Beauty for Ashes

Written and published by Jean-Louis. 12/2011

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen– for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:17, 18.

This morning as I was writing a message to a friend, I noticed that we use the letters and number B4A, as short for Beauty for Ashes (a community on Facebook) taken from Isaiah 61:3: "and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor".

As I was thinking that alphabetically A comes before B, a verse came to mind from I Corinthians 15 that says: v. 46 "The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual". Suddenly, I saw more clearly the application of both verses about the resurrection in the light of the grand scheme of God. This is about the celebration of the grand finale when the Lord will display His glory and we will share in that glory. The A in the Ashes, the Natural has to precede the B of Beauty of the Spiritual.

Verse 42. "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[f]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[g] bear the image of the heavenly man".

But the best thing is that we do not have to wait until the Lord comes back in order to rejoice, be glad and be clothed with the garment of praise.

    ■ We are already clothed with his righteousness, we have passed from death to life, we have died with Him, our sins nailed to the cross and we live in him, for him and through him. Rom 6:8-14

If today you feel like the ashes cover you with their grayness suffocating your life, keeping you from seeing your way out of the heaviness of grief, the suffering of carrying an albatross of guilt as a heavy yoke around your neck, let him take your burden for he cares for you:

    ■ He has already provided the way for you to let the wind of his Spirit blow away those ashes, II Corinthians 1:3-5
    ■ He has provided the hope of standing firm, rooted and established in the grace in which we stand, Romans 5:1-5.
    ■ He has anointed us with his oil as priests who serve him with gladness in our hearts, I Peter 2:5, 9.
    ■ He has clothed us with his garment of salvation and a robe of righteousness as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10-11,
    ■ His name is Emmanuel, God with us who “lives in a holy place, but also with him who is contrite in heart and lowly in spirit, I will guide him and restore comfort to him creating praise on the lips of the mourners…and I will heal them, Isaiah 57:15-19
    ■ His yoke is easy and his burden light, go to him and rest in him, accept and welcome his will for your life.
    ■ His word is true, his promises are sure and he never disappoints those who are hurting, empty, hungry for real food and drink and come to him with humble hearts seeking the comfort that they need.
All these and more are reasons to be grateful, thankful and praising him.

Personally Christmas time and other main family holidays have always been the hardest season for me, I must confess and this year especially away from my family and American friends. I know that it so for a great number of other people who get depressed. What I am sharing with you has filled me with hope, a renewed sense of his wonderful presence and the scriptures that I quoted have comforted me. I hope that they will help you to turn your eyes away from the ashes of the past and enable you to contemplate the Beauty of His Holiness.

We thank you and praise you Lord Jesus for your great love for us and reaching down to us to transform our lives and our heart that is yearning for you, the desire of the nations.

Jean-Louis.

ESCAPE INTO FREEDOM

Written and posted by Jean-Louis 12/2011
http://thelightseed.blogspot.com
 
The cage door opens and closes slowly
Hesitating as in an off-beat ballet
The bird contemplates her fate
To languish a prisoner inside
Or risk everything and escape
The stalking black cat plays dead
Waiting patiently to hear a movement
A flutter of wings indicating
The delicious horror of stumbling


Freedom is so close, prudence calls
To go unnoticed, blend with the walls
The feline dreams salivating with malice
Fright overwhelms the fettered prey
She trembles hoping for a rescue
Wishing for a miracle of deliverance

Suddenly the bird takes fresh heart

Remembering that she is blessed of her Creator

By more than the beauty of her plumage

She starts singing a song of praise

To her Protector rendering homage

And in a flight of notes reclaims her liberty

The enemy scampers off startled

By the powerful war shout

Shouted with invincible joy and faith

In the One who helps us conquer fear.

Jean-Louis.

The Nicholaitans - Of false teachings and practices

Written and posted by Jean-Louis. 11/2011

In Revelation chapter 2:15 John mentions the Nicolaitans twice. This group is formed as a partnership of the Church and the world, through the ordination of a supposedly superior clergy elite class ruling over a supposedly inferior laity, the spiritually uneducated masses if you will. The supposed  meaning in Greek, is derived from Nico and Laitan or the name Nicholau " one who conquers the people".  It begins with a compromise and ends in powerlessness and destruction when the Lord judges and removes the candlestick of such churches. The institution can have the appearance of a functioning organization ruled by men but its life source, its spiritual guidance and dynamic power have been removed as when the glory of God departed from the temple in the time of Ezequiel or “Ichabod, the Glory has departed” was pronounced in 1 Samuel 4:19-22.

