Post by Les Brewer on Mar 29, 2012 11:21:50 GMT
Calvary's Cross Ministries
Preaching Christ Crucified,I Cor.1:18-25
From the Pastor's desk and heart...
Good morning to all.I pray that all is well with you and your loved ones this glorious day.Praise the Lord!
The Cost of Discipleship
Luke 14:25-33
In this context of Scriptures we find the true cost of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.Jesus said,"If anyone comes to Him,and does not hate his own mother and father or brothers or sisters or children or their own lives also,cannot be His disciple." What the Lord is basically saying is that,the problem with self is,self.The church of God,the body of true believers,around the world,has listened for so long to backslidden preachers,psycologists,and quite simply the devil,that we can no longer discern truth from error.We listened to a psycologized gospel of non-sense,that has perverted the word of God to the point that we would rather listen to the one with the most degrees behind their name rather than the One who can really help.
The basic truth of what Jesus was trying to teach us in this passage of Scripture is that self is the problem with 100% of us.We've been taught that "God wants you to be happy,so go ahead and get the divorce,and then marry the one you really want" or "It's not your fault,you are the victim" or "Gimme,gimme,gimme,my name is Jimmy".We have not progressed in the growth process to the point that we recognize that Jesus came to show us how to deny ourselves and put others first if we are to be His followers.In stead we have fallen prey to the self-esteem,self-awareness gospel,that tells us that we have a low opinion of ourselves,and all we need to do is to begin to elivate ourselves until we are happier people.This is exactly what the devil told Adam and Eve in the Garden."You shall be as gods,knowing good from evil" When Adam and Eve made the decision to listen and then carry out the desires of Satan,that was when they lost God-consciousness and gained self-consciousness.This has been the problem with the whole of humanity ever since.We want what we want and we don't care who we hurt or use to get what we want.Human nature has been corrupted through the fall of man into sin.
Ephesians 5:28-29 tells us that no man has ever yet hated his own self.Our problem is,is that we love ourselves so much that when we don't get what we want,when we want it,we become depressed or "bi-polar".Depression is a spirit and so is the newest name for it."I have been diagnosed as bi-polar" What is bi-polar? The evidence I've seen,or should I say symptoms,is that a person can be happy one minute and homicidal the next,and sometimes simply because of what someone might say.
The point to what I'm saying is this:As christians,true,born again christians,our source for overcoming self is the Cross of Christ.For the world, they have a different system for trying to aleviate the problems that plague humanity and have always plagued humanity ever since the fall.I know for some,that my veiw of what humanity needs,is far too simple and that I really don't have a grasp on reality.Brother John,it's really not as simple as saying our problem is the sin nature that resides in all of us.Really?Until the fall of mankind into sin way back in the Garden,man had no problems whatsoever! All things were perfect,man had all he needed for life and happiness.There was no death,sickness,disease,poverty,war,hatred.There was no sin until mankind listened to the deceiver,Satan.God had provided us with everything we needed to live forever.We had it all,but we listened to the devil,and alot of times,we still do.This is the reason that the divorce rate in the church is as bad or worse that the world's divorce rate.This is why we have sipping saints who cannot discern between drunkeness and problem drinking.This is why we have saints who continue to pollute the Temple of the Holy Spirit with cigarettes or gluttony or fornication or adultry or witchcraft or idolatry or any of the other sins of the flesh mentioned in Gal.5:19-21.
I have absolutely no problem with the world trying to help themselves out of the problems they find themselves in,however,their way will never be able to improve themselves enough to become worthy of eternal life,only the Cross of Christ can bring eternal life.Life,true life,comes through dying to sin and self through denying our own desires and choosing the desires of God.As believers,we were crucified with Christ at Calvary.In the mind of God we died when Christ died.We no longer should live our lives to please ourselves,but to please Him who has saved us from sin.
The crucified life is the life that has the greatest reward for here and now and also the life that is to come.This is what Jesus meant when He said "he who finds his life shall lose it,and he who loses his life for the gospel shall find it",this is where true life begins.Let us live the crucified life,and find what it is to be free,really free.There is no other way.....Love in Christ.........JW
Preaching Christ Crucified,I Cor.1:18-25
From the Pastor's desk and heart...
