False Gospels Pander to Those Who Aren't Being Saved

"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let hem be under God's curse.
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." 
Galations 1: 8-10

Paul Washer in his sermon entitled, 10 Indictments Against the Modern Church, made this statement: "I believe we should be seeker friendly, but we must understand that there is but one seeker and his name is God."

If you look at the modern church today, or what passes for the church, it's a lot like a huge cafeteria where you can pick and choose what you want. But you might have a difficult time finding something that bears even a slight resemblance to the gospel that Jesus and his apostles taught. Add to that the fact that 'doctrine' has become a bad word and it's no wonder that it is increasingly difficult to find a church that truly adheres to solid Biblical doctrine.

Charles H. Spurgeon said, "A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats." When one walks into some churches today and sees what looks more like a playground or an amusement park, it becomes clear that Spurgeon's words were darkly prophetic. They echo what Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

Jesus warned in Matthew 24:11 that there would be MANY false prophets who would deceive MANY. While Jesus doesn't contrast the word 'many' in this case, in most other cases when he uses the word 'many', He contrasts it with the word 'few'. I am stating only my opinion here but is it possible that there would be comparatively few true preachers of the gospel? Either way, there are many warnings from Jesus himself about false teachers. The writers of the New Testament epistles spend a lot of ink and papyrus correcting and denouncing false teaching and Paul uses extremely strong language in our text in Galations calling any teacher who preaches anything other than what he preached, "Cursed".

Today we have the prosperity preachers like Joel Osteen telling us that we can have 'Our Best Life Now'. We have 'Word/faith preachers telling us that we have the power to control our own destinies by 'having enough faith." (Faith healers and prosperity preachers) We have those of the emergent church like Brian McLaren and Rob Bell (Love Wins) telling us that there is no eternal judgment and that the gospel needs to change with the times. Read this quote from an Emergent Church leader:

"We do not think this [Emergent Church Movement] is about changing your worship service. We do not think this is about...how you structure your church staff. This is actually about changing theology. This about our belief that theology changes. The message of the gospel changes. It's not just the method that changes." Tony Jones ("A New Theology For a New World." A workshop for the 2004 Emergent Convention in San Diego)

But the apostle Paul was very clear in the passage in Galations that the ONLY gospel is the one he was preaching. These false preachers are under a curse. They are not servants of Jesus Christ. They are servants of men. They preach what the 'itching ears' of unsaved, carnal people want to hear. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:18 that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. The prosperity gospel, the Universalist gospel and word/faith offer things to people that a person who is not being saved will find desirable. Carnal people find wealth appealing. Everyone likes a message that you can control your own destiny. And the idea that nobody goes to eternal judgment sits well with everyone.

Any gospel that appeals to carnal people is a false gospel.

In conclusion I am going to quote The Apostles Creed. It basically summarizes the gospel in a short paragraph. It should be noted that the phrase, "He descended into hell" means the grave, or place of the dead. Also the word 'catholic' does not refer to the Roman church, but rather means universal... the entire body of Christ. Here is the creed:

I believe in God, The Father Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ , His only son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

This creed was put together in order to encapsulate very succinctly and simply what the true doctrine of the church is. And it is useful as a summary. However, it is exrtremely necessary that every believer do as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11:

"Now the Bereans were of more noble charactor than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

Without careful examination of the scripture, it isn't a question of will you be deceived, It's a question of when and to what extent.

DON'T BE DECEIVED

When Your Faith Falters

Matthew 14:28-31, " 'Lord, if it's you,' Peter replied, 'tell me to come to you on the water.' 'Come,' He said. Then Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!' Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. 'You of little faith,' He said, 'why did you doubt?' "

Most of us are familiar with  the story of Jesus walking on the water, and Peter doing the same. But then he got scared when he saw the wind and waves and started to sink. As far as I know, Peter is the only person, other than Jesus, to have ever walked on water. But all of us have, and do experience the sinking feeling of our faith faltering. As James said in Chapter 3:2, "We all stumble in many ways...."

