Posts Tagged ‘discipleship’

Is this the hour of the sons of God manifestation?

Posted: June 30, 2021 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, wilderness
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I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us.

The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters!

For against its will the universe itself has had to endure the empty futility resulting from the consequences of human sin.

But now, with eager expectation, all creation longs for freedom from its slavery to decay and to experience with us the wonderful freedom coming to God’s children. (Romans 8:18-21, The Passion Translation)

Is this the Hour of manifestation….

Jesus came into this world to impart to us an inheritance that nothing in the cosmos can compare to. For with the same passionate desire that the Father sent Him in, so is it His desire to see everyone of His disciples sent.

That is, having been sent impregnated with the power & supernatural reality of His Kingdom manifesting in and through us.

He gave His life for this and trained His disciples to fully take possession of every single thing He conquered on our behalf.Time to return to discipling as did Jesus…

Jesus poured Himself into His disciples to ensure they understood the realities of His Kingdom.

They in turn taught those whom they discipled with the same passionate desire to where the first century Church not only understood it, they walked in the supernatural Kingdom realities.

Over the centuries, the spirit of religion has woven its bewitching doctrines into the Church, robbing the Father’s children of the truth pertaining to their inheritance leading up to this present hour to where the Church is pretty much sterile, lacking the Revelation seeds to continue reproducing Heaven’s realm here on earth.

Yet Glory to God, Holy Spirit is now calling out to the Remnant with the orders from the Throne of the Eternal King, now is the hour to awaken My bride!!!

Are you too hearing the sound? Is your Spirit man becoming more active with an unction to regain the rightful place of leadership within your being?

There are pockets of His Remnant gathering around the globe including right here in the United States.

If your seeking a place with the freedom to be the unique you that the Father purposed you to be from before the foundations of the world and live in the North Florida region.

You’ll want to come and check out our Spirit & Fire Night’s at the Seawalk Hotel located at 117 1st Ave N, Jacksonville Beach Florida.

We gather each Saturday Night in the courtyard starting at 5:00 pm

(This week it will be held on Sunday starting at 4:00 pm for the 4th of July celebration)

Hope to see you there, come with a hungry heart filled with the anticipation to experience the supernatural, for Heaven has been joining in and each week the sound of Heaven is shaking the gates of hell as the Father is about to tear them down.

(We also have teachings Monday – Thursday Nights in the training room which is the storefront closest to the beach at the mission located at the Sea walk Hotel. The teachings run from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm, All are welcome)

Russ Welch, director at Beaches Rescue & Recovery Mission

The example of Jesus

Posted: June 9, 2021 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, wilderness
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The Example of Jesus Christ…..He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing equality with God as his supreme prize. Instead he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion! Philippians 2:6-7, The passion translation

Many need to read this, meditating upon it with Holy Spirit opening their eyes to it.

A personal reflection…

One day a Holy conviction shook my heart. Holy Spirit pointed out how I was chasing the recognition, respect and honor of man – basically seeking my own glory.

He showed me how I had spent years studying the fundamentals of the Church i.e. it’s traditions, rituals & culture, not to glorify God the Father rather to draw attention to how knowledgeable I was.

In reality I had become very heart hardened religious fool, an unknowing puppet in the evil ones hands.

I would pray loud long prayers not to bring healing or deliverance to people rather to draw attention to how great I was at praying.

I am so thankful that the Father loves me enough to bring correction and discipline when needed.

My whole desire today is to draw people’s attention to look upon the Lord, for He alone is able to rescue them, to bring healing & deliverance.

He alone is worthy of all the Praise, Honor & Glory!!!

Now, having been captivated by the spirit of religion for so many years, I can recognize it quickly, I can even smell it’s ugly evil presence.

This can be good or be bad, depending on whether one chooses to walk in a high level of mercy.

Or one can incorrectly sit and remain eating from the tree of of the knowledge of good & evil or choose to eat from the tree of life.

Learning from the example Jesus lived as us, I am so thankful & walk daily dependant upon Holy Spirit guidance to remind me it is not the person rather it is the spirit that is holding them in the same prison that it held me in for twelve + years ref 2 Corinthains 10:4, Ephesians 6:12.

Russ Welch

Director of Beaches Rescue & Recovery Mission

www.beachesmission.org

Spiritual Invasion

Posted: April 27, 2021 in Uncategorized
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The Father has authorized the Courts of Heaven to take dominion & occupy the Beaches of Jacksonville…..

Last August as I was driving off the property of Cane Ridge meeting house, the location where the spark of the 2rd great awakening happened in 1801, Holy Spirit began to speak to me about authentic Kingdom discipleship.

He shared that true Christ like discipleship is one that is of a transactional relationship (pouring everything the Father has poured into us), which ignites a transformational flame, sparking an inward re-formation which births a Holy conviction to become the image bearer of Jesus the Father has always desired.

Then shortly after taking the position of volunteer director at Beaches Rescue & Recovery Mission in Jacksonville Beach, He said if you will lay everything else aside and invest in these disciples everything the Father has invested in you, this ministry will graduate “Mountain Moving Disciples” of Jesus Christ.

There has been some challenges, a number of the disciples were not willing to surrender their whole lives to Christ (After counting the cost). But of those who have stayed, I am witnessing a powerful and visible transformation in their lives.

There are many so called “discipleship-programs” out there, but there is only one true authentic ministry (not just here but around the Globe) where the leadership is willing at the stake of their personal reputation, give Holy Spirit complete control, putting away all religious teachings, doctrines and theologies and turn to the one true truth, His Holy Word (Jesus).

