With Much Love - To the one called "Melissa"

Ok..I have what I feel is the best response to your questions I can deliver..I have sought wise counsel from fellow believers, I have used biblical documentation, video messages to help drive some points home and illustrate others, all the while being extremely careful in handling God's word. I will do my best to follow the same order in addressing each question you posed to me and try not to allow my personal flesh to muddy the water. I am human and also have a sinful nature just like you and because of that I want to trump all that is about to follow with this comment. Everything you are told from me or anyone else, everything that you read or hear MUST be filtered thru the WORD OF GOD. If you cant square it up with Scripture, then you must question the authenticity of the material..

You asked"Is is a Christians job to prevent others from having their own free will and committing their own sins? Or is it a Christians job to make them aware of what they are doing? "We are called to be fruit inspectors..fruit being the works of those who claim Christianity. We are NOT to judge the salvation of others..That is God's role and His role only but we as Christians are called to judge others by their fruit..Can you see outward evidence of their changed life and if not, then we must proclaim the gospel to them to save them from the wrath of God..The video “examine yourself” in my latest blog speaks to this issue as well.. We cant make anyone do anything, but we have an obligation to share Christ with others and whenever possible make disciples of them. We will all one day stand before a HOLY RIGHTEOUS GOD and will give account and that should bring about a fear and trembling for not only ourselves but for others..We have the cure for this sin and the separation from God and that is Faith in Jesus Christ.

You speak of “three forms of God” and which one to be like..I must say your language is skirting a loose interpretation of the Godhead. This is a difficult and challenging concept but one you must desperately seek to comprehend however there will be some faith involved in this because our minds cant bust thru an area we have never known.. I would direct you to this link to gain a better understanding of the Godhead (Trinity).  Trinity . Now with that being said, Jesus came to earth to be the perfect sacrifice and to fulfill the law which humankind never could..and in his Sinless life, He satisfied the law and was a sacrifice acceptable to God and therefore paid the debt for us. So when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, He is the example we are to emulate because He was the one who did what we could not..but do not get to confused with God the Father and the Holy Spirit because they are all coequal, coeternal and copowerful.

You said “ although he warned them of their sins He did not interfere with their decisions, nor did he punish them or stop caring about them, he left that up the Father..” Ok..This is a mouthful and needs some attention..Father and Jesus are One God...not different beings..lets make sure we are talking about the same thing. The old testament is full of God striking people down for not obeying the Law and you must understand that. The bible has to be taken in the full counsel and not as separate books with all separate meanings..The Bible is a wonderful piece of literature that tells a beautiful story of Sin, wrath due that sin and the redemption of that sin. You must remember the role of Jesus and His time on Earth..He came to save, not to condemn but that does not mean Sin is acceptable. John 3:17. We are to be “salt and Light” among the world, “light bearers” in this world..We are to be Christ like in our world so as not to be a stumbling block for others, lest they turn away from the faith. Also if you read Romans 1:18-33

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22  Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

You said “try and emulate the human form of God” - 1 Timothy 4:1-16  1 Timothy 4:1-16 and 1 Peter 2:1  1 Peter 2:1are excellent versus to answer this.. We are to train ourselves much like we would in the gym..Our Spiritual muscles need exercising just like our spiritual muscles..but we have the power of the Holy Spirit to live a life of godliness..

you said “try to get the sinners to accept God” and “we are just suppose to get sinners to believe there is a God and that He will forgive them” - Melissa this is not our role. God is the one and only one who can change people...not us. We must simply proclaim the gospel and then allow God to move. We have no responsibility in bringing someone to the faith. Some plant, some water and some sow, but we are not privy that role in our dealings with people..God will use His Children however he sees fit..but I got the sense that your statement “ regardless of the fact that they may keep sinning” I will would again refer you to the video “examine yourself” on how God feels about continuing in Sin and also this video about hatred of sin.
 God Loves therefore He Hates<~~~God Loves therefore He Hates

