Welcome to the Café Logos thought bakery where I assemble the ingredients of my daily experiences to share with our diners.
October 28, 2019 Freedom from the Cocoon I spent over a year working on my latest book, “Holding onto Faith - Understanding the book of Hebrews for you today.” It is an expository study on the book of Hebrews. At the time I was writing it, I was unaware of the massive effort being made to make Christians renounce their faith in Jesus and return to Judaism. The book of Hebrews was written to encourage Hebrew believers to remain in the faith and to not return to Judaism in order to escape persecution. I find it to be ironic that the Lord had me involved with a project that would be a constructive tool to help combat the attempts of an antichrist spirit to lead people into a religion that offers no hope of salvation. Some of these “Judaizers” operating today are very effective and many Christians who have a nominal background in God’s word are being deceived. I am reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:11 – “And many false prophets shall rise and deceive many.” I think it is vitally important for pastors to be aware of this problem. They need to realize that many of those faces listening to them once a week, are also tuning into Youtube, and other sources on the internet where the Judaizers make the most out of their electronic pulpits. It is the responsibility of church leadership to make sure that their congregations have a thorough understanding of the uniqueness and truth of our Christian faith. It is not a religion that emerged two thousand years ago, but a faith that was foreshadowed in the garden of Eden and declared in multitudes of prophecies, foreshadows and typologies throughout the Old Testament that were fulfilled by the Messiah Jesus. We need to recognize the importance of Judaism; the system of belief that was designed by God to be the womb through which redemption would be birthed for the entire world. But it is just a cocoon. The New Life God ordained for us through faith in the prophesied Messiah Jesus, has broken free. Christianity is the only faith that enables us to fly into the arms of God when we die. Returning to the cocoon would be disastrous for any butterfly as it is for all who prefer the smothering darkness of empty religion.
October 24, 2019 How the Apostles used the Torah and the Prophets I have been conversing with a former Christian on a forum board. This person left the Catholic church and converted to Judaism. Basically she just changed religions and from talking with her, I don’t think she was ever born again or had a genuine relationship with the Lord in the first place. She possesses a total lack of knowledge of what the Old Testament scriptures teach about the messiah, and I doubt she would have abandoned Jesus and the only hope of her salvation if she had understood the prophecies, foreshadows and typologies that so clearly point to the truth of the gospel and who Jesus is: the prophesied Redeemer of mankind. The only scriptures the First Century Church had was the Tanakh, the Old Testament scriptures. The apostles used the scriptures as a model for moral behavior and to verify and confirm that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. The Apostle Peter actually places a higher value on the previous scriptures’ evidence of Jesus than their own eyewitness testimonies. – We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. – II Peter 1:19-21 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come to you: - Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Messiah which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Messiah, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported to you by them that have preached the gospel to you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. – I Peter 1:10-12 Peter was an eyewitness to the Lord’s majesty, the miracles, His death and resurrection; yet, he relied on the previous Holy Scriptures to verify the fact that Jesus is the prophesied “foreordained” Messiah. – Who truly was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, - I Peter 1:20 The first chapter of Peter’s first epistle ends with him quoting from Isaiah 40:6-8. – For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls away: But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you. – I Peter 1:24,25 The word of God, will endure when everything else fades away. God’s word that has been recorded in the Old Testament, was designed by its Divine Author, to verify the gospel. The resurrected Messiah taught who He is through Moses, the Psalms and the prophets, (Luke 24:27-44), setting an example for us to follow. Jesus was not just another prophet who showed up two thousand years ago, but is the fulfillment of a plan for mankind’s salvation instigated by God before the earth was made. This reinforces the uniqueness of our faith, which sets it apart from every other religion in the world. Thus Peter reminds us to be “mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior.” – II Peter 3:2 This knowledge supports and confirms our faith and is a guard against apostasy and any attempts the devil will make to try and undermine the truth of the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, our Lord and Redeemer.