Along with this is the understanding that we always operate in grace, yet with the understanding that true Kingdom Grace carries with it governmental authority (Romans 6), and that Jesus taught in black & white, there are no gray areas with regard to His teachings.

In the Word one finds the pure unadulterated Gospel message that Jesus brought. You can not visible see it through the lens of tradition nor denominational rituals. To truly see it in its purity, one must submit to reading it through the eyes of the Spirit. Much like the invisible pens that were around when I was a child, you can’t see it unless you put it up to the LIGHT.

In November, the Father started speaking to me about allowing Him to gather a family together that will only seek His presence, not build something ourselves but surrender it Him and allow Him to draw those whose hearts are sold out to Him.

I prayed about it and reached out to my brother in the Faith Tracy Perez, and we both prayed and felt it was the Lord’s will. In January of this year, we opened the door to Saturday Night Beaches Family Gatherings (AKA Spirit & Fire Nights) at the Mission.

This past Thursday we were blessed to host Albert Luepnitz and Russell Stendal. I have personally known Albert for several years and have witnessed the Apostolic anointing he carries and how Heaven opens up over his meetings., darkness is exposed and denied it’s ability to remain hidden.

For the past two days hell has been attacking me trying to put a sickness on me yet the Blood denies it’s invasion. However this afternoon Holy Spirit began to speak to me and give me the following down-load: 

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6)

Heaven is invading the beaches, the Father is right now gathering & maturing disciples who are going to wreak havoc on the realms of darkness.

Many of the generational strongholds that have empowered darkness to operate in the beaches area are about to not just be torn down, they are going to be dis-assembled and burned by His Holy presence until they are rendered useless and unable to ever being re-establish.

The historical towers of religion are going to put up a fight, yet the Spirit of the anointed One, Jesus Christ shall prevail, in fact He defeated them at the cross and is deputizing this generation of disciple to enforce His Victory.

The counterfeit ministries are also going to try and ruin the plans of the Father and put a halt to what He is doing, they will throw everything in their power whether it be legal or financially to dose the flame that is being lit.

Yet they too will fail, the Father will with one breathe, remove the counterfeit veil of holiness and expose them for what they truly are, man created institutions welding the worldly systems power.

To God be the Glory!!!

Russ Welch, Director of Beaches Rescue & Recovery Mission

The Strongman Called Offense

Posted: March 8, 2021 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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Hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world comes and has nothing in me. (John 4:30, TPT)

Jesus didn’t have any spiritual strong men of the enemy taking up residence in His soul. Lets take a quick look at the spirit of offense…Now, if we were to put the spirit of offense in the catagory of spiritual “strongmen” we can then see how he brings other strongmen with him such as anger, false judgement and unforgiveness. Then they all take captive the individuals soulish realm to where they are prisoners, having their emotions placed in spiritual chains.

This can either be a short term hostage senario if the individual comes to see what has taking place and repents (takes on the manner of thinking in which Jesus lived His life here, thinking only the thoughts as to what the Father thinks) and through the door of forgiveness they are able to escape this spiritual prison.

If repentance doesn’t happen, then the individual can well be imprisoned soulishly through their emotions for years. To the point that their growth and destiny is at a stand still until the Light of Truth exposes their unforgiving heart. Then once true repentance has taking place and Holy Spirit is given permission by that individual to evict them, then they are set free once again.

Once this happens we must be on guard and leave this area ( and all areas) of our soul surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus so that the strongman doesn’t return with even more in his attacking party.

~Russ G Welch

Director at Beaches Rescue & Recovery Mission, Jacksonville Beach Florida

You can also follow him of Facebook

Superficial Spirituality versus Genuine Humility

Posted: May 30, 2019 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, wilderness
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“Then Jesus addressed both the crowds and his disciples and said,  “The religious scholars and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ throne as the authorized interpreters of the Law.  So listen and follow what they teach, but don’t do what they do, for they tell you one thing and do another.  They tie on your backs an oppressive burden of religious obligations and insist that you carry it, but will never lift a finger to help ease your load.  Everything they do is done for show and to be noticed by others. They want to be seen as holy, so they wear oversized prayer boxes on their arms and foreheads with Scriptures inside, and wear extra-long tassels on their outer garments. They crave the seats of highest honor at banquets and in their meeting places.  And how they love to be admired by men with their titles of respect, aspiring to be recognized in public and have others call them ‘Reverend.” (Matthew 23:1-7, TPT)

It’s is very interesting to see that this is even more prevalent in our day. The sin of such is very much like leaven for is we do not allow Holy Spirit access to search our heart, a little morsel of pride un-detected will ultimately cause ones down fall.

Man has a habit of putting those they admire up on a peddle stool, and in such they begin to desire to become like them. In a day when access to these individuals through media and social networking is larger than ever, we see our fair share of “super-star” puffed up religious personalities out there. The question is why are so many attracted to them? Is it due to their popularity or that they have huge crowds and within the philosophy of this world, that translates being accepted, admired and almost (in some case they are) worshipped?

Sorry America, Heaven has one star and His Name is Jesus, and His Father will not tolorate any idols before Him, no mater how popular they are or how much the resemble the American way, or any other nation or culture for that matter.