Who were these Nicolaitans? It is supposed that this group whose name is derived from a man named Nicolau, compromised with pagan practices in order to allow Christians to associate with popular customs.
Does it remind us of another time in Israel’s history when the people wanted a King like the other nations around them and rejected God´s rule? God told them that their King would lord it over them. This is exactly what happened to the institution of the church through the ages, the clergy, a separate hierarchical class of trained ministers, taking the control of God´s people through different methods that are not from God and are not recorded in His Word. WE are ALL a nation of priests according to Peter, none of us superior to the other. In the last half of the twentieth century, the Church has been infiltrated by the world’s philosophy and has found a most welcome reception in both "liberal" and "conservative" elements in its ranks. 

This is exactly what Paul, Peter and John were warning their flocks about. In Revelation chapter 2, the teaching of Balaam is mentioned in the same paragraph as the teaching of the Nicolaitans. To study more about this, see 2 Peter 2:15 and Jude 11.
Of course, this practice in the churches is not new. Since the absorption of pagan practices in the church under Roman Emperors Constantine’s and Theodosius’ reigns resulting in a syncretism which has permeated the church until now, we have witnessed this phenomenon in the comtemporary "church" that will culminate in the unification of all the apostate ecumenical churches under the rule of Antichrist during the greatest deception ever perpetrated on mankind.

As far as I know, God has not rescinded His commands to the Church. He has not changed one iota of His perfect, pure, eternal, unchanging Word. He still keeps on building His Church on the perfect, indestructible “foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone”. Ephesians 2:20.


Maybe our human hands build buildings imperfectly on faulty foundations that will crack and not support the weight. Not so with the Lord and his Word. Everything He creates and builds is perfect. We do not need to try and improve on it.
Furthermore, there are warnings throughout the Bible for those who would try and change it. Deuteronomy 4:2 declares: “do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you”.

Several other passages give the same command, with consequences added in the case of Revelation 22:19: “And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

Further in 2 Corinthians 10:8, Paul continues with this theme after explaining to us the good use of his authority when he declares: “For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it”. We can see from these words that Paul always had his disciples’ best interest at heart.

In conclusion, let us beware of practices prohibited by God in His Word, first introduced by people outside and inside the Church who distort the Scriptures to back up these practices and later on formulate a false theology once the practice has been entrenched through decades or centuries of traditions in the lives of people. 

True Christian practices should always have as their basis pure and sound doctrine and should stem from biblical principles and the leading of the Holy Spirit who will never contradict His Word. Sound teaching should always precede good practices, not the other way around because the human heart is so deceitful. Let’s leave this type of behavior to the politicians who have perfected it to an art.

The Lost Little Lamb Part 2

The lost little lamb Part II

Written and posted by Jean-Louis http://thelightseed.blogspot.com
Translation from the French version by the author.
To read the French version click: http://thelightseed.blogspot.com/2007/12/leons-de-laire-de-battage.html

John 10:9-18 (NIV) I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

The reality of the horrible incident was still alive in his mind, but fortunately, he calmed down immediately because the herd did not show any sign of being in an imminent danger. His only worry came from hearing the desperate bleating of the little she lamb that was standing in a corner of the enclosure. Throwing a quick glance around him, he could not notice any visible danger. Yet, instead of being reassured by his presence, the poor lamb continued her desperate crying. He reasoned that she was calling to her mother. But, strangely nothing nor anybody prevented her from rejoining the flock. She could have been guided on her way by responding to the others´ bleating in echoing her own.

When the young shepherd came close to her, she started jumping and running in the opposite direction. That led him in a totally useless chase, because every time he tried to run after and catch her, she would bound aside and escape him. Since he did not have much else to do, he tried several times in the afternoon to go after and capture her without success. The sun was setting and goats and sheep were on their way back to the barn. But the little lamb, stubborn as a mule was still refusing to join the flock. She spent the whole night outside bleating loudly calling for help.

This little game lasted three whole days. From time to time, the shepherd was attempting to gain the confidence of his little friend by talking to her gently and softly, but she tenaciously refused the helping hand that she so desperately needed. He loved all the animals in his charge and decided that he would bring back to safety no matter what the cost. The only thing he could not understand is that his older brother has given him this responsibility without asking the help of the children or his neighbors. Maybe he thought that since she was going to be sold or her meat put in the freezer a few weeks hence, she would find the way back by herself. After all why run after this obstinate animal that was not worth the time or physical energy that were so precious to him?

The shepherd that enjoyed solving problems resolved that he was not going to be satisfied until he returned the lamb to her mother.
On the third day in the afternoon, he thought of an idea that seemed to be feasible and could be successful. He drew from the stock of his childhood memories several episodes of cartoons in which the hero and the villain try to escape from a hot pursuit . Certainly you remember the scenes. While they are in a free fall after having jumped from a high cliff, they continue running with their legs in the air as if they were trusting the ground support on terra firma. Of course, back then, the comical scene elicited a lot of laughter. But this simple and innocent return into childhood was providing a serious answer to his problem. He elaborated a rescue plan that would put an end to the unexpected interruption in his monotonous life.

