic Church, but the truth is, Augustine is the grandfather of the Reformation, which attacked the Catholic Church at it’s foundations.  Many Catholics take C.S. Lewis as their own.  Lewis was in no way, a Catholic. I am surprised the Catholic Church has not canonized Lewis.  I know, I know, Lewis never performed a miracle, but the Catholic Church can do what they normally do, make things up as they go. [Sidenote: A miracle is a prerequisite to sainthood in their made up religion.]  [Another sidenote: I do not disparage the members of the Catholic Church, we have much spiritual family in that system, but I do denounce and condemn, in the strongest way, the Catholic Church and the whore’s Hierarchy…Pope Benedict excluded.]

*The appeal to the population or the majority:  This is used because we fall for it every time.  An Ex. “Everyone likes it”  or  “Everyone is doing it”  or  “Everyone is in agreement.”  In the early three-hundreds (300’s) Athanasius was told, “The whole world is against you!”  Athanasius responded with, “Then I am against the whole world!”
The majority does not equate to truth.

*The appeal to flattery:  This is another dirty trick.  “We know [T[hou art a [M]an come from God.”  Flattery is used to break a person’s guard down. The Book of Proverbs has much to say about the person who uses flattery as a tool and a weapon and it is not flattering.  Persons fall for this fallacy because persons are vain. A response to this fallacy is, ” Flattery will get you no where.”

The appeal to volume: This fallacy is used when a person has no support for his or her point.  The fallacy is the volume or the loudness of the person trying to get what he or she wants. Ex. “I KNOW WHAT I’M TALKINg ABOUT!!!!!!!!  #&^! IT”  Loudness does not equate to truth.  Do not crumble under the sound waves of the fallacious person with no support or evidence.

Reader, this knowledge can be used immediately.  When a person is trying to make a point listen for these fallacies or dirty tricks and do not fall(acy) for these dirty tricks.  Take the fallacy user’s point or argument down premise by premise.

Godspeed.

“The [Justified] shall live by faith.”

If there is a Scriptural topic any sound preacher loves to preach it is the “Doctrines of Grace.”  By the doctrines of grace we mean the doctrines of election, Christ’s imputed justification, the efficacious or effective call of God, Sanctification or the saint’s Predestinated Christ-likeness, and present and ultimate glorification.  The doctrines of grace have been and are called by different names, such as Calvinism, Salvation, The Golden Chain of Salvation and soteriology (the study of God’s salvation of man), and reformed theology.

The trouble with labeling anything is it will immediately cause division and contention.  The best example of this is Lordship salvation.  Lordship salvation simply means when one is saved, one receives Christ as their Lord and they are beginning a life of obedience to God….simple and basic Bible teaching…even the lost man understands this!!!, “If I Come to Christ, I’ll have to stop X”  But the second you label it Lordship salvation everyone gets their swords out.

We can remember preaching the doctrines of grace or “Calvinism” in front of those that hate Calvinism.  I was surprised by the acceptance and Amens I received from these Christ-ian listeners.  I learned then and there they amen’d me because they heard sound theology being proclaimed. However, if I entitled the message, “Calvinism” or mentioned Calvinism, the entire congregation would have put up a wall, the stake and the fire would begin being prepped…they would hear what I was not saying. We would be seen as a combination of the peanut’s characters “pig pen” and his brother, “rain cloud,” the “wicked witch from the west,” and Hitler. We would be charged with all the spiritual crimes they believe Calvin guilty.

Imputed Rightelosness Explained:

The great doctrine of Christ’s imputed righteousness to the unbelieving sinner turned believing saint or the doctrine of Justification is essential to anyone’s understanding of Salvation.  [Sidenote: Christ-ian witness, we are not instructing you to seek to explain this doctrine in it’s totality to a lost sinner…they will not grasp it…keep it simple.]  The doctrine of justification is a lesson for the already saved.

An analogy: We know the t.v. will be turned on by a press of a button.  Do we know how and why the t.v. is turned on by a simple pressing of a button?  Probably not.  If one were to explain a television to one who has never seen or watched a t.v. a good place to start is by pointing at one and turning it on.  After the previously ignorant has “seen the [t.v.’s] light” then can you explain how it all works.

Christ’s doctrine was believe and then understand.  Besides, the unbeliever will not care to understand this doctrine until they believe it first…I know that sounds backwards, but it is how it is….this is why God must intervene and initiate salvation by the gifting of regeneration then repentance,  and then belief/faith.