October 7, 2019 Lauren Daigle and the Lie of not Measuring Up. Years ago in a dream I saw Jesus holding a measuring cup. He said, “My people are not measuring up.” In Lauren Daigle's popular song, "You Say", there is a line that says, “The lie of not measuring up.” In the context of the song, this is related to our identity in Christ. We are not to measure ourselves by the world’s standards. We are not to “measure up” to what the world deems as successful or acceptable. The world and the demonic elements in it, wants us to feel inadequate. Jesus fills us and fulfills us, eliminating our inadequacies as we yield to Him. However, as Christians, God requires us to measure ourselves according to the standard He has established in His word. He likens His word as a mirror. We look into it and we are to adjust our spiritual appearance accordingly, our walk with Him, because we want to please Him. When we don’t seek to measure ourselves according to His word in this way, we can fall into sin, something a true Christian desires to avoid. Many Christians today are not measuring up in this sense. They are allowing themselves to be led astray by false and imbalanced doctrines, and sexual sin. I know Christians who are fornicating with their boyfriends and girlfriends, even though it is expressly forbidden in God’s word. Measuring ourselves by the standard set forth in God’s word is a good thing. It is for our safety and protection; and certainly is no lie.
October 4, 2019 Connecting the Dots: The Messiah Jesus fulfills Hebrew Traditions I have discovered a couple of Hebrew traditions concerning the Messiah that point to Jesus. So far the Jews have not been able to connect the dots. In one of those traditions it was taught that the messiah would come, and then be hidden. It was also recognized that the messiah would be killed. They also know that the scriptures showed that the messiah would rule and reign in David’s throne. Because they could not coordinate what they were being shown, they came up with this explanation: There would have to be two messiahs, one that would be killed and another following after that would reign. Unfortunately they failed to see that the Messiah Jesus fulfilled their traditions. He came, was killed and is currently being hidden from them until the time of His return to rule the world from Jerusalem. When we look at all the prophecies concerning the messiah in the Old Testament, they all contribute to the same scenario. While most Jews today see their messiah/messiahs as mere men, the scriptures, however, paint a different picture. We are shown in Zechariah 14:1,2, that Israel will suffer another captivity before Jesus returns. He then arrives supernaturally in verse four, planting His feet on the Mount of Olives, causing a massive earthquake which splits the mount. The text in Zechariah’s prophecy also goes on to show us that it is God, YHWH, Himself that is ruling. Jesus has always been God’s image, His theophany. Jesus said, “He that has seen Me, he has seen the Father” (John 14:9). This is how a holy, invisible God can have lunch with Abraham (Genesis 18). This same union of God with His Son/image, will fill the throne of David in the proper season and rule the world with righteous judgments. Let’s not allow ourselves to be deceived by any counterfeits. We are shown very clearly from the scriptures that there would be many false prophets and messiahs that would deceive many (Mathew 24:4,5,11,23,24-27; II Cor. 11:14, I John 4:1-3,). Today’s technology can produce what some could misconstrue as “miracles.” Holograms can mislead people into thinking their messiah is coming from the sky. Having a close, personal relationship with the Lord now and reading His word, is the best protection from deception a believer can have. Unfortunatelly the Jews who have rejected the Messiah Jesus/Yeshua, will not have that protection. Zechariah 11:16, shows us that God will raise up a shepherd in the land, which will not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that stands still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. This is a prophecy of the antichrist that will precede Jesus’ second coming. God will allow the Jews to experience the horrific evil reign of the messiah they have preferred over Jesus. When the Lord returns and eliminates this evil, releasing them from their captivity, they will see the contrast of God’s reign through Jesus of compassion and true justice. Only at the very end at Jesus’ actual return will they be able to see the Truth. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me (The Father) whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, (Jesus) as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. – Zechariah 12:10