Taking advantage of the lamb being stuck in a marshy corner at the bottom of the pasture, he chose this propitious moment to put his plan into action. Facing her and moving his arms to make her move in his direction, he was getting closer to her, step by step in the soggy muck that was reaching his calves close to his knees. The little lamb frozen with fear was preparing to bounce as usual and right at the moment when facing him launched into the air. The young shepherd let himself fall backwards in the mud catching the lamb in his open arms, while she, imitating the characters in the cartoons was trying to run, beating the air with her short legs without any firm support. She, taken aback was caught in the tender trap of the shepherd´s protective arms. He, bursting into a celebrating laughter and shouting rejoicing cries of victory alerted the rest of the family that wondered what could have happened. 

It goes without saying that he was covered from top to bottom with foul smelling mud but it did not seem to bother him a bit. He has completed the task entrusted to him by his older brother. Not letting go, he got up and grabbing the lamb´s legs he strapped her around his shoulders, talking to her tenderly and scolding her gently.
Finally, a glorious twilight marked the happy homecoming reunion of the little lamb with her mother. Needless to say the ewe was happy to see that her run away progeny had not forgotten how to suckle at the mother´s breast.

Dear reader, if you still don´t know the Lord Jesus, here is your personal invitation. Click on this post address that will show you how to be saved or born again.
http://thelightseed.blogspot.com.br/2011/04/how-can-i-be-born-again-spiritually.html

If you are looking around for your way back to God, if you feel despondent and at the end of your strength tired of struggling against insurmountable odds without success, listen to God´s voice calling you to give you life abundant and eternal. Confessing your sins and renouncing the things that caused you to stray away from your shepherd, simply ask him and he will respond because he has promised to do so.

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
John 7:16-18 (NIV) 16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.


You can also find spiritual help by clicking Ask a bible teacher
 
Jean-Louis

The Lost Little Lamb. A short story. Part I

Written and posted by Jean-Louis 
http://thelightseed.blogspot.com 

To read Part II click Here

John 15:10-13 (NIV) 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Luke 15:4-6 (NIV) 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

Baa… baa… baa! This heart wrenching bleating sound startled the young shepherd half asleep on the grassy knoll from which he used to keep a watchful eye on the sheep and the goats at his older brother´s farm. Still immersed in his usual day dreams, he sat up straight with a disquieted glance toward the bottom of the fenced pastures that separated the sheep from the goats. The  flock of  sheep gathered in small clusters, some resting peacefully on the grass, others swallowing the last mouthful of grass before joining the rest to ruminate. He could not exactly pinpoint the spot where the bleating came from, but he perceived that the distress call emanated from the outer edge of the farmland adjoining the forest.

While running towards the unceasing cries, gathering to a pitch level of harrowing intensity, his thoughts traveled back to the dawn of the preceding summer when around 6:00 AM, he was awakened, startled by a dreadful concert of distress calls that could signify only one thing. The goats which spent the warm summer nights outside the barn were in danger. He had yet to ascertain the origin and the gravity of their predicament.

Once he had raised the gate, he discovered several goats with a bleeding throat not far from the protective cover of the stable that they were trying to reach, stumbling because of their weakness on the path full of scattered pools of blood. He could not believe his eyes, his favorite goats each of them known by their names and personalities were climbing the hill out of breath, apparently trying to escape a still unknown sinister danger. From looking at the throat of his animals, he concluded that it could only be the result of one thing. This was the indisputable signature of a wolf or a wild dog that jumped the fence and spread panic among the flock. The ones that had no wounds were those with horns strong and sharp enough that they used as a successful defense.

Alas, as he approached the gate left half open by the ensuing stampede , he had a hard time stemming the backed up flow of tears when he understood the reason for this carnage. Three dogs among which was his own mixed German shepherd were still running after the poor defenseless goats that were running in circles around the perimeter of the enclosure without finding the exit. In a state of disorientation, fright and exhaustion, they were falling one right after the other under the sharp teeth of two Rottweilers, as the blood coming out of their torn throats was splattered all over the green arena in the fresh morning breeze.

A sudden surge of anger took hold of him and without thinking, he had started gathering stones. As a sharp shot trained in his native country to zero in on bottles and tin cans, he was throwing them at the hungry dogs that turned around with an ugly snarl and menacing growl. He decided to drive back the predators with his faithful shepherd walking stick. Finally, seeing that the survivors had escaped, the two dogs had jumped the fence and disappeared. A total of seven goats died and many others were wounded. Later in the day, in order to stop it from happening again, he placed a wolf trap with fresh meat to attract and capture alive the Rottweilers that had escaped from their owner´s house and were running around the country side for three days looking for food. 