What is so beautiful about this story, is what happens when Peter's faith failed. He cried out to Jesus, "Lord, save me"! And it says IMMEDIATELY Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.

When our faith fails and we doubt, we need to do as Peter did and cry out, "Lord, save me".

When Jesus asked Peter why he doubted, it was after He had reached out and grabbed him. It was not in judgment. It was in mercy. He had just saved him. It was as if He was saying, "why did you doubt? I've got you. I'm not going to let you drown."

The truth is, we are all like Peter. We fail and stumble. But God knows our frailty.
Psalm 103:14, "For He knows how we are formed. He remembers we are dust."
And like Peter, we follow a loving God who is merciful and in complete control. He will never fail us. We can trust Him completely.

So whatever you are going through, when your faith fails, do as Peter did and cry out, "Lord, save me".

He's got you.

May God richly bless you all.

The Word of Faith Heresy vs. True faith

There is a belief system that has become very common and popular in the church today. It is pretty much the face of evangelical Christianity on television that the rest of the world sees. If you have walked in Christian circles for any length of time you've heard of people like Benny Hinn, Creflow Dollar, Ken Copeland,  Jesse Duplantis, and of course, Joel Osteen. Often it had been called the "Prosperity Gospel", "The Health and Wealth Gospel", "Name it and Claim it". It is the Word of Faith movement.  The variations of the teachings range from very subtle deviations from what Jesus and his disciples taught, to the completely ridiculous. They also have different flavors. Some focus on gaining material possessions while others are focused on healing.

But there are a few things that they all have in common.

Number one;
The belief that we are the ones who have control over our circumstances. And we control our destinies by our words and the measure of faith that we possess. This actually takes our faith off of Jesus and places our faith in our own measure of faith. Literally, faith in ourselves. That is idolatry.

Number two;
The focus is on fulfillment in this life and there is no looking forward to eternity.

As I already mentioned, some of the preaching is absolutely ridiculous. But some of it is very subtle and has found its way into very solid churches. It is those subtle versions that are particularly troublesome because they are difficult to spot. I remember the pastor at a church I used to attend, often spoke about how God wanted to heal our brokenness. That sounded good until you realized that he wasn't speaking of the brokenness of our fallen sinfulness. He was speaking mostly of the brokenness of our finances, health and relationships. It was Word of Faith carefully disguised.

I'm reminded of a story I heard about an interview which involved an expert on counterfeit money. The expert was asked how much time he had spent studying counterfeit currency. The expert responded that he never studied counterfeit currency. He spent his time studying REAL money. So now when he saw a fake, he immediately recognized it as such. I truly believe that's the best way to approach this subject. It would be fruitless to sift through all of the nuances and details of Word/Faith, so I will attempt only to give an overview and then go to the Bible and see what true faith looks like.

Background

The Word of Faith movement was founded by E. W. Kenyon who was a Pentecostal preacher in the  first half of the 20th century. He studied the metaphysical, New Thought teachings of Phineas Quimby. (Another protege of Quimby's was Mary Baker Eddy who founded the Christian Science religion. She claimed to have been healed by Quimby.) This produced a combination of New Age mysticism and orthodox Christianity. Kenneth Hagin was a student of E. W. Kenyon and made the Word of Faith movement what it is today. (1)

At the heart of the teaching, is the belief that words can be used to manipulate the faith-force and bring into being what scripture promises. But the question is, does scripture really promise health and wealth for the believer, and are the covenant promises guaranteed in this life?

Over-Realized Eschatology

Eschatology is the study of the end times. Often when the word is used it is in reference to the events leading up to the return of Christ. But it actually goes much deeper. It is the study of the culmination of all things. This includes the fulfillment of the covenant promises. When we pass from this life into heaven, we will be healthy and wealthy -- forever. Many of these promises are not guaranteed in this physical life. It is true that we do experience some of the blessings in this life. That is called "realized eschatology". "Over-realized eschatology" is the belief that ALL of the covenant blessings and promises are to be fulfilled in this life.