You said “by showing them love, acceptance and giving them a sense of belonging” - Christianity is not all about love and belonging..That is prosperity Gospel. This is about Heaven or Hell, Eternity is at Stake...not just your feelings..PLEASE PLEASE I beg of you to grab hold of what is at stake..If your child was about to step in front of a car would you just try to whisper softly and say, Son please move..or would you just say if he is happy and feels like he belongs when playing right there, you would let him be..NO!!!! You would Yell “ GET OUT OF THE WAY SON” and you would do everything you could to save Him..This is not a matter of happiness and belonging but rather a matter of life and death and urgency is paramount when dealing with folks because life is but a vapor. Francis Chan writes in his book “Crazy Love” that our time on earth is like a 2/5's of as second role in a motion picture to which comes and goes in an instant. This is God's movie and we have a limited amount of time to make a difference for Him..DONT WASTE IT..I would recommend a great book by John Piper called “Dont waste your life”..

You said “you catch more flies with Honey” - That is itchy ears theology and not heart piercing true authentic gospel. The power of Gods Word should never be diminished to a feel good message...It is is not about making one feel good so I can get more in the fold.. John Piper<~~John Piper

Your quote “ acts of sin are due to people not having love, acceptance and sense of belonging” - No my sister it is NOT AT ALL ABOUT THAT..!! It is about humans suffering from a dreadful disease called Sin and a SIN NATURE that is in every way against GOD..and our desperate need of a SAVIOR. We are born sinful not Good and the bible says no one, not one is good.. That is our problem and no amount of loving someone ,accepting someone or helping one to belong will solve that problem..It is CHRIST JESUS alone that can solve this sinful nature of ours and nothing else..Nothing else !!

“didnt Jesus involve Himself with Sinners” - Yes but he is Jesus, we are not. We are susceptible to Sin and temptation and if given the opportunity will fall into sin. 1 Corinthians 5:9-10  1 Corinthians 5:9-10

we need to be careful about not sitting in the seat of the scoffers and standing in the path of sinners. It is like a recovering alcoholic spending their evenings in a bar with alcohol..That does not make sense does it..Neither does a Christians hanging out with sinners..As a Christian we must Hate sin..not associate with it..It must be to us like a dreadful plague that is very contagious. That is why the bible asks us to belong to a fellowship of believers and edify one another, lest we fall

“we humans place moral rankings on sin” - yes likely so however that is because we live in a fallen world and as humans are always looking for a God that conforms to our lifestyle than the God of the Bible. The Word of God is our Standard, not what people may say is right or wrong..God hates ALL SIN, even the little white lies and has the authority to judge that sin however He desires..and that is not up to us..Does it make sense God would judge a little white lie as harshly as a murderer? No not to us but to God He gets to define the punishment not us.. Our society is constantly trying to find ways to make sin acceptable because they do not want to believe they are sinning and so if the government or populous says it isn't, then we feel vindicated..but we must answer to a higher authority than that of this world..

Also you keep mentioning how "confused": you are – The Holy Spirit will illuminate for you the Word of God but apart from Him it is foolish to you. You will never understand the things of God until you become a child of His and then it will begin to make sense..If you are not a Christian then you live in a dark room and there is no light..One you have a relationship with Christ, then the light comes on and you can now see what was once before unknown to you due to the darkness and lack of light..You can read the text and know God is real, but even the devil knows He exists..Intellectual understanding is just information and will never result in transformation..It is not until that information moves from the mind to the heart and your are converted by God Himself that you will be a new creation and a thirst for His word will swell up inside you and intimacy with Him will be your life's most precious gift.

“Civil obedience” - Romans 13:1-7  Romans 13:1-7speaks of this submission to authority but you only have this partly correct..I am including here a commentary on these versus tom help you clear this matter up

Asbury Bible Commentary

3. Christian civil duties (13:1-10)

In 12:19-21 Paul advises not to take revenge but to leave matters with God, who will avenge. He does it through government. The rulers are God's servants to execute judgment (vv. 4, 6). The government is established by God for the good of all. Therefore Christians should support it with taxes and submission.