I hope to meet you again soon for the second and final part of the story of our young shepherd and his lost lamb.

Jean-Louis.

The New age Movement - Beginning in the Garden of Eden

Post written and posted by Jean-Louis. 4/2011

What is the New Age Movement (NAM for short)? What are its beliefs?
The NAM does not consist of a single group of people and is not identified by a single set of beliefs or source book like the Bible. Rather, it is a network of organizations that are independent and yet bound together by anti-Biblical religious beliefs. Some of these beliefs are:
1. Monism: the belief that everything flows out from one divine energy. All is one.
2. Pantheism: the belief that God is all and all is God, including nature and mankind.
3. Reincarnation and Karma: explaining good and evil.
4. Universal religion: all religions are just alternate paths to the same goal.
5. Personal transformation: a mystic or psychic experience that will usually result in a shift from an “old world” belief system to the realization of the “New Age” belief system.
6. Planetary vision: the belief that the earth possesses a life in and of itself. New Agers are attempting to realize the notion of a “mother earth” or “Gaia” whose children are assimilated into a religio-socio-political consciousness. They believe that a shift of political power that emphasizes the environment (pollution, acid rain, etc.) will help bring about this planetary consciousness.
7. New Age eschatology: the belief that a coming world leader or avatar will usher in the New Age. (For a more thorough study , see Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, George A. Mather and Larry A. Nichols)

In Eccl. 1:9 Solomon stated that, “ There is nothing new under the sun.” The New Age ideas are old, but repackaged in a deceiving look of updated and more sophisticated vocabulary.
With New Age philosophy, Satan is using the same temptation that he used in the Garden of Eden: the promise of “hidden knowledge” that will make people be “like God”.

PRINCIPLE: DO NOT ENTER INTO A DIALOGUE WITH SATAN.
• What does God say? In Gen 2:16, “ The Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” It means that they were alive and immortal before eating of the fruit.

• What does Satan say? In Gen 3:1, first, Satan plants a seed of doubt in Eve’s mind by hissing sweetly, “ Did God really say, “ You must not eat from any tree in the garden.” Eve should have stopped him right there, rebuked him with the Word of God like Jesus and run away like Joseph. Then, openly contradicting the word of God, he asserts in verse 4, ” You will not surely die… for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened.”
• Were their eyes closed before? Certainly not.

Then, Satan further states in the same verse, ” You will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

• Weren’t they like God already? In which way? Gen 1:27 declares, "So God created man in his own image.”
• Didn´t they already know good? Absolutely! They knew God as Creator, Father, Provider, Teacher, Master Gardener, to name a few of the ways God related to them. They knew Him whose “ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights.” James I: 16.
• Did they know evil? No. They had not yet met the father of lies.

So, before the fall, they saw and knew only the good there was, God their father, their creator, the person whose nature and character are absolute, pure and eternal goodness and the source of all that is good according to Gen 1:31 which says that, “God saw all that he had made and it was very good.” Consequently, the only knowledge that they could gain or acquire was that of a deadly and confusing mixture of good and evil. They fell from the free state of God-consciousness to the state of enslavement that is Self-consciousness which carried to its extreme logical conclusion leads to Self-Realization, the state of having and experiencing the fullness of self in all its ugly rebellion and defiant independence from God and being like its original, perfect model and example, Satan himself. “The acorn doesn´t fall far from the tree”!

It doesn´t get any clearer than this. 
Examine the following statements about the nature and practice of Kriya Yoga and see if you can find any similarity between the first temptation in the garden of Eden. 
These define the primary meaning of Kriya. The involuntary movements caused by the repeated practice of this technique are just the symptoms and results of a deeper involvement with things forbidden by God.  

Kriya Technique Source http://kriya-yoga.com/english/what_is.htm "The teaching of Kriya Yoga is done gradually. It is sectioned into six stages referred to as First Kriya, Second Kriya and so on. The beginner starts with First Kriya. First Kriya is the root, the very foundation which allows for progress through the spiritual path for followers of any religion. It gives access to knowledge of the body, of the Soul and the chakras. It allows for comprehension of the gross body, the astral body and the causal body. Later, after having practized regularly over a period of time and achieved the necessary demanding level of mastery, one can receive second Kriya, and thus progress towards the higher Kriya levels. Describing Kriya Yoga in words has little meaning. A person may truly understand only through practice. If you wish to know what an apple is, a simple description is not enough. Take the fruit, touch it, taste it, then you will really and immediately understand what an apple is. The same goes for Kriya Yoga." (Blogger note: Sounds pretty convincing, doesn´t it? This is precisely the point at which most people get taken in. In my own case, this is exactly the same salesman  spiel that tilted the balance in the favor of the knowledge of godhood and perfect bliss on earth and eternity, contrasted with a life of constant struggle and doubts and the search for the divine reality that they told me already existed inside of me. Although the guru (teacher) was different, the exact same words were used expect that it was an orange instead of an apple. To make it more appealing, The recruiters were offering free weekly lessons for serious seekers who were commited.)   The Ultimate Goal. continued The constant practice of iswara pranidhana (practice of breath control in every moment) gives the siddhi (perfection) of samadhi. The incoming breath is î - power, outgoing breath is ra - light, sva - yourself, is between these two. isvara gives life and will fill yourself.  Iswara pranidhana  means that by constantly observing the breath which enters and leaves the body, through practice one will come to the formless state. Then you remain in the divine light enabling yourself to achieve constant nirvana or liberation in your life time. As Jesus Christ said in the Bible: "You can’t see, feel or realize God, but you can be". To learn more about Kriya yoga click on the link below:
See more

