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Staggered by the odd goodness of God: Kingdom Mathematics don’t always add up

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Well, as much as I hate using an old address to sell plasma to pay for my rent at the Bunkhouse (hopefully someone at the plasma center won’t read this), I seem to be blessed financially anyway. For example, I have $4.57 in my account, I stop at McD’s for some dollar menu items that cost $4.08. Why does my account balance equal $2.49 the next day? Shouldn’t it be .49? Then a day or two later I get some chicken on the dollar menu at Church’s which should zero out that account. Today I check it and it’s $3.49. I could ask God for a full direct deposit but something tells me that would be putting God to the test. His blessings aren’t that obvious. You actually have to be quite anal(ytical) to catch them. And by the way, the last thing you want to do is make sense of God’s blessings!

Now I may get to be a part-time stock clerk at a local grocery store (with my experience that’s, n/m, none of your business. . .j/k :) Either way if I was offered the chance to be a store manager or a syndicated columnist with a content writing service, you would think it would be a no-brainer since being a retail manager would be nights, weekends, and Sundays. But after two years of scrounging a living as a freelance writer (not as bad as hard construction day labor) I pretty much decided this lifestyle sucks and isn’t consistent enough. I’m ready for full-time work again. But I probably need to finish my Bachelor’s (probably at University of Phoenix). My work though Elance has caused me to get into Web Development and it’s practical so I can probably pass the classes. and get a grant + scholarships since I haven’t worked much the last two years.

The plasma story reminds me of when Jesus said something to the religious zealots of His day about neglecting the latter for the former; i.e., focusing so much on the keeping of God’s law that you neglect a brother in need. Even Rahab lied to protect spies. Besides if you try to be completely honest at any job you would be fired. If you have that kind of faith, go for it. I know when I was a Department Manager the team stocking guide I filled out gave me 1.5-2 days to finish the job and I only had eight hours. Truck drivers can only drive so many hours but have to go over due to traffic. If they are honest about that they would still be canned for violating company policy. That would be called playing the game. The only alternative would be living on the streets and being a leech on society. Would anybody listen to someone share the gospel if they looked and dressed like a veteran hobo? I met a lot of “godly” people on the streets. Sadly I cannot tell who is real or just psychotic. I don’t think all the meds in the world would pull some of those people who have lived on the streets since the ’80′s back to reality. It’s really sad visiting that neigborhood. I know if I had to live there again I would probably be needing drug and alcohol rehab. However when it comes to drugs & alcohol and antipsychotic medicine, it’s a tossup which one is worse for you in the long run.

Who Will Stop The Rain?

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I heard a classic song from the late ’60′s by the legendary Creedence Clearwater Revival. You may know them simply as CCR ; they had such hits as “Proud Mary” and “Bad Moon Rising” (as a kid I though he was singing ‘there’s the bathroom on the right’. It’s before my time but I follow rock from the ’60′s through ’90′s and some contemporary. While staying at the Bunkhouse Men’s Dorm in South Fort Worth, I heard the song “Who will stop the rain?” I heard at the time it was mainly about the Vietnam War, but it could apply to today and does not necessarily have to do with war. Yeshua HaMashiach/Jesus Christ prophesied there would be wars and rumors of wars. Sometimes I think the worst kinds of wars are those that don’t involve military weapons. Sometimes the biggest weapon of mass destruction is our own mouths (James Chapter 3).

Who will stop the rain? As far back as history can go there have been wars; wars between nations, families, individuals, etc. These can be physical, with or without weapons, or emotional/mental. Of course for those that don’t study history, then just read the paper because we will continue to relive “the old days” if we don’t learn anything from our past. So, the answer to “who will stop the rain?” The answer is obvious to those that follow the teachings of Judeo-Christianity. The promised Messiah of Israel. Christians on the other hand know the identity of the Messiah and the only thing you can do to prove that He is still living is receive Him into your life (salvation does not stop there by the way).

Now, I’m finished preaching so I’ll upload the video of a 1969(?) classic.

In the words of the late Jimi Hendrix, “there must be some kind of way outta here.”