Let’s continue on with Jesus’ teaching here in Matthew Chapter 23:

“But you are to be different from that. You are not to be called ‘master,’ for you have only one Master, and you are all brothers and sisters.  And you are not to be addressed as ‘father,’ for you have one Father, who is in heaven.  Nor are you to be addressed as ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Anointed One. The greatest among you will be the one who always serves others from the heart.  Remember this: If you have a lofty opinion of yourself and seek to be honored, you will be humbled. But if you have a modest opinion of yourself and choose to humble yourself, you will be honored.” (Matthew 23:8-12, TPT)

So, what’s up with all the titles people?

From Prophet so an so, Apostle so an so to Apostle-Prophet-Teacher so an so. And the list goes on and sadly it’s fueled by a generation that feeds into their ego, puffing them up. What’s really scary is that many who do such are falling into the trap of pride themselves. It’s as though they feel a perverse entitlement in that if they are following such titles, they are:

a) Better than others who don’t have leaders of such “Great Esteem” and or b) If they follow close enough, why the blessing and favor of God on these leaders lives will somehow have splatter on them.

Need I say anymore? I think not, as I believe Holy Spirit has all the power to remove the scales from peoples eyes and the Word speaks with power as well, so let’s see what Jesus has to say next;

Jesus gives us a 7 stern warning’s here….

 “Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and you Pharisees—such frauds and pretenders! You do all you can to keep people from experiencing the reality of heaven’s kingdom realm. Not only do you refuse to enter in, you also forbid anyone else from entering in!

 “Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and you Pharisees—frauds and pretenders! For you eat up the widow’s household with the ladle of your prayers. Because of this, you will receive a greater judgment.

 “Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and you Pharisees—such frauds and pretenders! For you will travel over lake and land to find one disciple, only to make him twice the child of hell as yourselves.

 “You blind guides! Great sorrow awaits you, for you teach that there’s nothing binding when you swear by God’s temple, but if you swear by the gold of the temple, you are bound by your oath.  You are deceived in your blindness!

 Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred?  And you say that whoever takes an oath by swearing, ‘By the altar,’ it is nothing. But if you swear, ‘By the gift upon the altar,’ then you are obligated to keep your oath.  What deception! For what is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?  Whoever swears by the altar swears by the altar and everything offered on it.  And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it.  And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by God, who sits upon it.

 “Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and Pharisees—frauds and pretenders! For you are obsessed with peripheral issues, like insisting on paying meticulous tithes on the smallest herbs that grow in your gardens. These matters are fine, yet you ignore the most important duty of all: to walk in the love of God, to display mercy to others, and to live with integrity. Readjust your values and place first things first.  

What blind guides! Nitpickers! You will spoon out a gnat from your drink, yet at the same time you’ve gulped down a camel without realizing it!

 “Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and Pharisees—frauds and imposters! You are like one who will only wipe clean the outside of a cup or bowl, leaving the inside filthy. You are foolish to ignore the greed and self-indulgence that live like germs within you.  You are blind and deaf to your evil. Shouldn’t the one who cleans the outside also be concerned with cleaning the inside? You need to have more than clean dishes; you need clean hearts!

 “Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and Pharisees—frauds and imposters! You are nothing more than tombs painted with fresh coats of white paint—tombs that look shining and beautiful on the outside, but within are found decaying corpses full of nothing but corruption.  Outwardly you masquerade as righteous people, but inside your hearts you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

 “Great sorrow awaits you religious scholars and Pharisees—frauds and imposters! You build memorials for the prophets your ancestors killed and decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors murdered.  Then you boast, ‘If we had lived back then, we would never have permitted them to kill the prophets.’  But your words and deeds testify that you are just like them and prove that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.  Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started!  You are nothing but snakes in the grass, the offspring of poisonous vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell if you refuse to turn in repentance?

 “For this reason I will send you more prophets and wise men and teachers of truth. Some you will crucify, and some you will beat mercilessly with whips in your meeting houses, abusing and persecuting them from city to city.  As your penalty, you will be held responsible for the righteous blood spilled and the murders of every godly person throughout your history—from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, whom you killed as he stood in the temple between the brazen altar and the Holy Place.  I tell you the truth: the judgment for all these things will fall upon this generation!” (Matthew 23:13-36, TPT)

This is as stern a message to the Body today as it was in the day it was spoken. Several months ago, Holy Spirit took me make to these passages to remind to stay the course. Several years before, He led me here to show me that I was lifting up men over Jesus Himself. That I had fashioned my eyes and ministry aspirations on an imposter imagine of what a true follower of Jesus looked and acted like.

In both cases I had to repent for Holy Spirit showed me how I had been drawn away by the bling bling of popularity and sought-after false images. I had to turn my eyes and thinking back to the simplicity of the “Gospel of the Kingdom” and especially back on Christ my Lord, King and Messiah.

Let us, who have in one form or other fallen for the leaven like snares of the enemy repent and turn back to the truth, return to the Highway of holiness and pursue Christ Jesus, His Righteousness and His Kingdom alone, for then we shall indeed be sons & daughters of God.

For my brothers & sisters, I believe we are about to enter  a time-period when the Bride is being awoken, that which has been spots and blemishes on her beauty is going to be removed. We are in an hour when we shall begin to see the Fulness of the Kingdom break-forth. Those things which are not part of the Brides adornment will begin to be exposed and removed quickly.

We’ve been teetering for several generations and due to the Great mercy of our Lord, He has held back His hand, but we are about the enter the 3rd 3rd, the fullness of the Kingdom where the spiritual resurrection of the Bride is going to take place. The earth’s groans for the manifestation of the sons & daughters of God have filled the bowls in Heaven and are now being tipped over.

