Pseudo Gospel Purveyors

I read about a North-Carolina man that passed a $200 dollar bill, with the face of George Bush, and cashed it! Both, con-artist and gullible, made headline news, for obvious reasons.

I once read an insightful book, Predators in our pulpits, waaay back in the day. The author stated: "The greatest threat to the church of Jesus Christ in the world today is not from without, as many suppose, but rather from its own leadership within. Our greatest danger is not from outside forces arrayed against the Christians, but from the counterfeits that mislead their followers within the flock. We are being preyed upon and know it not." And that was over ten years ago. What about today? Are there any faux shepherds in our midst?

This morning I was alerted by a Wall Street article written by Brett McCracken. A transient phenomena, in my own opinion. I've been blowing the congregational-horn about this movement for over three years. Check it out yourself.

Our Sunday studies are currently on 1 John 3-4. Our entire church is learning that deceit will be the number one element of the self-destruction of the Church in the Last Days.

Read Acts 20: 27-31 ("...Also from AMONG YOURSELVES men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after themselves...").

After presenting the true way of access into His anticipated Kingdom, Jesus Christ gave a warning, a heads-up, to His disciples about false prophets. He referred to these advocates of the broad way as ferocious wolves who appear harmless as sheep.
How can one determine the character of false teachers? He Need Only Look at the Fruit they Produce:
Peddle God's Word, 2 Corinthians 2:17
Satan the Imitator, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15
The Last Days, 1 Timothy, 4:1-5
The Great "Apostosia", 2 Timothy 3:1-17
Wholesale Deception, 2 Peter 2

How can the believer posture himself against the onslaught of false teaching? John the Beloved speaks in 1 John 2: 18-27:
1. You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things...
2. You know the Truth. The Truth is in You. If Truth abides in You, and You abide in Truth, you will not be deceived.

John 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Happy Friday!!!!

Ho

My Tears Become My Food

Sometimes our own thoughts can become so debilitating. If we let them. There's so much pensive, hectic traffic in our heads nowadays. Well, at least it is on my own big head as of late.

The complexities and issues of every day life can derail many any stout-hearted soul. I know. There are times when I find whispering to myself, nay, actually a full-on, dialogue conversation. I sometimes give the appearance of that of a baseball pitcher on the mound, ready to deliver...nodding in affirmation, or shaking my head in a negative pose.

I find comfort that I am not the only one.

In Psalm 42 the psalmist is obviously overwhelmed as he remembers his accustomed pilgrimage to the Holy City, Jerusalem. His foreign enemies regard his sickness as evidence that God has forsaken him.

Instead of succumbing to self-pity and personal sorrow, he converts his trouble and anxieties and he turns his thoughts to his loving God, setting a right relation with his Maker.

So instead of discouragement, hopelessness and despair, this lamenting and afflicted hero experiences hope, courage, and delivery even in his darkest moments.

"This is my anguish; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." Psalm 77:10

Why Do People Have Marital Affairs?

What happened? Why did it happen? When did it happen? What’s wrong?

Obviously I am not on expert on marital relationships, nor do I claim to know all there is to keep a healthy, productive and content relationship. In fact, I am still learning.

Sadly, though, I've sat in my office with more than a few emotionally distraught, post-infidelity couples to realize, albeit a bit too late, what went wrong.?! What led to this horrific situation? The following list is not mine? It's a compilation from literature pieces I picked up a long the way for the last thirty-seven years; and for my own commitment and own edification in my on-going relationship with my girlfriend-for-life. I pray it helps someone.

1. “Do I still have it?” A man’s desire to recapture his fleeting youth and masculinity, coupled together with a sense of stagnation in his own marriage, helps to set the stage for infidelity. The same reasons apply for the woman. “Am I still sexy?” “Can I still hook ‘em”?

2. Married with children—for the wife, the children’s’ necessities, trails and triumphs have begun to take precedence over maintaining her appearance or tending to her husband’s needs. Often he and she receive the leftovers. At work her husband sees other women who are “put together” psychologically and physically, and he doesn’t have to see them or deal with them in the mundane activities of home.

3. Punishment or Revenge—an affair may be generated by deep anger or outrage on the part of the spouse who feels either abused, neglected or in some way taken advantage of by the other. Thus, the affair can become a means of Punishment or Revenge.

4. Failing Marriage—some use an affair to try to sustain a failing marriage by supplementing the lack of intimacy with outside involvement. The person having the affair is aroused outside of marriage, and then returns to his spouse in the hope that the arousal will carry over.

5. Marriage Termination—some use the affair as an attempt to get out of a marriage by letting the spouse discover what is happening and letting him or her file for divorce. This relieves the cheating partner from the responsibility and guilt of making the initial move to terminate the marriage.

6. Escapism—escaping from life’s pressures such as the job, in-laws, children, personal goals; irresponsible, unemployed, thus, he/she does not contribute financially or emotionally to the income and the welfare of the domestic obligations, etc.

7. Boredom—dull, boring, rut-routine. Often couples drift apart because one chooses to grow emotionally and intellectually, leaving the other person behind.

8. Sexual-deprivation—lack of interest or a passive partner can create a frustration level prompting one to seek other satisfaction. Lack of creativity or pleasure or an incapacitating illness also sets the stage for the affair.