Sometimes I wonder if Lenny Kravitz is Jimi Hendrix reincarnated.

Fear of getting old? Or something greater?

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Now that I am in my mid-thirties and pushing 40, I notice many of my high school friends that I reconnected with through the amazing power of Facebook comment on how they are getting old. Some are just joking but some actually do have a fear of old age. My dad always taught me that you are only as old as you feel and that life is only as hard as you make it. Life is only hard when we make decisions that are out of step with the will of God which is laid out in scripture; of course any devotional or inspirational that focused on Yeshua as the Messiah and if anointed by the Holy Spirit can be divine inspiration.

When you live right, i.e. focus on God, life seems easier because we are supernaturally regenerated. The healthcare system may think we are “manic” and try to medicate it. I believe one hippie biker Jesus-freak referred to that as the “Jesus High”. Also, our bodies seem to supernaturally balance itself out and even the medical professionals in the Orient say that sickness only happens when our bodies are out of balance. I could recommend a book by Dr. Wayne Dyer called “Being in Balance.” I don’t know what Dr. Dyer believes about Jesus but I notice he is the most charismatic new age teacher and he quotes the New Testament and Jesus Christ a lot. I also notice how amazed I am when I hear someone who looks like they should be in college tell me that they are approaching senior citizenship as fast as they can.

This goes with a story of someone that was close to me seeing a strand of gray hair and insisting that it was blond. I am not colorblind, I have my own gray strands on the sides (they are just overshadowed by the dumbo ears). Anyway, sometimes I have to wonder if the fear of gray hair, fear of getting old, or whatever you call it is related to something much deeper that the Bible talks about.

It’s called the fear of death. No true believer in the Living God and His Messiah will fear death because the presence of the Holy Spirit in their life will assure them of righteousness and peace. It will also give them joy which in God-terminology is true happiness and transcends one’s circumstances. The real assurance that you are a child of God is that you are led by the Holy Spirit. Many evangelists say you can have assurance and peace if you believe (or trust) in Jesus, say the sinner’s prayer, and walk down an aisle to get baptized.

You can do all those above things and not have a genuine assurance of your salvation if you are not led by the Holy Spirit! The Bible, or Jesus the real Word of God, teaches that many will be deceived. Many will come to Him when He returns expecting Him to let them into heaven because they think they knew Him; only to have Him tell them to depart from them workers of iniquity. (Matthew 7:21-scariest verse in the Bible).

Do you fear getting old? If you don’t know the Father and the Son and experienced the supernatural filling of the Holy Spirit then you will likely have the crap scared out of you when you read the book of Revelation. In which case you will probably need an immodium at the first sign of gray hair.

Rolling in my 3.0


This is sort of a humor article on something I heard through the Alpha Course yet is an awesome testimony. First off, the Alpha Course is led by a British pastor, Nicky Gumbel. A lot of people love listening to him just for his accent. From listening to him, you can hear the wisdom. I have been studying the Bible for about twelve years consistently and can’t find anything wrong with his doctrine myself. Although my theological views tend to lead more to the Charismatic/Pentecostal; if for no other reason than the mainline denominations appear to lean toward fundamentalist/calvinism which depresses me.

Naturally if you google Alpha Course, you probably won’t find that much positive talk about it. Most people think charisma is just manipulation to get money out of people. Granted there are some ministries that do go to that extreme. The Apostle Paul even talked about some preachers back in his day who preached the Messiah for profit. Therefore, nothing new is under the sun. 

It almost makes you wonder sometime what many of these legalists, uh, I mean fundamentalists would think of Yeshua/Jesus when He comes back. Many people will probably expect somebody who is all serious and judges you for anything you do if it doesn’t involve reading the Bible, praying, and going to church. 

One of the Alpha Course lessons talked about why we should read the Bible. A lot of people think it’s just a rule book. I almost imagine some people think the reason God gave us commandments was because He likes to lord His control over us which means we don’t practice sin because “God said so and there doesn’t have to be a reason.” 