Another analogy:  You tell someone about a new dish at a new restaurant. They may hear about the ingredients and even believe it will be a great tasting dish, but until they, “Come and dine,” they cannot understand it experientially and likewise, for salvation to be truly and savingly understood, it must be understood experiencially.

Another analogy:  A person stands at the foot of the fountain of youth…they believe it will grant them eternal life and youth, but until they step forward they will not and cannot understand it experientially.

Still another analogy:  The patient can believe the medicine will heal but until the medication is administered they cannot be healed experientially.

The Doctrine of Justification is this:
The Christ / Jesus,  Son of Mary;  The Son of God and The Son of man lived a perfectly sinless life.  Christ’s life was free of sin-filled thoughts, sin-filled feelings, a sin-filled will and therefore, free of sin-filled actions.  Christ was not subject to death as death is the wage of a sin-filled life.  Though Christ Jesus was not subject to death, due to His total and complete sinlessness, He was falsely charged as guilty by man, though no man could convince or convict Him of any crime or sin. Men were paid to bear false witness against this Perfect Man. This Perfect Man stood silent and composed much of the time during His illegal trials by night.

This Man, Christ Jesus, was found guiltless by Pontius Pilate, the Governor, appointed by God Other authority figures could find no sin or wrong doing in this Perfect Man, this Masterpiece of God, yet He was sentenced to torture, humiliation, and finally death upon a cursed and a criminal’s Cross, all in front of His beloved mother and some of His friends and all of His enemies.  As He is crucified, as His Body is convulsing from agony and pain and He is gasping for  e… v… e… r… y   s…i…n…g…l…e   breathe, as His divine and singular Blood drips from His Head, His cheeks, His mouth, His back and His sides, as His tears run and intermingle with His Blood that is upon His Face, persons mock Him and shake and wag their heads at Him.

All the while, as He endures humiliation, He is thinking of others and not Himself.  He directs John to care for His mother, Mary and for Mary to take John as her son…Only after Christ fulfills all prophecies concerning His Life and His death does He commit His Spirit to God, and gives up the Ghost………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Three (3) days later, the most central and important event of all time occurs.   Christ Jesus, Rises from the dead with victory over sin and death in Hand!!!  He is seen by over five hundred (500) men over the course of (40) forty days…and He has been, is being, and will be experienced by elect persons yesterday, today, and forever until “every eye shall see [H]im.”

Readers, This is what happened to Christ according to the infallible, inspired, preserved, and quickening Word of God.  Just as No man could convict Christ of sin, no man can convict this Word of God with error.

Christ-ian,
How does the above relate to the doctrine of justification or the imputed righteousness of Christ?  We will (DV) explain it in different ways and words below:
*Justification is a spiritual and an unfair exchange. Your sins were placed on Christ Jesus during His crucifixtion and because of His death and resurrection Christ’s righteousness is placed upon and in you or imputed to you.

*The Sinless Christ, through His death became sin, not sin-filled, but the very incarnation of sin, itself…Every sin of every person who will believe is placed squarely upon this Sinless and Perfect Man. This is a weight He had never known or experienced and because of His death and Resurrection, His righteous Life is accounted to you.

Now this is the exchange…read this carefully,
The Sinless Christ, through your death became sin, not sin-filled, but the very incarnation of sin, itself… Every sin of every person who will believe is placed upon this sinless and Perfect Man. This weight He had never known or experienced and because of your death and resurrection, His righteous Life is accounted to you.  Do you see the exchange happening?

*The doctrine of  “in Him”  is very much part of the doctrine of justification.  An Analogy:  You put a mouse in your shirt pocket and you ride a roller coaster.  Not only did you ride the coaster but the mouse rode it too.  The Scriptures, in the Book of Romans, explains that as the elect and believing person is “in Christ,”  the perfect life Christ lived, the death Christ died, and the resurrection wherewith Christ Lives again and forever is accounted to you…you are the mouse on the roller coaster.
Scripture states: The Christ-ian lived the spotless life in Christ, the Christ-ian died in Christ, and the Christ-ian rose again in Christ AND is already seated in Christ in Heaven.  Reader, This is the doctrine of justification.

One more analogy, if you will,  You are in terrible financial debt, there exists no way to relieve yourself from this debt.  You are losing everything, your home, your car, your everything. But a rich man steps in, takes you to the bank, pays all of your debts, and then withdraws, from his own account, one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) and “imputs” it to your account.  This is how justification works.  The sinner has a sin debt to pay, he cannot pay it, Christ steps in, pays the debt and then imputs His own perfection and righteousness…HIs Own and Owned Perfection AND Righteousness upon and in the sinner, now turned saint and servant.  This is the Imputed justification of Christ.