Of course, a major problem is that we all know that often we don't experience all of the blessings in this life. Very often we pray for healing and the person does not recover. Or we pray for a better job and we continue to struggle financially. When that happens, the Word/Faith people tell you that it was because of your lack of faith that you didn't receive what you were asking for. So now the person not only didn't receive what they were praying for, but now they are dealing with self-condemnation because they believe that it is somehow their fault.
But if that is the case, then all believers of all time stand condemned because of their lack of faith; including the apostles. Paul prayed three times that God would remove his thorn, and God said no. It had nothing to do with the measure of Paul's faith. Rather, God had a better purpose. He always does! And it takes real faith to believe that.

There are many things in the Word/Faith movement that defy common sense. For example; if a man who is in his early fifties has a heart attack, and people pray for him but in spite of that, he dies anyway, is it because of a lack of faith? What if he is in his eighties? Is it still a lack of faith--or did he just get to the end of his life. If we decide that in the latter case it was his time to go, but a lack of faith in the former case, where is the line of distinction? It seems that logically, it would be theoretically possible to eliminate death and suffering altogether, simply by having enough faith.

When believers pray for something, they do so in faith, believing that God hears and will answer. But according to this belief, you won't know if your faith was sufficient until you either receive what you prayed for, or you don't. If that is true then how can you know you are saved? You may believe that you have enough faith to be saved, but you won't know for sure until you die and find yourself either in heaven or in hell.

I remember years ago hearing my pastor explain that when a person is miraculously healed in this life, we rejoice that God had mercy but we must realize that He simply prolonged the inevitable. Every single person Jesus healed eventually died. Even Lazarus went back into his tomb. And when we, along with them are raised in glory we will be truly healed. In the words of Wayne Watson's "Home Free":
     "Home free, eventually. At the ultimate healing, we will be home free."

Healing is only truly realized in the next life.

Some "Proof Texts" Used to Support Word of Faith Teaching

This is not going to be an exhaustive list, but just a few of the favorites of the Word/Faith preachers:

Mark 6:5-6, "He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith."
Matthew 13:58, "And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith."

Matthew's gospel expains that Jesus made a choice not to do many miracles, whereas Mark's makes it sound as if Jesus was limited because of their lack of faith. The words, "could not" are actually idiomatic in nature and it means that someone makes a choice. For example, someone might say, "I can't come over because I need to clean my house." They don't mean that they are physically incapable of coming over. They are making a choice. They are choosing to clean their house rather than come over. Jesus chose not to do many miracles in his hometown because of their lack of faith.

But this "lack of faith" doesn't mean "weak faith". In verse 3 of Mark 5, it says they took offense at him. It was rejection of Jesus as their Messiah that prompted Jesus to withold performing many miracles there.

The claim that Jesus can only act according to our faith, would actually make us more powerful than He is. My faith can make Him do something or my lack of faith can prevent Him from doing something. It is true that Jesus often told someone that their faith had made them whole. But the case of the invalid at the Pool of Bethesda demonstrates that Jesus is not limited by our faith or lack thereof. The man at the pool did not have any faith at all. He didn't know who Jesus was and didn't know that Jesus was going to heal him. But that didn't stop Jesus or hinder his ability. Sadly, all indications are that this man never did place his faith in Jesus. Once he knew who Jesus was he reported Him to the Jews.

James 5:15, "And the prayer of faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven."

This comes back to over-realized eschatology. Is this an absolute guarantee in this life? The fact that James ties in the forgiveness of sins, which is essential to the next life, seems to indicate that it may happen in this life. But if not, it's guaranteed in the next.
Also it is important to understand that faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2:8 says that our faith is not from ourselves but it is the gift of God. Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith.