It is an exciting day for the Bride, but it’s going to be a dreadful day for the Harlot.

So let us close this with a prayer,

Holy Spirit lead us in a way which humbles us and prepare our hearts for the purposes for which the Father ordained for our lives before the foundation of the world. Let our hearts be baptized with Your Holy Fire, let our hands be cleansed by Your holiness, may we be washed clean from the muck of religion and worldliness.

Father, have Your ways in our lives to the Glory of Your Name, Amen

~Russ Welch

Russ is currently part of the Leadership team at the RiverHouse in Jacksonville Florida which has been hosting the Presence of the Lord in demonstrations of power and glory since 2015 and also houses the Healing Rooms of North Florida where they have witnessed many healing’s and deliverance’s to the Glory of the Lord.

Is just a belief of Jesus enough for salvation?

Posted: January 30, 2015 in disciples life
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Since 2010 I have been studying the RED LETTERS with a deep and longing desire to know for sure what Jesus taught about being His disciple. There are so many messages out their today from a universalist view that we can live as we please to the greasy grace doctrines of all is forgiven so live life the way you choose after all Gods Grace covers it all. I know that I can do nothing whatsoever to earn my salvation yet at the same time I was haunted by the words, “depart from Me for I never knew you”.

The group of men I have been blessed to mentor/disciple and I are about to engage in David Platt’s study series from his book “Follow me. A Call to Die. A Call to Live. I have already read the book and much like Radical, I believe David does a good job at causing his readers to search the scriptures with regard to being a true disciples and not be found in the masses of deceived people, who think they are disciples. For those who only desire a comfortable, sacrifice free life, enjoying the pleasures of this world with no true desire to be ruled over, this book will anger you. For those of you who desire a deeper understanding into what it means to live the life of a true disciple of Jesus Christ, this book will help you on that road.

Below is an excerpt from the first chapter. Enjoy:

WHAT ABOUT BELIEF?

Amid this emphasis on the cost of following Jesus, you might wonder about passages in the Bible where it seems that salvation involves simple belief. Jesus tells Nicodemus that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Paul and Silas tell the Philippian jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” According to the book of Romans, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Based on these passages, you might conclude that believing in Jesus is all that’s involved in becoming or being a Christian. This is absolutely true, but we must consider context in order to understand what the Bible means by belief. When Jesus calls Nicodemus to believe in him, he is calling Nicodemus to be born again— to begin an entirely new life devoted to following him. Likewise, when the Philippian jailer believes in Christ, he knows that he is joining a community of Christians who are being beaten, flogged, and imprisoned for their faith .

The cost of following Christ is clear.

In the same way, Paul tells the Roman Christians that to believe in the saving resurrection of Jesus from the dead is to confess the sovereign lordship of Jesus over their lives. In each of these verses (and scores of others like them), belief in Jesus for salvation involves far more than mere intellectual assent. After all, even demons “believe” that Jesus is the crucified and resurrected Son of God.  Such “belief” clearly doesn’t save, yet such “belief” is common across the world today. Just about every intoxicated person I meet on the street says he “believes” in Jesus.

Scores of people I meet around the world, including some Hindus, animists, and Muslims, profess some level of “belief” in Jesus. All kinds of halfhearted, world-loving church attenders confess “belief” in Christ. We can all profess publicly belief that we don’t possess personally, even ( or should I say especially) in the church. Hear the shouts of the damned in Matthew 7 as they cry, “Lord, Lord!” Jesus replies to them, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  Clearly, people who claim to believe in Jesus are not assured eternity in heaven. On the contrary, only those who obey Jesus will enter his Kingdom.

As soon as I write that, you may perk up and ask, “David, did you just say that works are involved in our salvation?” In response to that question, I want to be clear: that is not what I am saying. Instead, it’s what Jesus is saying. Now I want to be very careful here, because we could begin to twist the gospel into something it’s not. Jesus is not saying that our works are the basis for our salvation. The grace of God is the only basis of our salvation— a truth we will explore further in the next chapter. But in our rush to defend grace, we cannot overlook the obvious in what Jesus is saying here (and in many other places as well): only those who are obedient to the words of Christ will enter the Kingdom of Christ. If our lives do not reflect the fruit of following Jesus, then we are foolish to think that we are actually followers of Jesus in the first place.

DANGEROUSLY DECEIVED

Consider a recent study which found that four out of five Americans identify themselves as Christians. In this group of self-proclaimed Christians, less than half of them are involved in church on a weekly basis. Less than half of them actually believe the Bible is accurate, and the overwhelming majority of them don’t have a biblical view of the world around them.

The pollsters went even deeper, though, to identify men and women who are described as “born-again Christians” (as if there is any other kind). These are people who say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus and who believe they will go to heaven because they have accepted Jesus as their Savior. According to the research, almost half of Americans are “born-again Christians.” But out of this group of “born-again Christians,” researchers found that their beliefs and lifestyles are virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the world around them.

Many of these “born-again Christians” believe that their works can earn them a place in heaven, others think that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, some believe Jesus sinned while he was on earth, and an ever-increasing number of “born-again Christians” describe themselves as only marginally committed to Jesus.  Many people have used this data to conclude that Christians are really not that different from the rest of the world. But I don’t think this interpretation of the research is accurate. I think the one thing that is abundantly clear from these statistics is that there are a whole lot of people in the world who think they are Christians but are not.