  
Notice that Satan says: Not if you eat, but when you eat. As if it were understood that they were going to do it, that it was only a matter of time. Satan always presents an alluring picture to us, the undeniable pleasure of sin before we discover the very high price we have to pay later for disobeying God.

• Was the fruit really good or did it appear pleasing to Eve’s eyes? Gen 3:6.
• How did she know that it was desirable for gaining wisdom? Satan told her.
All she knew about the fruit is what Satan told her, and what she could see with her own eyes. Satan could not give them anything that they didn’t have before the fall, except the knowledge of evil, the disease of sin, the curse of the ensuing fall of all mankind and his destructive, demonic wisdom.

He lied to them - but was it a total lie?
• What truth was mixed with the lie?
• Was it true that they were going to know evil? Yes.

Eccl 10:8 states: “He who digs a pit shall fall into it; and whoever breaks a hedge, a snake shall bite him.” (NKJV)
If we are on Satan’s territory, he defines the terms, the rules. We don’t. When he says “you will know”, he doesn’t mean “you will have information about evil, some data to store in your computer memory so that when you see evil you’ll run away from it.”.
Knowing evil on Satan’s terms involves participation, just as knowing God involves participation in His life, His works and the lives of His people.
Satan meant you will know or experience evil in your mind, soul, and body. And in that he was right and true.
• What does God say about wisdom? Prov 2:6 declares: “It is He who gives wisdom.” Wisdom is not just having knowledge of evil, as Satan said.
Isaiah 11:2 -3 says this about the Lord Jesus: “And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear.” (NAS)

PRINCIPLE: WHEN YOU ARE NOT SURE OF AN IDEA, AN ACTIVITY, STRETCH THE POSSIBILITY OF INVOLVEMENT TO ITS CONCLUSION.
There are 2 trees in the beginning: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
• 2 kinds of fruits. One gives life, the other death.
• 2 kinds of choices - one right, one wrong
• 2 persons:
1. God, our Father who loves us, wants the best for our lives.
2. Satan, who is a liar from the beginning, and who seeks to steal, kill and destroy. He wants to take us away from God and His blessings, he wants to take us out of commission instead of being a part of the Great Commission.

The New Age fruit that is so desirable is a change in consciousness through various methods, means, techniques that will cause one to look at God, the universe and oneself, in a different way.
Look at Psalm 1., this psalm gives us the general principle of the progression in involvement with sin: walking, standing, sitting. In the case of drugs, it also includes lying down and flying out of one’s mind.

New Age techniques produce the same effect without the help of drugs and deceives people into believing that they have had a spiritual encounter with the source of life. It produces in the adept or devotee a sense of superior self-righteousness due to a false sense of their own purity as they compare themselves to the drug addict or drug user. 

However, they have fallen into the bigger trap of Satan which has them bound in their pride which is the first step to anybody’s downfall and destruction.
Look at Gal 6:7: “ Do not be deceived; God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

If you are asked to accept a new idea or participate in a questionable activity and have any doubt in your heart that it is right remember Romans 14:23 which says: “But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”

As Christians, if we want to know, we can study, meditate on and apply the words of life, the Holy scriptures. Deuteronomy 29:29 says: “The secret things belong to the LORD but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”

In the beginning there were 2 trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At the end in Rev 22:2: “on each side of the river stood the tree of life.” In the end there is only one tree, the tree of Life. Only one God, only truth, only the righteous.

When it comes to something seemingly new, we have to ask ourselves 2 questions:
1. Where does this come from, what is the source of the information? (The seed, the root)
2. Where does it lead? (the branches and the fruit)

• FIRST STEP: Be informed. Ask your parents, your youth group leader, your Pastor, an older Christian or anybody spiritually mature enough in this area who can answer your questions or direct your inquiry to someone knowledgeable. If you want information, don’t read directly from the New Age authors. There is plenty of material written on the New Age and cults by people that have been involved, have come out and given their testimonies. You can trust the word of a burnt person who tells you that fire burns.
Don’t assume that you are different, that you know better, that you are smarter than the next person. Here is a warning to us from Israel’s history. I Cor 10:1. “(Do not be idolaters…be careful that you don’t fall.)”

