Honouring Those with Whom we Disagree

Whitefield and Wesley were contemporaries who both had massive followings during their time. But they disagreed on a number of key theological points.
Whitefield was much more a Calvinist while Wesley was much more an Arminian.

In light of their doctrinal disagreements, someone once asked Whitefield if he thought he’d see Wesley in heaven. Here is Whitefield’s reply:
“I fear not, for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him.”

This statement alone reveals the spiritual stature of George Whitefield.

To recognize another servant of God’s place in the Kingdom despite doctrinal disagreements is a badge of a person who walks with God.

To speak well of another servant of God, honoring them in public even, is a mark of spiritual greatness and Christlike humility.

To have the insight to see when God’s hand is on a person, using them greatly, despite the doctrinal differences you may have with them, is a sign of someone who knows the Lord well.

Whitefield’s remark about Wesley is rare to see in our day where bickering, casting aspersions, and ignoring (especially) are the order of the day when it comes to theological disagreements among Christian leaders.


May Whitefield’s tribe increase!

He Knows Me

“What matters supremely is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it–the fact that he knows me. I am graven on the palms of his hands. I am never out of his mind.

All my knowledge of him depends on his sustained initiative in knowing me. I know him because he first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is not a moment when his eye is off me, or his attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when his care falters.


This is momentous knowledge. There is unspeakable comfort–the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates–in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.

"I Love You" and "Please Forgive Me"

The “I love you.” You know the words, and you know the weight they carry. Recently Aileen and I were remembering back to the first time we said those words to one another. Each of us already knew how the other felt, but that did nothing to temper the thrill of actually voicing it and the joy of actually hearing it.


“I love you” marks a milestone in a relationship, and not only a romantic one. Friendships also thrive and deepen with the admission and declaration of love. “I love you” says that this is no mere acquaintance, but a true, deep, and meaningful friendship. I hate that our society threatens the love of friendship by the suspicion of homosexuality, and I want us to push back and to declare that we can love one another in the best and purest way.

But as I considered the importance of the “I love you” I found myself pondering three other words that also cause a relationship to grow and to thrive. A friend recently said something or did something he should not have, and later approached me and so-humbly and so-kindly said, “Please forgive me.” I forgave him, of course. Who am I, a man who has been forgiven so much, that I should withhold forgiveness from anyone else, and especially from someone I love? And I know that in that moment our relationship deepened. It grew in the exchange, in the transaction, of repentance and forgiveness. I felt it, and I knew it.


So I thought about those words and I thought about my friendships. And I believe a relationship grows just as much through “Please forgive me” as through “I love you.” One friend speaking to another and saying, “I love you”—this is where love is declared. But one friend approaching another to express remorse and seek forgiveness—this is where love is displayed and preserved.

Has Grace.... Gone-A-Muck

Grace Haters say that the Grace Lover's belief is extreme and is nothing other than grace gone-a-muck, meaning that Grace has reached beyond its limits and is false grace. Grace Robbers fail to understand that by its very nature GRACE is EXTREME, LIMITLESS, BOUNDLESS and when it is seems not extreme enough to reach the most vilest person alive, God causes Grace to abound making it more EXTREME!

There is no such thing as TOO MUCH GRACE!

The grace robbing religionists preach and teach...the that God's Grace is limited by their GRACE-BUTTING. Their grace-butters-gospel is a shame-and-blame game that leaves people guilt-ridden, brow-beaten and veils the Amazing Grace of our Loving Lord, stifling its empowerment, due to their tradition of taking the Old Covenant system and moving it to this side of the cross and mixing it with grace and calling it the gospel.

The Grace Haters teach that too much Grace is considered to be dangerous and is referred to it as false Grace or grace-gone-a-muck. One famous writer that the religionists revere as the man who has all the right perspective on Grace has written a book entitled "Hyper Grace"...meaning that Grace has run-a-muck...that some religionists follow who has the last word on Grace by believing him to be a direct pipeline from God to the grace-butters and grace-plusers, and has all the enlightenment from God regarding and revere him as God's Grace expert.

If we can have too much Grace then we can have too much Jesus!

Gary Deddo puts it this way.

"How does the Bible actually define grace? Answer: Jesus Christ himself is God’s grace to us. Paul’s benediction that ends 2 Corinthians refers to “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace is what God freely gives us in his incarnate Son, who in turn, graciously communicates to us God’s love and restores us to fellowship with God. What Jesus does towards us reveals to us the nature and character of the Father and the Holy Spirit. Scripture tells us that Jesus bears the stamp of God’s exact character (Hebrews 1:3). It says that “he is the image of the invisible God” and that “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him” (Colossians 1:15, 19). He who has seen him has seen the Father and if we know him we will know the Father (John 14:9, 7)."

"Jesus explains that he only does “what he sees his Father doing” (John 5:19). He tells us that only he knows the Father and he alone reveals him (Matthew 11:27). And John tells us that this Word of God, who has existed from the beginning with God, took on a human existence and has shown us “the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” While “the law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” In fact, “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” And this Son who has existed in the heart of God from all eternity “has made him known” (John 1:14-18)."

"Jesus is God’s grace to us—revealing in word and in action that God himself is full of grace. Grace isn’t just one of the things God happens to do every now and then. Grace is who God is. God gives us his grace out of his own nature, the exact same character we meet in Jesus. He does not give out of a dependence upon us, nor does he give because we somehow obligate him to extend his good gifts to us. God gives grace because he has a giving nature. That means that God gives us his grace in Jesus Christ, freely. Paul calls grace a free gift from God in his letter to the Romans (5:15-17; 6:23 NRSV). And in his letter to the Ephesians he memorably declared: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NRSV)." (End quote)

All that God gives us He gives freely out of his own goodness, out of his desire to do good to all that is less than and other than himself. God’s blessings are acts of grace that have their source in God’s goodness and free giving nature. God continues to give freely of His goodness even when it meets up with resistance, rebellion and disobedience from His Grace-robbers. In response to sin, He freely gives His forgiveness and reconciliation in and through His Son’s atonement. God, who is light and in whom is no darkness, gives Himself to people freely through Jesus, by His Spirit, so that we might have abundant life (1 John 1:5; John 10:10).

Grace by its very essence is hyper...extreme? That’s because right along with God's unfailing Love there is NOWHERE Grace cannot reach. Grace is limitless and boundless because it is the empowerment of Jesus Christ, in fact Grace IS Jesus Christ. Yet somehow some religionists believe their job is to keep “people in line", often by instilling within them the fear that “falling from grace” is not to keep the religious rules and regulations and to depart form their interpretation of Grace, thus becoming unacceptable to God.

But according to Galatians 5:4 it is those who disbelieve Christ’s finished work on the cross by striving to obtain a relationship with God by doing the do's and not doing the don'ts of the Law and believing Grace has limits and boundaries are the ones that have fallen from grace. The religionist leaders who have “bewitched” them (Gal. 3:1-3) into a shame based performance gospel, have become stumbling blocks to those who would follow Christ with child-like trust.

The irony of such teaching is that the guilt and shame engendered by the mixed Gospel of Grace-plus-works, veils the power of Grace that would enable them to keep them from falling. Fear never empowers a person to live righteously. Love is the motivator that moves us to please the One who has made us righteous.

How sad that one can think one is serving Christ while robbing God’s children of the freedom Jesus died for. It happened in Paul's day as well. He wrote the church in Galatia that false brethren had infiltrated their ranks to spy on the freedom they had in Christ and bring them back into slavery under the Law.

True followers of Christ know Him by the Spirit of Truth who reveals God to them, not by the ideologies and man-made doctrines that religious denominated men have taught them.

I Must Work to be What God Says I Am by Birth?

One of the Brazilian brothers pointed out to me that when Adam and Eve were tempted to be like God, they were already in the image of God.  In a like manner, Christ was tempted in the wilderness to prove that He was God, when in fact He was already God.  And so it is with us; the enemy will continue to tempt us to work to become what we already are.  Once we succumb to this temptation, we cast aside faith, along with walking as who God says we are, and give in to unbelief.

…The enemy will rarely give up on his attempts to brainwash the Christian.  He never wants us to realize who we are in Christ, for in so doing we will take an offensive position against him, entering into the battle to take from him those whom he has worked so hard to hold captive.  The truth is that believers never have to live a carnal life or place their will under his power; we can choose to abide in Christ.

