Obeying God and Hearing His Voice

A friend of mine told me he once asked a godly lady how she became so powerful with God. She replied, "Have you ever been in a restaurant or some other public place and felt God leading you to go talk to some stranger there?" He said yes. She asked, "Did you do it?"

He was silent as he thought of opportunities missed. She said, "Well, there you have it."

The life of a disciple is lived with regular knots in the pit of your stomach. Perhaps there are some great disciples out there who are never in fear that what they think is the voice of God inside is really just some inner impulse that will lead them to great embarrassment. I don't know any disciples like that, though. The great disciples I know set the fear aside, live with the knot in the pit of their stomach, and risk embarrassment.

These disciples talk to people, including strangers, that they feel led to talk to. They say that strange thing that they feel God leading them to say. They do that unusual thing that they feel God leading them to do.

I remember one night in Germany feeling led to talk to a man I was walking past on the sidewalk. I didn't know what to say, but I remembered years earlier that an evangelist (Danny Duvall) had said thatstraightforward is best. Just tell them that you want to talk to them about Jesus.

So I stopped this man with the question, in German, "Do you know Jesus?" His answer was amazing. "How could I possibly know Jesus? He's been dead for two thousand years."

I had one of the most interesting talks I've ever had with that man. I don't know what impact it had on him, but it led to one of the more interesting nights of my life. He invited me to talk to him more at the bar he was walking to. I went home to tell my wife I was taking him up on the invitation, and then I went to the bar.

When I got there, the German man wasn't there, but an old friend from the military was. I got to spend an hour talking to him about life and about the Lord. After that hour, another man came in talking about God. Yes, talking about God in a bar. He was very strange, and he had strange ideas about God. I talked to him until he let down and began talking a lot more reasonably, and he began admitting he knew he needed to give his life to God. It was a very, very unusual conversation.

Amazingly enough, it didn't end there. The owner of the local "house of ill repute" (that was legal in Germany then, and it may still be) came in. The bartender refused to serve him and said he always came in to start fights with Americans. I asked him in German why he hated Americans, and he was surprised I spoke German. He said he was still mad about world war II, even though he had to have been a child during the war. I was able to preach the Gospel even to him, though he was very resistant to it.

Afterwards, I drove the strange man that had talked about God to his room on base. The military had sent him over for just one week, and so I never saw him again, but I know our conversation made an impact on his life. He had been drinking a bit in the bar, even though I hadn't been, and he really opened up on the way to his room.

I've missed my share of opportunities by not listening to that quiet inner voice, but I didn't miss that one. It's been more than twenty years since that happened, but the stories from that night still inspire me and others not to let God's whisperings go by unheeded.

Make your own memories. You can't be a disciple without regularly feeling the gnawing fear that comes when God asks you to do something outside your comfort zone. The choice between obeying your fear and obeying God can be the one difference between being a great man or woman of Godand being just another person who left no impact on this world.

The Rest of the Old, Old Story: honest and historic Christianity. Is your faith working? Is it transforming you and those around you? Get in the mainstream of God's power by walking in the footsteps of the most powerful churches in history

Also see Paul Pavao's blog on Radical Christianity

Dangerous Reactions to God's Truth

Christians who preach and adhere to the biblical doctrine of Christ are facing ever increasing danger for refusal to compromise their belief in God's word in exchange for a favorable reputation of being well liked. Nevertheless, those who believe and accept all of God's word are assured of the truth that the apostle Paul put forth when he said, "For do I now persuade men or God, or do I see to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ" (KJV, Galatians 1:10).

The Old and New Testaments of the Bible clearly illustrate the danger of sharing the full gospel of Jesus which proclaims both the mercy and severity of the Lord and his commandment to all men to repent (Matthew 4:17). Realizing the safety risks involved with an unwavering stance on the truths of the Bible doesn't deter the dedicated believer from proclaiming the gospel, but it should deter them from underestimating the ferocity that can be stirred in those with the spirit of rebellion.

The fourth chapter of the book of Luke recounts a time when Jesus went into the synagogue on the sabbath. The scripture says he was given the book of Esaias to read aloud which he did. The passage he read spoke of himself and is recorded in verse eighteen. He read, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

Such words were soothing to the ears of those who listened attentively. Verse twenty-two says that the audience, "...Wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his (Jesus) mouth." However, when the very same Jesus began to remind them of truth they didn't want to hear, they became so enraged that they sought to murder the Savior that day. Luke 4:25-29 records that Jesus said, "But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land. But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. And rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong."

The same truth would have been well received by many Gentiles, however, they've been angered by other truths that caused no anger in Israel. Serious Bible students would do well to understand that when it comes to preaching the gospel in all the world, it's not a matter of the specific truth that angers a select group of people, but rather the fact that truth, in and of itself, often incites fury.