John Piper in his article, "The Elders, The People, and The Prayer of Faith" makes the following statement:

"The text does not teach that everyone the elders pray for will be healed. It teaches that if the elders pray "the prayer of faith," the sick person will be healed. This is stated so absolutely that it seems to me that a gift of faith is meant here which assures the elders the healing will be done.
In other words, I think this phrase ("prayer of faith") puts us right back in the sphere of spiritual gifts rather than taking us out of that sphere. The elders seek God's gifting for faith so that they might pray "the prayer of faith". That gift is referred to in 1 Corinthians 12:9, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one [this]...to another faith by the same Spirit." There is a faith that comes as a special gift to pray for something extraordinary."

This seems to be borne out in the case of Paul healing the crippled man at Lystra. In Acts 14:9, it says that Paul saw that he had faith to be healed. We know that this man's faith had been given to him by God. But also apparent, is that God gave Paul a special revelation that He had given the crippled man the faith to be healed. So Paul had divine assurance that God was going to heal him.

The fact is that even the apostles were not always able to heal people. Paul could heal the crippled man in Acts 14, and Eutychus in Acts 20. But when Trophimus got sick all he could do was leave him in Miletus. And all he could do for Timothy's illnesses, was suggest he drink some wine. In Acts 5, the annointing was so powerful that Peter's shadow would cause people to be healed. But such an occasion is never spoken of again in the New Testament. Interestingly, Peter in his two epistles doesn't mention healing. But he does talk about enduring and perservering through suffering.

1 Corinthians 2:9, "As it is written, 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."

This is a favorite of many prosperity preachers to say that God has a wonderful plan for your life. "You can't even imagine just how wonderful it is." This is actually true. We cannot comprehend just how wonderful heaven is going to be. But is that what this passage is saying? The prosperity preachers aways leave out the next verse: (vs. 10) "But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit." So it is something that can be known but only by divine revelation. If you read back through the verses leading up to chapter 2:9 you see very clearly what Paul is talking about -- the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 1:18, :For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

"A text without a context is a pretext". That is why it is important to read the scriptures as a whole. Otherwise it is easy to take a verse here and there and create a heretical doctrine out of spliced passages.

The Real Faith Movement

Jesus was God in the flesh. He had existed from eternity past and by nature was the infinite God. As such, He spoke from the perspective of eternity. Often in our humanity, because we are temporal, we tend to interpret what He said from our temporal perspective. The Word of Faith movement capitalizes on this and appeals to those who are looking for answers in this present life. But the truly faithful understood that the blessings and promises they were looking for were in the future.

Hebrews 11, has been referred to as the "Hall of Fame of Faith". These are the men and women who are held up as examples of what true faith looks like. It is true that many of them experienced wonderful blessings (vs. 33-35a). But others went through horrible suffering because of their faith. Verse 13:

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw and welcomed them from a distance'. (vs 16) "Instead, they were longing for a better country -- a heavenly one." (vs 26, regarding Moses) "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward."

True faithful followers of Christ are always looking beyond what this life has to offer towards our eternal reward. But the Word of Faith movement only looks as far as this life. Jesus only made one promise for this life. 

John 16:33b, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Until that final day when we finally shed this tent of flesh and are ushered into the presence of our Savior for all eternity, we live in a world full of trouble: poverty, disease, death, and evil. We are not immune or isolated from it. But we live as "aliens and strangers on earth". We look forward to the city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God. In the meantime we often will have trouble. But as Paul said in Romans 8:18:

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

The walk of true faith is a walk of looking forward to the future that God has promised for us; towards the time when (Revelation 21: 3-5) "...the dwelling of God is with men and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then He said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

This is true faith. It is not in an over-realized eschatology that says that every promise and blessing is for our present time. It is faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that He has accomplished everything on our behalf at the cross and that the glorious day is coming when the old order of things will have passed away and God will make everything new.

May God bless you all.

[(1) www.gotquestions.org. Is the Word of Faith movement biblical?]

"BUT IT'S NOT FAIR!! IT'S WRONG!!"

