Contemporary Worship!?

    What is contemporary worship and is it wrong?  No, it is not wrong.  Now what is it?  Contemporary worship is None other than a worship experience that is current or for the current times.  When something is contemporary it is of the times.  

    Worship that is contemporary is really the only true worship.  It comes from the heart making it current and for the time being expressed.  It is not to be confused with the "contemporary worship" which includes a worship of rock style bands that bring an emotional high.  When our worship comes from the heart, we will have a song on our lips that is a joyful song as well as a deep adoration for our Creator and Savior.  True Contemporary Worship comes when our hearts align with the Holy Spirit and nothing but God honoring worship comes out.

• John 4:24

    We must worship our King in spirit and truth.

Stand Strong Or You Will Be A Servant

    1  Samuel 4:9  “Philistines, be brave and fight hard!  If  you don’t, those Hebrews will rule us, just as we have been ruling them.  Fight hard and don’t be afraid.”  CEV
    1 Corinthians 16:13  “Keep alert.  Be firm in your faith.  Stay brave and strong.  Show love in everything you do.”  CEV

    All across the world, homes are in shambles.  Satan has declared war on the home as he tries to get the leaders (the fathers) focused on other things.  Usually this feeds his self-will or ego.  As fathers we need to Quit, get real, man, and fight for the Lord.
    We are only players in a much bigger picture.  The main character being played out is God and we are like the extras that only show up for a brief part of the show.
    As fathers it is up to us to be there for our families, to shepherd them toward God.  Most of us do not have gentle attributes that come natural to us, but as we get close to God ourselves, we will become more gentle.

    Ephesians 6:4

    We have an obligation as a father to fill our child’s emotional needs.  We need to be sensitive to what makes them work, and treat them in a way that will not make them become angry at us or at God.

We need to become our child’s friend, because friends care about each other.  We also need to be their peer, the one who influences their life.

    Psalm 127:1-5  

    When we allow the Lord to use us as leaders designed by Him, our homes will flourish.  We need to provide for our family, but not become work-a-holics.  Your children need you at home.  God has designed the home to be a safe-haven from the daily battles that wage on the outside.  Are we keeping these battles out?

    Also read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8  

    We are meant to exhibit these characteristics as Christians, and if we actually do, then our family and also the world will be won for the sake of Christ.

    Is the temptation you face too strong?  God does not allow you to be tempted without making strength available to you.  Sometimes it looks like Satan has the upper hand, but he will succeed only if you don’t stop, gird up your loins and fight like a man in the strength of the Lord.

    It will never work for a soldier of the Lord to have weak knees nor will it ever work to fight for truth with your hands hanging down.

    You do not have strength within your self, but God is faithful and willing to give you His strength.  We need to remember this is not our battle but God’s.  He furnishes everything we need.  When we fight under the ALL POWERFUL God we have nothing to fear.

-Resist The Devil-

    When the devil comes with a temptation to us, we need to push back against him with the shield of faith and the sword of the Lord.  Jesus, when He was tempted, quoted Bible verses as a rebuttal to Satan’s efforts.

Praying for our safety and the safety of others against wickedness, is like building a fortress around us.

James 4:7 

-Go For The Giants-

Joshua 14:6-15

The Anakim were giants in the land of Canaan, and Caleb, an 85 year old man wanted their land for his family.  The town of Hebron was located in a strategic location for safety.

When fighting giants or things bigger than ourselves, we need supernatural help.  God has never intended that we face life’s big problems alone.

God has given us Himself and the brotherhood as a means of helping us fight our giants.  When was the last time you helped someone fight their giants?

Joshua prayed that God would help Caleb and his men fight the giants.

    Some giants we face are: discouragement, fear, worry, despair, selfishness; and are all driven by the prince of giants, pride.