There are a whole lot of people who think that they’ve been born again, but they are dangerously deceived. Imagine you and I set up a meeting for lunch at a restaurant, and you arrive before I do. You wait and wait and wait, but thirty minutes later, I still haven’t arrived. When I finally show up, completely out of breath, I say to you, “I’m so sorry I’m late. When I was driving over here, my car had a flat tire, and I pulled over on the side of the interstate to fix it. While I was fixing it, I accidentally stepped into the road, and a Mack truck going about seventy miles per hour suddenly hit me head-on. It hurt, but I picked myself up, finished putting the spare tire on the car, and drove over here.” If this were the story I shared, you would know I was either deliberately lying or completely deceived. Why? Because if someone gets hit by a Mack truck going seventy miles per hour, that person is going to look very different than he did before!

In light of this, I feel like I’m on pretty safe ground in assuming that once people truly come face-to-face with Jesus, the God of the universe in the flesh, and Jesus reaches down into the depth of their hearts, saves their souls from the clutches of sin, and transforms their lives to follow him, they are going to look different. Very different. People who claim to be Christians while their lives look no different from the rest of the world are clearly not Christians. Such deception is not just evident in the United States; it’s prevalent around the world. As I was praying through the countries of the world recently, I came across Jamaica, a country that is supposedly almost 100 percent Christian. The prayer guide I use made this statement about Jamaica: “It enjoys one of the world’s highest number of churches per square mile, but the majority of self-proclaimed Christians in Jamaica neither attend church nor lead a Christian life.”

As I read this, my heart was overcome by the unavoidable conclusion that multitudes of men and women in Jamaica think they are Christians when they are not. They join scores of people in countries around the world who call themselves Christians yet don’t follow Christ. Spiritual deception is dangerous— and damning. Any one of us can fool ourselves. We are sinful creatures, biased in our own favor, prone to assume that we are something when we are not. The Bible says that the god of this world (Satan) is blinding the minds of unbelievers to keep them from knowing Christ   Couldn’t it be that one of the ways the devil is doing this is by deceiving people into believing they are Christians when they are not?

Platt, David (2013-02-05). Follow Me: A Call to Die.  A Call to Live.

A call to a new kind of church for a new culture

Posted: June 22, 2013 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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We’ve all seen the recent developments in our day that just don’t align with the way things used to be. The statistics used to be that more than half of our country consisted of followers of Christ. There used to be a time when we could freely speak about prayer, Jesus or sin without much criticism or debate. Before, in the 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s, the Christian seemed to be the majority. Mega Churches, national days of prayer and para-church organizations led the way, but now we have seen a radical shift in that culture. The United States lived up to the moniker of the “Last Christian nation” back then, but as we can see, we are seeing a great shift into something increasingly more un Christian.

STATE OF THE CULTURE AND IT’S RAPID SHIFT

In this century, church is dying. Less people are going to church now than ever before. More importantly, less people understand and agree with the foundations of scripture and who Jesus is. Young people especially have completely abandoned traditional biblical principles in favor of the new ‘tolerance culture’. This new culture is a pluralistic, therapeutic one that says everything, no matter what, is tolerated and accepted by all, with one exception, Christianity. John Dickerson writes in his book The Great Evangelical recession, that culture is shifting faster than it ever has. If we look back to the 70’s or 80’s or even early 2000’s we will see the most rapid cultural shift our nation has ever seen. In the last 15-20 years, culture has shifted more than it had in the previous 100 years.

Simply looking at the occurrences of our day can help prove this point. Last year, for the first time ever we had a presidential election without an Evangelical Christian as a candidate. At President Obama’s most recent inauguration, evangelical Christians lacked a representative for the first time in the nation’s history. 25 years ago, it is hard to imagine we would see the full-fledged acceptance of things like abortion and homosexuality as we do today. TV shows like Glee and the New Normal are promoting homosexuality. Entire networks like MTV have dedicated their programing to miserable celebrations of sin with shows like 16 and pregnant, the Guy code and Jersey shore. And the most obvious occurrence of all is the suppression of Christians who speak in opposition to any of the above. Christianity is downright hated in today’s culture.

THE CHURCH BUBBLE

Before I venture into the 21st Century Church and how we can better reach todays young people I need to preface with something. Many older people reading this perhaps have something around them I call the “Church Bubble”. Many were raised in the church, serve in the church, all of their friends are part of a church and all of the activities they do are church related. These people have few if any non-Christian friends; they only read Christian media and watch Christian friendly programming. SO when they read the idea that culture is changing, they vehemently disagree. They have no clue what it means that things are changing, and to them, we still are a strong Christian nation. As John Dickerson writes in his book, “You don’t have to talk, work or study outside evangelical circles long to realize that we (Christians) are not possibly that much of the United States population I the 21st century.” I encourage anyone in the Church Bubble to step out and take a look around. For those that spout of a bloated statistic like “75% of the country is Christian,” or “at least 50% of the nation is evangelical”, I would challenge them to reconsider. Do we really believe that if we asked 10 people to come forward in a grocery store in Los Angeles or New York that 7-8 of them would say they are a bible believing Christian? If we were to ask a few sub questions like, “is Jesus the only way to heaven?” “Is there a hell?” “Can you be a good person without Jesus and go to heaven?” or, “Does your sexual orientation matter to God?” Do we really think that even 5 out of 10 people would still align with Christianity? We must look at the sobering facts of reality.