In every walk of life the most critical issue for everyone is to determine what family, what team, what group we are a part of.  Once that is settled, we learn the colors, the sounds, the looks, the “plays,” the position we are to play.  When we learn that we are on the winning team, we begin to act like winners.  Michael dispels the enemy’s lie he keeps pounding man with: don’t believe and succumb to his tempting us to become what we already are…LIVE like the victor and over-comer we ARE due to being a part of the family of God.

And Michael gives us the key to living like who we really are: KNOW who we really are in Christ, and TAKE the offensive position against the enemy…instead of casting aside faith and walking as who God says we are, giving in to unbelief. 

It’s a choice, isn't it?

Blood that Possesses its Own Life

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” --John 6:53-56

I was thinking how the heart must pump the blood to the lungs in order for the blood to carry oxygen throughout the body and keep it alive. The life is in the blood, and that life is oxygen. Giving someone mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is restoring his life. It makes sense that God breathed life into man and man became a living soul. The breath of God, coming from outside man, is the life. In fact, all of creation is receiving life from God moment by moment. He is all around us. What if we had blood that had its own oxygen and did not need an outside source? Then we could live without breathing! In a spiritual sense this is exactly what we have, the blood of Jesus that possesses life in itself, not requiring an outside source of life like our blood does. The blood of Christ will allow our spirit and soul to go on living when the body is destroyed and the world as a source is gone.

Think about it…God just simply breathed life into man and man became a living soul.  And there became a man.  Before that, there was no man.  That is more than our simple minds can really comprehend.  But, it is significant that life came from the breath of God.

And God put that life into our blood, which with the heart God gave us He designed that we would pump that life throughout our body.  Now we breathe in life from without (life that God gives to creation moment by moment), and God distributes it throughout our body by the organs He designed.  Amazing!

What is more amazing is the spiritual life that God gives us through the blood of Christ!  Eternal life.  Everlasting life.  Nothing can take that life from us…ever.  And it doesn’t take this world to be the source.  Well, amen!

Jesus Did Not Teach Ethical Behaviour

Paul teaches that love is not rude (1 Corinthians 13:4–5). If we forget that the New Testament is about the new life given us in Jesus Christ, we easily misinterpret this passage to be an ethical injunction. We read it saying, “Thou shall not be rude.” So in sincere obedience we set about doing our best to avoid being rude. We will tend to feel good about ourselves when we are avoiding rudeness, and we will feel bad about ourselves when we find we are rude.

Of course, it is not always easy to differentiate between having healthy personal boundaries that sometimes tell people to go away, on the one hand, and actual rudeness, on the other. So to fulfill this ethical mandate, we may have to think and debate on what exactly constitutes rudeness and the specific conditions under which a behavior might look rude but not actually be rude. If there are situations in which people disagree, we might find ourselves putting ourselves on one side of the debate or the other. Indeed, if it is important enough to us, our posturing could result in factions of
Christians arguing with one another – often very rudely!

Now we must notice in this scenario that we are entirely focused on our behavior, centered on ourselves, and living out of our knowledge of good and evil. We’re living out of her heads, filtering everything through what we think we know about rudeness. Most significantly, we have entirely missed the point of Paul’s teaching. For Paul’s point was not that we should try hard to avoid rudeness but that we must live in love. If you are living out of the love of God, you won’t be rude. Indeed you will fulfill all the law. Conversely, you can strive to obey 100 rules you've created to defined rudeness in particular situations but be completely devoid of love.

Paul’s purpose was not to get us to act different; his goal was to help us be different. And telling us love is not rude, for example, Paul was giving us a flag to help us notice when we are acting out of love and when we are not — that is, when we are acting out of the old self and when we are acting out of the new. Paul’s behavioral injunctions are not things we are supposed to strive to perform, nor are they new universal ethical rules by which we are to try to motivate all people to live. They are evidences that disciples are participating in the abundant life Jesus came to give.

Jesus did the same thing throughout his ministry. He was not calling people to a new ethical system; he was calling people to life. When someone wanted him to settle an inheritance dispute with a brother, for instance, he responded, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” (Luke 12:14). He was telling the man that he did not come to give definitive answers to our many difficult ethical questions. He rather came to offer an alternative way of living to all ethical systems. Hence, he simply reminded the man that “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). Jesus was offering this man, and all people, real life. Life from God. Possessing such life would not resolve this man’s ethical dilemma, but it would put it into a new perspective.

The New Testament is not about ethical behavior; it’s about a radical new way of living. It’s about a life lived in surrendered Union to God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is about experiencing the transforming power of God’s love flowing into and through a person. It demands a form of holiness that is far more exacting then any ethical system. It demands a holiness of the heart that does not feed the fall himself by distancing itself from sinners but rather sacrifice is itself to unite with sinners.
This kind of holiness can never be achieved through behavior. It has to be received by grace. Jesus is ministry and the whole New Testament undermine our ethics in order to position us to humbly receive this empowering and life transforming grace.


—Adapted from Repenting of Religion, pages 93-96.

The Ministry of Death?

Many religionists believe that believers on this side of the cross believe we are under the Mosaic Law and obligated to obey to the commands and demands  and the do's and don'ts contained therein as the measuring stick for spirituality?

In so doing they believe and operate under the "Ministry of Death"? Should that be the case? I assume that ALL religionists would say they do not live under such a ministry.

What was God's purpose in giving the Mosaic Law to the Jewish people?

Well if religionists believe the bible as they say they do, then there is no choice but to believe that the purpose of the Law was to bring people to the knowledge of sin and make people aware of their inability to conquer sin. The bible says in Romans 3:20, “Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” Did not Paul say, “For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” Religionists need to accept the plain truth of the bible in that the purpose for the Law was not to keep it to prove people's relationship with God or to gain His favor...No...it was to point out people's inability to keep it and point them to Jesus. In Galatians 3:24 is says, “the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.” Later in the next verse it says, “But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”

According to 2 Cor. 3:7-9 the Law is "The Ministry of Death" But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?  For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

In the post-cross era, we are administers of the new covenant! Not of the old covenant,(which was never meant for any people other than the Jewish people). That freeing revelation cannot be understood, but by God's Grace, therefore, if you are a Grace-Butter or a Grace-Pluser you will never understand that Jesus fulfilled the Law...the "Ministry of Death"!

Anytime you try to earn, deserve, or merit something as a Christian by keeping the Law, you are putting yourself back under that old system and fall from grace. That is what the system of the Law is; it is all about you earning favor with God, you deserving it, you meriting it. The old system pointed to you…doing the do's and not doing the don'ts. The Old covenant is also known in verse 9 as “the ministry of condemnation.” The Law condemns you because you cannot in and of yourself keep it...in doing that it has done its purpose.

Let me ask you a question, what other laws were written and engraved on stone? NONE but the Ten Commandments.

I can almost hear a religionist say; "Regular you are a blasphemer! I would have you know that the Ten Commandments are God’s holy laws. How dare you call them the ministry of death? The "Ministry of Death" Laws refers exclusively to the “ceremonial laws” of Moses, such as the animal sacrifices. Therefore, while we may no longer be bound to the ceremonial laws because of Christ, we are still under the “moral laws” or the Ten Commandments."

However, nothing could be further from the truth because the ceremonial laws were never “written and engraved on stone.” They were written on parchment. Only the Ten Commandments were “written and engraved on stone.” Therefore, only the 10 Commandments could have been the "Ministry of Death."

While the Commandments are holy, just, and good, they have NO ability to make a person holy, just, and good. My religious friend, when you try to keep the the Law, you are condemned, guilty and shamed because of the blame religion puts on you for breaking something you could not keep.

Does this give people free reign to defy the 10 commandments? No, of course not! Sin is still sin but, it is God's Grace and Love that gives us the ability live above sin, not our striving to keep the Law. Joseph was not obeying the Law not to commit adultery, the Law was not given for some four hundred plus years later. It was his love and respect for God that He told the woman “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9). So for those who say we must keep the law to keep people from sin, we need to remember Joseph. He recognized that God was with him, and because he knew this, he was able to deny sin. The law is about living from the outside in, Grace is about living from the inside out.