September 2, 2019 The Ten Virgins and the Mark of the Beast I’m currently doing a study on Jesus’ Olivet Discourse which encompasses the gospel of Matthew’s chapters twenty-four and twenty-five. I was rereading the parable of the Ten Virgins and I saw something I never noticed before. The five virgins who let the oil in their lamps go out were told by the other five virgins who did not lose their light, to go and buy their own oil because they did not have enough oil to share with them. Now before I get to the point I’m making, we have to understand the timing here. This event occurs after the “tribulation of those days” (Matthew 24:29). Jesus sends His angels to gather His elect before His return to judge the earth in verse 31. Therefore the ten virgins are the ones who are surviving during the reign of the Beast and the antichrist. The one world government has come into its fullness by this time, which means that the mark of the beast is in place. No one can buy or sell without it. Apparently five of those foolish virgins were able to purchase goods and so they would have had to have taken the mark. The oil in the lamps represents the Holy Spirit which is the Spirit of Truth. The foolish virgins had lost the truth: Jesus is the only way to God the Father, John 14:6. These virgins had compromised with the beast system in order to avoid suffering for the Lord. We are strictly forbidden to take that mark and there are dire consequences for disobeying the Lord’s commandment. And the third angel followed them saying, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:9-11). There are only two things that can cost as believer their salvation in the scriptures and they are denying Jesus and harboring unforgiveness. (People who willfully, deliberately and continuously practice sin have never been saved in the first place according to the Apostle John, as the original Greek implies, I John 3:6). Taking the mark will be inked to a denial of Jesus. The five foolish virgins who apparently had ignored or discounted the Lord’s warnings in this matter, are rejected when He returns. “I never knew you, “He tells them in the darkness. Their light is no longer visible to Him and He does not recognize them as His own. They had returned with the oil they had purchased with the devil’s mark. They had aligned themselves with his kingdom instead of God’s. They had eaten the fruit from a tree that God had told them would cost them their salvation, and they reaped the consequences of their disobedience, just as God had said. Thousands of years have passed since our first parents, Adam and Eve, believed a lie, disobeyed God and suffered the resulting agony and eventual death. Children, we need to make our calling and election sure, learn from the errors of the past and not repeat them.
August 9, 2019 Aliens and Strangers The alien or the “stranger” as he is referred to in the Scriptures, receives special consideration from the Lord, and God commands His people to care for them along with the widows, orphans and impoverished. Therefore we must be careful how we treat the alien in our midst. Yes, some of them have entered our country illegally, which is wrong. But we must consider this fact, these illegal immigrants are seeking to escape a poverty that most Americans cannot comprehend. Does God condemn the destitute for trying to survive? Will He cast out the single mother striving to provide for her children? Looking at the precedents we have in the Scriptures, Particularly Matthew 25, I would have to say, no. The woman that was caught breaking the law by adultery was spared by Jesus’ wisdom from being stoned to death by the compassionless who sought only to obey the letter of the law (John 8:3-11). Likewise, those who have broken the law of the land regarding immigration, should not be judged by the letter, but compassionately. That is; those who are not criminals, but are working, should be given every opportunity to obtain citizenship and be given the chance for a better life. According to the Word of God, if these struggling ones are oppressed then we risk invoking God’s disfavor. The church should be vehemently trying to cast out the “aliens” in her midst; that is the sins within her own camp. If we fail to do this and support a merciless judgment upon the poor foreigner, we will have no support from God according to His Word. We will reap what we have sown or not sown and we shall behold our cities descend into ashes. Here are some of the Scriptures that concern God’s requirements regarding the alien and the poor. - Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. – Exodus 22:21 But the stranger that dwells with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. -Leviticus 19:34 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God. - Leviticus 23:22 When thou cut down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands. - Deut. 24:19 When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.24:20 When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.24:21 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. - Leviticus 25:35 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. - Deuteronomy 1:16 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. - Deuteronomy 10:18 And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest. - Deut. 14:29 And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. - Dent 16:14 Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land. - Deut 23:7 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates: - Deut 24:14 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge: - Deut. 24:17 When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; - Deut.26:12 