A great Old Testament example of imputation is Jacob disguising himself as Esau and the poor of sight Isaac, their father, seeing Jacob as Esau. Likewise, the Christ-ian has “put on Christ Jesus” and our Heavenly Father sees us as His Son, and our elder brother, Lord Jesus and is blinded to our sins….in the terms of penalty and accountability.

I have pointed to the star, I cannot make you look or see it, but do you? …see it?  Have you looked and seen?  If so, spend your life observing that Star.

Godspeed.

“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God”  (1 Corinthians 2)

Have you ever tried explaining spiritual or theological matters to the unsaved?  Did tehy understand you?  Probably not.  Why can the unsaved not understand these matters?  The answer is simple and it is given in 1 Corninthians 2, The natural, the unsaved, the unconverted, the unregenerated person does not, can not understand the truths of the Spirit of God. It matters not how easily you make things or how clearly you explain truths, they will not get them.  Our Lord said it best when He was explaining the new birth to the religious leader Nicodemus when he said, “If you cannot understand earthly truhs how can you explain heavenly truths?”  This is why the only spiritual truth to deal with when discussing the Scriptures with the natural man is the fact that he is a sinner and that Christ died for sinners and rose again offering the repentant and believing sinner forgiveness and eternal life.

Every person understands sin and the meaning of forgiveness.  Every sinner understands the punishment of crime and or sin.  Every person can understand death and they can understand the fact of someone taking blame for someone else.  This is the Goepsel in the proverbial nut shell..  If the Spirit makes this Gospel real to them they can be saved. The real test of whether or not they have understood this truth fully is when they believe the above but also the resurrection of Christ.  They can understand the first part of the gospel but if they understand and believe the gospel, it is because the spirit has intervened and shined the gospel light unto them.

In an article i saw on Youtube news there is a writer writing about Mike Pence saying God tells him what to say.  George W. Bush said years ago that Christ is his hero and that he believed it was God’s will that he be president.  Reader, the natural man cannot understand these simple spiritual matters.  Whenever a believer says God speaks to them, the unbeliever hears something the believer did not mean.  The unsaved hears, “God came to me in Person and said X to me, this morning over coffee and doughnuts.”  If aa believer actually meant that even the most believing of believerswould not accept this as truth. Whenever a believer says to a lost person, “I believe the Bible,”  the lost person hears, “I believe witches should be killed and smart mouthed children should be stoned to death,”

Many an unbeliever thinks the Bible is a book of fairie tales.  They believe the Bible is simply a book written by human thought and philosophy.  I have even heard of persons believing the Bible is added to every year.  When we say that the natural man does not receive or understand the spiritual truths of Scripture, we do not mean that no unsaved man can understand the letter of these truths. We mean they cannot understand the spirit of these truth.  There is many a person that can recite the Gospel but they have not understood it in it’s spiritual meaning, they have not internalized it and made it true to and for themselves.  A lost person may understand that a spiritual man is strongest when he is at his weakest, but they do not understand it for themselves.  A natural man understands the concept of prayer but they have never entered into the spirit of prayer and had God incline His fatherly ears to a prayer.  They know not what it means to know God has “heard my prayers.”  To these persons a prayer and an answer to that prayer is simple coincidental.  They cannot understand these basic spiritual prayers and they will not understand these prayers…they simply do not want to.  We have alll experience it…we have been in a two (2) way discussion and the moment we bring God into it we begin a monologe.  I have stood at a cash register, had a nice and friendly exchange with the clerk and the moment I say, “God bless you” to that previously friendly clerk everything changes…the dark cloud appears and a wall comes up and there is an unfriendly wall built in seconds.

Reader and Christ-ian witness, never be concerned with how you explained the message from Heaven, never doubt your clarity and if you hit all the points well enough.  If the person did not believe you, it is because they do not want to, “neither can they.”  the god of this world has blinded the eyes of them that believe not,” and the only thing that can allow them to understand and can cause their desire to understand is the “light of the glorious gospel shining upon them.”  Augustine explained it well,  You can point to a star for someone but you cannot make them see it.  Christ also expained it, “Marvel not, the wind bloweyh where it listeth.”  In other words, the Spirit of God blows upon whom He wills, when He wills, and how He wills.  We do not know where He comes from nor do we know where He is going or to whom He is going.