Romans 12:19, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord."

There are few things that are more painful to me than to find out that I was betrayed by someone who I thought I could trust. Or to find out that someone who I thought was my friend was saying slanderous things about me behind my back. Or that they were falsely accusing me of something. When it happens, my knee jerk reaction is to either lash out in revenge or set the record straight in a way that I will put them in their place.

Of course, the greatest example of someone who was wrongfully accused was our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The accusations brought against him were completely false and yet he allowed himself to be punished wrongfully in order to save us. But there's another great example of a man who was wrongfully accused, Joseph.

You may remember the story of Joseph, how he was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. He was bought by Potiphar. His wife had a crush on him and tried to seduce him. When he refused, she accused him of trying to sexually assault her. It was bad enough that she falsely accused him, but she accused him of the very thing that SHE was guilty of.

Sometime later, Joseph has the miraculous day where he wakes up in the prison, but goes to bed in the palace. In one day he went from being a prisoner to the prime minister of Egypt. He was the second most powerful man in the world at that time.

One thing I find interesting about the story of Joseph is that there is no indication that he ever attempted to set things straight. He certainly could have. Nothing is said about whether he went back and dealt with Potiphar and his wife. But we do know how he dealt with his brothers who had done such a hateful thing to him. Genesis 50:19-20 must have sounded like beautiful music to his brothers:

"But Joseph said to them, 'Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving many lives."

God had actually used the evil actions of his brothers to save the lives of the people of the near east; which ironically, included them, and possibly Potiphar and his wife (assuming they were still alive).

But you may ask: Is God really using the injustice done to me for good? Romans 8:28 says that God works in ALL THINGS (my caps) for the good to those who are called according to his purpose. So the answer is, yes.  He is using everything to mold and shape us into the image of his son, who:
"when they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."(1 Peter2:23). 
Sometimes when these things happen, and we are slandered and unjustly accused, God may be orchestrating events in order to position us to be used in a mighty way for his glory. It was certainly the case in Joseph's case. And he could see that the sovereign hand of God had been moving in order to put him in the place where he would become the ruler of Egypt. It does happen, and it's not uncommon. But if we allow ourselves to be eaten up by bitterness, unforgiveness, and a desire for revenge, we will completely miss out on what God may be doing. I recently heard someone say that we must be in a position that God is able to work in our lives. And that means having our hearts and minds in tune with him.

I don't believe that it means pretending that it doesn't hurt. Some things hurt! And they hurt bad! But it does mean that when it hurts really bad, that we cry out to our heavenly Father and give it to him in surrendered trust. Don't focus on trying to get justice through your own efforts. Let God, "who judges justly", do what he is going to do and let him implement his own plan.

The most important thing is if we do allow God to handle the situation in the way he wants to, we will come out on the other side looking more like Jesus. And if we look more like Jesus, we become much more useful servants to our Lord and Master, and God may implement a greater plan than what he had us doing before.

Go with God and may you be richly blessed.

Don't Allow Weeds to Grow in The Church

The Parable of The Weeds (Matt 13:24-29)

Just to paraphrase the Parable of the Weeds, Jesus tells the story of a farmer planting good seed in his field. During the night an enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat. Of course both came up and the servants asked if they should go and pull up the weeds. The farmer said not to because the servants might end up pulling up the good wheat along with the weeds.

This is later explained that the wheat are the children of the kingdom and the weeds are the children of the evil one. Both are allowed to grow and live together until the judgment. Then Jesus will separate the good from the bad. The children of the evil one will go to their judgment and the children of the Kingdom into glory.

Often this is explained that the church will contain both children of the kingdom and of the evil one. Too may times it is used as an excuse to not properly exercise church discipline. However, Jesus clearly explained that it is NOT the case. In verse 38 of chapter 13 Jesus said, "The field is the world". He didn't say that the field is the church.
When you understand that the field is the world, it is easy to understand what he meant when he said that if the servants uproot the children of the evil one at the present time, they might end up pulling up the children of the kingdom.