     If we let the giants we face penetrate our lives, we will fall into sin.  These giants will lead us to the sin of unbelief.  We need to recognize each giant we are facing and be aggressive toward it.  When the giants rears his ugly head we need to cut it off with the sword of the Lord.  We need to destroy him and his strongholds so he can not antagonize us any longer.

The Armor

    First of all, we look at the belt of truth.
    The truth of God needs to wrapped around us like a belt.  Truth is the very nature of God; it is an absolute fact or idea.  Without God we have no truth and we would be left with a changing untrustworthy world.  We would not know what to expect from nature.
    John 14:6 Jesus said “I am truth”.  The very foundation of the world has been based on truth.  Our daily lives should also be based on truth.
    When we have truth wrapped around us as a belt, all of our dealings will be truthful and honest.
    How do we wrap truth around us?  Dig into the truth, apply it to our life, and live it every day.
John 1:1
Psalm 119:1-16
3 John 4
    The joy that God gives us when we follow His commands is unmatched by any other, and it will only come from doing His will.  We can just obey His commands or we can obey them from the deepest part of our hearts.
    Are we just trying to get by the ensuing death or do you really want to follow God in gratefulness for the escape He provided.
     The truth of God is absolute and can not be changed, so are we going to go along with it or are we going to ignore it.
  Proverbs 23:23
    Too many times we compromise the truth because it doesn't fit into our agenda.  When we do this we are walking in a lie, and God can not bless our spiritual life.  Our agenda needs to be yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
    Moving now to another area, we now will look at the shoes of the gospel of peace.
    Having God as your passion will protect your feet from slipping.  As we stand and wield the word of God  against the devil, we must have our passions in the right place or we will slip and fall.
Isaiah 52:7
Proverbs 16:17
    When our desire for God does not direct our ways, we need to re-ignite the passion.
Proverbs 3:6
Luke 2:14

    The initial birth announcement of Jesus included peace and goodwill to all men.  After Jesus went back to Heaven the only ones left to carry this message are His followers that He left here.  Are we extending God’s peace and goodwill to those around us?

Colossians 3:15,16

    The peace that we extend to others must first come from God, then be real in our own lives and through this peace we will be able to encourage our contemporaries.

John 14:27

    Satan has worked very hard to destroy our message of peace.  In many cases, the peace in our hearts, the peace in our homes, and the peace in our churches either does not exist or there is very 

little of it. Somewhere along the line people have taken off their shoes of peace, maybe even thinking they didn’t need it right then.  I appeal, if this is where you find yourself, put the shoes of the gospel of peace back on; and re-instate a peaceful atmosphere in your life, home, and church.

    The Breastplate of Righteousness is given to us by God as a protection as well.  Righteousness is something we all like to appear to have.  Most of  the time it comes from within ourselves and this merely amounts to dirty clothes that are torn.

Isaiah 64:6

    The implication is very clear that we need a higher grade of righteousness than we can muster up ourselves.

    Jesus Christ has offered us His righteousness, and only His righteousness will do.  The righteousness of Jesus Christ be ours if we allow it to take the place of our sin.  Abraham, in the Old Testament, had faith in God’s promises and because of that; God endowed him with His righteousness, thus making him fit for the kingdom of Heaven

    The example of Abraham, if followed will result in us receiving the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which will in turn for our ungodliness, make us fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. 

    The righteousness of Jesus Christ, will make us lovely to those around us, and they will see that we are different than people in general.  In order to see how the righteousness of Jesus will change us, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which will produce the fruit of the Spirit in our life.  We can take a look at this list in Galatians 5 and see if it has been an all-consuming part of our life.

Philippians 4:8

    Positive thinking will aid you in your defense against Satan.  Jesus had no intentions of us dwelling on the sorrows of life.  We need to look to Jesus as our savior and King all the while seeking to lift our hearts and others in praise to Him which will encourage others who are downcast.  By praising Him I do not necessarily mean singing, but lifting up His name for all. 