• SECOND STEP: Look at the fruit. This is the hardest test of all, because a lot of New Age people seem to be very calm, peace loving, well organized, caring individuals who use their personal resources and energy to promote what they believe are positive changes in themselves, their environment, and society. These may seem good, but they are done in ignorance and rebellion against our Creator, who has His own good plans for bringing peace and light to the world. And they don’t address the real problem with our world - sin.

Remember, these persons however well intentioned and highly motivated are deceived. They have allowed themselves to believe the lie of Satan that “wisdom” is a tool to acquire “god-power”, when such hidden wisdom is really a trap. Unfortunately, in the eyes of God they are like Eve and Adam, as responsible for their sin as is their leader or teacher.

In Matt 7:15-20, Jesus warns his disciples with these words: “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.” (NKJV)

John 16:1. Right after chapter 14 and 15 about the coming of the Holy Spirit of truth, abiding in the vine, the inability to do anything without Him, the command to love each other and to bear fruit, our Lord Jesus warns: "all this I have told you so that you will not go astray".

Then, there is the temptation to “be open-minded”, rather than “intolerant” of these “alternative religions”. Aren’t we supposed to explore and discover? Here is a good analogy: 
"Let’s say you live in a house and it’s summertime. You want to breathe fresh air, so you open the window. What happens? You get fresh air, but along with it, you get dust, pollen, and bugs. The proper thing to do is to put a screen on the window." ( Source: heard in a talk given by Greg Laurie)

The word of God acts as a screen that rejects all the impurities, corrupt thoughts, lies, and false teaching that invade our minds, but for that screen to be effective in our lives, we have to study, understand, believe, know and practice what the Word of God says in obedience to our Lord´s command. Psalm 119:9,11: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.”

Finally, It is my prayer that, “Your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus-Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Phil. 1:9-11.

Jean-Louis

Winter 1989. Shared at The St.Giles Presbyterian Church’s Youth Group.
Revised and shared in Hendersonville, N.C. Winter 1997 for the 1st. Baptist Church Youth Group.

The Joshua Tree - Ozymandias of Egypt

Ozymandias of Egypt

 (Delusion of Grandeur) 

Written and posted by Jean-Louis Mondon. 2/2011

To read the first chapter, click Here

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip and sneer of old command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings.
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.


Percy Bysshe Shelley
1792-1822

Well then, my friend, did you sigh
 last night while falling asleep:

Or are you feeling like this king

Master of his domain

Following his own whim?

What drives you and leads you?

Your castle made of cards

So patiently constructed

Can in a single night

Become an abandoned ruin,

A no man’s land where children

Laugh and play without worrying

About why and how

Such an accomplishment

Such a beautiful edifice

With a proud and tall stairway

Is left to lie, forgotten

In the great hour glass,

The hallway of memories

Lost forever

In the labyrinth of the past.

For whoever wants to save their life (or soul) will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul. Matthew 16:25, 26.

Come with me if you want, if today you have lost the hope of finding the key of the exit door that leads to life. Jesus said: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Foreword

One day, in blind ignorance,

a man stumbles over a stone,

the first step of a stairway

that leads to the most high place.

In his haste, without pause,

at the cross road between light and darkness

Pride opens his mouth and mocks the stepping stone

calling it a stumbling block.

Then, further deceived by his lack of understanding

he turns around indignant and walks away

from the Rock that Love placed there

to help him on his journey.

So tonight don’t forget to sigh. It’s as natural as crying or laughing. It is the others who do not like to hear the complaints of our souls. You have to understand them. They do not know how to take them. A sigh as soon as it is released flies off upward. But somebody is listening and hears you. If you persist, he will answer.

So long and take care. I hope to meet you at the desert gate.
To be continued.

To read the next chapter, click: Here
http://thelightseed.blogspot.com/2011/02/joshua-tree-desert-parable_1896.html

Jean-Louis.

The Joshua Tree - A desert Parable - Sighing and the Divine Response

Written and posted by Jean-Louis Mondon

Prologue

The Scream by Edvard Münch

To go to the next chapter click here:

http://thelightseed.blogspot.com/2011/02/joshua-tree-desert-parable_13.html

SIGHING AND THE DIVINE RESPONSE

This is the first installment of a story in several episodes called: "The Joshua Tree, A Desert Parable".

"The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, (or sigh) longing for your commands. Turn to me and have mercy on me, as you always do to those who love your name. Direct my footsteps according to your word." Psalm 119:130-133.

