Reestablishing Holiness: The Lifestyle of the Kingdom

In our book, The Playbook, we wrote:

"Holiness.  Such a scary word in today’s times.  In the progressive, afraid-to-death-of-being-called-a-legalist modern churchgoer’s mind, it might conjure up images of frumpy looks, sad faces, wooden chairs, mean men with beards, being in church every day, horse- drawn buggies, and basically, boring lives.  Don’t laugh.  You know it’s true!  About the last thing we want to do is examine our lives for those things that might not please God and remove them.  Anyone who has studied the Bible even a little bit with reasonable interpretive skill, knows that we cannot do, think, say, wear or watch whatever we want.  God is holy and He calls us to be holy. We can fuss all day about legalism, but holiness is not legalism.  Striving to obey God is an honor and privilege.  The antinomianism of today’s culture, and sadly, segments of the church as well, is crippling not only to a well-ordered society, but also to the preaching of the Gospel itself.  Again, it is the declaring of the Law of God that makes way for the good news and grace God offers in Jesus." 

Friends, the need to return to the Scriptures in every area of life, including our practical, day-to-day pursuit of holiness is off the scale.  How did we get to the point where sin and blatant disobedience to Scripture became okay because of grace?  Does grace mean we forgo the pursuit of holiness?

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. (Titus 2:11-14, KJV)

Grace teaches!  The mercy of God should make us WANT to live in righteousness.  How our lives would be different if we feared God!

I would encourage the reader, "...he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." (1 Pet 1:15-16, KJV)

God's ways are best.  His ways are wise, and as a result, "they are the ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." (Pro 3:17)

Want more pleasantness and peace?  Reestablish holiness.  It is the Kingdom Lifestyle.

Guard Your Ears!

Isa 6:8-10  And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me. And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." (Also Acts 28:27)

Mat 13:13  This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Mat 13:43  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Mar 4:9  And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Mar 4:23  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."

Mar 8:18  Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?

Luk 8:8  And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Luk 14:35  It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Heb 5:11  About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

Rev 2:7  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'

Rev 2:11  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.'

Rev 2:17  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'

Rev 2:29  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

Rev 3:6  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

Rev 3:13  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

Rev 3:22  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"

Rev 13:9  If anyone has an ear, let him hear...

Given the preponderance of scriptural evidence that God's people often become hard of hearing, I beg you...GUARD YOUR EARS.

In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Violence and Destruction?

Violence and Destruction?

O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, "Violence and destruction!" For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. (Jer 20:7-9 ESV)

Foul and sour spiritual winds are blowing across the Nation and world right now.  I’m sorry; like Jeremiah, I always seem to be crying out “violence and destruction!”  But there is a loving method to my prophetic madness…

From a burning desire to see the saints of God prosper and stay in position to extend the Kingdom, my goal is preparation, not pessimism.  

It seems like just a little while ago I was ranting and raving about sodomite “marriage” becoming legal as a possibility.  We blew right thought that to men in women’s bathrooms and 47 genders.  Whether we are willing to admit it or not, there was a spiritual shift in 2008-2009, and we are primed for another one.  Either way the next election goes, we are in for more unrest, terror, fading morals, and economic perils.  The country has moved in the anti-Christ direction in all the major areas of life: politics, money, education, entertainment, social media, public discourse, “race” relations, respect for authority, and yes, even the ministry of the church. (Have you ever seen this many churches throw away biblical commands for cultural acceptance in your lifetime?)

So I’m simply saying, “Get prepared.”

What could you do between now and then…between now and let’s say January, to prepare your family and church to fight stronger principalities?  The Western church, used to being the majority, is having to adjust to new realities, if not in appearance then certainly in spiritual actuality.  Much of what we were has been judged, found wanting, and is being torn down and reformed.

If you remember, Jeremiah was actually trying trying to save lives.  God gave him an unpopular message in order to spare as many as would hear it.  God’s mind however was made up to punish His people and nothing could be done about it.  Instead of hearing the prophet, the people preferred a message of comfort and ease.  “It’s all going to be ok.”  “Peace and prosperity!”  

God sent their enemies upon them and they were carried away.

I make no claims to be prophet.  I (like many others) am just reading the signs of the times. (Matt 16:3)  So I’m simply saying, consider:

• What adjustments do you need to make in your spiritual life to increase your perseverance?
• Are you prepared and willing to share the Gospel of Jesus and personally make disciples? 
• What financial changes do you need to make?  Are you moving towards self-sufficiency?  Are you ready to be generous to those in need?
• Do you really want the government teaching your children?
• Are you ready to protect your family if need be?
• Are you getting the whole counsel of God at your church, and are you being encouraged to both love hard and stand strong in holiness?
• Are your children aware of these sour winds?  Have your taught them a biblical worldview?

I hope I’m wrong, but I think very difficult days are coming.  There may be revival on the other side if the Lord tarries, but we’ll have to get through hard days first.

CCM

Foundation Work

David declared in Psalms 11:3, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Isaiah gives an answer: “And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.” (Isa 58:12)

I first saw these two Scriptures put together in such a way through some pictures from the Answers In Genesis ministry.  I was so impacted, they made it into my book, The Playbook.

I realized that our church had been called to rebuild foundations…to recover and restore critical truths…to actually attack the spiritual “black gates” that keep so many families and communities bound!

But there is a problem.  This sort of work is HARD.  It’s unglamorous.  In fact, if one isn’t really paying attention, one could almost think nothing is happening!

Such is the process of building or repairing foundations.

It’s like watching a house being built.  My wife and I had such an experience over 20 years ago.  First, there was the joy of the purchase.  “We just bought a house!”  But since our home was new construction, all we initially saw was a grass lot and dirt!

So week after week after the purchase, we’d drive from our apartment in Hampton to Chesapeake to look at that lot.  "Still dirt! C'mon!!" And then one day, we saw that DIRT HAD BEEN MOVED!   The joy we had!  LOL!  So we anxiously came back the next week…and footings had been dug!  Party time!!!!  And then...time.........stood.............still.  Week after week after week we thought, “Is this all they have done?  Where is our house?”

Thankfully, bricks eventually showed up…then the foundation SLOWLY was completed.  Then more waiting and visits.  For what seemed like FOREVER, it continued to look like NOTHING much was happening.

Then one Saturday, on yet another visit to our newly purchased home….BOOM!  Walls!  Then the next week: Doors and windows!  Then a roof!  Then the next week: Siding!  

Before you know it we could walk inside and imagine raising our family.  What joy that was!

But hear me…foundation work is SLOW.  And if you think about it, it needs to be.  On it the whole house rests...

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." (Matthew 7:24-27)

To all who are laboring to preach the Gospel, rebuild family, restore fathers, and make disciples…things that truly change communities (not just for awhile, but generationally), BE ENCOURAGED.  

God is working.  You just may not see it yet!