That goes back to my previous post on a quote from Pastor Ted Garner in Colorado regarding which tree we are in-the tree of life or the tree of knowledge of good & evil. Jesus Himself said “by their fruit you will know them.” Who has more fruit? Those that tell us how wicked we are and preach a Once Saved, Always Saved faith-alone doctrine which goes against the Book of James? Or those that believe in perseverance of the saints/progressive sanctification? That we have to continually seek after God in order to keep from sliding back into our old ways and separating ourselves from Him again? The Word of God teaches that if you fall from grace the last state will be worst than the first and it would be better to have not known God than to know Him and turn away. Although anyone who truly loves God won’t want to turn away from the Living God. 

On the Alpha Course video we saw today, Pastor Nicky (that reminds me of an Adam Sandler movie only not as creepy with the name) told about a man who used the Bible for rolling papers for his weed; that is until he came to the book of John and found he no longer needed marijuana anymore when he found the Messiah Yeshua/Christ. 

Talk about rolling your way through the Bible. Sadly, he probably rolled his way through the Word more than many people who went to church. In the end he received more out of it once he came to the book of John.  Hence the title of this post. I’m sure you can figure out where the 3,0 came from. 

Blessings & Peace,

Shabat Shalom,

E Bishop

Rich Man, Poor Man

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I was reading in the book of James where it was saying that the poor people are God’s people. One of the Beatitudes is blessed are the poor for theirs is the Kingdom of God. Actually it says poor in spirit but poor in every other area can and is often caused by an impoverished spirit; financially poor, poor health, etc. It is well-known the the world is set up for the rich. Jesus taught that it was hard for the rich man to enter the Kingdom-not impossible though for nothing is impossible with God. He meant that it’s hard for someone who has access to everything in life to see his need for divine intimacy.

Perhaps America’s greatest sin is it’s Gospel of Wealth; with the prosperity gospel condemning people for their lack of faith if they aren’t rich or healthy. Of course I lean more towards the prosperity gospel than the doom & gloom hell fire and brimstone. Everything comes in God’s timing but we still are responsible for working hard for it; just work at harder at seeking God. Then the Law of Attraction goes into action as you “attract” those things into your life that God wants you to have.  Everything is permissible but not everything is good for you. The only way to know what is good for you is to seek the source of all goodness. From a calivinist perspective, apart from God we are totally depraved since we are not capable of being good in and of ourselves. I’m well aware that many people only seem to pick up on the negative comments like that and totally miss the positive ones. Then wonder why they are dependent on alcohol and drugs. The latter includes prescription antidepressants by the way. Drugs are drugs whether they are legal or illegal. In fact if you want to boost the economy, legalize and regulate marijuana. Then the Big Pharma Co. will go bankrupt but with their “selling skills” they shouldn’t have any problems becoming licensed street pharmacists.

I’m not entirely against Capitalism but seeing that from a Socialist point of view allows me to be compassionate on those that aren’t as resourceful. This is in opposition to those that exalt the rich and accuse the poor of being lazy. The Bible talks about taking care of the poor. Not everyone can be a rich industrialist. Many don’t choose this path but work hard for others because it would be too much of a distraction to their walk with God. Anything you give up for the Kingdom gets returned to you in some portion or another. Keep in mind, that God doesn’t delight in sacrifice so you don’t have to give up anything. That being said if you feel like you have to do anything then you are merely being religious.

I don’t know if God will judge the country for legalizing homosexuality or not; especially with all the gay and lesbians couples I’ve heard about that seem to be in love or have a deep emotional attraction. I often wonder why we tell alcoholics and drug addicts that as long as they are forgiven they will go to heaven when they die but if you are poor are live in certain “sexual sins” you are automatically hellbound. People in the church must be sexually repressed. When you repress a God-given desire that leads to sexual addictions and immoral choices. That doesn’t mean we should go out and bang everything that moves-man, woman, and child, you pervert.

Ok, back off my soapbox now. The only thing I’m certain God was going to judge America for is it’s pride and hatred which exalts one class of people over another. Of course, technically all judgement has been dealt with at the Cross through the Blood of Yeshua HaMashiach, or Jesus the Christ.