Sighing is not the only prerogative  of lovers languishing and waiting for the beloved or the facial expression of discouragement of a student facing homework that is beyond his intellectual capability. It is in fact as inherent to man as laughter is.
All sighs do not possess the same value or meaning. There are sighs that loose their weight in the immensity of a cruel, merciless universe that can lead to despair and even death in the absence of a saving answer. Such is the condition of the human being without God. Can the answer to the mysteries of life be found without asking pertinent questions about it?

In my generation, Nihilism, the Absurd of Eugene Ionesco’s theater, artistic expressions such as the painting “The Scream” by Edvard Münch, the literature and the life style of intellectuals such as Camus and Sartre were faithful mirrors reflecting the alienation, the despair and the perplexity, all, experiences of our modern life. They had no valid and satisfying solution to offer for the complexity of more and more insurmountable problems. The influence of their promising modern ideologies and philosophies have only produced a bitter fruit poisoning the existence of a humanity close to her last sigh.

However, there is another sigh that comes out of the depth of the human being. In Ecclesiates 3:11, the wise King Solomon declares that: “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity (the thought of eternity) in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end”.
It is the act of sighing or panting that best expresses this absolutely essential need of a human being suffering from separation in the search for his creator who alone can satisfy his deepest need.
The Lord God is the Father (Creator) of the spirits of all mankind and he wants to guide us by his word, by the sound of his voice on our way back to our eternal home. In Numbers 27:15, 18,  Moses said to the LORD, “May the LORD, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd”. So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;

Before one can go out, before knowing freedom, one has to find the door to go in that leads to liberty, to eternal life, to our destination. Who is this man, this guide? What is this door, where can it be found? So many questions, so many sighs!

What about you my reader, my friend, are you asking yourself these same questions? Do you know these deep sighs that will only be fully satisfied with a response that would fill the deepest part of your soul? God knows your thoughts even before they are formed in your brain. In fact, it is he who is seeking you. He is just waiting for you to sigh, he understands the burdens that we bear.  
Jesus invites you: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. Matthew 11:28.

To be continued. click  Here to go to the next chapter

http://thelightseed.blogspot.com/2011/02/joshua-tree-desert-parable_13.html
Hope to see you again.

Jean-Louis.

Men of the Church: Are You Sober?

Reblogged from Elizabeth Prata: the-end-time.blogspot.com

When you read the New Testament you'd be surprised to read how many times men (and women) are called to be sober. And most time when the word sober is used, it means not only 'not drunk' of course, but mentally alert, sharp, thinking clearly with right judgment. Women are called to be sober as well. In many cases for both sexes, particularly church leaders, it's meant as a call to be dignified. (Proverbs 31:25; 1 Timothy 2:2).

Three years ago, when I first posted about Beth Moore and the trouble I was having with her teaching, one of the things I took issue with is that she isn't dignified when she teaches. I'd written,
She isn't dignified. Yes, that's what I said. Beth Moore is not dignified on her stage. She moves around a lot, quickly delivering scriptures and her interpretations in rapid-fire fashion. She will use tricks like having a wastebasket prop to "throw away" negative behaviors, she presses participants to wear bracelets that supposedly mean certain things (I read this from three blogs) and she will contort, kneel, dance, and generally cut up, sometimes while holding the bible. Laughter is frequent.

A bible lesson is not a comedy routine. I am all for laughter. Our pastor says some funny things sometimes and the congregation will of course laugh. I am among those who laugh loud and I'm sure even the choir can hear me from where I sit. But teaching the bible with respect requires some gravitas. It requires some dignity. It isn't a prop or a party trick. I shun antics as the main behavior of the teaching session. Funny sometimes, yes. Zany bible teachers? No.

Call me staid (Decorous? Sedate?) but I don't think Paul hung "I AM" posters
around the necks of hapless volunteers in the synagogues
when he was reasoning with them

"Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things." (1 Timothy 3:11)

I took a lot of flak from people about that rebuke. Many people thought I was being too picky, or too staid, or too Northern. Most of those people who said I was wrong had overlooked the clear commands in the bible about behaving soberly in church and out. Even though I posted them, lol. But it's pretty simple. We're commanded again and again to be sober.

Many people these days don't like it when we remind ourselves of a doctrinal standard. (2 Tim 4:3). They really hate it when we remind ourselves that there are behavioral standards, too. 'Who are you to judge how someone should act?!' Etc. But it's not me, it's God. They are His standards, both doctrinal and behavioral (moral).

