What We are About?

One of my preaching hero's is C.H. Spurgeon. It sounds redundant to say that becasue he has been called the "prince of preachers". But when someone is awesome...they are awesome...and Spurgeon is awesome. Here is some sweet nectar I have been sucking on from the lips of Spurgeon:

"For we long to see all religious teaching built upon the solid rock of truth, and not upon the sand of imagination; but, at the same time, our grand object is not the revision of opinions, but the regeneration of natures. We would bring men to Christ, and not to our own peculiar views of Christianity. Our first care must be that the sheep should be gathered to the great Shepherd; there will be time enough afterwards to secure them for our various folds. To make proselytes, is a suitable labour for Pharisees: to beget men unto God, is the honourable aim of ministers of Christ!"

Feast on that!

I'm Going to India And Here's An Article About Where I'm Going

FAITH UNDER FIRE
Indian judges OK 'Hindu Taliban'
Police given unlimited power to jail those talking of Christ
Posted: August 11, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com


The Supreme Court in India has given police across the nation unlimited power to arrest and detain anyone who has been accused of talking to another person about Christianity.

The report comes from the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission, which issued the alert on its News & Analysis mailing list, and Assist News Service.

The WEA report by researcher Elizabeth Kendall said the ruling "opens the door for police with Hindutya sympathies to act as Hindu Taliban."


Hindutya is a militant Hinduism that seeks political and religious dominance.

"Nuns, pastors, bishops and evangelists, as well as Christian aid workers, teachers and social workers, are all immediately at risk of arrest and imprisonment because of their Christian witness," Kendall's report said.

As WorldNetDaily has reported, India is moving up on the list of nations around the world where Christians are persecuted.

"In fact, every Christian, actively witnessing or not, is at risk from hostile elements that may exploit the opportunity to bring false charges against them, inspired by a variety of motives, in the same manner that the blasphemy law is exploited for person gain in Pakistan," Kendall wrote.

The technical ruling from India's Supreme Court was that police are not required to have warrants to file First Issue Reports and arrest and detain suspects.

According to the Times of India, the ruling relieves police and prosecutors of the requirement of "prior sanction" from the federal or state governments, or a local prosecutor.

The previous practice that protected religious leaders in their speech was found in the Criminal Procedure Code, which says, "no court shall take cognizance" of a complaint about proselytizing unless there was government approval for the arrest.

But the new court ruling from Justices G.P. Mathur and Dalveer Bhandari said the only requirement for an arrest on those charges is a complaint, relieving police of that "authorization" requirement that was set for the courts.

The decision, described by the IndLaw.com website, came in a case involving Pastor Paulrai Raju of Kanartaka state. He was beaten by Hindus last year and arrested on charges of trying to convert Hindus to Christianity. His wife petitioned on the basis there was no warrant, and a lower court quashed the case.

But the state government appealed and the case eventually ended up before the Supreme Court.

Kendall's report said the Times of India noted the court explained that although a prior sanction would be required for a court to hear the case, that is not needed before someone could be accused by police, then arrested and detained, for proselytizing.

"Mere production of the arrested accused before the magistrate and the latter remanding him to custodial detention does not amount to taking cognizance of the offence, for which alone prior sanction is required," the court's opinion said.

my SPACE

Fads. That's what this post is. A response to a fad. It will go away...but for now I am a conformist. I hate that. Well, anyway. You keep hearing people say, "God wants to be a part of your life"! Or you must, "allow God to have access to every area of your life". Now, what does that mean? That God requires us to have a "My Space" account to have access to us, control of us, or realization about what is going on IN us? Wow. That God seems pretty small to me. Listen, God does not need "Your Space" or "My Space". He is! Omnipresence anyone? Should we surrender to HIM? Yes. But, GOD...Well...there's no space issue. That's some space!

