Why God’s Sovereignty Fuels Missions
18 hours ago
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Past Tense Provision for the Present Day Commission
Prophetic Word received from the Lord: 2-28-07
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
From Jesus Freak to "One of Us"
By Larry Sparks
Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you…” (Acts 3:6)
Peter and John were Jesus freaks. Why?
Because they attended Temple?
Because they were well-versed in the Old Testament and brushed up on their Law? Because they heralded all of the *right* ecclesiological and evangelical terminology? Because they went on missions trips?
Did the church thing? Fed the poor? Clothed the needy?
Oh the good ole’ days of DC Talk and their infamous anthem posing the question: “What will people say if they label me a Jesus freak?”
I mean, what really certifies one as a Jesus freak? After all, Joan Rivers is more than capable of charity work (as we’ve observed recently on Celebrity Apprentice). Does that automatically brandish her a Jesus freak? No – for all she and individuals of the like provide are the “silver and gold” Peter and John denied possessing: Natural aid that ascribes some-one, some-thing, or some method honor aside from Christ.
Is charity good? Of course. Does charity impact eternity? Only if the Gospel associated with it transforms the recipients’ lives. Otherwise, all “charity” does is somewhat enhance peoples’ here-and-now (and even promote lethargy, laziness, and sinful, destructive lifestyles) while they remain well on their way to eternal separation from the Only One who truly satisfies, on earth and forever.
Interestingly enough, the album featuring “Jesus Freak” was released the very year as the secular Joan Osborne smash, “One of Us,” which makes a very contrary inquiry: “What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us...?”
In my opinion, this current Christian generation is caught smack-dab in the middle of these two warring observations of the Divine. Sadly, the latter observation of God as “one of us”… Jesus as our homeboy…Buddy Christ…God as my Pal… and so on – these imbalanced observations which shockingly minimize Who God is as holy, glorious and utterly terrifying - is being embraced by the church with wide open arms all in the name of making Jesus relevant and relatable. They’ve turned Jesus into a dispenser of silver and gold – natural charity – when in fact, He desires to manifest and infuse the natural with the supernatural. God-forbid that happens anymore.
I hate to say it, but Christianity in its present form is working hard on emasculating God, either preaching a perversion of His Power (Word of Faith, which essentially makes the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, our butler), or vehemently brandishing His power as Taboo and ceased upon the conclusion of the Apostolic Age.
That God, however, is not Jehovah. This “god” that is as Joan Osborne declares, “just a slob like one of us… trying to make his way home…” is lost and needy. He needs us. He needs our prayers. He needs our confession. He needs our worship. He needs our love. If we don’t give it, we deny Him of completion. Folks, this is not our God. In fact, we pray and worship and love Him because He is not needy. This God Who is completely Self-Sufficient loves us and paid an extremely high price to redeem us from sin and adopt us into His family. Oh, what a marvelous Savior!
The “One of Us” God of feel-good, happy-go-lucky Christianity does not incite awe. He does not bring us to our knees. He doesn’t shake foundations, move mountains, melt hills like wax, scatter His enemies, wield a double-edged Sword, and bring us to tremble. And yet this God loves you. He loves me. And a step further, He filled us with Himself so that we could continue the ministry of Jesus Christ in the earth. That is why, like Paul, our aim is to preach the revelation of “Christ and Him crucified.”
Paul was no eloquent orator. He simply preached the Gospel and God would literally, physically and powerfully manifest Himself in those atmospheres. The sick were healed. The dead were raised. Demons fled. And most importantly, many were knocked off their horses of sin and rebellion and were supernaturally brought to bow before the Cross. Talk about freakish. I’m sure that would sure interrupt some agendas, reform some theologies, and ultimately, reintroduce the power-full Christianity of the Bible.
Man in his natural state is very capable of offering handouts – improving one’s condition in their pit, be it a pit of sin and God-less depravity; or if the individual is saved, these handouts essentially pat backsliders, well, on their backs, while they wallow in the prodigal pigpen. God, however, is all about bringing stragglers to their senses. He loves us too much to leave us eating from troughs of pig-pods. He’s all about reaching into pits, demonstrating His mighty hand and outstretched arm, and demolishing the fences of pigpens, wooing the desperate prodigal into returning home.
I pray that we would trade in “silver and gold” handouts for supernatural hand-ups that bring great glory to our Awesome Savior!
Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you…” (Acts 3:6)
Peter and John were Jesus freaks. Why?
Because they attended Temple?
Because they were well-versed in the Old Testament and brushed up on their Law? Because they heralded all of the *right* ecclesiological and evangelical terminology? Because they went on missions trips?
Did the church thing? Fed the poor? Clothed the needy?
Oh the good ole’ days of DC Talk and their infamous anthem posing the question: “What will people say if they label me a Jesus freak?”
I mean, what really certifies one as a Jesus freak? After all, Joan Rivers is more than capable of charity work (as we’ve observed recently on Celebrity Apprentice). Does that automatically brandish her a Jesus freak? No – for all she and individuals of the like provide are the “silver and gold” Peter and John denied possessing: Natural aid that ascribes some-one, some-thing, or some method honor aside from Christ.