Thought-provoking Christian articles at: Heavenly Manna.

Rapture Or Second Coming? A Sixth Distinction Refuted

Is there a Biblical difference between the "rapture" and the "second coming"? To show that such is the case, our brothers label the rapture "the blessed hope" , a term used by Paul in Titus 2:13, and then they assure us that the final coming could not be a "blessed hope" for the few Christians who live to survive the devastation of the Tribulation. Again here is the using of the conclusion as part of the proof. The pre-tribulationists are the ones who have divided Jesus' coming into two parts and assigned them names. The Bible nowhere does this.

But I fear there is even a greater lapse in logic by our esteemed brothers in this text. It would seem to me that the greater the tragedy, the greater the hope. As Jesus wipes away the tears of Tribulation saints in Revelation 7:13-17, He is truly received as a blessed sight. How much the saints will be affected by all that goes on during these dark years is not clear. We are called to be persecuted, but not judged. God will sort that out. But we will go through it. And we will be greeted by a loving Saviour who understands, because He went through earth's rejections. It seems inconceivable that believers snatched up before the suffering could receive a greeting that matches this one.

The mentality that our brothers echo here borders on that elitism that is prevalent among us in the Western Church. Why do we think we are not called to suffer when the Scriptures repeatedly say we are? Those that suffer with Jesus will reign with Him. But what of those who wish to be caught up before it all begins?

Bethel ministries says on this topic: "Persecution and martyrdom is, in fact, the New testament norm... Peter wrote, 'For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in his steps.' (I Peter 2:21) ...Some church leaders teach that believing in an imminent pre-trib rapture will influence Christians to live holy lives. But the Scriptures teach, referring to the heavens and earth being destroyed by fire [and not the catching up of the bride], 'Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?...' (II Peter 3:11-14)

"There has never been a time when so many Christians believed in an imminent pre-trib rapture and yet the twentieth-century church in America can be characterized by almost anything but holiness...Paul said, 'We glory in tribulations...tribulation worketh patience'... [Jesus said] 'In the world ye shall have tribulation...' (John 16:33) 'We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.' (Acts 4:22). 'Blessed are ye, when men shall ...persecute you.' "

Who has more of a "blessed hope" ? The one who looks forward to no tribulation, or the one who is in trouble now, but is assured that soon the troubles will be gone? The soldier who "hopes" to escape the draft or the one who hopes for the end of the conflict in which he has participated fully? The farmer who "hopes" no bad weather will destroy his crops, or the one who has bravely fought the elements and now sees the fruits of his labor about to blossom in spite of all of nature's blast?

Oh saints! When we sit in a dingy prison cell for our faith in Christ, when all of those whom we hold dear have been taken away, when our stomach is bloated from hunger and our body is mangled from beatings, what a blessed hope is ours! Christ shall come and release us! Christ shall come and restore our Heavenly family! Christ will come and feed us with His own manna, and wash our scars and heal our bodies and we will be with Him forever! Could anything be more of a blessed hope than that?

And is it not equally true that those least looking for that "blessed hope" today are those for whom life is comfortable and secure? Why "hope" if we have what we need already?

There simply is no distinction between the rapture and the second coming. Together, they are our blessed hope!

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

The Glass Block Revolution Spreading to Home Design

Glass blocks have come a long way, even competing with regular bricks when it comes to interior and exterior design of rooms. We are living in times when visual appearances are very important and more people are insisting on having something out of the ordinary when it comes to their immediate surroundings. For many, they can simply accentuate the room with special flowers, paintings and more. Others prefer something more permanent, such as glass blocks.

Glass blocks come in very many designs, shapes, colors and even textures although all of them are made of glass. Below are some different types of glass blocks:

Standard series
Decorative
Glass flooring
Colors and finishes

Standard series
-wave satin
-wave endblock
-90% curved corner wave
-Imported from Germany
-Made in USA

Decorative (water organic, arts and crafts, geometric, lined and ribbed)
-starburst
-Mirage
-Neptune
-Bubble
-Bonzai

Colored
-Pastels
-Primaries
-Earthtones

We now see how many types of glass blocks exist. Their variety is awesome and this caters to any type of design and preference. One would be hard-pressed to find a glass block that they would regard as ideal for their own custom surroundings.

If you want to get glass blocks installed, the first place to look is the home improvement stores. Stores such as Home Depot sell and install almost all the above types of glass blocks that we have mentioned. Most people are not experts at this and that is why Home Depot maintains qualified personnel who for an extra fee, can help you choose just the ideal glass blocks for your immediate liking and also assist you with installation.

