Tuesday, September 24, 2013

God's Love is a holy love

The below article really had a profound impact on me. I have never heard of the things he is saying; but if what he is saying is true, can you imagine the implications of it all? But regardless of whether it is true or not, it got me to pondering about the scripture, " they will know we are Christians by our love," "God is Love," etc. When Christians can stop keeping everyone at a distance and turn and Love each other instead, that would be a real sight to behold. Can you imagine if Christians really loved one another, I mean with a holy love?  Right now the church pretty much loves the same as the world does, don't you think? But God's love is pure, non sensual, I think maybe one of the greatest tragedies of all time may have been Satan perverting the meaning of Love. And it would make so much sense...since God Is Love. Your thoughts?
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Sexual Freedom Always Curtails Other Freedoms

Interact with people in our society about issues related to sex, and you’ll quickly discover how everyone seems to be a libertarian.

The dominant assumption is that religious people shouldn’t voice their opinions. Government should stay out of the bedroom. People ought to be free to engage in sexual relations with whomever they want whenever they want, as long as it’s not considered harmful to anyone. Even Christians who believe certain sexual activities (adultery, sex before marriage, homosexuality) to be morally wrong often grant the assumption that people ought to be free in their sexual decisions.


But there is no such thing as absolute freedom when it comes to sexuality. The moment we celebrate or endorse certain behaviors, we curtail freedom in other areas. This is the nature of freedom.


Male Friendships


Here is an example.


100 years ago, men were known to be openly affectionate with one another.

Men like Teddy Roosevelt wrote letters to other men that expressed great love and tenderness, to the point it makes modern day readers feel uncomfortable.
Men took pictures of themselves holding hands and demonstrating physical affection.
Abraham Lincoln was open about sharing a bed with Joshua Speed. Though some revisionists have sought to refashion this friendship a homosexual relationship, Lincoln biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin is most certainly right: the fact Lincoln spoke so openly about Speed is a clear sign that his male friendships were just that, friendships.
Today, there is little freedom for men to be physically affectionate toward one another. Writing an affectionate email might be seen as “girly” or “unmanly,” although it’s hard to imagine Teddy Roosevelt as a wimp.

What happened?


The Sexualization of Everything


As society has rushed to embrace homosexual behavior, the normal bonds of friendship between men have been curtailed. When Hollywood produced Brokeback Mountain, a movie that celebrated the relationship of gay cowboys, people began joking about men who go camping together and sleep in pup tents.


Men no longer express affection and friendship in ways they did a generation ago. The increasing acceptance of homosexuality and horror stories about child abusers like Jerry Sandusky  are enough to cause men to think twice before doing anything that could be misconstrued in a sexual manner.


What were once normal expressions of affection and love have been romanticized and sexualized. Our culture is losing the opportunity to have men who resemble Sam and Frodo – lasting friendships forged through trial and suffering, and yet whose affections were not romantic in nature.


The Frightening Future


So what happens next?


Our society’s propensity for sexualizing everything frightens me. What other relationships will get sexualized?


Here’s an example. My four-year-old daughter loves to jump in my arms, kiss me on the cheek, and hold me tightly. She is a physically affectionate little girl, and I hug and kiss her right back. I cherish the moments I have as a dad with a little princess who has no inhibitions of expressing her love to her daddy.


But let’s say society’s path of celebrated sexuality continues to move forward. Let’s say a Lolita type movie were to come out in a few years that celebrates incest. Let’s say the elite in Hollywood praised the movie, scorned those who were morally outraged, and decided to celebrate the sexualization of the father/daughter relationship.


What would eventually happen? Over time, fathers would be less likely to hug and kiss their little girls, to twirl them around like princesses and snuggle with them as they read bedtime stories at night. They’d feel weird about it because the culture has romanticized and sexualized what was once a normal affectionate expression. (I feel sick to my stomach even alluding to such a thing.)


This scenario scares me. But surely it’s not unrealistic. (Want proof? A new movie is out that celebrates an incestuous relationship between a brother and sister.) Our culture’s hyper-sexualization of everything could eventually poison a family’s innocent hugs and kisses.


Once we celebrate all sorts of sexual freedom, we slowly eliminate expressions of normal physical affection between human beings. Everything gets interpreted sexually, and this causes human beings to move farther apart, not closer together. In the name of freedom, we put ourselves in chains.