Here Paul speaks in terms of the normative, assuming that the government is fulfilling the duty assigned by God (Morris, Romans, 459-61). He does not specifically deal with abnormal conditions, such as when the government usurps the absolute authority of God. However, if Paul's directive is carefully observed, his intent is clear. Paul exhorts submission (hupotassō), not absolute obedience. In Eph 5:21 Paul calls for Christians to submit (hupotassō) to one another. Constantly taking the lowly place over against one another is possible, but obeying one another constantly is not. Therefore, if the government no longer serves God and does what is contrary to God's will, we should, like the apostles in Ac 4:19, follow God rather than blindly obey the government (Bruce, 237).

Vv. 8-10 deal with the issue of justice, though love is mentioned first. Yet here Paul does not mention the positive things love does, only the wrongs love does not do. Paul is not treating love per se, which has been treated already in 12:9-21. Here he is treating the Christian duty of justice. This is evident from v. 8, Let no debt remain outstanding. Paul sees and treats love as the means of fulfilling justice. Since love does no harm to one's neighbor, love fulfills those negative commandments of the law. These commands have to do with justice in the society.

“Does Society have to pay if we are wrong in allowing such a thing” - I would refer you to Genesis 18:22-33 to help answer this..My answer is a resounding Yes..That is exactly what happened in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

Ok now addressing your final question - “when does a Christian throw their hands up and if I become a Christian do I walk away from all those people” - First of all Melissa hear me in love when I say this..but you do not get to choose to become a Christian.. It is not like a vending machine and you get to decide whether or not Christ is for you or not..God is not standing on the sidelines saying “Pick Me, Oh please Pick Me”. You are obviously being worked on By God by asking the very questions that you have but until God in an instant Converts you, you can only do what you are doing. The Spirit is moving in your life and you must decide to respond or not..however this is only due to the very idea that God is moving in you and you can decide to stiff arm Him, reject Him but ultimately it is God who will choose you not you choosing Him..I wrote a Blog about this very issue some few years ago..
God is Not a Vending Machine<~~~~ My old Blog

Also you must understand once you are in Christ you are HIS and no longer this worlds. You are to live for Him, Abide in Him and that may cost you relationships – There is most definitely a Cost to following Christ.

Count the Cost<~~ what will it cost you..? Watch this..

This is not about Religion but rather following Hard after Christ. Not about denominations, or interpretations.. This is about life and death and the church has performed poorly in this area.. I would just say this..Seek Jesus Christ and He will make Himself known to you. Knock and you will find. DO NOT get caught up in doctrine..Get caught up in Jesus Christ and find yourself a church where the Bible is preached...Where the Gospel is proclaimed..Not a church that seeks to make you feel comfortable..but one that seeks to save your soul from the wrath of God due us.. Your life is at a crossroads and it seems to me that God is knocking...the question is..WILL YOU LET HIM IN..This life is short and time is fleeting..I beg you not to wait, but  with URGENCY, seek out Jesus Christ and Accept Him into your life and if and when you do, your life will be radically different..It will no longer be a better version of you but a NEW YOU..a NEW CREATION..The Old self will be done away with and newness of life will be your mark. You will find the answers you are looking for when the Power of the Spirit descends upon you and what was once unclear, suddenly will become clear..Then the rest of your life, God will begin to Sanctify you and make you more and more like Him. Your life will be consumed with what matters to Him and Glorifying Him and the things of this world will no longer matter. You will have True knowledge and that knowledge is not meant to be bottled up but rather to be poured out on any and everyone you encounter.

God Bless You and I will Pray that God will radically Transform your Life for His Glory.. I Pray that your remainder of Life will be spent introducing people to Jesus and then when you are called home, that Jesus will introduce you to the Father..