Cursed be he that perverts the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. - Deaut.27:19 The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveler. - Job 31:32 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. - Psalm 94:6 “They” are described in the previous verses to verse six are “wicked and workers of iniquity - Psalm 94:3,4 The LORD preserves the strangers; he relieves the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turns upside down. - Psalm 146:9 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. - Isaiah 14:1 (Apparently it’s the will of God for the Jews to live with the Palestinians in harmony). If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: - Jeremiah 7:6 Thus says the LORD; Execute you judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. - Jeremiah 22:3 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. - Ezekiel 47:22 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. -Zechariah 7:10 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, says the LORD of hosts. - Malachi 3:5 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. - Hebrews 13:2
July 29,2019 Earthquake in Jerusalem Jesus said that there would be an increase in earthquakes in the latter days, which we are witnessing now. People are warned to prepare for these events, especially if they live in areas that are prone to seismic activity. The book of Revelation warns of a massive earthquake that is to strike Jerusalem at some point in time. The prophecy even records the death toll at seven thousand (Rev. 11:13). Bible prophecies are extremely accurate. It is wisdom to take its warnings seriously and prepare accordingly. While earthquakes in general are difficult to predict, the Bible gives some specific signs that will precede this disaster in Jerusalem. Evangelism in Israel, which is represented by the two witnesses (Rev. 11:3) will be overcome and silenced by the beast, (verse 7), the elements operating behind the emerging one world government. This will occur before the beast has gained full control. Persecution against the Christians and their churches has increased in Israel and there are already laws in place prohibiting public evangelism. After this time of persecution, there is a rapture of the remnant Christian church (11:12). We note that the witnesses are referred to as candlesticks (11:4). Candlesticks are symbolic of the church in Revelation (Rev. 1:20). There is no other application for the word in that book. These witnesses most likely represent the spiritual condition of the Philadelphian church that is promised protection from the hour of temptation (apostasy - Rev. 3:10) which in turn protects them from the hour of God’s judgement (14:7). After their calling up we see this remnant, the 144,000, (a symbolic number) in a position of safety with Jesus on mount Zion and in heaven singing their new song (Rev. 14:1-3). We see that the earthquake in Jerusalem occurs after the rapture, (11:12) and hopefully those two events will produce a revival before the prophesied invasion of Israel takes place (Rev. 11:2, Ezekiel 38, Zechariah 14:1,2) which enables the beast one world government to take full control. As we see the events prophesied in the book of Revelation begin to unfold, it is wise to make the necessary preparations. A Christian should live with his spiritual bags packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. This world is not our home. We can feel the tremors of this life’s instability detach us from any dependence we may have to a world that is writhing under the weight of its sin, waiting to break apart in the face of its coming judgement. Prepare.
July 4,2019 A Miracle in the Storm I was finally able to make contact with a pastor I know who was affected by hurricane Florence. His church was very close to the ocean in North Carolina. He told me that they lost the church and the parsonage. Fortunately he had his own home a couple of hours away, so he and his wife were not left homeless. But he said everything in his study was ruined; everything that was paper in the buildings was soaked and destroyed – except for one thing. The roof had collapsed in the church, but the only item that remained totally untouched was the Bible on the pulpit. Everything around it was soaked, but the Bible was perfectly dry. And amazingly in spite of the wind, the Holy Book was still open to the same place where the pastor had been teaching from the previous Sunday. The wind had not been permitted to stir even one page, and the rain had been forbidden to mar the words of God. When everything else in this life is removed, the word of God will remain. Those who cleave to His word throughout the storm winds of tribulation, will insure the preservation of their souls by the truth of the Gospel His word proclaims. The wind and the rain will not be permitted to remove one soul who trusts God’s word for their safety and protection. The word of the Lord endures forever, and as He has promised, those who remain faithful to His eternal word will find themselves sheltered for eternity in the safety of His embrace. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away."