9. Emotional-deprivation—this deprivation is the major cause for infidelity—The lack of fulfillment and intimacy creates an intense vacuum. Failure to satisfactorily express one’s needs and how they can be fulfilled, or refusing to be sensitive to each other’s needs, contributes to alienation. Emotional pressure often precedes the movement towards physical satisfaction. The need for emotional intimacy is one of the greatest reasons for the affair

Shall We Continue in Sin?

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Rom. 6:1
What then, shall we keep on sinning so that God can keep showing us more kindness and forgiveness?
Shall we persist in sin that the gift of grace may be more abundant?
Shall we sin to our heart’s content and see how far we can exploit the grace of God?

Paul was slandered by critics of his teachings on Christian Grace: And why not say, "Let us do evil that good may come"?As we are thunderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Romans 3:8

The Romans Christians needed to know two kinds of extremes: Legalism on the one hand and license on the other!

God’s Grace will not produce:
A license to sin- licentiousness, decadence, depravity or moral corruption.
The greater the sin, the greater the opportunity for God to manifest His pardoning love

God’s Grace will produce:
It will produce, if not a hatred for sin, an acute sensitivity to sin and its evil manifestations.
It will produce a desire for purity and holiness.
It will produce an inward impulse to serve God, and not out of compulsion nor obligation, but one of sincere, response to what Christ has done for us.

1 Cor. 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Alexandria Lavender

Our middle daughter moved out on her own, living in the big OC.

Millie and I had a chance to see her new digs today. Beaming with much pride for Alex's dedication and conviction to start her life on her own, while checking out her town-house, I hid my poignant emotions really very well. I think.

Man, where have twenty five years gone?

As parents we do our best...and let God do the rest.

Alex is my best travel partner. Really. She's not complicated nor high-maintenance. She runs and keeps up with me.

One of the most memorable traveling episodes was getting lost in a vaporetto, going, who-knows-where! while in Italy. She was freakin' out...our entire odyssey ended well, with a nice, inexpensive dinner at a quaint trattoria with just locals...

Our last trip was to New York City. Memorable.

Buona notte, tesoro.Il mio cuore è per voi
Tata

Fret not! Fast and Pray.

“The pastor didn’t study. He was not prepared tonight.” These, along other off the cuff remarks are readily spewed by clueless folks whenever the pastor opts to digress from the ongoing, regular, weekly systematic teachings.
Like life, there are significant, drastic changes that take place in our private world, as well as in society (think 9/11 attacks), that should cause the believer to ponder. Hard. The Psalmist uttered,
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Says the Lord."

This week has been a trying time for me, stretching my core faith and the inner parts of my soul. This is not the first time I've experienced this funk (nor will it be the last!). I have LEARNED throughout my Christian life to emulate what the early church fathers did when they wanted to know the mind of God: Fast and Pray

"So Cornelius said, 'Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing...As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away...So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed."
Fasting is the laying aside of food for a period of time when the believer is seeking to know God in a deeper experience.

It is to be done as an act before God in the privacy of one's own pursuit of God (Ex. 34:28; 1 Sam. 7:6; 1 Kings 19:8; Matt. 6:17).
Fasting is to be done with the object of seeking to know God in a deeper experience (Isa. 58; Zech. 7:5).
Fasting relates to a time of confession (Ps. 69:10).
Fasting can be a time of seeking a deeper prayer experience and drawing near to God in prevailing prayer (Ezra 8:23; Joel 2:12).
Observed on occasions of public calamities, 2 Sam. 1:12
Afflictions, Psa. 35:13; Dan. 6:18
Private afflictions, 2 Sam. 12:16
Approaching danger, Esth. 4:16
Ordination of ministers, Acts 13:3; 14:23.
Fasting accompanied by prayer, Dan. 9:3;
Fasting during confession of sin, 1 Sam. 7:6; Neh. 9:1, 2;
Humiliation, Deut. 9:18; Neh. 9:1;
Reading of the Scriptures, Jer. 36:6.
In times of bereavement: David, at the time of Saul’s death, 2 Sam. 1:12; of his child’s sickness, 2 Sam. 12:16, 21–23; when his General, Abner, died, 2 Sam. 3:35.
Prolonged fasting: for three weeks, by Daniel, Dan. 10:2, 3; Forty days, by Moses, Elijah and our Lord Christ.
Spiritual Spiritual Battles: Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

All these just to announce that next Wednesday, I have allocated our mid-week study solely dedicated to fast and pray for all our ill and sick loved-ones, and specifically for two young girls undergoing drastic cancer treatments, Gracie and Daisy. Gracie is one of our own; Daisy, is Reality's Pastor Britt Merrick's daughter.

Like the prophet Ezra, as he was seeking a deeper prayer experience and drawing nearer to God in prevailing prayer...so do I. (Ezra 8:23) Would you join me?.

18 Years

For those who came out on Sunday for our 18 year celebration, THANK YOU!!!!!! What a great time of fellowshipping with all of us together in only two services. Wow........one day. One day we will.

To the pastors, ushers, greeters, hospitality servants, video/audio crew and support staff, I appreciate you infinitely.

Remember, as the body of Christ, let us be loving and embracing of each other. Each of us have gifts and talents. Use them for the glory of God our Father.

See you tomorrow at church!