                                                                         

          

The Shield of Faith 

    The Roman soldiers had shield that went the entire length of their bodies.  They were able to hide behind them and fight.  The shield we use against the devil can be small yet large enough to work.  It can be easily grown to cover the vulnerable areas.

Luke 17:6

Romans 10:17

    Faith is an invisible shield that is efficient and well able to ward off the darts that Satan throws our way.

    When we hold up our faith as a shield to protect us, nothing can break through that barrier.  The gift of faith is precious and not to be taken lightly, but to be used to further our resolve in Jesus Christ.  We are not forced to take this gift, but rather choose to take it, for without it no one will please God. 

Hebrews 11:6

    Satan can not stand unwavering faith in God and will have to concede defeat, at least for the time-being.

    Our faith in Jesus Christ will result in His righteousness being given to us in place of our own, that we may have a deep relationship with Him.
     The fiery darts that the devil throws our way act as distractions so we end up not truly fighting the real battle of the mind.
     In the days on Daniel Boone the Indians would attack using arrows that were dipped in oil then lit on fire and shot at the buildings inside the fort causing fire to break out, thus they had to fight fires as well as Indians.
This is the same tactic the devil uses today in the battles against us.  Use the shield of faith, it is designed to cover all areas of our life protecting us from the attacks of Satan.

The Helmet of Salvation

    Our conscience is both vulnerable and a protectant for the rest of the areas in our life.  We can not just

rely on our conscience to keep us safe, but must keep it polished and toned by reading the word of God.  Satan loves to mess with this area making it less effective in protecting the rest of our life.

    There are times when we do sin and Satan wants to use these times to further destroy you.  He wants to deceive you and others by causing your conscience to lose feeling.

1 Timothy 4:2

     The power of God to save is able to protect our consciences from becoming dull.  We must keep it firmly on our control panel ( the head of our spiritual lives).

John 10:28,29

Jesus and His Father will not let anyone come and just take any of their sheep, but will hang onto them if the sheep want protection.  If we have allowed the devil to draw us away he will patiently draw us back.

The Sword of Truth

Hebrews 4:12

    The sword of truth is alive.  I picture it as shooting white flames of truth to the enemy.  It is able to swallow those fiery darts that Satan shoots in mid-air.  What happens if we turn a sword like this toward a soldier at our side?  God Forbid, that we would ever use it wrongly.  It is meant for combat with the devil and should remain that way.

Judges 7:20-22

    The power of the sword of the Lord should not be undermined.  When we properly use it, the devil will leave in defeat.  Matthew 4:10,11

Pray for every one

    Praying for yourself and other is often left out of God’s armor, but it is listed along with it, and thus it is important.  It is the method of tuning your armor and other people’s armor as well.  It help to strengthen you and the ones you pray for.

Isaiah 62:6

Prayer and meditating is what keeps all the armor in top shape (like a tune-up).  Being in tune with the Spirit will give direction on how to apply the weapons God has provided.

If we feel that we can’t hear the Holy Spirit speaking, we need to quiet our lives… get rid or fast from the things causing the noise and draw close to God.  This being said, we also need patience.  I have prayed for a few years for something that I now have the answer.

Draw close to God by:

Bible meditation

Prayer

Sacrifice your ambitions

Complete obedience

Love of others

Etc…

We need to use the fruit of the Spirit chart in Galatians 5:22,23  as a thermometer of our walk with God.  We can  always grow spiritually, but if we are missing some of this fruit, then we have work to do.  If the Holy Spirit is not bearing fruit in our lives, something is wrong.  We have a reserved idol that stands in the way of God speaking to you.

The sword of the Lord is meant to be used against the devil, and if we use the sword properly; we will have an open heart.  Our heart will be wide open to allowing the Holy Spirit bear fruit in our lives. 