The commandments served its purpose to bring people to Christ. Religionists have been deceived and are deceiving people into believing the deception that maintaining a relationship with God is all about people doing the do's and don'ts of the Law, it is NOT, it’s all about JESUS who has fulfilled the Law!

So, your are free to stop trying to earn God’s love and favor by your doing, and put your trust in what Jesus has done!

- Glenn Regular

Satan Has Not Been Stripped of His Power

…Once Christ as our life is accepted by faith, we will begin to take an offensive position against the enemy, refusing the lie that he has more power than we do in Christ, and exercising the release of the life within us that has already defeated Satan at every turn.

In conjunction with this deception, many are told that when there is something in their lives they cannot overcome, they should seek the Lord to see if there might be some type of demon dwelling within them.  Though there is no scriptural basis for a demon’s inhabiting a believer, this will be taught with fierceness because of what has been seen or heard…

Again, the issue is to find what works in terms of being conducive to a victorious Christian walk…when problems recur, these believers are then told they didn't struggle hard enough to keep the demons out, which avoids the real issue that the whole process did not work…

If Satan can possess Christians as easily as many report, isn't it reasonable to assume he could wreak much more havoc than we now see?...Why does Satan not do such things, given his nature?  The answer must be quite simple: he cannot!  But he can lie and deceive and make Christians waste time casting demons out of one another, not standing against him with heavenly power to accomplish the work of the Kingdom.

…Church history does not bear out that casting demons out of Christians was ever a solution to defeat.  It does, however, bear out that the enemy has continually introduced one-time solutions into the Church, all calculated to keep our eyes off of Jesus.  If demons are so much the problem, why is it that Paul and the other writers of the New Testament neglected to come right out and tell us so?...

This is not to say that a Christian cannot be oppressed; we know that does occur.  And all too often what the enemy uses to harass the believer are particular manifestations of the flesh; these, as we have already mentioned, are removed by taking up the cross daily, which will cut the ground out from under the enemy and free us from his influence…

If Christ in you cannot keep demons from dwelling in you, what chance do you have of keeping them out?  Victory belongs not to those who try to generate power over the enemy, but to those who receive Christ’s power.

So, what’s the problem?  Why is it so many Christians believe the lie?   Because lies are manufactured to satisfy the emotions.  Too many are too quick to believe their lying emotions rather than God’s Truth.  The Truth is invariable.  Unless one is prepared to stand and not compromise, they should never fool around with the Truth.  That is the Victory Michael gives us in his last sentence: 

“Victory belongs not to those who try to generate power over the enemy, but to those who receive Christ’s power.”  Amen!  So much for Lie #1.

To Speak Words that Bring Life

I was having a tough day. Not one of those terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days. Just a tough day. A trying day. A long day. Mostly that—a long day.

A friend stepped into my office for just a couple of moments and we spoke about a ministry that concerns us both. I guess she detected something, because a few minutes later she reappeared. All she said was this: “Tim, do not grow weary in doing good.” And then she was gone.
Simple words, but well-timed words. Simple words, but words that carried divine power and authority. I took her words not as advice from a friend, but as instruction and assurance from God. They are, after all, a direct quote from Galatians 6. To me they said, “Yes, it has been a long and trying day. But don’t stop now, because there is still good to be done. You can do it.” Just like that, the words gave me a second wind.

I thought of her words recently while I read a commentary by John Stott. Stott comments on similar well-timed words spoken centuries earlier. These words came to the apostle Paul at a time where he was not just having a long and difficult day, but an agonizing and excruciating season. Here is how
Stott describes it:

At one stage in his life he was terribly burdened. He was worried to death over the Corinthian church and in particular about their reaction to a rather severe letter which he had written to them. His mind could not rest, so great was his suspense. ‘We were afflicted at every turn’, he wrote, ‘—fighting without and fear within.’ Then he continued: ‘But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus’ (2 Cor. 7:5, 6). God’s comfort was not given to Paul through his private prayer and waiting upon the Lord, but through the companionship of a friend and through the good news which he brought.

It is the Christian’s great honor and privilege—to speak words that bring life, to speak words that come from the giver of life. Who needs to hear God’s words through you today?

Our Battle is NOT with ISIS or any other "Enemy"

There’s an old African proverb that says, “When Elephants fight, the grass suffers.” It expresses the important truth that when agents who have a domain of authority go awry, everything under their authority suffers.

The “principalities and the powers” were given tremendous authority over creation. In western Christian culture, these non-human agents are usually called “angels,” though the Bible refers to them also as “gods,” “spirits,” “principalities,” “ powers,” “dominions”, “authorities,” “rulers,” “elemental spirits” and “demons.”   These titles reflect different categories of spirit-agents who exercise different levels of “say-so” over creation, society and individuals.. As he did with humans, but on a much larger scale, God empowered these gods to use their “say-so” to administrate his providence throughout the cosmos. Unfortunately, some of these angelic beings chose to instead rebel against God and use their “say-so” at cross-purposes with his will. As a result, all they have authority over suffers, like grass under the feet of elephants.

The earth apparently could have been spared these negative consequences, for humans were given authority over this land and were commissioned to guard it. When we failed in this task, however, the floodgates were opened and the earth and human society was brought under the corruption of these evil, destructive forces.

Perhaps because it upsets our western vacation mindset, or perhaps because our secular outlook has trouble taking things like Satan, angels and demons seriously, American Christians tend to minimize the New Testament’s remarkable teaching about the scope and intensity of Satan’s domination of our planet. If we’re serious about following Jesus, this has got to change.

For starters, consider that Jesus three times refers to Satan as “the ruler” of this world (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11. The term “ruler” (archôn) was used in the first century to denote the highest official in a city or region. In using this term, therefore, Jesus is conceding that Satan is the highest authority over the present world! Paul says the same thing when he refers to Satan as “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4) and “the ruler of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). Jesus and Paul of course believe that God ultimately has far more authority than Satan or any other created Power, which is why both are confident that God will win in the end. But in our present fallen cosmos, both concur that Satan exercises the most influence on what comes to pass.

John makes an even more stunning claim about Satan’s influence when he says “the whole world is under the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19, emphasis added). If the whole world is under his power, it’s not surprising that Jesus grants Satan’s claim to own and have power over all the kingdoms of the world (Lk 4:5-6). John elsewhere reiterates this truth when he symbolically portrays all governments as belonging to Satan (Rev. 11:15; 13 xxx?) and depicts Satan as possessing the power to deceive all nations.

If you’ve ever wondered why political regimes throughout history have proven incapable of providing lasting solutions to social and global problems or why governments inevitably gravitate toward corruption and violence, we submit that you’ve just found your answer. If Satan is indeed the functioning C.E.O. of all worldly governments, we ought not to be surprised at this.
The remarkable authority of Satan and his rebellious reign is indicated in a number of other ways as well. For example, Satan and his evil regime is depicted as involved in all spiritual blindness (2 Cor 4:4), hindrances in ministry and evangelism (I Thess 2:18), delays in prayer (Dan 10:1-13) and the behavior of certain evil people (Jn 13:2), This rebellious regime is also behind temptation and discouragement (I Tim 3:7; 2 Tim 2:25-26), lies that form “strongholds” in people’s minds (2 Cor 10:3-5), unforgiveness (Eph. 4:26), all spiritual struggles (Eph. 6:12), false and legalistic religious teachings (I Tim 4:1-4) as well as persecutions (Rev. 2:10).

In short, the impression we’re given is that Satan’s corrupting regime is spread throughout the earth and is continually at work to influence us in sinful and destructive ways. Through his expansive rebellious kingdom, Satan is an ever-present thief who continually tries to kill, steal and destroy all the good God wants for us (Jn. 10:10). Or, in the words of Peter, he’s an ever-present hungry lion who seizes every opportunity to prey on us ( I Pet. 5:8-9). And in this light, it’s little wonder that Scripture places so much emphasis on the need for believers to be on their guard and prepared to do battle against this foe.


“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12).

Spiritual Terrorism

Is this fear-mongering the Gospel of good news.