The Fruit of Razor Blades

A few days ago I preached the "Do You Want to Go To The Mountain" message to a live audience of about 2,000 and media audience in the millions. That did not matter to me becasue of Mary. Not Jesus mother but a single mom of two boys that was in the service that night. She was one of the last ones to come up and speak with me after the service. She said she had been touched by God through the message and that she was ready to be "free" and go to the mountain! She wanted to experience HIS GLORY as the message shares. Before she walked away I received from her some of the "fruit" produced by God's Word in her that night. We often never see most of the fruit from the power of the preaching of HIs word. I am not concerned about ever seeing it becasuse it's God's business not mine. But I actually held the evidence of the "fruit" God produced in her that night. Right before she walked away she handed me a container of razor blades. They were huge and she had been a cutter. She was ready to use one of them one final time to end what she deemed as a life of misery. But, upon handing them to me she said, "I know God wants me to give these to you!" There I stood holding in my hand large razor blades handed to me by a woman who had just been touched by His glory. I never thought of holding the fruit of God before but the other night I did...and Mary nor I will never be the same again. We don't have to hold the fruit God produces but, should HE ever allow it, take hold of it as a revelation of HIS GLORY, that changes your life!

Next Day Roast

We have rash of the need for the "new"on our hands. There seems to be a passion for something to be new for to be relevant. Many are saying we need a new message or we need to repaint the message of Jesus. The new wave of promotion is about something being a secret the no one has ever discovered in God's Word or the Christianity needs to be revised for a new culture. There are some valid thoughts that have come from these promoters. However, what was cooked in the oven yesterday is sometimes even better today. I loved my mom's roast. But it was even better the next day. It had soaked all night in the gravy and it was awesome. It made a great sandwich too! Have you read what God cooked in John Owen or Jonathan Edwards dozens of years ago! The truth they shared makes a great sandwich before bed! Try reading them. You might just realized that God's word has an embedded relevance to it that has brewed and cooked in people's hearts for years. I am getting my own food from my own study. But it sure is good to sit and eat with them at a table. Go back and discover some of the "old" stuff and how good it is today! Why, it's from the WORD.

stove top stuffing

We got a new stove top at our house today. Instant heat. Glass top. 220 power needed to run!

We got a new church today...Heated by the fire of the Spirit...Reflective of the glory of God...needs HIM to run...

Get a new oven!

Going to the Doctor?

I'm going to a doctor today...don't we hate doing that. I despise it. But sometimes we need too...like I do...just like our GREAT PHYSICIAN....I'm going to HIM today too...join me...

Catdog

Confession: I like the cartoon "Catdog". It's about an animal that is half cat and half dog. They are joined at the end and thus, both have a head. It's one of the greatest evidences in America that "anything goes"! It's ridiculous and that's why I like it. It's like "Sponge Bob"..seems totally moronic but it actually represents real life. We all act a certain way and don't even know that what were are doing is not really what we think. Well, we now have a cat and a dog at our house...So I guess we really are true American's now...Or stupid. The cat was here first and is freaked out by our new puppy. Our cat "Boomer" hisses and runs from this psycho-hyper 10 week old Golden Retriever "Solomon". They don't get a long and the cat does not want to. Tell me how much this relates to the relationships in the church today? They sound too familiar. I think these cartoon writers go to church somewhere in the "Bible Belt"! We have one group saying and doing one thing and someone else doing another...lot's of hissing, running, and not getting along. And, we have the "Sponge Bobbers" coming in an letting us know that they have something innovative to do like going fishing for jellyfish. Or they take a balloon on national free balloon day and then feel guilty that they took it! May we pray church not be so "cartoon" anymore....

The "Gospel" of the Arizona Tea Cap

I drink Arizona Tea. And for all you literalism freaks out there it's not tea that is made in Arizona but the brand of tea called Arizona...
I drink it because I like it. However much I like the tea it remains that I think their packaging is unique. In the midst of creatively designed bottles are remarkable caps. The caps on the bottled tea have a message underneath. The messages are almost always strange but alluring. They cause you to say, "What?" and then think of the many interpretations of what is being said. It seems to have no purpose at all but it actually does have a purpose. As a matter of fact we are fulfilling the purpose of the cap right now...We are talking about it! Other companies have done similar things. SoBE has lids with statements as well. They say things like "Smarter no Harder", "Bring on the Catwalk", etc. But the messages under most of the Arizona tea caps say things like "Strawberry Pulling Inside", "Laughing at Eel" , "Don't Be #11". They seem to be jargon someone made up. You read the statements and think...What? Not because you just don't get it but because you aren't supposed to get it. However, they make you look.