As you read all the verses in the NT which mention sobriety, you begin to notice a pattern. Sobriety in behavior comes first because we are clear in our thinking. 'Be sober-minded' 'Exercise sober judgment'. 'Don't be drunk, so you can think clearly.' Like that. We are called to act this way because we hold Jesus up as the highest and most important Person in the universe, worthy to be worshiped. We are serious about this and we are dignified about it too. We want to think clearly, witness accurately, show self-control, love, and patience, and be serious about the King so we can make good decisions. We also do this because we do not want to be a stumbling block to the weak. (1 Corinthians 8:9, Romans 14:21).

With all this in mind, let's take a look at the spectacle that Christian worship services have become. Are these men sober-minded? Exercising good judgment?

"Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness..." (Titus 2:2)

source

In the above picture, 'Pastor' Troy Gramling set himself ablaze to demonstrate something from his preaching series "Daredevil." (Why any Christian would want to say he is anything like a devil is beyond me...Christ bought us away from the devil). When Paul wrote to Timothy about the behavioral qualifications of pastors, and thought he had covered it with 'exercise good judgment ' and 'be sober,' I don't think he would have thought he'd have needed to spell it out: "Do not set yourself on fire."

In the photo below, 'Pastor' Ed Young decided to preach about sex. Young and his wife Lisa staged a 24-hour bed-in on the church’s roof to discuss truths about sex before a live Internet audience. When Paul wrote the following words to Timothy...

"As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." (2 Timothy 4:5)

...I am sure he did not think to include prohibitions about silly stunts in the sun and sex talk in front of the world. 'Fulfill your ministry by being immodest, a stumbling block to the young and intemperate, and say  things in public that would embarrass your mother. G'wan. Jesus is 'kay with it."

'Pastor' Rod Parlsey is pastor of World Harvest Church, a large Pentecostal church in Columbus, Ohio. As Stand Up For the Truth describes the now deleted video, "Is it a bird? Is it Tom Cruise? No, it is a pastor! Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church is raising some eyebrows by releasing this now-viral video of himself zip lining through the air over his cheering congregation, and landing onto his pulpit. His band is playing the “Mission Impossible” theme music to kick off its “Mission Possible” sermon series leading into Easter."

Easter!!!

source

"The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers." (1 Peter 4:7)

At the revelation of Jesus Christ, do you think the Head of our church will look favorably on the ziplining pastor making a mockery out of his House of Prayer? Well, how did He like it the first time? (Matthew 21:13)

"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:13)

In this next example, we're told not to think more highly of ourselves than we should, but 'Pastor' Steven Furtick thinks just as highly of himself as Jesus thinks of the Father.

"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." (Romans 12:3).

source

Furtick is building the church? I thought Jesus was doing that. Building it upon a vision Furtick had? I thought the church was being built on the fact that Jesus is savior. And uniting around Furtick's vision? I thought we were supposed to unite around the Spirit. (Ephesians 4:3)

"Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. ... And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:16, 18)

Blasphemy. And remember, Furtick was the one who perverted the worship service by seeding planted people in the audience to manipulate congregants into coming forward for a baptism he called spontaneous, but was anything but. It was a total manipulation from start to finish, including the music, teaching the planted people how fast or slow to walk down the aisle and what to say to the baptizees coming forward. Spontaneous, my eye.

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." ~Inigo Montoya

Strong's numbered Greek words in the lexicon explain that in most cases in the above verses, 'sober' means for the believer to "think shrewdly", reflecting what God defines is true moderation. In the other cases, it means don't be drunk. 'Be sober, unintoxicated' refers to having presence of mind (clear judgment), enabling someone to be temperate (self-controlled)".

Jesus is the head of the church. If we can't picture Jesus doing something or saying something behind the pulpit, then His under-shepherd shouldn't do it.

I'm not talking about never smiling, never having fun, or never relaxing. In fellowship or casual settings away from church, sure, have fun. Even then, don't be so wild as to give cause to the unbelievers to slander us. (1 Tim 5:14). But in church or in bible teaching settings, such antics have no place. Why? Because of this verse:

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13)

Obey. Fear. Trembling. It is all joined at verse 13- 'for it is God...' God is in us, working out His will and plan and we work out our salvation because we obey in fear and trembling. Why? Again, because He's God.

We feel utter joy in knowing He is God and utter gratitude for our salvation. We do feel joy and love and we exhibit it, but it is all rooted in the fear and trembling because He is God, and there is no other. We aren't flippant, casual, irreverent, zany, 'devilish', foolish, or outrageous. Our joy comes from the fear and trembling, the fear of sinning against the Lord, of not being active in our sanctification, and fear of loss of rewards

If you would like to listen to an excellent sermon on the Christian life centered around an exposition of the above Philippians verse, please do so. It is by Dr Steven Lawson, "Christian Living 101: Part 1" Here it is

Meanwhile, remember worship is not a party! Be sober, be mindful, be dignified. This will please Jesus.
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