God's Banner is Love

    Isaiah 60:1-3
    John 19:5,6,15,16,28-36
The banner is not physical, we do not use images in our worship, so what exactly is the banner? 1 John 4:8 God is Love > Love is the very nature of God, without God there is no love.  Jesus showed  us God’s love through His sacrifice on the cross, and that is the foundation of what we are.  The sacrifice of love is also the banner  we raise. Many times as Christians move on in their life, they succumb to the devil’s attacks by looking for another banner to raise.
    Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit so we can effectively keep the banner raised and continue fighting the devil.  Acts 20:28,31
    Joshua 14:6-15; 15:13-15
As people get older they generally lose focus and zeal, but if God is with them, they can conquer the giants.  Faith in God’s power  to save is crucial to moving forward in your Christian life.
Joshua 17:14-18  The tribes of Ephraim and half of Manasseh had grown a lot, and had run out of room; instead of just giving them land that was already taken, Joshua gave them land they would have to work for.  The unstated message is: If you have God, you can do anything.   Iron chariots in the valley are nothing compared to God’s chariots of fire.  Many times we as Christians look for an easy way out, but if you have no faith, or your courage or strength is diminished, you will lose.  Stand up against the devil (in the strength of the Lord).
My goal is to encourage others to stand up for Jesus and use the armor and weaponry He has given us to fight the devil. Satan does not care how he get us and will  lure us into thinking something is innocent when it is not.
    Let’s get excited!
    Matthew 16:18  Power over the Church is reserved for God Himself.  Hell, death or anything else will not be able to control it.  Through the centuries Satan has tried to destroy the Church by killing it, but it actually grew so fast, during that time that he was more behind than ever.  Satan, then tried another tactic and was more successful , but the Church of God is still not gone yet.  While persecution still exists in parts of the world it is no more effective than it was at the beginning.  Satan has figured out that state tolerance and re-instating the laws of men will Destroy the Church, and it is working all over the place.
    We need to get back to the basics of Christianity.  Faith, Obedience to God’s Law, and love for our fellowman.
    Jude 24,25  God has power unimaginable, and it is well able to keep us saved, even from the worst addiction; but we have to have faith in Him and want help.  We do not need the help of the laws of men (standards) to keep us saved, in fact those will just lure us into thinking that we are safe when we really aren't.
    God has always accepted those who have faith in Him.  When a man or woman has faith Of salvation, He adds His righteousness to them.  When Abraham had faith in God’s promise, he was accepted  as righteous, even though his works were not perfect.
  Matthew 16:18/Revelation 20:14  God’s kingdom has His protection.  It may seem, sometimes that we as His Church aren't as protected by Him as we are.  Satan does bring a host of attacks against the Church, but has not been successful yet.  The gates of Hades-Hell has no power over the Church of God.  At times a church may lose focus, or lose out; but the Church of Jesus Christ moves on.  One day, death itself will be destroyed, but the Church will still be alive for God.
   Jude 20-23  The foundation of our faith is solid, it is truth.  Jesus Christ, the Messiah, The Son Of God came for a purpose, and that was to give us the sacrifice of Love.  As we keep building on the foundation of our faith, we will be on the offense for Him.  We need to use our shield, but we also need to use our sword.  Ephesians 6:10-18  God has equipped us with all the defensive and offensive equipment we need.  Get into the battle for God.  If we don’t fight for God, we are fighting against Him.
   It is easy for us to lose pace with our Savior’s Love.  If Satan is successful in destroying our walk of love, he has destroyed us.
1 John 4:10,11/Luke 2:41-52  Jesus parents became caught up in the things going on around them and the made no effort to make sure they still had Jesus; they had to go back to where they had lost Him in order to find Him.  It took  three days  to find him, and to have their relationship restored.  You must be sure of who you have with you, it will be either Jesus or a counterfeit.  
  Doubt  can eat you up, but the Church is designed in such a way that if someone doubts their Christianity, especially after going through a hard time, we are supposed to help them.  Their soul is at stake, and we need to restore their spirit.  Doubt can turn into total
Unbelief, and unbelievers are thrown into hell.
Revelation 21:8
     Throw out the lifeline, many are dying, sucked into the flames of hell by their misdeeds.  As we look at the wicked, we need to view them as dying in a fire.  Some people realize their plight, but don’t care, others realize they are on a destructive course and stand at the window screaming for help, and still others have no clue of imminent danger.  As God reached down for us, we should extend His arms to     Sound the warning, blow the trumpet, and save a soul from hell.  God has given us a command to bring the lost and dying to Him.  If we fail in our calling will we hear “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”?  This life is not just about keeping ourselves from sin (that is vital), but it is also about the message of hope to a dying world, which we were a part of.  We can not put out the flames that have swallowed so many, but we can rescue, and that is our mission.
    Every person has a passion, and your passion will show.  As a re-created person, our passion should be for the honor and glory of God, which includes bringing lost souls to Him.  Every one does have a unique way to do this, as we have many different gifts, but as new creatures in Christ, the common goal should be the same.  We do not compete, but rather work together for the same goal.  We have seen the idea  of competition for lost souls, and really it stinks in God’s eyes, whether among individuals or groups.  This idea basically stems from pride, and pride is sin.  As fellow-Christians  the only competition that is legitimate is against the devil.
    Many times we don’t view sin as bad, and so we don’t have fear for those involved in sin.  When we go into the temple with God, we should see the end of the wicked.  The Revelation of Jesus Christ has been a source of contention throughout church history, but was the purpose of the book to divide the church?  NO!  The purpose of the book was to unite the church with one common goal of winning the lost.
    We've got work to do,  So what are we doing?
    There is no righteousness outside of Jesus’ righteousness, which is totally pure.  Not only is the righteousness we can drum up as rags, but filthy rags.  We need to recognize it as such, and work to clothe the sinners with Jesus’ righteousness.
    Are we fulfilling our mission that God has given us to do?  Satan and his followers are very energetic in their mission.  We need to be proud of the colors we fly.  Wave them, hold them up, and shout it out.  If we aren't doing what God wants  for us, He will either have to make us willing or find someone else for this calling.  All Christians, everywhere are to fulfill this mission.