THE SAME OLD CHURCH

Since I work in ministry a little, I hear the calls of some to continue pressing on with what we have been doing the last 30 years, particularly with young people. Many suggest being more and more relational. Some want to abandon teachings of the cross in favor of more worship, games and one-on-one hangouts. Multiple retreats, secular games and vague, vanilla teachings of Jesus are tactics of old. They perhaps worked on the majority of youth in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. When most churches spoke the hard truth of the gospel, these methods were great ways to show the youth that you can relax about Jesus, be informal and not get hardcore every second of every day. But this dynamic has shifted. The majority of our churches have adopted this soft form of church. The vanilla, plain Jesus message coupled with the omission of calling people to repentance has entered our churches in the name of making church non-Christian friendly. Unfortunately, everything in the culture is giving us a plain, relaxed, no pressure way of doing things. Additionally, the culture treats children like adults more now than they every have. Flick on the Disney Channel or MTV to see that. We still want to get 17-year-old boys to stuff marshmallows in their mouth and play board games, instead of dealing with their sexual sin and their call to manhood. Unfortunately, kids aren’t kids anymore. But, as a result they are far more receptive to direct teaching

We cannot assume that the youth of the 70’s and 80’s are the same as the youth of 2013. They are different. They need a different style of church to fit their different personas. If you don’t agree, just look at the numbers of youth walking away from church and never coming back put out by Lifeway, Barna group, Josh McDowell and even secular researchers at UCLA. All of these researchers agree that somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-80% of young evangelicals are leaving church, never to return (Dickerson, The Great Evangelical Recession).

21st CENTURY CHURCH

Today, people lack knowledge of the bible. Many have no clue what the bible says about key issues. They have been fed this watered down Christianity for so long they don’t know who Jesus really is and what the Gospel really says. Take, for example, the number of “evangelicals” who recently affirmed the coming out of the closet of Jason Collins, the NBA player. Or the number of “Christians” who are undecided about a real hell or if Jesus really said he was God. Here are a few key components we will need going forward to assimilate to the 21st century

1. PREACH THE WORD

The art of sharing the true gospel has been lost in our day. We must hold fast to the teachings of scripture, call people to repentance of sin and faith in Jesus. For our youth, this method is extremely effective. I recently took over a young adults group. I changed nothing except I opened the bible and preached the word of God. I told them that God doesn’t like the sins they commit and desires more for them: to be reconciled to Him through Jesus death on the cross. Bang. All that happened is that they went home and came back the next week with more people! The group has grown 10-fold all because God’s word changes people lives. If we back down from preaching it because we are afraid of what people think, then we are in sin. God wants his Word preached.

2. CONTEXTUALIZE OUR CHURCHES

The Apostle Paul said, that we should become all things to all people so that we may save some (1 Corinthians 9). We must do this for this new generation. Older, Godly people should be humble and assimilate their church to what helps people get saved. Our processes and method of church is secondary to people meeting Jesus. I once heard Missiologist Ed Stetzer say, “I am convinced that some churches want to die holding on to their method of church while the region around them goes to hell.”

We must alter our church to fit the 21st century. This does not mean the word of God Changes one bit, but that if we need to become more technologically sound, get a better website, use social media and get more modern décor then we should do it for the sake of the Gospel

3. MAKE DISCIPLES

We need to quit feeding and tending to the same sheep for 20 years and instead make that sheep a co-laborer and a disciple that can go serve the lost. Non-Christians are out there waiting. We often let our ministry turn in on itself. Its time to turn our ministries outward and be instruments for Jesus in his saving work to those outside of our church.

4. LETS PRETEND THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS A SAY

Have we forgotten that God sends the Holy Spirit to save? We are not the salvation police. So why do we soften the message of Jesus to make it easier to swallow? Don’t you remember that the God of the Universe is greater than any culture and any strong spirit? I think it’s time we pretend Jesus is in charge and we do as he asks, to boldly proclaim the gospel in His name. We have shared the gospel for too long. Sharing it worked for a season. But we must return to proclaiming the gospel.

The new church we must present to the lost is not anything spectacular or crazy. What it is is a radical call back to the gospel of Christ. We must boldly share our faith in a way that can be understood by the lost, and we must not be a afraid of the consequences. The criticism of Christianity is as harsh as it’s ever been. let us hold fast to the teaching of Jesus, let the Holy Spirit do his work.

Eddie Williams(Twitter: @realewilliams) is a Christian, a husband and a father, and public speaker, he also leads a ministry as a pastor, called REACH, a young adults ministry at his home church. The 5 year NFL veteran (Cleveland Browns, Seattle, Seahawks) speaks weekly at the ministry and has spoken across the U.S. at high schools, colleges, conferences and ministries about a vairety of topics, including leadership, hea’th and faith. Eddie has been a part of numerous programs for youth, including NFL Play60. He has also given back to the community at organizations like the Cleveland Foodbank, Feed My Starving Children and Veterans hospitals.For more on Eddie, visit: Eddiejwilliams.me

Profile of the Lukewarm, Part 2

Posted: June 14, 2013 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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This is a continuation of my previous post. Again, this was taken from the newsletter from Crazy Love authored by Francis Chan.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor. They are quick to point out, “Jesus never said money is the root of all evil, only that the love of money is.” Untold numbers of lukewarm people feel “called” to minister to the rich; very few feel “called” to minister to the poor.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty.

They want to do the bare minimum, to be “good enough” without it requiring too much of them.

They ask, “How far can I go before it’s considered a sin?” instead of “How can I keep myself pure as a temple of the Holy Spirit?”