Much Love

Examine Yourself

As I was pondering an answer to a comment posted on my "Heavy Heart" post by a "Melissa".  I am certainly no bible scholar and do not have seminary training however I am of the mindset that there is great power in the Word of God and little to none in the messenger. SO in thinking thru various applicable verses from the Word and trying to come up with just the right response I realized that I am woefully inadequate in my self.  I do believe that God equips ordinary people to do extraordinary things for no other reason than to be sure He receives the Glory and not the person..and when God is glorified, messages can move folks in ways we never imagined. See it is my belief that we are in a cultural crisis in America where the ways of the world are choking out the ways of God and it is a "slow fade" and not some one event or particular circumstance. We have Cultural Christianity vs True Christianity..and the early church would be mortified at what he have morphed into. We have allowed the notion of tolerance to creep into the Church and drown out the voices of reason and alter the very way we view our life, our faith and our God. 1 Peter 2:11 says "Beloved I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul" ...See to often we thru a very slow process become acclimated to our culture..we adapt.. and that adaption makes it very difficult to discern truth because absolute truth has been muddied by us, the church. Now I say us, I mean humankind and so we have to constantly test ourselves against the word of God and not against other Christians, etc. Our mind and our Heart will lie to us and the deceit that resides in our heart is more powerful than we are willing to credit. What eventually happens is the church or Christians become so much like the world that we are indistinguishable and that is exactly what the Bible warns us about..We are to be set apart..1 John 2:15-17

Do Not Love the World

¹⁵  Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life^[a]—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

When we as Christians go along with the world...we must ask ourselves...who do we serve.? so in thinking this thru, my mind took me back a sermon I heard from Paul Washer some 2 years ago called Examine Yourself...WARNING..This is not for the ooey gooey feel good Christian but rather for the committed, sold out, surrendered believers seeking to be intimate with God and not be blended into this world. If you are easily offended because this culture says you have a right to not be offended..please don't listen to this video..but for those who earnestly want to be intimate with God and our not afraid of Holy conviction and testing of an authentic spirit..You will find this video challenging and inspiring.

May God Bless the people of this world and may He lift the blindness that has entrenched itself among us and may He and He alone be Glorified...!!
(video is over an hour long so be prepared and be blessed)

Examine Yourself by Paul Washer | illbehonest.com

My "HEAVY HEART"

It is with a deeply heavy heart that this entry was birthed and about to be given life. I am not at all sure where to begin as my mind is searching for words to appropriately capture what is happening in my heart and soul.  See I feel torn between brokenness and anger (righteous anger I pray and not earthly anger).. Today is Sunday and a day where there are two divergent paths happening...Now you might think I am speaking of those who attend church and those who do not...but no. I am speaking about two churches here in NC where totally opposite positions are held and therefore someone is being mislead...Truth is not relative truth..Either position A is correct or position B but both can NOT be correct.  As I walked down the sidewalk this morning about to enter into the church building, I was overcome with sadness...Let me go back 12 hours to reveal how this came to be..I was about to head to bed at about 11pm last night and stopped by the computer on the way to bed and stumbled upon a post by a "friend" on FB and she attached a link to what has spawned this heavy heart.  So I read the blog and re read the blog and then read it again..I sat there in utter silence at what I just saw. My palms begin to sweat and my heart began to race...My first thought was HOW DARE YOU!! so I gathered my composure and I read it one more time hoping I was misreading the entry. However each review of this blog entry caused my palms to sweat more and my heart to beat faster..I could not truly identify the source of this physical response to a mere opinion...but nevertheless it began to overwhelm me. I was feeling an emotion that I was unsure of...was it one of hatred like I feel for the prosperity gospel, was it one of sadness I feel when I see a lost soul confused or was it a mixture of both.  Either way, I was no longer able to sleep...I began to think thru my understanding of God's Word and so I retrieved my bible and I began to turn the pages, searching for the proper response to retort what I had just read because it could not go unopposed. That was not an option no matter how late I had to stay up. I have posted the link below so you too can read this and prayerfully consider interceding to our Lord on his behalf.