Soldiers Of Light

    Darkness is all around us, and sometimes it envelopes us; closes us in and takes control of us.  This darkness is hard to penetrate, as it keeps tightening its grip around us.  The soldiers of darkness have launched an offensive attack against the soldiers of light, and it appears there are traitors on the side of the light.
    Do we know how to counter-attack?  Don’t just defend yourselves… attack.  Many people who appear to be soldiers of light are just peace-time soldiers!?!  They would rather warm a pew than the handle of their sword.  These people often take up irrelevant arguments from the Bible so it appears that they've got it.  It is time  for us to rise up, and launch an offensive against the soldiers of darkness.  Many souls are going to hell… do we even care?  Don’t lose your salvation by  ignoring your mission (what God has called you to do).
    I once had a vision of the two opposing armies  shooting their artillery at each other… one side was shooting  enveloping darkness and  the other side was shooting darkness dispelling light.  Not all were in front to front combat, but some were  in combat with the lost among them who appeared to be on the right track.  The army of darkness has special forces that have worked their way into the army of light and thus try to undermine its strength.
    Where is the army of light’s special forces?  We need them today more than ever!  We are losing the battle for men’s souls around the world, because we have lost our vision.  The special forces need to be equipped  with special powers to do battle against the army of darkness, and of course these powers come from God.
    -I Corinthians 16:13-
    Unless you focus on the mission you will lose focus  and  become a soldier of darkness, destroying any light that could be used for dispelling darkness.
    The sword of the Spirit  is a flaming fire which brings brightness to any dark soul.  The powers of darkness cannot stand against it if it is used properly.  This sword of the Spirit’s fire is unlike a traditional torch in that is many times brighter.  I think of a welding iron as the closest thing to it, but it is still far from it.  It pierces our eyes and our eyes become single.
    It is my desire to join with captain of light.  Please join  the Lord and I in a vigorous crusade for the lost.