In 1 Corinthians 5: 9-11, Paul explains that when he says not to associate with immoral people, he is not refering to the people of the world, but to those who call themselves believers but persist in immoral lifestyles:

"I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people --not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat." 

Using a little imagination one can easily understand the implications if God judged the wicked now. The entire infrastructure we depend on would collapse. Food and fuel would not get delivered. The power would go out, and so on.

The point is that the church is not supposed to look like this. Rebellious sin is not to be tolerated within the church body. Of course, there will be unbelievers within the walls of the church buildings. And there should be. The fact is, almost all of us at one time were unbelievers attending a church gathering. The hope and goal is that one day every unbeliever attending a church gathering will one day become a believer as well. Or, if not, after a time they will no longer be comfortable and will leave. The church should not be a place where a "weed" can flourish as a weed. We are to be distinct. 1 Peter 2:9 says:

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

If the church looks like the rest of the world or allows herself to be contaminated by the world, it will not be able to declare his praises. Instead the church may be guilty of profaning his name among the nations just as the nation of Judah had done. (Ezek. 36:22)
May it not be said of us that we profaned God's name because we wanted to be like the rest of the world.
May God bless you.

Comments

A Leap of Faith

John 10:10, "...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

"All men die. Few men really live." Wm Wallace, Braveheart

After my divorce was final last year, I decided to check one off my bucket list. I hesitated to call it "celebrating", because a divorce is nothing to celebrate, so I called it a "rite of passage". The truth is, during our engagement I was invited by some coworkers to go skydiving one weekend. My (then) fiance, said if I was going to go, to do it before we got married so if something happened, she would be mourning the death of her best friend, and not be a grieving widow. I decided not to go. But I always wanted to do it. Now was my chance.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning (July 23) as I drove up to Sebastion Florida. I decided on this place because it was right near the coast, so I would have great views of the ocean. The really cool thing about skydiving in South Florida is that you get the full benefit of the fall. No matter where you live, you jump at around 14,000 feet. If you go in a place like Denver, you land at approximately 5,000 feet meaning only a 9,000 foot fall. In Sebastion you land at 19 feet. So you literally fall 14,000 feet.

I arrived at the place, signed up, paid for it, and spent a seeming eternity signing waivers in case something bad happened. Then I met the man who would do the tandem jump with me and he explained what would happen and how it would all go down. I decided that because I most likely would not do this again, to go all out and have the jump video'd by a separate jumper. Finally the moment came and we boarded the plane.

The plane ride up was really cool. We were in a Cessna Caravan which is a big, single engine turboprop. It was about a 20 minute flight up to 14,000 feet and then it was time to "lighten the load". My partners and I were the last to jump.

The only thing I can say is the sensation was very different than I expected. For one thing, there's no feeling of accelerating. That's because you are already moving forward at about 110 knots. Terminal velocity is around that so actually you are just gradually changing direction. It was all over in about 5 minutes.

I reflected on that experience, and other adventures I've had. I've always been a bit of a daredevil. I love the adrenaline rush of skydiving, cliff jumping, and crazy rollercoasters. Although I've had to stop riding rollercoasters after I hurt my back slightly. Even beekeeping provides that rush. Yes, I admit it. I get a bit of a charge out of handling bees with my bare hands...especially if people are watching and freaking out.
I thought about how fear has kept me from pursuing dreams and goals that I have had, and something occurred to me that struck me as very profound:

Skydiving is very easy...child's play really.
The reason is simple -- there's very little risk. And my fears, while very real, are not based on reality. I'm not sure if irrational is the right word, but in reality, it is extremely unlikely that anything bad is going to happen. I don't believe that the skydiving place has ever had a mishap with a tandem skydive. So while the voices inside of me are screaming, "Don't do it!" another voice, the logical, practical one is saying, "There is nothing to be afraid of. You checked out the the skydive place's safety record, Or the water below the cliff, and you've watched the rollercoaster make it's loop and you know it's going to be fine. You took a MUCH greater risk when you got behind the wheel and drove here today." Ultimately, we listen to the practical voice and we jump.