When we as a Christ-ian witness speak to a lost person, keep it simple, All men are sinners because of what they do and what they are.  Every man has broken the law of God and the wrath of God abides upon that sinner, lest that sinner hears and obeys, the Gospel of Christ, which states, Christ lived a holy and sinnless Life in the place of all sinners who will turn from their sins and believe Christ died in their place after living a sinless life and rose again to offer sinners the forgiveness of God and His acceptance into the kingdom of God forever.  When they bring up other points of disagreement, stick to the simplicity of the Gospel.

When the virgin birth is brought up or evolution is brought up or stoning children is brought up, stick to the Gospel.  Tell them, “Friend, we could discuss those topics but they are secondary to Christ, His Life, death and resurrection and your sins and their forgiveness.”  No man has ever been saved by belief in the virgin birth, a non belief in evolution and understanding the stoning of children.   By the way, there is not an example of any children being stoned in Scripture, sometime the Word of God and His warnings act as a deterrent.  The virgin birth is certainly an essential doctrine and can be discussed with a genuinely intersted person, but when you have precious little time, stick with the Gospel and it’s simplicity.  There are many persons that believe in intelligent design who are not saved and will not be saved.  Stick to the simplicity of the Gospel for no man has ever, or will ever be saved without believing this.

We have a rubber bracelet that has an arrow pointing down, a cross next to the arrow, an open tomb next, another arrow pointing up and finally another arrow pointing down. These five (5) simple expressions or drawing say it all…Christ came down, Christ died on the Cross, rose from the dead, retruned to Heaven and is coming again someday.  The only thing it is missing is an arrow pointing sideways declaring the sinless life He lived and an arrow pointing outward with a question mark and a table of God’s law being broken at the beginning.

Reader, there are of couse so many truths to understand, the existence of God, creation/evolution, the virgin birth, the incarnation, the error of non Christ-ian belief systems, the letter and the spirit of God’s Law, Aliens, hypocrisy, etc. etc. etc.  What we have seen is when a person understand and believes Solus Christus or Christ Alone, all these other things fall into place.  I have seen persons who are pro alien (outer space), pro-abortion, and pro evolution change these beliefs instantly once they get Christ and His Gospel right.  It is not brainwashing, but it is.  It’s not a mindless brainwash of a weak-minded person but a divine washing of the mind and heart or rather a replacement of the heart of stone with a heart of flesh with the law written upon it and the placement of a soundness in the believing mind.

Paul, in writing to Timothy, charged him not to get wrapped up in fables, fallacies, wives tales, science falsely so-called, etc.  One can answer every single charge of the atheist, and all persons that do not believe the Gospel and have Christ as their Lord and Saviour are atheists in a technical sense, and the atheist still will not and cannot believe unless the Spirit of God gives this belief to them along wih the gifts of repentance and faith.

The great wall of disbelief and atheism can only come tumbling down by the blast of the Gospel trumpet.  The giant Goliath of unbelief and atheism can only be killed and be headed by the single smooth Rock of Christ and His Gospel. The promised land can be taken only by the spiritual violence of a radical repentance and belief.  The only way to avoid the anger and wrath of God over taking you like a flood is the Divine call to enter the Ark, the Ark that is Christ.

One reason…probably the main reason Christ-ians fail to share Christ is their belief in their ability to share Christ properly.  They do not think they can explain everything in Scripture to the unbeliever.  Reader, you cannot fail and you need not explain everything in Scripture…goodness, many preachers i hear do not undertsnad much of ehat they are speaking of!!!  Keep it simple, Beloved.  Everyone is a sinner/God’s broken law and God’s anger, Christ and a perfectly sinless life in the believing sinner’s place, the death of Christ in the sinner’s place, the victorious resurrection in the sinner’s place, repentance and belief based upon the previous truths, and the forgiveness of a longsuffering and loving God, and then a home in heaven purchased by Christ.

An analogy,  There are two (2) brothers. The younger brother breaks an expensive vase after being warned not to throw a ball in the area around the vase.  The younger brother disobeys and the vase is broken.  The father comes home and is greatly angered, he has warned the younger son not to play around the vase many, many times and the younger boy is sentenced to discipline at the hand of the angered and tried father.  But the older brother steps up and says, Father, i will take the chastening at you hand…my younger brother cannot bear your whippings..but I can. Discipline me in his place.  The father therefore disciplines the elder brother.  Instead of the elder brother being angry with the younger brother the elder goes to the bedroom and tells the younger, who is heart broken, “I love you and I always will.”

Of course the analogy does not fit the Gospel perfectly, but it demonstrates the simpicity thereof.  Some may say the analogy doesn’t make realistic sense, but it explains the Love of our elder Brother, His ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts.