Hated for being too positive? Is it possible?

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Charity v. Philanthropy

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What is giving?

What does it mean to “give”?

It should be noted that the Greek word for love in the New Testament is “charity.” When we think of charity, we automatically think fundraisers & nonprofit organizations. But, then again, we also don’t think we are going to church unless the building we worship at one day a week is a 501(c)3 organization. Somehow I doubt seriously the early believers/worshippers had that status in the first century; neither do the believers/worshippers in persecuted countries like China and Russia. I won’t even get into those that are common law married being more committed to each other than those that merely have a “piece of paper” saying that they are committed to each other. For some reason we don’t recognize the legality of something unless it’s in writing, or a water baptism.

Seeing how charity is love and the definition of altruism is unselfish regard for the welfare of others, any charitable contribution you make is “charitable.” A true love offering, or tithe, is a giving of yourself for the benefit of someone else. In other words, if it’s not genuinely altruistic, then it’s not done out of love and is a mere moral obligation; sort of like going to “church” has become. It become a practice of philanthropy. Philanthropy is more out of general goodwill toward man and not necessarily backed by a loving heart.

What does the Word of God (the Messiah) say about this? He says that loving God and loving your neighbor fulfills the law. I John also says that whoever doesn’t love, doesn’t know God, for God is love. If you generally love God, then you will demonstrate that love towards others. In other words, giving charity, or tithing, is a giving of yourself. There is no measure on it even though some of us numbers geeks & freaks try to keep track of every penny.

Good news! God is probably not even keeping track of your outward actions. All He is concerned about is your heart. When you start keeping a mental checklist of good v. bad, you fall into legalism and enslave yourself to the Law all over again which is basically crucifying Christ a second time. Galatians 5:1 says Jesus died so that we should be free and not become enslaved all over again. The Church of Galatia was being enslaved to Orthodox Jews who were trying to deceive the early church into thinking they had to keep the rules & rituals of Judaism even though they found the Messiah. Basically, they were trying to steal their joy and separate them from God.

Ever notice how when you find “happiness” there are always people who try to steal it because they adhere to the philosophy that “misery loves company?” People that are sick and dependent on medicine often subconsciously diagnose those who are healthy with illnesses so they don’t feel alone. Those that are less mature in the faith may make you feel like you’re sinning so you’ll doubt you’re faith and they can catch up.

A final note on tithing. If you are striving to keep the law of tithing and give a whopping 10% every time you make anything, then it’s just legalistic giving and will seem like a burden. You may even think God is punishing you. In fact you are punishing yourself. We have a tendency to do that when we feel like we aren’t measuring up. Although the full blessing may not come until you pass 10%, God blesses you in accordance with how much you give. And even a blessing on 1% from God is better than any curse.

Remember the widow’s might? Jesus said she gave more than the guys who had an abundance. I doubt it was 10% but keep in mind there is no measure in how much you give since giving comes in many forms. What matters is your hearts attitude behind it and whether you are dependent on the Living God and His Holy Spirit to lead you to give wherever He wants it to go

Mysticism v. the Occult

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Every true believe that has experienced God acknowledge that the spiritual walk with the Living Messiah is a mystery. As well as the mysterious Godhead. That being said, it kind of makes you question the faith of those that act like they know everything about God and judge others who have a different way of relating to God. By nature, there is a fine line between caring and controlling. Therefore, those that perceive us as being out of fellowship may try to “lead us back into the fold” which may make us feel like they are trying to control out relationship with God.

As long as you know God is leading you, you don’t have anything to worry about. You will know. But keep in mind there are other spirits in this world. The Occult is a satanic mysticism. Sadly enough, many charismatic believers have been accused of practicing the occult. Pentecostals are among this group. True mysticism is a spiritual encounter with the Living God by virtue of the Living God. The Occult is a mysticism that has to be manipulated or controlled by humans. For example, it’s a form of magic. This is how you can tell if a person performing miracles is a false prophet, aka antichrist. They are not following God and His Messiah, they are merely practicing black magic to manipulate and control people.