That isn't the way it is in real life.

Those risks are VERY real.

The new dream job might be a nightmare. The business startup might fail. Moving to that place you've always wanted to live may be a disaster. And that relationship could very well end with your heart being broken.

What's crazy is, now the voice that was saying, "Don't do it", is now screaming, "Please!! Get me out of this dead-end, meaningless rut". And the practical voice that assured me that the skydiving was perfectly safe, is now saying, "It's too risky. Don't take any chances. Play it safe". That voice is greatly amplified by the hurts and disappointments I've already experienced.

So while I may have conquered my irrational fear with the jumps and rollercoasters, I'm still crippled by fear.  It's just that now it's more rational.

I suppose that a little of the rational fear is good if it makes us count the cost and weigh out the choices. It can keep us from doing stupid, irresponsible things. But that "rational fear" can keep us in bondage too. I found that sometimes I was doing adventerous things to convince myself that I was "really living".
But it was all superficial. I was having "near life experiences".

The only answer I have found is complete, surrendered trust, in the one who is completely trustworthy. Last year I came to the complete end of myself. The expression; "Jesus is all I need", came to have whole new meaning because Jesus was all I had. I had trusted God before, but not completely. It was always with reservation. I was holding back. But when I got to the end of myself I realized what I was holding on to: A vapor -- nothing.

It was actually a wonderful place to come to, because at that point I had nothing more to lose. Sometimes I think God has to get us to that point, so he can begin doing his work in us. In order for us to be filled by him, we first have to be emptied of ourselves.

So while on July 23, 2016, I took a plunge out of an airplane; felt the adrenaline rush and had a blast, I didn't really take a risk. But on August 25, just over a month later, I embarked on a trip back home to my extended family in Minnesota, that would culminate in me moving to Knoxville Tennessee. That was a risk. When I set out that August morning, I didn't know where I'd end up. I never had an end-game plan. What if I couldn't find work? Or what if I can't handle a cold winter? Or (this happened to my dad in Oregon) what if I find out I'm deathly allergic to something that blooms in the spring everywhere here? Or any number of things. I had to trust that God had this under control.

Of course, there's a risk in surrendered trust. And that is that God most likely has a plan for my life that is quite different from the plan I have for my own life. It's funny how we read Jeremiah 29:11 and never see that. It's HIS plan, not mine. God called Peter to step out of the boat. He called Abraham to leave his family and go to a land he would show him. Did you ever notice that God didn't even tell him where he was taking him? He just said he would show him. Jesus said in Luke 9:23-24;

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."

So I'm learning what it means to say, "Not my will, but yours". And that I must become less, so that he can become greater. I still have a long ways to go, but I'm closer than I was before. Maybe close enough that I can see a little better how it ends...And surrendered trust has a GOOD ending.

YOU CANNOT LOVE JESUS CHRIST AND DESPISE HIS BRIDE, THE CHURCH

Hebrews 10: 24-25, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up on meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. But let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the day approaching." 

This past Sunday Neil Silverberg, one of the pastors at the church I am a member of preached on the importance of being a committed part of the church of Jesus Christ. There are many issues he hit on but I want to point out one or two. And hopefully provide a template to use in looking for a church home in the process.

Here are some reasons people give for not being part of a local church:

1. I don't need to be part of an organized church. Church to me is getting together with a couple of friends and discussing life and the bible at Starbucks. Often Matthew 18:20 is cited, "For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them."

Answer: There's an old saying, "A text without a context is a pretext". It is true that Jesus is present when two or three come together, but the context of this passage is intercessory prayer. It is not describing the anatomy of a church gathering.

Here is a template to apply to the meeting at Starbucks, or any other gathering for that matter.