“Some of you, God hates you. Some of you, God is sick of you. God is frustrated with you. God is wearied by you. God has suffered long enough with you. He doesn’t think you’re cute. He doesn’t think it’s funny. He doesn’t think your excuse is "meritorious". He doesn’t care if you compare yourself to someone worse than you, He hates them too. God hates, right now, personally, objectively hates some of you.” These are the words of the man pictured above.

Wow, is this man so close to God that He knows the mind and heart of God on the matter? I find it odd that Jesus the express image of God shows Him as loving, compassionate and kind to sinners, while preachers show Him as a hateful retributive terrorizing sadist.

To many religious people love to hate and are known...not for who and what they love...they are known for who and what they hate.

Research shows that religonists are known more for what they hate rather than what they love...what they stand against rather than what they stand for...what they reject rather what they accept. The "sinning sinner" sees religion as egotistical, elite, judgmental, condemning arrogant un-understanding and filled with disdain.

For example, the fear-mongering of an everlasting hell fire inferno of everlasting punishment that religion judges people fit for and condemns people to, is a doctrine that condemns the vast majority of people that God created in love to eternal suffering and damnation rendering Him inventor of the worst terrorism that has ever been perpetrated since the world began.

How do you feel as a believer when your religion causes you anguish, stress, and is immobilizing you spiritually, emotionally and physically do to fear-mongering spiritual terrorism and the vilest act that can ever be perpetrated against humanity to our loving Father God?

The true gospel is a gospel of great comfort for it brings good tidings of great joy and the good news of the greatest comfort...not the bad news that the religious gospel brings with its unending suffering.

The Grace Gospel establishes peace with God, peace of mind, healing for damaged emotions, and joy of living in the here-and-now without the fear of eternal punishment in the here-after..

Spiritual Terrorism can feel like the fires of hell are tormenting your mind and searing your soul even in the here-and-now...a painful living death while you are alive...let alone what is awaiting you in hell's torture chamber! 

If nothing else, the goodness of our loving Father God should prompt you to question the fear-based religious gospel with the unanswered questions that you have regarding such terrorism being attributed to our loving Father God.

Isn't it time we saw God through the eye of Jesus...His express image... and forsake the terrorizing hate-based religion and embrace grace's love-based gospel, and attain the healthy spirituality view of our loving God that Jesus expresses Him as?

God Loves Everyone, Even Grace Haters

“May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure” "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure." (1 Peter 1:2)!

I wonder why so many people who claim to to experience God's Grace are content to murk around in the shallowness at the shore of the Ocean of God's Grace without ever launching out where there is the FULLEST of measure to experience.

Ought we not to rest in the abundance of God’s wonderful grace and the total sufficiency of all His spiritual resources in the greater grace (James 4:6)  of the all-sufficient, inexhaustible and boundless all-sufficient Grace that our loving God has provided for His created people?

For it is Grace that saves us, maintains us, sustains us, endures us, teaches us, empowers us, sanctifies us, justifies us, victory-fie us, and enables us to be effective as His Community of the redeemed in the community of Humanity. We are living in a environment of His ALL-SUFFICIENT-GRACE, this Grace is unlimited-less and more than sufficient for every need.

"Grace Haters"...Grace Plus-ers"..."Grace Butters"..."Grace Confusers"..."Grace Reducers" do not trust God to be able to accomplish His work by the finished work of Christ on the cross without Grace plus their efforts. They are under the illusion that if they do not do something to help God His plan for the Community of Humanity will not be accomplished. It as thought they are more capable than God!

Grace haters...voice your nasty opposition against God's Amazing Grace. Call into question people's salvation because they do not believe the way you believe. Express your animosity by quoting out-of-context Bible verses to validate you interpretation of the Bible and to shoot down any interpretation that is different than yours. Teach that God's Grace is lacking and needs your doing to accomplish God's plan for humanity. Discredit God's compassion, mercy, and love by by your  "butting" and condemning people to eternal suffering. Discredit the character of our Loving Father God that Jesus His express image reveals to us.

Intolerant, belligerent endeavors due to a literal and legalistic interpretation of the Bible and a misunderstanding of God's grace, love and justice will never diminish His Amazing Grace or the Love that Father God has for His children, even the Grace Haters.

To Be (Offended) or Not to Be

So, let's talk about offense.  It's interesting that I will let it keep me from relationship with another.  Yet, I believe as Father showed me that, were that true, in the case of my relationship with Him... well, there simply would be none.  For, if it were true that He harbored offense at my sometimes blatant, and sometimes not so blatant, sin against Him, or perhaps worse, my disregard or my practice of ignoring Him, then relationship with Him would be impossible.  I am impressed with the fact that insomuch as I cradle offenses against me, I am responsible for making relationship (or, at least, fellowship) a sure impossibility.

It causes me to see my need to cry out to Father, all the more.  For it is an impossibility, of my own strength, to merely let go of the offenses.  And, it is my own sin that attempts to self preserve... or to not allow Papa to be my Defender.  For, everywhere that I can not trust Him is only evidence that I do not fully know Him.  It does seem that all sin is born out of either self-interest or self-preservation.  Whichever the case, you see who is clearly at the center: Self.

So, the holding onto offenses, no matter how small or large they be, really is detrimental to me.  It simply serves me not.  And, it is a sign of personal transformation to be able to release another from an offense.  My self does not want to let go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Father, You know that I have asked that You target, with laser point precision, the hurts that I have nursed as though they were my children.  The ones that cause me to push far away.  As I see and understand the depth of Your love for me, I experience deep inner healing from those very hurts.  Thank you that You have seen each and every one and have hurt along with me, and not without greatest of empathy.

The Purpose of the Church

Religion is in the denominational business producing a product that religious marketing Pa-Stars are selling for organizational or personal gain. Christ did not establish the Community of the Redeemed to start a marketing religious business that sells gospel blessing by fleecing the flock of their money.

The social club mentality of church-as-usual in segregated denominated buildings, is the reason religion is one of the greatest enemies of the work of God through a unified Community of the Redeemed in the earth today. As the Community of the Redeemed we are to live in the knowing that Jesus came to eliminate religious segregation, and religious expectations so people can live the freedom of the grace life in and through Jesus Christ.

The purpose of the (Church) the "Community of the Redeemed" as the Community of Faith following Jesus, is to influence the Community of Humanity regarding the Gospel of God's Grace and Love in their daily living of life.

The goal of the Community of the Redeemed is to shine the spotlight on Jesus who initiated a relational relationship by incarnating Himself in people making them His Community of the Redeemed freeing them from religious bondage to live the grace life as His loved children, loving the across-the-path people they meet in daily living.

Are You Walking in Darkness

In this day’s writing, Michael brings up one of the most interesting aspects of every Christian’s walk with the Lord: the times when He doesn't seem to be anywhere found…silence…as Isaiah says, walking “in darkness and has no light.”  These are days when the sincerity of our trust in God is tested. 

Are You Walking In Darkness?

Who is among you that fears the LORD, that obeys the voice of His servant, that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and among the brands you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand; and you will lie down in torment. --Isaiah 50:10, 11

Often I have described faith as a room we must all enter one day. Upon entering, God turns off the lights, removes the emotions of His presence, allows thoughts to run wild, and permits the enemy to whisper, “If . . . if only you had not sinned, if only you had married someone else, if you had just made better decisions, God would be with you, you would not be in this darkness, and you would have wonderful feelings.” In this room believers struggle to understand what is happening; confusion is magnified if faith has never been rightly explained, for it is in just such a place that faith is developed as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen in our lives. In that darkroom we believers cannot see the Lord, yet we can do something that no angel in heaven that sees Him and believes can do. When we cannot see Him in this room and yet believe, we become very pleasing,for it is said that without faith we cannot please God. It is counterproductive to try to make our own light or attempt to stir up feelings, create an experience, or give in to depression, which is nothing more than anger without the excitement. Like the woman in labor who must not fight against pangs but let the baby come, we need not fight the darkroom but rest there and wait. He is coming! The greatness of faith is proven by how long we can wait.“BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so. Amen.” --Revelation 1:7

Michael draws our attention to four things that make this endeavor a “turning-point” challenge:

1. “confusion is magnified if faith has never been rightly explained” – incredibly as important as biblical faith is, it is unbelievable that the vast majority of Christians cannot agree as to what “faith” really is.  Real biblical faith is a belief that what God has said in His Word is truth…a belief that has turned into a trust in God that no one or no circumstance can steal away.  Real biblical faith can never be detoured into confusion.  But, Michael gives everyone an absolute: a faulty or deficient definition will ultimately lead to confusion.  As Michael loved to say, “We rise and fall based on our definitions.”