Matthew 24:35 June 19, 2019 War with Iran As of this writing, the United States is currently entertaining quite a bit of tension between itself and the country of Iran. Certain war hawks within the United States government are urging the president to launch a full scale war. Many of my readers may not be aware of the fact that America has a war plan that has been in place for many years, to overthrow the governments of seven Middle Eastern countries ending with Iran. This was classified information that was discovered and leaked by whistleblower, retired General Wesley Clark. Why would the U.S. instigate such a costly and dangerous agenda? Oil might be a motive for sure, which is the golden carrot that is also an incentive for the U.S. to cooperate with Israel to help eradicate her enemies. I am sure that Israel is quite aware of the Biblical prophecies that show her being invaded in the latter days. However, any attempts to circumnavigate God’s judgements will fail. In Ezekiel’s prophecy, Iran is an ally with the invaders (Ezekiel 38:5), and the prophecy in Daniel which is similar, links some of the allies mentioned in Ezekiel with the antichrist (Daniel 11:43). I am afraid that any outright war with Iran will trigger the invasion that Israel is so desperately trying to avoid. This will also backfire on the United States. Israel is seen as “Sodom and Egypt” in Revelation 11:8. Secular Israel has willingly opened its doors to sexual sin. The religious Jews hold much prejudice against Gentiles, thus God sees them as Egypt, viewing them with the same contempt that the Jews harbor against their Gentile neighbors represented by Egypt. God will only tolerate this behavior for so long. The United States also shares in those sins of immorality and prejudice. God afflicted Moses’ sister Miriam, for her prejudice against Moses’ Ethiopian wife. The Lord turned her into a leper and sent her outside the camp for seven days. I can’t help but see a parallel here to Israel’s captivity during a seven year tribulation. This is a time for God’s people to prepare spiritually for the times ahead and make prayer a priority. We may not be able to avert God’s judgments, but they can be delayed. We must make evangelism a priority as well. Repentance is the key that opens the door to God’s mercy. This is a link to the new devotional I did about Miriam and Moses’ Ethiopian wife. – A Father's Love
June 1, 2019 "You are a Pig" A pastor I know had to confront a Christian man who was allowing the devil to drag him through the mud. He was engaged in some morally depraved behavior. The pastor met him at a restaurant and over coffee, the pastor said to him in a kind and gentle tone, “You are a pig.” In view of the circumstances, it was an honest assessment. The pastor wasn’t judging him, he was merely assessing the man’s spiritual condition. The words were spoken in love, with a genuine desire to see the man recognize his need to repent. Another pastor I met who was a bit liberal in his approach to sin, gave me this illustration. What if you are looking at a clean white sheet and it just has one little spot on it. He thought it was okay to ignore the spot if the rest of the sheet was okay. But what if that spot is cancer? When sin is left unchecked it can grow like a cancer until it completely destroys a life. As a physician examines an x-ray, so God examines our hearts. And just as we would want a doctor to let us know if those x-rays are revealing something dangerous that needs to be removed, our attitude should be the same when we are dealing with spiritual issues. There is an analogy that is sometimes used to express the contrast between pigs and sheep. When a pig falls into the mud, it wallows in it. When a sheep falls into the mud, it struggles to get out. If our Divine Physician reveals things in our lives he wants to change or remove, it is wisdom to be willing to repent and let Him pull us out of the mud.
May 30, 2019 Jezebel in the News Many years ago, a prophet from South Africa said that in the latter days the prevailing spirit in the church in the United States would be the Jezebel spirit. We are in the latter days now, and after many years of fulltime ministry in the churches, I have to agree with that prophet’s assessment. One of the greatest deceptions that this spirit has managed to implant in the Lord’s church is that God does not punish or chasten for sin. He does; especially when His people engage in blatant, willful sexual sin. Jezebel’s spirit of compromise eliminates the distinction God makes in His word between pagan behaviors and His holy standards. The Jezebel spirit loves to flaunt its perversions. An example was in the news recently when a divorced female Christian singer became involved with another Christian actress. The two women happily posed embracing before the camera and one of them was quoted as saying, “God is love, He doesn’t care.” She was referring to His attitude toward their relationship which He refers to in His word as “abomination" (Leviticus 18:22). God tells Jezebel and her followers that they are required to repent or face the consequences. - Behold I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He which searches the reigns and the hearts: and I will give to every one of you according to your works (Revelation 2: 22). Contrary to the Jezebel doctrine that this spirit of whoredoms promotes in the church, God does care and that is why His love will do whatever is necessary to bring His straying ones back into His favor and blessings. Don’t allow yourself to be deceived by spirits and doctrines that contradict what God’s word says will keep you in the safety of His embrace.