They ask, “How much do I have to give?” instead of “How much can I give?”

They ask, “How much time should I spend praying and reading my Bible?” instead of “I wish I didn’t have to go to work, so I could sit here and read longer!”

LUKEWARM PEOPLE are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America. Just as the prophets in the Old Testament warned Israel that they were not safe just because they lived in the land of Israel, so we are not safe just because we wear the label Christian or because some people persist in calling us a “Christian nation.

” LUKEWARM PEOPLE do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don’t have to trust God if something unexpected happens–they have their savings account. They don’t need God to help them–they have their retirement plan in place. They don’t genuinely seek out what life God would have them live–they have life figured and mapped out. They don’t depend on God on a daily basis–their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health. The truth is, their lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God.

LUKEWARM PEOPLE probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren’t very different from your typical unbeliever. They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn’t be more wrong.

This profile of the lukewarm is not an all-inclusive definition of what it means to be a Christian, nor is it intended to be used as ammunition to judge your fellow believers’ salvation. Instead, as 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, it is a call to “examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves? We are all messed-up human beings, and no one is totally immune to the behaviors described in the previous examples. However, there is a difference between a life that is characterized by these sorts of mentalities and habits and a life that is in the process of being radically transformed.

We’ll get to the transformation later, but now is the time to take a serious self-inventory.

So if you want to know more about this book, you can visit his site at http://crazylovebook.com.

The Importance of God’s Word (Is it relevant for today?)

Posted: June 1, 2013 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, teaching, wilderness
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One of the weakness we have with the present day Church in the United States is the reality that we have promoted experience over teaching. We have become more interested in trying to make Jesus attractive to people rather than teaching the truth about Jesus. The result of this practice is a Church in the United States which is basically indistinguishable from the rest of the world.An honest evaluation of the Church in the United States leads us to understand that we lack the knowledge and the spiritual maturity that we need to impact the world in which we live. We are ignorant about what the Bible says and how its teachings apply to our lives. Many of our leaders are better students of culture and current events than they are of the Bible. We are people of the sound byte and video clip rather than people of the text.

This lack of commitment to the Bible has hampered us from becoming the people God created us to be. The Bible is God’s revelation to His people, and if we truly want to please Him then we will make the Bible our source of truth for living life.

We shouldn’t be surprised that Paul encouraged Timothy to be a student and teacher of God’s Word.

1 I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom: 2 Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.

5 But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you (2 Timothy 4:1-5; NLT).

Without a proper foundation for spiritual truth we will be carried this way and that way by whatever suits our fancy. Whatever seems attractive to us becomes our guide for life rather than the Truth God has given us in His Word.

This is the point I would like to make: As we, the Church, have moved away from solid Biblical teaching, as we have sought to be “relevant” to the world, we have made the church inconsequential to the world that we live in. After all the church offers no answers that couldn’t be found on Dr. Phil and too often he is better at communicating them than we are.

It is time for us to return to strong Biblical teaching. Rather than picking out topics and finding proof texts for our teaching points, we need immerse ourselves in the entire text of the Bible. Rather than seeking to be relevant and attractive to culture, we need to offer God’s truth and allow the Holy Spirit to use God’s Word to impact the hearts of people.

We cannot hope to become spiritually mature until we allow the Holy Spirit to teach our hearts the truth through the revelation of God that is found in the Bible. Yes, we need to be active in loving people. Yes, we need worship experiences that will warm and encourage our hearts. But we will not change, we will not live a life pleasing to God, until we are founded in the truth of God’s Word.

Let’s stop allowing the Bible to be demoted in our Church Families in favor of a worship experience and seeker sensitivity. Let’s trust God enough to know His Word, teach His Word, and allow the Holy Spirit to use that Word to impact the hearts of people. Let’s be people of the text rather the people of the sound byte. Let’s be rooted in the Word of God.

Visit Paul’s new blog at www.paulsponderings.com.

A Critical spirit is a deadly room mate!!!

Posted: May 3, 2013 in disciples life, Kingdom Teaching, Prophetic, teaching, wilderness
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Definition of Critical – Inclined to find fault, or to judge with severity

Quote: It is impossible to help anybody after they have developed a critical spirit.

“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? (Ezek 14:3)

One of the quickest ways to shut up the Heavens over ones life and stop receiving the blessings of God is to allow entrance of a critical spirit. Even worse are those who have welcomed this spirit in and actually made room in their hearts for it to stay. Sadly the room was made via the eviction of the love of God from their lives, for they now are worshiping the spirit of the deceiver, the accuser of the saints, Satan himself.

 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”

 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite![a] Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it?  So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”  And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him. (Luke 13:10-17)

I. The Causes of a Critical Spirit

A. An Unhealthy Appreciation of Self – vs. 14 the ruler of the synagogue

  • Romans 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

A critic is one that considers themselves an authority or a master of a subject which qualifies them to point out the good and the bad.  Their own knowledge and expertise is their authority; not a defined standard.

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary: A person skilled in judging of the merit of literary works; one who is able to discern and distinguish the beauties and faults of writing. In a more general sense, a person skilled in judging with propriety of any combination of objects, or of any work of art; and particularly of what are denominated the Fine Arts. A critic is one who, from experience, knowledge, habit or taste, can perceive the difference between propriety and impropriety, in objects or works presented to his view; between the natural and unnatural; the high and the low, or lofty and mean; the congruous and incongruous; the correct and incorrect, according to the established rules of the art.