Many of the godly Catholic saints were known to be mystics as well as many pentecostals, charismatics, and Methodist enthusiasts. I read an article that said John Calvin preferred doctrinal knowledge over mysticism. Am I the only one who had alarm bells going off in his head? It’s widely known the Greeks value knowledge. Remember though that knowledge without wisdom corrupts. You can learn about God reading the Bible, devotional literature, or going to church, but God has to be experienced in order to be lived out. Anybody that is skeptical about a genuine and authentic move of God better thank twice before they speak out against it or they could be blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Anybody that is truly seeking God will have spiritual experiences as well as a Beatitude attitude toward God and others. If not they could be a false convert and need to be prayed for and encouraged.

Ministry of the Month-Praise Moves: A Christian Alternative to Yoga

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As everybody knows, myself and probably a few other believers are into a more homeopathic and holistic approach to “medicine” and the healing of the body. I’m sure there are a few believers that are fearful of pursuing these paths because they are backed by Eastern religions and Scientology which makes them a form of witchcraft. However, I’m sure a lot of believers havenn’t had the revelation found in a bible study and a Strong’s concordance of where the word “pharmacy” comes from. The Greek work “pharmakeia” means witchcraft. Therefore, any form of healing that is man-centered falls in this category.

That being said, I’m not criticizing doctors. God leads some to pursue this career field. Although it does seem like men in high positions (i.e.; doctors, pastors, the President, etc.) seem to get placed on pedestals because they have letters after their name and spent years in school. True healing comes from the Holy Spirit no matter which path you choose. Keep in mind that any man-made path can lead to a dependency is the underlying issue isn’t promptly dealth with.

In looking at the Eastern medicine, such as acupressure, acupuncture, and yoga, I can’t see much of a difference between that and the modern medicine movement. It does bother me that people go straight to the doctor when they have a medical problem. Also if one seeks medical intervention for one or two symptoms that only lasts a couple days and then doesn’t return for nearly half a year or more. If you do seek out some form of medicine, it boils down to the lesser of two evils. For me, I’d rather do yoga than take pills every day for an indefinite amout of time.

Speaking of yoga, about the same time I was looking into this I ran across a ministry called PraiseMoves that was founded by a former Yoga instructor before she found God/Jesus. Yoga can be just as acceptible option as modern medicine; although since it was started by Hindus and Buddhists you might want to go in with an open mind and a guarded heart with the leading of the Holy Spirit. But then again that goes for every decision you make. If there is an alternative that glorifies God, I feel like it’s my responsiblity to promote this ministry because they meditate on Bible verses during their stretching exercises. Therefore, if you can find healing through Yoga, think of the healing you can receive through PraiseMoves.

Remember, if it’s not the Holy Spirit and your walk with God that heals you, you will ultimately end up glorifying man for your healing. If that happens you could eventually relapse because God won’t share His glory with man.

http://praisemoves.com

Daily E’ism for 1/20/13-Modern Technology

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Actually getting more into modern technology and Social Media. It can makes us lazy but it can also satisfy a thirst for knowledge. Heard in a CNN news report that people are actually stressed out by 24/7 access to information. I don’t know why they would get stressed out and overwhelmed by this. It’s not like they have to be online looking up stuff all the time. Seek first the Kingdom of God and you will only want to look up stuff that God wants you to know. The secret to Wellness is balance and the ability to prioritize. Or as I like to call it, being an efficiency expert.

That being said, here I am sitting in my favorite coffee shop after the service at City Life Center was over. Pastor Tim Woody got a little long-winded but it was a good message. You had to be there. I must confess my sins that I snuck into the coffee shop next door to get my free coffee courtesy of City Life before 1pm when the deal cuts off. And now here I am sitting on the couch with my laptop plugged into an outlet, my cell phone is plugged into my laptop charging, and I’m wearing a set of headphones listening to Rhapsody. I feel like I’m on life support.

If the radiation from all this technology doesn’t kill you, something will.Life can be hard. Remember no one gets out alive. Give it to God and let Him take your burdens; after all, He already has.

“Social Media is bringing us all closer together.”-Peter Griffin