2. “when we cannot see Him in this room and yet believe, we become very pleasing” – this is the essence of what real faith and trust is: believing and trusting without seeing.  Life is full of instances where this kind of faith and trust is challenged.  We pass these tests of our faith when our definition is solid and biblical, and we stand firm trusting God.

3. “it is counterproductive to try and make up our own light…” – taking matters into our own hands when it seems God is nowhere to be found or to be depended upon spells disaster from the start. 

4. “we need not fight the darkroom but rest there and wait…the greatness of faith is proven by how long we can wait” -  rest, wait, trust God to show up…the most difficult challenge for anyone going through a real test.  But what is real biblical faith and trust in God without some “wait”?

All of these point to one thing: we need to ask ourselves just how “great” is our faith, knowing the answer gives us direction as to our trust in God.

The Deeper Work of the Enemy

Even though Satan is a defeated foe, God has allowed him the ability to impact a Christian’s life through his vast array of counterfeit and deceitful measures.  We enter the last chapter of Sidetracked In The Wilderness with Michael introducing to us some of the key tactics used to cause havoc in our lives.  The title Michael gives this concluding chapter is a clear warning to alert us to the subtlety that can catch us off-guard.

As we begin to live out our life in Christ, experiencing the deeper walk that abiding in Him yields, the works of the enemy correspondingly intensify.  No longer will he use the obvious and overt (lust, gossip, slander, and all worldly desire) to turn us away from Christ, but rather sly new attacks which consist of well-placed lies (99% truth) to thwart the production of so much fruit.

…I have frequently watched him unleash everything at his disposal to drive a brother or sister back to the state of saving self, denying the cross, and unbelief in order to keep that one from abiding in the truth…A person moving in a falsehood that will not bring deliverance will be greatly encouraged by Satan along the way.  Those who are on the path of do’s (seeking God’s acceptance by performance) will likewise be urged along, while those on the path of believing will find many obstacles.

…Satan’s tactic is to either have us disregard him, treating him as though he does not exist…or be consumed with fighting against him…  We must see that Satan is alive and very active, our adversary (1 Peter 5:8) against whom we battle, with his many schemes (Ephesians 6:11) and snares (2 Timothy 2:26), and we must all take heed lest we fall

(1 Corinthians 10:12).

Satan is, of course, a great liar – the father of lies (John 8:44).  We will now turn our attention to some of his most significant lies, which are most subtle and therefore most dangerous.

Why, we might ask, has God allowed Satan the power to be so cunning and deceitful in Christians’ lives…when he is a defeated foe?  One answer has to be this: God is allowing a test of our faith to show whether we will be strong in our trust of Him, or succumb to the deceit of our defeated foe.  Some of that is relative to just how much “faith” do we have…how much truth have we gotten that we completely trust God to do what He says He will do?  The more trust in God, the less possible deceit we can, or will, succumb to.

One foundational truth we should always operate from is what Michael mentions at the close: “Satan is, of course, a great liar – the father of lies (John 8:44).”  There, God has given us a heads-up…beware…the Liar will always be coming at us with Lies, Deceit, and Counterfeits.  We have most of the battle won when we are prepared with Truth BEFORE the Liar shows up!  Think about it…what lie could the Liar bring our way to deceive us as Born Again Believers that there is “more than one way to get to Heaven”?

Think long on those three statements in the 2^nd paragraph above from SIW…  In each case, the believer has GIVEN the enemy ground to operate on and to bring more lies, more deceit, more counterfeit to further keep that one from abiding in the Truth.  He can’t make us do anything, but he can deceive us far away from the freedom and victory that Truth gives us (John 8:32, 36).

God is Good ...........All the Time

God does not reward you according to YOUR GOODNESS or GOOD DEEDS.

God does not reward you according to YOUR REBELLION or YOUR BAD DEEDS.

God rewards you according to HIS GOODNESS, HIS LOVE and HIS Grace.

Therefore, because:

God's Goodness is good.
God's Love is limitless.
God's Grace is measureless.
God's Power knows no boundaries.
God's Mercies fail not.

Therefore, how can there be a hell torture chamber of eternal punishment where people, God created, loves and died for burn forever and forever in a living state, when hell is no boundary for God's goodness, love, grace, power, and mercy!

- Glenn Regular

Busyness is Not Godliness

The busyness of religion creates an “outward doing” oriented people obsessed with their inner fears and perpetual anxieties as they try to achieve an enviable status of spiritually elitism to gain the recognition the religious elite, rather than creating an “inward being" people, reflecting and projecting humbleness, peace and love, doing their doing because of Jesus working in and through them, the true characteristics of of a spiritual relationship with God.

Behind the busyness of religious activity is the assumption that a person's doing determines who a person is as well as their spiritually. The busyness of doing religion, if only an outward expression to maintain spirituality without the qualities of being in Christ manifested in them will not produce spiritual maturity, rather it  is an expressionless endeavor of self-effort to boost egoistic superiority and to look good religiously.

Because a person works harder and longer at religious activity does not mean they are spiritually activated, it may mean they are spiritually depleted and their religious busyness defines their spiritual deplete-less-ness.

It has been said that “Busyness is not of the devil; busyness is the devil.” Why? because it robs you from resting and trusting in God where His doing through you is your doing because of the relational journey you are on with Him.

Religious busyness can be a matter of presumption and pride. “If I don’t do it, it won’t get done because people are not committed to the church.” I am doing this for the pastor, and obedience is better than sacrifice.”

Before we do what we do, we need to rest in what God has done and is doing. We need to understand that the work we do only has lasting meaning and benefit when it fits in with what God is already doing regarding His purpose for the Community of the Redeemed and His plan for the Community of Humanity.

When we finally acknowledge the measly contribution to spirituality all our religious busyness is, when we recognize the spiritually laziness of religious busyness keeps us from hearing, obeying and understanding God and His gospel of grace, when it becomes clear that religious busyness feeds our pride, reveals our desire to be in control and receive religious brownie points, we need to come to Jesus and let Him to do His great work of…SETTING US FREE, from the busyness of religion to rest in His finished work,  where He is doing His work through us and His doing becomes our doing.


- Glenn Regular

Hide from the Wrath of God

Much of the modern church environment is paralyzed by the ungodly spirit of "FEAR" and it shows in the religionist alarmists, the defeatists verbalization they use to describe the world happenings and the impending doom they predict is about to be come upon people.

It is preached over church pulpits, talked about in church pews and lobbies, religious media output is articulating it. You see it in their facial expressions, in their judgmental and condemning quivering voices as they slam the bible on their pulpits. It dominates the Facebook and blog rants of the of the religious fear-mongers.

To these fear-mongering mongers everything is now a threat...Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau, Barack Obama, illegal immigrants, Arabs, Gays, the Government and Muslims and even Grace living believers.

According to the chicken-little fear-monger's mongering fear tactics “The Sky Is Falling In”. The gloom and doom say-ers have more faith in Islamic power to bring destruction and chaos and give rise to “the antichrist” than in God’s power of love and grace.

Parroting the religionized media outlets, the religious polarized talk show hosts and re-posting on Facebook the latest terrible acts making the news reports. People perpetuate the religionists Christian narrative of gloom and doom and the impending wrath of God in destructive destruction and they make it very clear that eternal hell awaits the vast majority of the people of the world.

One religionist's comment made on a comment made to a Facebook post says; "Seeing you are supporting what the ISIS is doing because Christians did it as well , the quicker your turn comes the better." Meaning that the faster the person faces the ISIS wrath, the better.

Though the religionists loudly, repeatedly, and confidently proclaim Christ as Lord, in reality they no longer trust that  God has any real power, any true control, and inherent god-ness. They seem to have rendered God to a insignificant Deity, who doesn’t seem to have as much power to shower good on people as the devil has to shower evil upon mankind. Then again, they believe that God is the one showering wrath and evil!

Dig beneath the pious “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” shouted bible verse, and the shouting that “the antichrist is about to appear” bullhorn warnings, and you can see that they are as naked as a jailbird spiritually, they have more trust in evil overtaking people than God's goodness overtaking them.