April 15, 2019 The Third Temple and the Apostasy For over a year I was deeply involved in a study of the book of Hebrews. I found it to be profoundly ironic that as I was engrossed with the study of a book that was written to prevent the Hebrew believers from returning to Judaism and its archaic system of animal sacrifice; that the very same system is fervently trying to be re-established in Jerusalem at this present time. To Christians who ask, “Is it okay to support the building of a third temple?” I would have to respond with an empathic, “No!” The view of some of the Christians who are supporting Israel in this heresy, do so under the mistaken assumption that the rebuilding of the temple will hasten Jesus’ return. The scriptures do show us that the Lord will not return until there is a falling away, an apostasy, and the antichrist is revealed, proclaiming himself to be worshipped as God in the holy of holies (II Thessalonians 2:3,4, Rev.13:6). While the emergence of a third temple seems to play a part in this scenario, for a Christian to assist in the construction of a temple that is being built for the false messiah/antichrist, is a form of betrayal to the Christian faith. The book of Hebrews clearly shows us that Jesus is the final sacrifice for sin. To help in the re-establishment of a system that God has abolished is an affront to the Gospel. I believe that the third temple will be and is a test of loyalty for the Christian. We are called to proclaim the Gospel, not align ourselves with the apostasy, the falling away that will ultimately result in the world’s enslavement to the antichrist’s one world government. The Jews believe that their messiah will rule the world from Jerusalem. Therefore it is no surprise that Jerusalem has now been made the capital of Israel. I have heard it proclaimed from some Jews, that when their messiah comes and rules, then the Gentiles, or Goyim, will then become their slaves. This belief is reinforced in the Babylonian Talmud, which they use to interpret the Torah. The goal is to see the Christian’s faith in Jesus destroyed. How can any true Christian support the establishment of a system that represents the destruction of the Christian faith? The foreshadow of the antichrist, as history and Daniel’s prophecy attests (Daniel 11: 24-31), was Antiochus Epiphanes. He was helped in his ascent to power by Hellenized Jews. These were secularized Jews who were opposed to the orthodox Jew’s strict adherence to God’s word and their faithfulness to Him. Likewise, Christians today who support the construction of a third temple, for whatever reason, are like those Hellenized Jews who enabled Antiochus to be in the position to violently persecute and destroy the Jew’s faith. The Bible predicts that Israel will be invaded by the Gentiles and go into another captivity before the Lord returns (Rev. 11:2, Zechariah 14:2). When today’s Jews in Israel, who have rejected Jesus as the true Messiah, begin sacrificing animals again, they will be by every evidence we have in the Biblical record, “flying in the face of God.” I believe that the sacrifices, or their attempts to re-establish them, will be the trigger that instigates their captivity and catapults the world into the great tribulation and the wrath of God’s judgment. While the Christian should not support the building of a third temple, we should not make any physical attempts to prevent it, other than warning those involved of what the Bible tells us concerning their rejection of the truth of the Gospel. Our prayer should be, “God’s will be done.” Israel was the womb through which God birthed deliverance for the entire world in the Messiah Jesus. We must love and honor our mother Israel for this reason. She may be an enemy of the Gospel at this moment in time, but we are to love our enemies and do good to them that persecute us. We have this assurance in the scriptures, that when her purge is completed, those who are the Lord’s will receive Him at His second coming with tears amid the ashes (Zechariah 12:10,11). The world is teetering on the edge of the great disaster to come. This is a time for the true Christian to follow the Lord’s command to “Come out of Babylon” (Rev. 18:4) and turn our backs on anything that would keep us from holding onto our faith. Copyright 2019 by H.D. Shively For a free PDF of my new book, click here. - Holding onto Faith - Understanding the Book of Hebrews for You Today January 16, 2019 Sign of the Times A church in northern California recently came under a considerable amount of attack for posting this sign at the front of their church: “Bruce Jenner is still a man. Homosexuality is still a sin. The culture may change. The Bible does not.” The pastor who posted the sign has left the church because of the uproar. He probably would have been better off if he had just posted Romans 3:23 - "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," rather than single out any partucular group. Actually, it is not a sin to be a homosexual. But the practice of it is the sin of fornication, and believe