Steve Lindsley - "Pastor" - opposed to marriage amendment

Now you are up to date on where I left off walking down the sidewalk about to enter the church...This is the emotion that came over me..Just like I, there are many other folks about to enter their church, however this is where the similarities end..In one church, the flock is hearing the word of God preached and espoused and in the other, something very different is being taught both of which claim the bible as their basis...or so it seems. One group is being taught Truth and one group is being taught something other than truth because as I stated both A and B can not both be true..Someone is blatantly wrong.. Obviously I know folks do not like to believe Truth is absolute but rather prefer to believe that we all can be right about God, His teachings, Jesus Christ, His Word and all end up in the same place..Heaven!!. It reminds of the bumper stickers I see on cars that say "coexist"...What that bumper sticker is actually saying is there are many ways to God and whatever is right for you is Ok because who are you to judge my way of thinking. We ALL can be right..NO WE CANT !!!!! The Bible is clear and not ambiguous when it speaks of the narrow way, the folks who say Lord Lord I did all these things in your name and He says "I never Knew you", folks who professing to be wise and became fools, Folks who are false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing and inwardly are ravenous wolves..Some folks will be led astray because they have deviated from the written Word of God and succumbed to the realities of this world in the name of tolerance and non judgmentalism... we are living in a society of fierce individualism and that spawns a whole new set of problems for society as a whole but also for the church because it has infiltrated the church.  We are not ours..Christians are HIS and we have been bought with a price. It is not up to me to decide right and wrong based on the times...but rather incumbent upon me to follow Christ no matter the prevailing winds or level of bigotry or intolerance I am told I possess.

So as I was reading this here is where the top blew off the lid...

** In a Letter to the Editor I submitted last week to the Winston-Salem Journal, I pointed out that, while there are at best six to eight verses in the entire Bible that are commonly used to denounce homosexuality (with, I might add, questionable interpretation), there are literally thousands of verses calling the faithful to love their neighbor, care for the “least of these,” tend to orphans and widows and most vulnerable, seek justice for all, use governmental power wisely and compassionately, and not mistreat the foreigner in their midst.  It's like an NBA All-Star team stacking up against the woeful Charlotte Bobcats' second string - it's not even close.  When it comes to the sheer weight of scripture, the message of love triumps in a landslide.**

Ok..I am astounded this argument is being used by a Pastor of  a church. What he is saying here is that those 6-8 versus should just be ignored due to the sheer number of versus about Love...WHAT!! are you serious!!!. and then to say they are questionable..REALLY? My Gosh what book are you reading my brother. So when reading the bible, we are to exclude portions that are only mentioned a few times and discount them as irrelevant and only pay attention to the parts that are in mass..I have heard many distortions of the bible while debating non believers and believers alike but this in my small finite mind "takes the cake." If you just think this argument thru for a few minutes it quickly breaks down on many fronts but yet this was the crux of his entire reasoning...This is a PASTOR of a church who have folks coming to hear the word and instead are being fed a steady diet of a perversion of the word, an Americanized, Western vending machine God approach where we pick and choose the God we want and leave behind the parts we don't.. That is Blasphemous.. So after reading his blog one more time this section made my body ache..

 **No, the primary reason I oppose Amendment One is because of my Christian faith. 

I know, that sounds strange, doesn't it?  We're used to Christianity being used as a reason (if not the only reason) for supporting the amendment.  We are told, for instance, that the Bible says gay people shouldn't get married and marriage is between one man and one woman.  Which is some selective reading, I might add, since it never actually says that (as I've pointed out to the Genesis 2 crowd, Adam and Eve weren't married); and since the predominant model of marriage in the Bible is one man and multiple women (try King Solomon's 700 wives and 300 concubines on for size).**

REALLY ???????

Lets look at this just for a moment. Gen 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them".  and Gen 2:18^" Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit (suitable) for him.” , Gen 2:22-25..

²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.(marriage folks)  Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man.”^{[b] 24}  Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. ²⁵ And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Then in Mark 10:6-8 in Jesus' own words 

⁶ But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ⁷  ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, ⁸ and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.

You call your marriage partner a wife only if you are married..So it was God Himself that married Adam and Eve not the local government..but God Himself. and to press this further...Gen 1:28 says "be fruitful and multiply"...Folks the only union that can accomplish this is a man and a woman...not two men and not two women..It is impossible for children to be born without both...