Marriage with the Devil

Genesis 6
    Satan was busy, as he is now, constantly looking for ways to corrupt mankind.  It is evident the daughters of men were good-looking by what it says in this passage.  Mankind had left the principles of God to the point, that they just planned to do evil all the time. The wickedness of man had gotten to the point that God could no longer bless them with life.  Are we losing the principles of God?  What are the principles of God?
Love the Lord supremely.
Abhor evil.
The heart issues must always be dealt with.
Without God life is void.
Love your fellow man.
Reach out to the lost.

    The term “Sons OF God” has always meant created beings, whether initial  creation or recreated.  The term “Daughters of men” has always been referred to as being of men or children of men.  During this time there were no sons of God except for the angels who He had created.  The ancient Jews believed that this was an alliance between the fallen angels and mankind.  This was ruse of Satan to further corrupt the beautiful creation God had made.  Some people use a verse in the NT to discredit this: Luke 11:34,35 This verse isn't saying they can’t have children, also it is talking about life after death and not the present.  Take a look at this verse:  Jude 6  The angels who had initiated this alliance are bound until the last judgment day.
    The inhabitants of this time were believed to have worshiped the offspring of this alliance as demi-gods.  They were powerful and supernatural.  They became infamous for their evil deeds, presumably against the righteous.  As time progressed, Noah and his family were the only righteous left.
    In these last days we have seen an influx  of the children of the devil.  They are destroying the righteous; physically and spiritually.  We need to stand up and watch that we do not enter matrimony with the devil.
    We have the inexplicable link to the devil that cannot be eradicated until death.  This link is our flesh, and it desperately wants to join into a union with the devil.  We can gain control of it by constantly refreshing our marriage with Christ.  <Romans 7:22-25 With my whole heart I agree with the law of God.  But in every part of me, I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do.  What a miserable person I am.  Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die?  Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.  So then with my mind I serve the law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin.>

Exposed

   Genesis 3
       -Fellowship with God could not have been better.  Adam and Eve walked and talked with God on a daily basis.
    I John 2:3-4
     -Communion with Christ can only exist when we live in His will.  In the garden of Eden, God gave them a command and when they disobeyed, they lost a beautiful relationship.  Even though it has not been restored totally, it has been restored to a large degree.  Jesus Christ came to make peace with us, and now we can commune with Him, but not yet walk with Him in a physical way.  When Adam and Eve  disobeyed God, immediately they felt exposed.  They had a guilt complex, which was to show them their wrong.  When God came to them and asked them what happened, even though they felt exposed they needed to willfully expose their sin to God, but instead they babied it, and tried to hide it and all was lost
How many times do we deal with a guilt complex?  We do something wrong and then quick look around to see if anyone saw us.  We forget that God sees all.  We tend to baby our sins, put them on a leash so they don’t get the best of us, and go on.
I will now introduce you to the concept of evolution.  This sin that we put on the leash will evolve into a massive giant if we don’t expose it to God.  He will break his leash and then we will have a real mess on our hands.  Expose your sins immediately,  own up to it and then kill  that pet sin and relationship with God  can be restored.  I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins to God, He can be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.”
When we sin and do not expose it before God, the nakedness of our soul will drive us into deeper sin which will further ruin us.  Throughout our sinful life God will turn us over to Satan, so wee see how hard he really is.  Satan has continuously fed us a lie; “no one will ever know”, but all we need to do is remember “God will” .  I am not really for fear of being caught as the reason for not doing evil, but we need to remember who we are under.
Proverbs 13:13 “If you reject God’s teaching, you will pay the price.”  Proverbs 15:10  “If you turn from the right way you will be punished.”  Proverbs 28:13,14 “If you don’t confess your sins, you will be a failure. God will be merciful if you confess your  sins, and give them up.  The Lord blesses everyone who is afraid to do evil, but if you are cruel, you will end up in trouble.