me, they are not the only ones guilty of that one. Jesus tells us the context through which sex is sanctioned and that is between a married man and woman. Sex outside of that context is the sin of fornication. It does not matter whether this sin is practiced by an unmarried heterosexual or someone who is gay; fornication is still sin in God’s eyes. When God created the heavens and the earth, He set everything in perfect order. Sin entered and distorted the perfection that God had ordained. The spirit of rebellion always seeks the opposite of the will of God, whether we care to admit it or not. It's too bad that the people who responded so negatively to the church's statement, could not understand that this sign was posted in a spirit of love for their soul's welfare. This all reminded me of a testimony I read from a Messianic Jew who is gay. He said very simply, “I am gay, but I do not practice it because my Lord does not like it.” This person genuinely loves God. Jesus said, “If a man loves Me, he will keep My words" – John 14:23. There are those who have embraced Christianity who are practicing lifestyles that are not in accordance to the word of God. When we come to Jesus, we are all equal in His eyes, which means there are no special privileges afforded to us. We have come under Christ's Lordship and He has called us all to take up our cross, follow Him and die to ourselves. If we truly belong to Jesus, then we must be willing to lay all that we are upon the altar of spiritual sacrifice. We must be willing to let Him change us into the people He wants us to be. We cannot change ourselves. God is committed to our transformation into the image of Jesus and the perfect will of God and it is not God's will for anyone to remain in lifestyles that He has not ordained. This applies to the homosexual as well as unmarried heterosexual couples who are living together. There are many things in God’s word He says He does not like. We are all guilty of doing some of them. In Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the sinner (Luke 18: 9-14) we are shown that the sinner recognizes that he has sinned and asks for mercy. The humble sinner is the one who is justified by God and not the prideful, self-righteous Pharisee. It is pride that refuses to humble itself before God and the Pharisee’s pride is what condemns him and it is the sinner’s humility that justifies him. None of us can afford to be like that prideful Pharisee and refuse to acknowledge what we are doing is wrong according to the word of God. When we willfully sin, we are as the Bible says mocking God and we will eventually reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). When we walk in disobedience to the word of God, we shut the door to many blessings including deeper intimacy and fellowship with Jesus. We know that God loves us. But do we love Him enough to give Him our sexual idols? Please don't cling to your old clay beads when God wants to replace them with diamonds. Related article: The Sin of Fornication | Related Scriptures: Romans 1:26-27, Leviticus 18:22, Genesis 13:13; 19:4-13, I Corinthians 6:9-10 P.S. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood…. Ephesians 6:12 If you are struggling in the bondage of sin and want to get free but you feel you are fighting a losing battle because of constant failures, God wants to remind you of something. You are also wrestling against unseen forces, demonic entities that possibly may have existed in your linage for untold ages. They have entered into you at infancy to make the abnormal seem normal (Mark 9:21). Their goal is to cause you to function in opposition to the word of God. You have been given all the power you need to defeat them in Christ, but it is a wrestling match and the victory will be secured on your knees. You are not alone. Jesus is kneeling beside you in your own garden of Gethsemane. Be as determined to win over your inner enemies as they are to destroy you. Your desire to overcome them is the first step of victory. Persevere and be dependent upon the Lord to strengthen you. If you ask for strength He will give it to you (Luke 11:10). If you fail, repent. Repentance is the door you can open that will flood you with cleansing grace and another brand new beginning. Come boldly to the Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16). Don't be discouraged if it takes a long time, even years before you receive your deliverance. Keep fighting. Resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7). The Lord is suffering with you and He cannot wait to place upon your head the crown of overcoming victory. Copyright 2019 by H.D. Shively