“I am the Way…no man cometh unto the Father, but by [M]e.”  (John 14)

“I am the [D]oor…”  (John 10)

“I have chosen you… therefore the world hateth you….”  (John 15)

In our world today exclusivity is an evil thing.  When the brute beasts mention the one percent (1%) or the rich, they do so while seething.  This world, the former presidential administration, and the media have done all they can to set up a Hindi like class system.  There is the rich and the poor and the rich are evil and the poor are good and pure.  This is nothing new.  Robin Hood put forth this wicked spirit into the minds of the “poor.”  Communism and Socialism and Darwinism all come down to the wealthy is evil.  If one knows there history one would remember the French Revolution, which was the poor overtaking the rich and executing them.

I read an article last week about a school canceling a father daughter dance because it left some people out. In many children’s sports there are not winners and losers anymore because it leaves the “non-winners”  out of the revelry.  There is an element in the world today that wants everyone and every thing equal.  This element would be happy if all the world was third (3rd) world …they want everything equal and since there is no way to pull everyone up, they want everyone brought down.

This is not how the world is.  This is not how God set things up.  In this world there are winners and losers.  In this world there is the wealthy and the poor.  In this world there is the good and the bad, the true and the false, the right and the wrong and there are absolutes….it is what it is. We are told that the poor are poor because thet are kept down and because of this infringement these persons are not happy and good people….there condition is due to their “low estate.”

Maybe persons are in the condition they are in because they are not happy and good people.  An analogy:  People that purchase and eat healthy foods are healthy and sound people and they are physically fit.  Okay, or these purchasers are healthy and sound persons, so they eat good foods. I know it seems like the last sentence is a play on words, but it is not. healthy minded persons are physically healthy due to their mindset…in others words, what came first, the healthy diet and physical fitness or the sound and wholesome mindedness?  The latter, of course because it is dealing with the will and the spirit of the person.  So the poor persons, the down and outers….are they in these circumstances because of being poor and having no chance for “upward mobility” or  are they in a poor and low estate because of the mindset they have?  These persons do not have the mindset of poverty because of their conditions, but their poor condition is due to the poverty mindset. I am speaking in general and not to specific situations.  Of course there are circumstances that do hinder some from “moving on up” but that is not true of every person in sad states.

Exclusivity is a great evil in this world’s view.  Everyone should be equal and be considered the same.  Men that identify as women are considered to be normal. White women who indentify themselves as black…..I said black and not African American on purpose…it is what it is. The world tells us these persons should be taken seriously and not thought to be different and if one questions them about their alternative ideas one will be labeled with terms like racist, bigot, prejudgicial, hater and ignorant of the times.

Our website is called the Children of Issachar for a specific reason.  In 1 Chronicles 12:32, the Children of Issachar were men that had an understanding of the times, these men saw through all the smoke and mirrors, they would have seen through the political correctness and they would have perceived the intent of this world and that intent is to bring everyone down to a level field. The children of Issachar would have recognized the “downward  mobility” that the progressive elements in this country are calling for.

At the tower of Babel there was inclusivity and unity.  The tower of Babel was a united front of a depraved people who wanted to climb up to Heaven and dis-Throne God.  God, while laughing at them, broke apart and separated the one great continent into the continental divisions we have today….it’s simple the continents fit together like a puzzle….It is what it is.

The god of this world and the spirit of this world are reversing the separation. The spirit of this world and the devil say everyone is equal, we are all the same, lets get together and build something. The devil is common, he uses the same tricks over and over again…pit the poor against the rich and all will be well. Humanity falls for it every time, they fall for it again and again and again.

Readers, We are who we are. We are in Christ…we have been chosen and selected, Hand picked, and set aside by God the Father, He put us in Christ and all that our Lord did, we did, beause we are in Him.  God has made us as a new creation, a better creation in Christ’s Likeness. The Christ-ian saint is better than the sinner…it is what it is. God remade us in the Image of His Son, That is our predestinated end.

Being accepted in the Beloved Son of God….He accepts us and not the other way around, is an exclusivity.  God calls us jewels and gems that are fit and made for His Son’s Crown. Readers, God be praised, We are His new creation in Christ, all the old is cast away and BEHOLD HE HAS MADE ALL THINGS NEW AND BETTER…take that place because God’s Son died and rose again so you could take your place at the table…God’s Table and it is exclusive to those He chose to love period…there is no embarrassment or shame in the fact that God chose to love you and not another…to be ashamed of your exclusivity is to reproach God, Himself and make Him a liar.

Reader, Spend today loving God, for He loved us first and His love is a great and abiding gift.

Godspeed.