Ephesians 4: 11, "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

There are 5 ministries that God provides to build up his church:
1. Apostles
2. Prophets
3. Evangelists
4. Pastors
5. Teachers

So here are the questions:
Was your group founded on an apostolic foundation? Meaning was it planted and established with leaders and pastors appointed to care for the group?

Is there an evangelistic outreach to reach the lost?

Are you under the care of pastors and and benefiting by teachers who have been gifted by the Holy Spirit?

Do you have the prophetic word of God being spoken into your life in a relevant way?

I would dare say that the Tuesday morning coffee group does not provide any of this.

Another objection I have heard is, "I don't need the church. I don't need pastors and teachers because I have my Bible and that's enough.

Answer: This same Bible tells us that God has chosen to work through his church by special giftings and anointings, given to individuals for the building up of the members. In 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul exhorts his protege to show himself a workman who correctly handles the word of truth. If there is a correct way to handle the word of truth, then there is also an incorrect way to handle it. That is why God established a a 5-fold ministry. In addition, he gives different spiritual gifts to the individual members for the common good (2 Corinthians 12:7-11). If you are not actively a part of a local church congregation, you are not benefitting from the ministerial gifts which are provided by the Holy Spirit. You are not benefitting from spiritual gifts given to other believers, and others are not benefitting from gifts that you have been given.

The church isn't relevant.

Answer: That's a HUGE issue today. Pastor Neil cited some statistics about millenials leaving the visible church. The major reasons were lack of relevance and authenticity. "They have a dim view of church and religion but a hunger for transcendence". In response to young people leaving, many congregations are attempting to attract them by being "cool". That is actually making the problem worse because in our attempt to be "cool" we become even more phony. The answer to the call for relevance and transcendence is the very Gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the only message that offers true hope. The gospel is transcendent because it's final fulfillment is in the next life.

In almost every case I know of where a professing christian used to be a part of a local church and no longer sees the need, there has been deep hurt. I get it! I've been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. The problem with the legitimate body of Christ is that I am a part of it. I am an imperfect, broken sheep being carried in the arms of the good Shepherd. And so is everyone else. We all fall short and we get it wrong sometimes. Sadly, someone is bound to get hurt.
Also, there are a LOT of unhealthy  churches out there and even more entities passing themselves off as the church, which are no more the church of Jesus Christ than a cow is a monkey. Jesus said in Matthew 24:11 that there would be many false prophets, not just a few. Often these false churches have one or both of these characteristics:

1. Revolve around a personality -- usually a very charismatic individual who attracts people.
2. Incomplete and therefore misleading view of scripture -- 2 of the most common themes are the Prosperity Gospel (Jesus wants to fix your problems and give you a great life) or the Social Gospel (It's the job of the church to change the world). [Also, Universalism is very appealing because it basically says that there is no coming judgment.]
This is why it is so vitally important to have spirit-filled leadership that correctly handles the word of truth. It is also crucial to be as the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and "search the scriptures daily", to see if what the man in the pulpit is saying is true. You don't need to be a Bible scholar, just write down the references, look them up later and read them in their context. That will tell you a lot.

Now you may be asking; Where can I find such a church as you have described?
I will admit, they are few and far between, but they are out there. If you are truly seeking to be a part of the true body of believers God will provide. A healthy church won't necessarily have all 5 ministries in equal proportion. Often the apostolic may diminish once a congregation is well established, unless that congregation has a special calling to plant churches. There should be an evangelistic ministry toward preaching to the unsaved. But that will vary with different congregations. The pastoral, teaching and prophetic ministry are vital to the life of a congregation. Without it, the congregation is truly a flock of sheep without a shepherd. The wolves are going to have a field day.

I don't have a nice concise conclusion, so I'll just say I'm done. If you are still reading, thank you for bearing with  with me. Feel free to share this. If you have any comments or questions but don't want to leave them publicly, you can PM me.  I don't pretend to have any answers but but you never know what the Holy Spirit might do.
I pray God's richest blessings on all of you.