All that pious, warfare spiritual talk is a gumming tiger dressed-up as religion. The truth is, Fear is religion's false God and according to their spouting, one they worship with complete and undying devotion.

The symptoms of Fear Idolatry are pretty easy to spot. When you’re not sure that God is there or that He’ll really come through, you start to spend most of your time defending Him when He is not around. You become a self-appointed mouth-piece for Truth, whose mission is to do the holy work of a "doctrinal cop" policing the world, (just in case God can’t or won’t make things right). You  turn all of your attention to the things in other people that you’re certain really pisses God off, and you make it your sacred business to modify their behavior in the name of Jesus and if they do not modify their behavior you condemn them to eternal punishment in hell.

Such religious rhetoric indicates they know not how big and powerful our loving Father God is.

If God is who He says He is; if He is a God worth worshiping at all, then I have no right to be taking things into my own hands or be lost in hopelessness. Pessimism is not an option. Giving-in to the gloom and doomers simply will not do. Why? Because God is:

Greater than sin...

Greater than the economy...

Greater than the governments...

Greater than the Obama's of the world...

Greater than religious fear-mongering...

Greater than natural disasters...

Greater than stock market crashes...

Greater than job losses and downturns...

Greater than the judgmental and condemning people on Facebook...

Greater than the mess that you and I create that we find ourselves in...

God’s GRACE and LOVE is GREATER than it ALL!

So, do not despair or worry when they tell you that the sky is falling and the anti-Christ is about to appear, either they don't know or need to be reminded…Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:27-31)

People, the sky is not falling in, because our loving Father God is holding up the sky.

The gloomers and doomers...as in the past...will slink away with their tail between their legs and their heads hung in shame for such a shallow view of our ALL POWERFUL GOD and the POWER of HIS NEVER FAILING COMPASSION, LOVE AND GRACE!

Things are going to work out, His plan for humanity will prevail despite the gloom and doom of the fear-mongers.

In the words of God Himself..."BE NOT AFRAID." He has all the bases covered

Swimming Treacherous Waters

As most the religious world splashes and flounders around in the treacherous waters of man-made doctrine, man-made theology, denominated segregation, clerical liturgy, and smothering the laity by manipulation, control and fear-mongering preaching of judgement and condemnation... the Community of Humanity is in need of hearing the voice of good news that was heralded at the birth of the Peace Bringer...Jesus at whose birth the angles declared ..."Peace on earth, goodwill toward men."

There is only one Gospel...one good news...and it is this;

"For God so LOVED the people of the world He gave His One and Only Son..."

God LOVES you, He is not out to get you and send you to hell because you have done wrong, He came to forgive you...and He DID! Why not walk in His forgiveness and love as the LOVED child of God you are.

That is the GOOD NEWS of the GOSPEL!

- Glenn Regular

Why are you still Wandering around in a Spiritual Wilderness

What had to happen before Joshua could lead the children of Israel into their promised inheritance?

Moses had to die. Then and only then was Joshua free to bring the children of Israel into the promise land.

It is important for us to understand something here regarding the Post Covenant Promise. What had to happen...for us on this side of the cross to fully enter into the workings of the New Covenant Promise?

Jesus had to die and rise from death. True, Jesus died and rose from the grave. Still the vast majority has not entered into the Post Covenant Promise...why...there something else that has to happen before we can move into the fulfillment of the finished work of Christ. Before one can live in the freedom of the Grace Gospel the Law Covenant that is imprinted on one's heart that one live by...must die. Only then will the Spirit of Truth get through to you regarding your promised inheritance regarding the freedom of Grace and only then will the mind set obeying God to receive salvation or maintain your relationship with God. Until the mind set of having to do the do's and not do the don'ts in order to gain God's favor, you will never fully understand the work of Christ on the cross or the fulness of His Grace.

Paul was the master of the law in his religion before following Christ. What did Paul call the Law once He became a follower of Jesus..."a ministry of death and condemnation."

When you subject yourself to the Law...the consciousness of what you have to so or not do for God ( how much time you spend, witnessing, Sunday-meeting-going, bible reading, praying or doing to serve God...one actually CONDEMNS them-self to DEATH! That was the whole function of the Law.

According to Matt. 5:17, Jesus came to fulfill the Law and fulfill it He did. that means the old way of doing things had come to a stop because the entire law was "declared null and void" because without sacrifices there was no basis for the Law to continue in effect. This all happened because of the finished work of the FINAL sacrifice of Jesus who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus took the Law and nailed it to the cross and it DIED!

Now the good news of the removal of the Law with all its do's and don'ts to gain God's favor but, there is more good news.

You know that all the shame, blame guilt and condemnation you hear over the pulpits that will come upon you if you fail to obey the religious laws, rituals and regulations, don't believe it, it is a lie. Not only was the Law filled by Jesus and removed, but...and this should cause you to do a spiritual dance...in Christ we are REDEEMED from it's CURSES and CROWNED with all BLESSINGS!

Freedom to Fail

The only way out of failure is faith.  We do not wallow in self-pity and guilt, but we allow failure to bring us to a place of true dependence, which will bring maximum productivity as Christ lives His life through us.  Regrets are for unbelievers, not for those who walk in Christ’s righteousness.

…we must understand the character of God…His very nature is compassion.  The repentant man, no matter how far he has fallen, can count on God’s hearing him and being overcome by His own compassion!

Israel was warned that if she forgot the Lord and worshiped idols she would be destroyed, but if when in distress from that behavior she would seek the Lord, then God would hear her…We are free to fail because God is a God of compassion; over sixty times in the Old Testament is He described thus.

…One thing we see over and over again is what I call God’s Compassion Cycle.  That is, whenever we are punished by God, our resulting suffering stirs His compassion, so He brings us back again to Himself…

What is your excuse for wallowing?  To what end or benefit do you continue to punish yourself because of unbelief after you have sinned?  God is compassionate, whether you believe it or not.  His character is not dependent upon what you believe or feel, but on what He says…Have you learned to lean on the compassion of God, or do your lying emotions tell you God does not hear and show compassion?

God continued to forgive and restore Israel even though He knew that they would continue to fail and not keep their promises to Him.  It is the compassion of God that has brought all of us thus far…

…When we walk in compassion, we are free to fail, our love covers a multitude of our sins, and our mercy delivers us from judgment…

Wow!  How beautiful is all this?  Absolutely gorgeous!

Michael has much more in the way of illustrations, particularly of God’s work in the life of Israel in the OT, on these three pages.  I hope you have one of the books from ALMI and are working through the life-changing truths from He Who IS the Truth.

Let me see…I think I can summarize this with all simplicity:

We all will fail God.

We need to repent and return to God.

God is full of compassion and will forgive us and restore us.

When we walk in compassion, we are free to fail.

We who know the compassion of the Lord must show the same to others.

Compassion readily forgives.

That seems to bring me to the following questions:

Do I wallow in my failures?  Do I punish myself for unbelief?

OR…am I repentant and turn to God?

Am I learning to live a life of true dependence on God?

Simplicity Takes Faith

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. --I John 4:4

At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from {the} wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Thy sight.” --Luke 10:21

Often I hear this type of comment: “That is a simplification.” “The answer is too simple.” “You are taking a simplistic approach to a complex problem!” I hope that I am! I want to be simple, for all that Jesus taught concerning life was simple. In fact, He took the complex and made it simple, and yet believers are the first to shout foul, shallow, and unlearned when the Christian life is made out to be simple. Why? Simplicity takes faith, while an unbelieving, fleshly approach to life demands understanding. If man can maintain the idol of understanding, he can maintain unbelief, since there will always be the need for one more indisputable fact before action is taken. This is why there is no end to the pursuit of knowledge for the unbelieving believer, who never intends to act. If knowledge were obtained, action would be demanded.

When we minister to discouraged believers, the answer needed is simple. However, a simple answer requires faith, which is just what the defeated are missing. Therefore, it is important to make understanding a starting point, not the end of discipling, to bring believers to faith. No matter how eloquently the information is presented, the whole issue will rest on faith. If the element of faith is removed from what is being taught, then Christ Himself is removed. We believe and we act. The secret is that when we are unbelieving, we can ask Jesus to help us in our unbelief, and at that point all the forces of heaven and earth will back us and push us forward in a believing life.