Is charity good? Of course. Does charity impact eternity? Only if the Gospel associated with it transforms the recipients’ lives. Otherwise, all “charity” does is somewhat enhance peoples’ here-and-now (and even promote lethargy, laziness, and sinful, destructive lifestyles) while they remain well on their way to eternal separation from the Only One who truly satisfies, on earth and forever.
Interestingly enough, the album featuring “Jesus Freak” was released the very year as the secular Joan Osborne smash, “One of Us,” which makes a very contrary inquiry: “What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us...?”
In my opinion, this current Christian generation is caught smack-dab in the middle of these two warring observations of the Divine. Sadly, the latter observation of God as “one of us”… Jesus as our homeboy…Buddy Christ…God as my Pal… and so on – these imbalanced observations which shockingly minimize Who God is as holy, glorious and utterly terrifying - is being embraced by the church with wide open arms all in the name of making Jesus relevant and relatable. They’ve turned Jesus into a dispenser of silver and gold – natural charity – when in fact, He desires to manifest and infuse the natural with the supernatural. God-forbid that happens anymore.
I hate to say it, but Christianity in its present form is working hard on emasculating God, either preaching a perversion of His Power (Word of Faith, which essentially makes the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, our butler), or vehemently brandishing His power as Taboo and ceased upon the conclusion of the Apostolic Age.
That God, however, is not Jehovah. This “god” that is as Joan Osborne declares, “just a slob like one of us… trying to make his way home…” is lost and needy. He needs us. He needs our prayers. He needs our confession. He needs our worship. He needs our love. If we don’t give it, we deny Him of completion. Folks, this is not our God. In fact, we pray and worship and love Him because He is not needy. This God Who is completely Self-Sufficient loves us and paid an extremely high price to redeem us from sin and adopt us into His family. Oh, what a marvelous Savior!
The “One of Us” God of feel-good, happy-go-lucky Christianity does not incite awe. He does not bring us to our knees. He doesn’t shake foundations, move mountains, melt hills like wax, scatter His enemies, wield a double-edged Sword, and bring us to tremble. And yet this God loves you. He loves me. And a step further, He filled us with Himself so that we could continue the ministry of Jesus Christ in the earth. That is why, like Paul, our aim is to preach the revelation of “Christ and Him crucified.”
Paul was no eloquent orator. He simply preached the Gospel and God would literally, physically and powerfully manifest Himself in those atmospheres. The sick were healed. The dead were raised. Demons fled. And most importantly, many were knocked off their horses of sin and rebellion and were supernaturally brought to bow before the Cross. Talk about freakish. I’m sure that would sure interrupt some agendas, reform some theologies, and ultimately, reintroduce the power-full Christianity of the Bible.
Man in his natural state is very capable of offering handouts – improving one’s condition in their pit, be it a pit of sin and God-less depravity; or if the individual is saved, these handouts essentially pat backsliders, well, on their backs, while they wallow in the prodigal pigpen. God, however, is all about bringing stragglers to their senses. He loves us too much to leave us eating from troughs of pig-pods. He’s all about reaching into pits, demonstrating His mighty hand and outstretched arm, and demolishing the fences of pigpens, wooing the desperate prodigal into returning home.
I pray that we would trade in “silver and gold” handouts for supernatural hand-ups that bring great glory to our Awesome Savior!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Get Out of that House!
By Larry Sparks
When you research the Hebrew term for “bondage,” (ebed), note one of the latter Lexicon definitions: a servant of servants. What does this mean to the unfortunately-enslaved twenty first century Body of Jesus Christ? The type of bondage we face in this age is NOT at the hand of one greater, stronger, or wiser. No. If one deems him/herself an appendage of Christ’s body and is well aware that he/she is currently in a position of “bondage,” this individual is living in subservience to him who has been brought to nothing – Satan.
More simply put, to live as a slave to sin, addiction, sickness, deception, depression, etc., is really living in slavery to the dethroned taskmaster who, through Christ, became a slave destined for destruction. When speaking of Satanic principalities and powers, Paul reminds us of a topic that is beyond necessity in the church today, and that is the sufficiency of the cross
In Colossians 2:15, he reminds believers that Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (NKJV). What is the “it” Paul refers to? Examine the previous passages and notice he is writing of the authority of Calvary’s Old Rugged Cross (see AMP version). I particularly enjoy the modernization of this verse provided by the MESSAGE: He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
Is it any wonder that Satan longs for us to live in bondage to shame? You see a lot of Christians understand that they are free from sin and its requirements (hell, torment and God-separation) – to some degree at least – but, they forget that Christ bore our shame as well as our sin. Shame is Satan’s snare to thwart the bride from enjoying fellowship with the Bridegroom. The bride observes herself as unworthy, dirty, adulterous, promiscuous, and unholy IF she heeds Satan’s false accusations. They may feel accurate, seeing that yes, in and of our own ability, strength and righteousness, we are all of those horrible things and more. When Truth enters the equation, however, those feelings or temporary “facts” are required to shift. Apparent facts, regardless of how real, true and reliable they seem to the sensory realm, must bend to the Word’s finality and this, brothers and sisters, is reason enough to shout for joy when Satan provides you “reason” to do anything but. A sad portion of the bride is not functioning in her Eden-allocated God-likeness.