There are many of us who are making people look under the lid of our lives. There are churches that are crafty and are making people look. It's important to be aware of what message we put on the lid.
The gospel is being presented under the tea cap lids of our lives and the question remains are we getting the message right or is it jargon that we have no intention of trying to get it right. Yes, whether or not they get it is up to God's revealing and all illuminating power, but what are we saying? When people take a drink and look at that lid under the substance that make us what we are what do they read. Something made up or real? A marketing tactic or the reality of the genuine gospel message!

Read a tea cap lid and ask am I getting it right?

How Not To Be In a FEEBLE State

In the midst of working through the works of Jonathan Edwards I am continuing on my regiment of reading. I just finished THE GLORY OF CHRIST, by the great Puritan preacher John Owen. I have put a link with this blog so you can get the book. It's fantastic and reminds us of what our occupation in life ought to be no matter what we actually do.

To all those who have genuinely been saved by Christ he issues this summons: "let us regard it as our duty to meditate frequently on HIS glory. It is the neglect of meditation that keeps so many Christians in a feeble state, regardless of their privileges." (pg 34) In my journey I have made it a strong practice. Yes, I said practice. That's the key to unlocking the use of this treasure seeking tool. I have learned I must train myself to meditate on God's Glory in His Word and in His creation. Over the past few years of enjoying the work of meditation, I have noticed a significant change in my awareness of HIS presence. I have always sought to know Him and taste His glory. But meditating on His glory and His Word have only enabled me to sense and see what He has already been doing all around me. I am becoming more aware of who He is and what He is doing because of the quest to see and know Him deeply. I don't want the casual that I have become all to comfortable with. Many of us want the "more" in life or the "all". Well, it's right there in front of you. It's the ultimate reality: GOD HIMSELF. He is disclosing so we must not be posing! So many times I have missed the disclosure of HIS Glory only because I was poising before the mirror of my thoughts, ambitions, and cares. I cannot pose my self in the mirror of life and look at myself but look at the Glory of God and see the beauty of Him. I pray that I will continue to pursue with the most stringent passion what Owen has said: "let us regard it as our duty to meditate frequently on HIS glory. It is the neglect of meditation that keeps so many Christians in a feeble state, regardless of their privileges." Meditation is not emptying the mind but having a pestering resolve to think through and with the "mind of Christ" embedded in you as a follower of Christ. I don't want to be in a feeble state. Meditate on His glory and His Word!

"Experimentally Acquainted" with Jesus

I have been reading through the works of Jonathan Edwards. It will take a great deal of time to do but I have a deep resolve to continue to glean from the droppings of his table! I have been captured in thought by a statement Edwards made in reference to the seemingly many out there who profess Christ as Savior but don't seem to have an authentic faith. He calls them "experimentally acquainted" with Jesus and the gospel. If you think about the levels of insight in this statement you begin to fathom what seems to be missing in so many who say they are "saved". They have the right lingo, they subscribe to the right compartmentalized fashions in the church, they have good moral tactics, and many seemingly Christian behaviors. But it seems as though a level of reality is missing. It seems something did not happen to them that was permanent or truly life changing. They, like the child that experiments with something to see what it will do, have "experiemented" with Christ. They "gave him a try" but it hasn't changed the essence of their being or caused them to become an worshiper of Jesus with every fiber of their life! They are just "experimentally acquainted" with Jesus but don't truly know HIM as a legitimate child of God. I will continue to ponder the implications of this thought given to us from the table of Edwards feasting on God! Contemplate with me.