One of the most staggering points Michael makes is that UNBELIEVING BELIEVERS never intend to act…only to pursue more knowledge.  “Maintaining the idol of understanding”…that’s a new thought for a lot of Christians to ponder.  We stress Bible study and discipleship without making known that without faith and action following we have created a monster…a teaching that has removed Christ Himself from its heart.

The beauty of Christianity is that it is all so very simple.  Jesus’ words in Luke 10:21 proclaim His love for the Father’s making it so simple that the “wise of the world” would miss it.  It is below their level of academia.  But, He also loved that to “babes” it is revealed.  Amen!

“We believe and we act.”  Truer words were never spoken.  We do act upon what we believe.  As Michael states, “If knowledge were obtained, action would be demanded.”  So, this day’s writing makes it clear to me that I need to take a look at what I have learned from God and see whether I am acting upon it.

James made it very clear in his epistle that faith without works is dead.  That should be a startling alarm to all of us to do a “self-check” as to whether we have settled for understanding as the end of our pursuit for discipleship.  Are we acting upon that which we have learned, or not?  Has “Bible study” become our detour or distraction from Christ?  He as much as said such in one instance to a group of “Bible studiers” (John 5:39).

Dealing with Failure

Facing the year without a fear of failure

Are you fighting a fear of failure? Out of a fear of failure many people choose not to try, and others, when they encounter failure, choose to retreat. Failure is in fact the path to growth. The pattern tends to be that: we TRY, we then FAIL (in some way), we then LEARN, and we then GROW. If we avoid failure or retreat when we fail then we never gain the benefit of learning and growing.

Failure isn’t even the issue.  The issue is that we judge ourselves to be a failure when we’re not – we can’t be.  The essence of who you are can never be a failure.  You haven’t failed but you have had an idea, a belief, a technique, fail.  You can learn from this and grow in that area.   When you judge yourself to be a failure you divert yourself from growth to shame.

Separate your worth from the behaviour that has failed.  There is no shame there, only growth.

Problems with the Simple Foreknowledge View

Some have proposed a model of divine foreknowledge which allows them to avoid the dilemma of affirming either that God creates people for the purpose of sending them to hell (Calvinism) or that he creates them without certain knowledge of their fate (open theism). In this alternative view God knows that certain individuals will be damned but cannot on this basis refrain from creating them. This is called “simple foreknowledge,” for it holds that God simply knows what will take place but cannot alter it in the light of this knowledge. The fact that God foreknows what will occur does not increase his control over what occurs.

This view is somewhat different from the classical Arminian position, in which divine foreknowledge was understood to increase God’s control over what transpires without denying human freedom. The original disagreement between Arminius and Calvinistic contemporaries concerned whether God predestines the elect on the basis of his foreknowledge of their faith, as Arminius held, or foreknows the elect on the basis of his having predestined them. The Arminian position presupposes that God acts responsively to his foreknowledge. Thus, he foreknows who will believe and then predestines them.

The simple foreknowledge position denies that God can respond to his foreknowledge in this way, thus avoiding the problem of God creating individuals he knows will go to hell. In this view, God’s act of creating people is not affected by his knowledge of what will become of them. It is as though God possesses “insider information” but must buy and sell as thought he did not. For the same reason, this view does not require divine reason behind every event that occurs. God eternally foreknows each particular evil that will ever take place, but he can do nothing about it.
There are a few problems with this view. First, this and every other version of the Exhaustively Definite Foreknowledge doctrine cannot adequately account for the many passages of Scripture that depict God as facing a partly open future. Indeed, in one respect the simple foreknowledge perspective fares worse than classical Arminianism or Calvinism. Whenever Scripture emphasizes God’s foreknowledge of future events, it is to exalt his sovereign control over what is to come, which is exactly what the open view promotes.

Second, while the simple foreknowledge position avoids some difficulties by denying that God can alter his behavior in response to his knowledge of the future, it invites other difficulties. How can God respond to anything? With all Christians, defenders of simple foreknowledge want to affirm that God sometimes intervenes to bring about events that are more in line with his will. But if God can’t alter the future that he knows is coming, how can he respond to this same future when it becomes present? In the simple foreknowledge view, God must first experience events in the present as though he had no foreknowledge and then foreknow what he experienced and how he responded. In other words, his foreknowledge functions as a sort of “hindsight.”

One might be inclined to pity God if this is his predicament. From all eternity he has seen what is coming—the cosmic war, the horror, the pain, the suffering, the unending plight of the damned. And he can even foresee how he will respond to these tragedies once they occur. But he cannot do anything ahead of time to avoid them. He’s hopelessly locked into an unending vision he can do nothing about.

Third, this understanding of divine foreknowledge is irrelevant. In this view, God’s exhaustive foreknowledge doesn’t make any practical difference for God or for us concerning the flow of history. Everything proceeds as thought God did not possess Exhaustively Definite Foreknowledge. Indeed, if we hold to the pragmatic criterion of truth and insist that a belief must be able to make a conceivable difference in life to be meaningfully affirmed, then simple foreknowledge must be dismissed.

—Adapted from Satan and the Problem of Evil, pages 88-90

The Finished Work of the Cross

The blame and shame game played by religion is a shameful game for people who claim to be believers to play because it doesn't just accuse that people are guilty of DOING wrong, it actually accuses people of of BEING wrong and therefore lower than a snakes belly, not worthy of being loved, respected, deserving of dignity or consideration...unfit sinners not loved by  God, good-for-nothing-nothings and that is a lie of the devil! The finished work of Christ on the cross dispels the lie of religion that says people are "unworthy" and "shameful."  The finished work of Christ on the cross stands as the beacon of people's amazing worth to God, how much He loves people and how deserving people are to be loved, and respected!

The finished work of the  cross says God loves and accepts people even sinning-sinners in the midst of their sin...thus, the cross not only assures us of God's love but puts to death any lies or accusations that people are unworthy, shameful, or rejected..for the finished work of the cross proves people are worth dying for, the finishes work of the cross proves we're not rejected even at our worst, the cross proves Jesus is not ashamed to be counted with the transgressors. And thus the cross forever silences those voices of religious accusations.

The finished work of the cross shows that His love is a unconditional love, a love that does not take into account a wrongs done, a love that keeps no record of wrongs, a love that says of His killers, "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing."

Religion majors on people's wrongs...Grace sees past peoples wrongs to the hurting inner man, so in need of understanding and the tender loving care of his loving Father God.

The finished work of the  cross' clarion call shouts over the aeons of eternity, He created you for Himself and you are His very own offspring... worth His dying for! You are worth His very own life. You are so special and beloved and accepted in His sight that He rather died so as to have a relationship with You. You are in His heart,  His thoughts forever. He is forever on your side, forever for you, and will never leave you or forsake you. He will never turn you away from His presence. You're everything to Him, and He will never let anything keep you from enjoying sweet communion with Him for ever and always, there ain't no devil going to get you"

The finished work of the cross forever stands as proof of God's love and people's value to Him in the face of any accusation or lying voice of religious blame and shame or condemnation...for He says you are worth His dying for, you are loved no matter what wrong you have done, He will never love you any less no matter how often you fail, He's for you, on your side, to do you good, no matter what, forever and always.

Jesus is committed, faithful, His love is unconditional, nonjudgmental, generous, self-sacrificing and people-centered...PURE LOVE! The finished work of the cross is your proof that it is so!

Fall From Grace People

When the full understanding of God's Grace becomes a reality in your living, you will be inundated with  religious rules and regulations of religious people, that Paul names as, "fallen from grace" people.

If there is one thing that riles the wrath of the religionist, it is the far reaching effect of God's amazing grace and love, they can't see God's Grace and Love "reaching to the highest star or to the depth of the lowest hell." They cannot see it as "unconditional." This wrath stirred in them may be due to the lack of God's Grace and Love in their lives, and in the preaching of their perverted gospel of mixed law and grace.

From one side of their mouth they will tell you that God is a God of love and grace...while from the other side of the same mouth they say, BUT...both these statements come from the same heart. A divided heart that speaks both good and evil...if the Spirit of Christ is in that heart...this kind of talk should not happen. The divided heart of the religionist will weep and pray for the sinner to come to the alter for salvation, and in the same breath consign them to hell fire at a future time if they do not.