January 9, 2019, Home Invasion I got a call yesterday from our doctor’s office regarding a change in a scheduled appointment. The girl I was talking to, suddenly changed the subject and told me that she’d had terrible nightmares the previous evening. She said, “It may be because of the movie I watched.” I asked her to give me some of the details of the dream. She said there were things coming into her house. I asked her if she was a Christian and she replied, “Yes.” Then I told her to rebuke any spirits that may have invaded her or her house in Jesus’ name, assuring her of the authority we have been given in Him. Then I told her to be careful about what she watches on television or movies and I gave her these examples. A friend of mine in California was watching a made for television movie when she felt something slam on her chest. Several days later she received a call from someone who operates in the prophetic saying that there was a movie that was promoting a spirit of murder and not to watch it. That was the movie she was watching when she felt that thing hit her chest. Shortly after that she and her husband were watching a National Geographic special. It was about to show a Voodoo ceremony. She heard the Still Small Voice whisper, “Turn it off.” She didn’t respond. Then the Spirit went to her husband and told him the same thing. He didn’t obey either and they both felt something land on their chests. I had another friend, Jill Austin, who was a speaker who operated in the prophetic. She told me that she was invited to a movie by the people she was staying with before a service she was to speak at the next morning. She agreed to go with them. But when the film began to become violent, the Lord let her see demons come out from the screen and begin to “mess with the people.” She left immediately and waited in the lobby until the movie was over. I believe that the devil is using much in our media today to spread spirits of lust and violence and that is one of the reasons there is so much unrestrained immorality. I also believe that spirits of complacency are transferred onto susceptible Christians through the media resulting an increasingly "dumbed down church." It is important to protect your ports of entry; eye gates and ear gates. Stay separate from the pollutions of this world, because Satan will use whatever he can to try and derail you. For more information on how to protect you and your family from demonic attacks, please check out our free ebook. Spiritual Warfare Copyright 2019 by H.D. Shively
January 7, 2019 Simplicity and the Gospel The other night the Mormons were making the rounds in our neighborhood, going door to door, looking for converts to their organization. This reminded me of a time many years ago when my husband and I were camping in California. Some Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on our door after previously visiting with the occupants of the camper behind us. After we had explained our position in Jesus to the Witnesses and they left, we decided to visit our neighbor and make sure they were not confused by the Witnesses' presentation. We got into a conversation with our neighbor and found out that the Jehovah’s Witnesses had been trying to convert a Mormon. We explained the Gospel to her and we were disheartened when she replied, “That’s too simple.” Believe me, there is only one thing that rejects the Gospel’s simplicity and that is a pride infected ego. I practice a very simple first century apostolic Christianity, which means, I follow Jesus and His founding apostles with no additions. I don’t need a guru who professes to have a better way, or a more complete way or their way. I’m smarter than that. I know enough to know that you can’t improve upon what God has ordained in His Holy Word. Real Christians are not preoccupied with building a religious corporation. Our only concern is building God’s kingdom. You do that by introducing people to the pure sweet simplicity of the Gospel; believe that Jesus died for your sins, and that He rose from the dead so you can have eternal life. It doesn’t matter if people want to go to your church, it only matters if they go to heaven. When we lose our zeal for our first century commission to share the Gospel and disciple people from the scriptures alone, we tumble off of our first foundation into apostasy. This is when the foolish start thinking that maybe somebody else has a better idea. This is when individuals start embracing foreign doctrines which was the error of the church at Pergamos (Rev. 2:12-16). This is when people start cluttering up what God has originally ordained for our salvation, because their pride infected egos deem the Truth as too simple. I hate clutter. And if you love God, so should you. Take the apostle’s warnings seriously and keep yourselves in the blessed simplicity that can save your souls. Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (II Corinthians 11:1-3). They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us (I John 2:19). Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein youstand; By which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (I Corinthians 15:1-4). For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might as well bear with him (II Corinthians 11:4).
Copyright 2019 by H.D. Shively
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2018
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November 28, 2019
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