Because of Christ, slave-Satan is no longer a formidable foe. In fact, He is under the Holy One’s whip, and safely positioned beneath His bride’s feet. After all, bride and Groom rule and reign together – such is original intent. Remember, God’s mandate in Eden was not just to him (Adam), but it was to them (Adam and woman): And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion (Gen 1:28, KJV). Paul refers to Jesus Christ as the Second or Last Adam (see Rom 5:12-21, 1 Cor 15:45), so is it any wonder then that the Last came to reclaim what the first surrendered over to the serpent? This, my friends, is what it means to recognize the need for deliverance and in turn, release it. Too many Christians are unaware that they ARE free. Period. Why? No one’s teaching, or encouraging them to seek out teaching concerning the sufficiency of the cross.
I cannot NOT fix my gaze upon the wondrous cross, for it was at and because of that place – that moment – hanging on that cruel tree of torment that our sin was paid for in full, that our physical healing was purchased, and that, ABOVE ALL, the fantastic notion of reconciliation with the Almighty could be made a blood-accessible reality. This is what it means to be brought UP out of the house of slavery, for no longer as we slaves to the defeated and shamed god of this world – Satan – but we are Servant-Bride-Friends of the Living God. I don’t know about you, but I refuse to exist as a servant of servants when in fact I’ve been purchased to rule and reign with my Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus.
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Exodus 20:2, KJV)
When you research the Hebrew term for “bondage,” (ebed), note one of the latter Lexicon definitions: a servant of servants. What does this mean to the unfortunately-enslaved twenty first century Body of Jesus Christ? The type of bondage we face in this age is NOT at the hand of one greater, stronger, or wiser. No. If one deems him/herself an appendage of Christ’s body and is well aware that he/she is currently in a position of “bondage,” this individual is living in subservience to him who has been brought to nothing – Satan.
More simply put, to live as a slave to sin, addiction, sickness, deception, depression, etc., is really living in slavery to the dethroned taskmaster who, through Christ, became a slave destined for destruction. When speaking of Satanic principalities and powers, Paul reminds us of a topic that is beyond necessity in the church today, and that is the sufficiency of the cross
In Colossians 2:15, he reminds believers that Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (NKJV). What is the “it” Paul refers to? Examine the previous passages and notice he is writing of the authority of Calvary’s Old Rugged Cross (see AMP version). I particularly enjoy the modernization of this verse provided by the MESSAGE: He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
Is it any wonder that Satan longs for us to live in bondage to shame? You see a lot of Christians understand that they are free from sin and its requirements (hell, torment and God-separation) – to some degree at least – but, they forget that Christ bore our shame as well as our sin. Shame is Satan’s snare to thwart the bride from enjoying fellowship with the Bridegroom. The bride observes herself as unworthy, dirty, adulterous, promiscuous, and unholy IF she heeds Satan’s false accusations. They may feel accurate, seeing that yes, in and of our own ability, strength and righteousness, we are all of those horrible things and more. When Truth enters the equation, however, those feelings or temporary “facts” are required to shift. Apparent facts, regardless of how real, true and reliable they seem to the sensory realm, must bend to the Word’s finality and this, brothers and sisters, is reason enough to shout for joy when Satan provides you “reason” to do anything but. A sad portion of the bride is not functioning in her Eden-allocated God-likeness.
Because of Christ, slave-Satan is no longer a formidable foe. In fact, He is under the Holy One’s whip, and safely positioned beneath His bride’s feet. After all, bride and Groom rule and reign together – such is original intent. Remember, God’s mandate in Eden was not just to him (Adam), but it was to them (Adam and woman): And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion (Gen 1:28, KJV). Paul refers to Jesus Christ as the Second or Last Adam (see Rom 5:12-21, 1 Cor 15:45), so is it any wonder then that the Last came to reclaim what the first surrendered over to the serpent? This, my friends, is what it means to recognize the need for deliverance and in turn, release it. Too many Christians are unaware that they ARE free. Period. Why? No one’s teaching, or encouraging them to seek out teaching concerning the sufficiency of the cross.
I cannot NOT fix my gaze upon the wondrous cross, for it was at and because of that place – that moment – hanging on that cruel tree of torment that our sin was paid for in full, that our physical healing was purchased, and that, ABOVE ALL, the fantastic notion of reconciliation with the Almighty could be made a blood-accessible reality. This is what it means to be brought UP out of the house of slavery, for no longer as we slaves to the defeated and shamed god of this world – Satan – but we are Servant-Bride-Friends of the Living God. I don’t know about you, but I refuse to exist as a servant of servants when in fact I’ve been purchased to rule and reign with my Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus.
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