If you are a grace living believer, never lose sight of the fact that the religious spirit of the religionists ever seeks to bring you into bondage of religious ideologies, notions, rules and traditions that would regulate, control, and dispense God's love and grace only to those they deem worthy...the sinner that they can convince to accept salvation, as they, from their divided heart, heap the wrath of God on the sinner who don't.  You live in a religious world that equates God's "grace and love" with with an act of obedience to the keeping of religious rules...conditional love...while God's love is unconditional. You will always be the target of the grace-plus or the graceless people who, enraged by your acceptance and understanding of God's amazing grace in you, will condemn and accuse you of being a heretic.

But don't fret...Jesus was hated and ultimately crucified by overzealous religious people for being graceful, loving and being a friend of sinners. This kind of opposition from the religious self-righteous assures you of the reality of His life within you.

But don't fret...Jesus was hated and ultimately crucified by overzealous religious people for being graceful, loving and being a friend of sinners. This kind of opposition from the religious self righteous assures you of the reality of His life within you.

Why Did God Allow Evil

Is it possible to force people to love? Powerful people may be able to force others to do just about anything. Through psychological or physical torture, they may succeed in forcing them to curse their own children to deny their faith. They may even succeed in forcing others to act and say loving things to them. But no one can force another person to actually love them.

But God created us, someone might respond, so he need not coerce us to love him. He could simply create us with an unquenchable desire to love him. In this case we would choose to love God simply by virtue of how we were created. I suggest that this supposition also conflicts with our experience.
Consider this analogy: Suppose I were able to invent a computer chip that could interact with a human brain in a deterministic fashion, causing the person who carries the chip to do exactly what the chip dictates without the person knowing this. Suppose further that I programmed the chip to produce “the perfect wife” and inserted it in my wife’s brain while she was sleeping. The next morning she would wake up as my idea of a perfect wife. She would feel, behave and speak in a perfectly loving fashion. Owing to the sophistication of the chip, she would believe that she was voluntarily choosing to love me in this fashion, though in truth she could not do otherwise.

Would my wife genuinely love me? I think not. Proof of this is that I (and hopefully all husbands) would eventually find this “love” unfulfilling. I would know that my wife was not experiencing these loving feelings or engaging in this loving behavior on her own. In reality, I would simply be acting and speaking to myself through this sophisticated computer chip. My wife’s behavior would not be chosen by her, so she would not really be loving me at all. She would become the equivalent of a puppet. If I want love from her, she must personally possess the capacity to choose not to love me.


If God desires a bride made up of people who genuinely love him (see Jn 17)—who do not just act lovingly toward him—he must create people who have the capacity to reject him. He must endow agents with self-determination. They, not he, must determine whether or not they will love him and each other. And this, I submit, explains why God created a world in which evil was possible. If love is the goal, it could not be otherwise. God chose to create a world in which evil is possible only in the sense that he chose to create a world in which love is possible. The possibility of evil is not a second decision God makes; it is implied in the single decision to have a world in which love is possible. It is, in effect, the metaphysical price God must pay if he wants to arrive at a bride who says yes to his triune love.

Think for a Minute

Think for a minute about this question:

If you see a person drowning do you…

1. jump in and save them, no questions asked
2. stop and ask them how they got into that situation in the first place
3. throw them a book that teaches them how to swim
4. chastise them about not knowing how to do the breast stroke

Now apply this to Christianity. If a person is in need of healing, or freedom from whatever, what would you do?

Sadly, many Christians will say salvation is a gift, yet their actions show they believe we all need to earn it. That is similar to a person doing either 2,3, or 4 when they see someone drowning. To a person needing freedom they will say things like:

-“well you can’t get healed until we know how you got in this situation in the first place.”

-OR they say, “come to this course, or go to that seminar first and learn how you can be healed.”

-OR they say, “you should know better! You made your bed so you’ll have to sleep in it now!”

And it’s because of this kind of thinking that many Christians can’t understand why so-and-so (who leads an ungodly lifestyle) got healed, while Mr. Brown (who is the most moral Christian in the church) has been suffering for years.

The difference is: that sinner realizes the gift he’s been given. He is not looking at whether or not he deserves to be healed, he is only concerned with the fact that he just heard that God loves… him and he believes it.

But Mr. Brown has been looking at his own life rather than looking at Jesus. Mr. Brown is ‘stuck,’ like many Christians are, wondering why he hasn’t been healed. He may not realize it, but he is waiting to earn his gift. He has quoted many scriptures on healing (memorized several), fasted and he is a faithful member of his local church. So, why was the sinner healed and not him? Because the sinner believed God, while Mr. Brown believed in his own Christian accomplishments. One received the gift he was given while the other didn’t believe God really wants to give it to him. His own self-righteousness has created his unbelief.

“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law then Christ died needlessly.” (Gal. 2:21)

Pastor Joseph Prince from New Creation Church in Singapore says, “in the New Covenant there is nothing for us to do, but there’s everything for us to believe.”

God made the New Covenant with Himself so it’s impossible that it will be broken. All we need to do is believe that what He did is enough.

God says, “I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.” (Heb.8:12, Heb.10:17, Isaiah 43:25).

In these verses we see that God says He wants us to believe that we are forgiven.

He wants us to keep on counting on His forgiveness.

But more often than not I find that we don’t believe God isn’t dealing with us through our sin. I hear people say things like, “I did ____ and now ____is happening.”

What we are really asking when we say these things is: did God mean what He said? Will He really remember our sin no more?

Yes! He really means what He says. But the enemy knows, once we believe God, he’s (the enemy) in trouble. So, he crafted a clever way to keep us from believing God by using the covenants against us.

Like the first covenant in the garden. God told Adam not to eat of the fruit of one tree. All the other trees he could eat of, but not the one. So, the devil used that one small commandment against Adam and tempted him to disbelieve God.

We also see this happened with the Old Covenant law (see Romans 7).

But the New Covenant is a covenant of grace. In the NC all we need to do is believe that God is merciful and that He remembers our sins no more. God is so confident is this Covenant that He God put a safety mechanism in it. He says He will write His laws on our hearts and put it in our minds (Jer. 31:33). This means you are transformed from the inside out.

When a person is truly counting on their forgiveness, they’ll realize God has given them a new will and new desires. They see it as an assurance that they will never abuse God’s grace. They will never use their forgiveness as a reason to continue in sin.

A person who is more conscious of their failures is not counting on their forgiveness. They are counting on their own ability to sin. They are only aware of a “broken fellowship with God”, because that is what they’ve been taught.

If you’re only conscious of sin it’s impossible to be aware of His forgiveness through love, and you will live in bondage and in error.

1 Tim 4:1,2

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.

We think this means that this person has sinned so much they can no longer feel their conscience pricking. But the Scriptures paint a very different picture. Look at the word “sear” in Greek.

Strong’s 2743

kautériazó: sear with a hot iron (cauterize)

(A perfect past participle): whose souls are branded with the marks of sin,

i. e. who carry about with them the perpetual consciousness of sin

In conclusion, if you count on the fact that you’ve been forgiven, then it changes you. It transforms you inside out. The more you count on the fact that you’re forgiven the more you get a sense of God’s love.

I can tell you ‘God loves you, God loves you, God loves you’ but it might mean nothing to you. BUT if I can convince you that God has forgiven all your sins (past present and future), then I guarantee you will know God’s love because the love of God has been demonstrated through His forgiveness.

The more you know you’re forgiven, the more you’ll feel the love of God. The more you feel the love of God the more your heart is filled with love. You’ll love God because He first loved you. And you will no longer desire the things you used to.

Sin will be gone.

Addictions will broken.

Fear will be obliterated.

All because of His love.

And you’ll love people around you. It will be a normal response. You won’t feel like you’re in and out of fellowship with God if you sin. But you’ll freely receive the healing and freedom He has paid for and you’ll freely give it away.

Knowing this will keep you from burning out or becoming discouraged while living in the supernatural. Because the gifts of the Spirit are just that; they are gifts. They cannot be earned which means they aren’t a stamp of approval on your life. If you understand the Gospel, the rest is easy!