Lets press it even further Matthew 19:3-9 ^" And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” ⁴ He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵ and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ⁷ They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” ⁸ He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹  And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery 

So Steve, answer me this..Since you say Adam and Eve never were married, then why is Jesus asked this by the religious Pharisees in the context of divorce..if they were never married as you entertain, then why bother asking is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife and Jesus points them directly back to The Genesis 1 & 2 crowd. How plain and simple do you need it to read in order to see marriage was created by God with Adam and Eve

I posted the versus here for all to read and you can decide who is mishandling the Word of God...I wished we did not live in a fallen world but we do and that makes this life difficult, hard, unfair, etc.  but it doesn't give us the right to redefine marriage, and distort God's Word to fit your own agenda or political persuasion.. God's Word is Clear and as a dear friend said to me once  

  ‎"The natural man will not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him ,he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised

In conclusion here is why I have a HEAVY HEART..It is not the secular world who is going to undermine the church...It is the church who will eventually undermine the church !!

Eddie 

Supporting Scripture
 1 Corinthians 6:9, 18
1 Corinthians 7:2-3
Romans 1:18-33
Hebrews 13:3-4
Matthew 19:3-6
Gen 1:26-28
Gen 2:18-25
Ephesians 5:2-7
Mark 10:6-8
Math 24:11
Math 7:15

A new Beginning

Many times in my life I feel moved to start new adventures, take on new endeavors or just try something different but all to often these are just thoughts that never move much farther than my mind...or the proverbial road to good intentions..So in light of these missed opportunities, I have decided to embark on a new journey. The Lord has been dealing with me over the last few days in ways I have not felt in quite a long time and due to the constant tugging on my heart and my soul, I wanted to be able to document the work in my life thru a blog. This blog will contain my ramblings, rants and thoughts of the world around me as Christ has allowed me to see it, my inner struggles as a believer in Jesus Christ as well as those particular moments where life is redirected due to something significant or something very small but worthy to be written about so that not only myself but my kids can one day read and see the side of me that may not be evident in my every day interactions..I expect emotions to run the spectrum with days of great joy coupled with tears of tremendous sadness. Days where my brokenness as a sinful creature expose themselves and then days where my gratefulness exceeds all expectations. 
      As I feel the Holy Spirit working very hard to press upon me deeper meanings of my every day life, it is in the these last few days that the tug has been so strong that I am desiring to move these thoughts pass the mind and into some sort of action. I pray that this fire that is being stoked inside me turns into a full fledged burning for the Lord Jesus Christ and my Lukewarm state of being is melted away and the New MAN God transformed will reveal himself in such a way as to be set apart from this world and be a force for good for His Kingdom. My days on the sidelines I feel are about to be over and a boldness for Him is swelling up inside me so great and so powerful that containing it is no longer an option. I Pray that I am able to be used by God to Glorify Him and not myself and this doesn't become an opportunity to boast or be puffed up but rather a slaying of myself and a surrendering to Him that leaves me behind and brings Him to the forefront.

     I titled this blog "Furious Longings" taken from a book I read several years ago called "Furious Longings of God" by Brennan Manning. It was the life story of a ragamuffin, a drunk, a divorced man, an adulterer, a bona fide lost soul and his transformation after he discovered the Furious longing of God after him even though he was a "wretched man".  I, much like Brennan, am a sinner, chief among you..I much like Brennan am a ragamuffin, an unworthy man...This is my story...but not the whole story because God Furiously Longs for me and for far to long I have kept my distance...staying close enough to not lose hope but far enough away to stay silent and to be ineffective for Him in furthering His Name, His Kingdom and bringing people to know Him. This is my journey, my heart, my soul poured out onto the pages in pursuit of Holiness, godliness and renewing of my mind.

" Oh God of Heaven and Earth, will you place in me a genuine thirst for your Word. Will you motivate me beyond my carnal flesh and move me in ways I have never seen before. Will you lengthen my days so that my time spent with you will not suffer due to the demands of this world. Will you encourage me, strengthen me and help me to crucify myself in hopes to find an intimacy with you that surpasses all understanding. I want you to rule and reign in my heart unrivaled and unchallenged and desperately want thy self come alongside me and walk with me, talk with me and share with me all that you are, In Christ's name I pray..Amen"