Good morning to all.I pray that all is well with you and your loved ones this glorious day.Praise the Lord!
The Cost of Discipleship
Luke 14:25-33
In this context of Scriptures we find the true cost of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.Jesus said,"If anyone comes to Him,and does not hate his own mother and father or brothers or sisters or children or their own lives also,cannot be His disciple." What the Lord is basically saying is that,the problem with self is,self.The church of God,the body of true believers,around the world,has listened for so long to backslidden preachers,psycologists,and quite simply the devil,that we can no longer discern truth from error.We listened to a psycologized gospel of non-sense,that has perverted the word of God to the point that we would rather listen to the one with the most degrees behind their name rather than the One who can really help.
The basic truth of what Jesus was trying to teach us in this passage of Scripture is that self is the problem with 100% of us.We've been taught that "God wants you to be happy,so go ahead and get the divorce,and then marry the one you really want" or "It's not your fault,you are the victim" or "Gimme,gimme,gimme,my name is Jimmy".We have not progressed in the growth process to the point that we recognize that Jesus came to show us how to deny ourselves and put others first if we are to be His followers.In stead we have fallen prey to the self-esteem,self-awareness gospel,that tells us that we have a low opinion of ourselves,and all we need to do is to begin to elivate ourselves until we are happier people.This is exactly what the devil told Adam and Eve in the Garden."You shall be as gods,knowing good from evil" When Adam and Eve made the decision to listen and then carry out the desires of Satan,that was when they lost God-consciousness and gained self-consciousness.This has been the problem with the whole of humanity ever since.We want what we want and we don't care who we hurt or use to get what we want.Human nature has been corrupted through the fall of man into sin.
Ephesians 5:28-29 tells us that no man has ever yet hated his own self.Our problem is,is that we love ourselves so much that when we don't get what we want,when we want it,we become depressed or "bi-polar".Depression is a spirit and so is the newest name for it."I have been diagnosed as bi-polar" What is bi-polar? The evidence I've seen,or should I say symptoms,is that a person can be happy one minute and homicidal the next,and sometimes simply because of what someone might say.
The point to what I'm saying is this:As christians,true,born again christians,our source for overcoming self is the Cross of Christ.For the world, they have a different system for trying to aleviate the problems that plague humanity and have always plagued humanity ever since the fall.I know for some,that my veiw of what humanity needs,is far too simple and that I really don't have a grasp on reality.Brother John,it's really not as simple as saying our problem is the sin nature that resides in all of us.Really?Until the fall of mankind into sin way back in the Garden,man had no problems whatsoever! All things were perfect,man had all he needed for life and happiness.There was no death,sickness,disease,poverty,war,hatred.There was no sin until mankind listened to the deceiver,Satan.God had provided us with everything we needed to live forever.We had it all,but we listened to the devil,and alot of times,we still do.This is the reason that the divorce rate in the church is as bad or worse that the world's divorce rate.This is why we have sipping saints who cannot discern between drunkeness and problem drinking.This is why we have saints who continue to pollute the Temple of the Holy Spirit with cigarettes or gluttony or fornication or adultry or witchcraft or idolatry or any of the other sins of the flesh mentioned in Gal.5:19-21.
I have absolutely no problem with the world trying to help themselves out of the problems they find themselves in,however,their way will never be able to improve themselves enough to become worthy of eternal life,only the Cross of Christ can bring eternal life.Life,true life,comes through dying to sin and self through denying our own desires and choosing the desires of God.As believers,we were crucified with Christ at Calvary.In the mind of God we died when Christ died.We no longer should live our lives to please ourselves,but to please Him who has saved us from sin.
The crucified life is the life that has the greatest reward for here and now and also the life that is to come.This is what Jesus meant when He said "he who finds his life shall lose it,and he who loses his life for the gospel shall find it",this is where true life begins.Let us live the crucified life,and find what it is to be free,really free.There is no other way.....Love in Christ.........JW