There is no such thing as absolute sexual freedom. Our society’s choice to celebrate and elevate types of behavior once considered out-of-bounds has ramifications for interpersonal relationships.

Trevin Wax

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/2012/12/06/sexual-freedom-always-curtails-other-freedoms/

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Commitment to Self


(This is something I recently sent a friend who was struggling with self hatred. I adapted it from wisdom that I believe God gave me when I was a child).

I know you and I know your heart and thoughts. You have made mistakes. But you have always done the best you could with the information that you had. I know you would be a wonderful friend. You would be someone I could always count on. I know the mistakes you have made and I would not hold any friend accountable or even find blame with them for the things that you have done. If I look at you through friend glasses---You are clean in my eyes. Yet instead of loving you as a friend I have always judged you harshly and even hated you. I have tried to kill you---knowing it would kill me. Today I want to make peace. I want to be your friend. I pledge before you this day and forward--- I will believe the best about you! I will rebuke any negative reports that attempt to come my way about you! I forgive you for everything you have done in the past, present, and even the future! I can do this because I know you, I love you, and I trust you. And that is how I treat my friends.

(The above commitment is almost verbatim to what I now believe God gave me to release Satan's stronghold in my life. I was still a child at the time and I have no doubt I would not have survived my childhood had God not given me this tool. I used to be tormented by what I believe to be an evil spirit who wanted me dead. Looking back on that time in my life it was impossible to resist Satan on my own. I cannot remember how many times this demonic spirit over took me and 
attempted to get me to kill myself. I didn't even know it was Satan. This demonic spirit always came in as a rush and overtook me suddenly. I just thought it was me wanting to die. But not just wanting to die...I felt I had to die! But as usual, one day Satan overplayed his hand and I was able to see that this was not me wanting to die, but an outside force. An anger rose up within me. I said. If I die it will be my choice and not some outside force! It may have been that same night. God gave me these tools to over come that demonic spirit completely.

Ponder the exact things you have been accusing yourself of doing. Could your actions really just be the result of deep wounds? I discovered the things I hated myself for were not things I had done, but things that were done to me. Allow yourself to receive healing in these areas and if you need to...forgive yourself.

Under NO circumstances receive any negative report about yourself! (You wouldn't receive a negative report about a friend would you)? Learn to be vigilant in taking control of your thought life. 

This is a demonic spirit that wants you dead. God wants you to live. You must learn and practice spiritual warfare. You were called to be a great warrior! You can and will have victory in this area of your life!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The Real Haters


It is interesting that those who hate Jesus and deny him as God, call evil good and good evil. Who could ever imagine the Truth would become so twisted by so many perverse people? They say that unless they have proof that God exists they will never believe in Him. They demand God do things their way. They mock that which they have no understanding; they have no fear of God; they dare Him to show Himself. They don't understand that God loves to show Himself. They don't understand His patience and compassion for them...thinking instead that it is His weakness that keeps them alive and even claim that His silence to their demands proves He doesn't exist. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20 NIV 

When they stand before God they will know in their heart and mind that God exists. "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9

They chose to believe a lie; they constantly feed this lie to their mind. They are constantly trying to fully convince themselves that their darkness is light and that God's light is darkness; they try to kill the Truth thinking they can. That same spirit of anti-Christ that killed Jesus is even running more frantic now as the days are approaching their end. Satan knows his time is nearing.

"…19Who say, "Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!" 20Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever in their own sight!…"

 Lord give me wisdom in how to respond to these people. And give me wisdom on when not to respond. I am believing that You will send one last great revival. Your word says  "I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8 New International Version (NIV)

Lord I pray, help us stand and be faithful.




God is Near the Humble in Heart

We can learn so much about God, yet still not know Him. Knowledge puffs up. God is near the humble in heart.

Matthew 7:22"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' 23"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

I have heard many people say that Satan really attacks those in the music ministry. Sometimes I hear someone sing with such passion and seemingly anointing, yet their personal life is so filled with sin. When I hear them sing I think surely this person is a mighty man or woman of God. But I have to look at the fruit. If the fruit they bare is disharmony and rebellion, whose child are they? I think what may be happening is pride has set in. When someone has such a special gift as music or teaching, it is easy for them to get puffed up. So many people praise them. We really need to pray for those who have these gifts. And if we have these gifts we need to use them and not sit on them. These gifts were given to edify the body of Christ. These gifts are about who Christ is and they are not about us or because of us.

Ephesians 4:12-13
12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 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.
Barbara Ogg