We ought to wake up every morning singing, “I’m not worthy to be here, but THANK GOD I belong!”

B. An Unbiblical Adherence to a System – vs. 14

Where did this rule come from? Where did he come up with this?? You can only be healed on certain days?

  • Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Truth is, he made this rule up.  Since he had never had a person healed in his synagogue on a sabbath, surely God cannot be in it!

A critical spirit will come when you are always thinking you know what OUGHT to be done when the truth is, you don’t have a clue!

Here he was telling people when they OUGHT to come get healed, and he had never healed anybody!  In essence, He was limiting God – trying to cram God in his own little test tube!!

He was an expert in a system that didn’t even exist except in his own mind.

C. An Unreasonable Attitude toward the Sovereignty of God – vs. 14

NOTE: He was upset with what God did, so he took it out on the people.

God can do what He wants to, when He wants to, however He wants to.  Deal with it!

He mistook GOD working for MAN working.  (there are six days in which men ought to work)  It wasn’t man working – it was GOD.

You say – “I just don’t understand it.”  If you understood everything, you’d be God.

His ways are past finding out.

  • Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Keep your mind open to this possibility: God might work in a way you never thought possible or have never seen before.  God might use somebody you didn’t think He could, He might save somebody you never thought could be saved.  He might manifest Himself in a manner that you’ve never seen before.  He might be trying to teach you something!  Quit criticizing and learn!!!

II. The Curses of a Critical Spirit

A. It will Belittle the Positive – vs. 14 (because that Jesus had healed…)

Positive things such as:

  1. Jesus is in the midst – vs. 10 (theirs wasn’t the only synagogue; they were honored)
  2. Jesus was teaching them things – vs. 10 (many people never learn anything or grow)
  3. There were people in the place that were there in spite of their infirmities – praise God!
  4. Jesus was still calling hurting people to himself – vs. 12 that’s a blessing!
  5. Jesus was still laying his hands on people and touching people – vs. 13
  6. People were still getting straightened out after years of being wrong – vs. 13
  7. New converts were praising and glorifying God – vs. 13

Did any of this matter?  NO!!  The man with the critical spirit saw NONE of the positive things

B. It will Badger the People – vs. 14 …and he said unto the people…

Interesting NOTE: We find no record that this ruler of the synagogue ever badgered or criticized this woman UNTIL she got STRAIGHT!

For 18 years, she had been in a mess, and he never helped her.

Now she’s right with God and he gets mad!

If somebody bothers you, just imagine how bad it would be if you’d known them before they met Jesus!

C. It will Buck the Praising – vs. 13, 14 they glorified; he answered with indignation

  • A critical spirit will cause you to pout when others are praising.
  • A critical spirit will make you mad when others are magnifying.
  • A critical spirit will make you tense when others are testifying.
  • A critical spirit will cause you to hinder people when God is trying to help people.
  • A critical spirit will cause people to ask “What’s wrong with him or her?”

Do excited Christians get on your nerves?

Do people that brag on the Lord and the church and their pastor irritate you?  You’re critical!

D. It will Broadcast the Poison – in vs. 10, Jesus is teaching; where is the ruler then?

He let EVERYBODY know where he stood on the subject.  Notice that nobody asked him.

Watch out for this line – “Well, if you ask me…”  Nobody will.  They don’t care as much about what you think as you do!

Critical spirits are not happy until they’ve poisoned everybody they meet with their criticism.

Question: Do the excited, testifying, praising Christians stay excited, keep testifying and are they still praising after you’re done with them?

Do you find yourself more comfortable around those that are uncomfortable?

  • Ever noticed that the people that are most critical are the one’s that’s not doing anything?
  • Ever heard a soul winner complain about too many visitors?
  • Ever heard a bus worker complain about the mess that bus kids make?
  • Ever heard a grass cutter complain about how the grass was cut?
  • Ever heard a friendly hand shaker complain about not getting their hand shaken?
  • Ever heard a shouter and testifier complain about a service being dead?
  • Ever heard a servant criticize another servant’s way of doing something?
  • Ever noticed that the one’s that never bring anybody to church can tell you how it’s done?

III. The Cures for a Critical Spirit

A. Admit your Hypocrisy – vs. 15 “Thou hypocrite!”

Most of the things that people criticize in others are things they are guilty of themselves.

  • Illustration: The beam and the mote in the eye.
  • Start judging people by the same standard you judge yourself!  You’ll be more longsuffering.

Even if you had ALL YOUR DUCKS in a row and all your own personal issues resolved, you still wouldn’t have the right to have a critical spirit, but your own shortcomings and faults and failures make your critical spirit even that much more hypocritical!

B. Be Ashamed that your Heart is not 100% right with God – vs. 16, 17

God’s will was not their will.  Their will always will contradict what God wants to do.

God’s will was all about this woman’s problem getting healed.

The critic’s will was all about his position being honored.

God’s was concerned about sinners; they were preoccupied with standards.

C. Acknowledge all the glorious things that are being done by Him – vs. 17

Stop looking for the negative and the problems and start seeing what God is doing.

There’s many faults and failures in the lives of everybody you come in contact with.

  • Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
  • I Cor. 13  Charity thinketh no evil…

Spend your time planting grass instead of pulling weeds.

You don’t have to elaborate on everything that you see wrong.  Why not elaborate on what you see RIGHT and what God is doing?

  • Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt,…

http://www.pleasantview.org/2011/a-critical-spirit-what-the-bible-says-series

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