Glass blocks have several major advantages. One of them is resilience. Glass blocks are very strong because they are designed out of industrial glass that has been treated to temper it and make it able to withstand great pressure. This makes it an ideal for construction and in some quarters it is actually known as glass brick.

Glass blocks are also beautiful. In some European cities, they are used to construct entire buildings giving the building a very exotic and at the same time futuristic look especially when light bulbs are fitted inside. Glass blocks allow light without compromising on security and that is why they have become a favorite when it comes to office construction.

When it comes to energy saving and conservation, glass blocks have also become a favorite in many quarters. This is because in a glass block environment, there is little need for artificial lighting especially during the day because natural light is allowed into the room. That means that with time, the office begins to realize energy savings in form of lower energy costs. It is hard to realize these savings when all the light bulbs are on 24-7 as is the case with natural brick office buildings.

The best way to go about installing glass blocks is to contact a handyman. In many cases they will refer you to a home improvement store to choose and buy the glass block designs of your choice first.

Need information about about glass blocks? Theodor Cartman recommends the best glass blocks when buying.

The Deity of Jesus Christ - Leviticus and Deuteronomy

In the Mosaic books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, one can trace the fact that Jesus is Divine.

Leviticus 11:44, Holy. Twice in rapid succession the God of Israel tells the Jewish nation, "Ye shall be holy, for I am holy." The Spirit that exudes from this God is called the Holy Spirit. Not the Happy or the Mighty but the Holy. Those filled with Holy Spirit are holy people! Isaiah sees the Lord as holy, and the angels of His vision thrice use the word in their classic proclamation: (6:3) "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts!" And Jesus? Is He ever referred to as holy? (Acts 2:27) Peter quotes David's famous words, " Thou wilt not leave My (Jesus') soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption." Peter again, in Acts 3:14 says, But ye (Jews) denied the Holy One (Jesus)...and desired a murderer (Barabbas) to be granted unto you." In a passage that in many ways parallels Isaiah's scene, John the Revelator (4:8) quotes the angels thus: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." But in 1:8 of that book, that formulation of words is applied directly to Jesus! Yes, the "Holy Child" Jesus is also the Holy Lord Almighty! God!

Deuteronomy 6:4, the One God. We come to a critical passage. 6:4 says simply, "Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord." We see in this most precious of Jewish Scriptures the reason that the orthodox of Jesus' day wanted to stone Jesus. They could not accept a second God. They knew, and they were correct, that the Lord our God is one, a unity. The idea of more than one was abhorrent. Would that they had listened to Jesus when He proclaimed His oneness with the Father, John 10:30. But it still is quite difficult for these finite minds to grasp that one plus one equals one still. Notice again Paul's use of the word only , in I Timothy 6:15-16: "[Jesus Christ] is the... ONLY Potentate, THE King of Kings...Who ONLY hath immortality..." Yahweh claims to be the ONE God. Jesus is proclaimed to be the ONLY Potentate (source of power and authority). No conflict. Jesus is GOD.

Deuteronomy 10:17, Lord of Lords. "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords..." Such an exclusive title. But it is also the title of the Lord Jesus Christ, written on His clothing, seen by the apostle John and recorded for us in Revelation 19:11-16: "The Word of God...hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

What can we say? Only that Jesus is God.

Deuteronomy 32:4 "He is the Rock.." This is one of many Old Testament passages calling the Lord a rock. Like in I Samuel 2:2, where we see Hannah, in the Spirit, saying, "Neither is there any Rock like our God!" Similarly in the New Testament we see Jesus telling Peter that the Church will be built on Peter's rock-statement that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God (Matthew 16). Peter later tells his flock that this Jesus is the "stone which the builders disallowed...the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence..." Paul comments that the Rock that followed the Israelites through the wilderness was none other than Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 10:4)!

Truth . The same passage as quoted above, 32:4, says that this God is "a God of truth." I need not even remind my readers that Jesus said (John 14:6) "I am the way, the truth, and the life..." If He is not God, He is a bit out of order to make such a claim!

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosen together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

Sabbath - What Is The State Of The Law Of God Today?

Are to believe all that Rome has created in the way of a Christian Sabbath because Paul the apostle said to take an offering on the first day of the week? All of this because the Christians in Troas were meeting on the first day of the week? Are the things that believers do en masse therefore dictated by the Holy Spirit for all? It is through this philosophy of listening to "the piety of the people", that is, God speaking doctrines and practices through what the majority of the professing Church believes, that Rome has come up with other teachings, some of which are quite blasphemous. How far to go with such a philosophy? For me, no farther than what is written for all believers for all time, the Holy Scriptures that concluded with the apostle John in the first century A.D. If the people in their piety believe that, it is because there is light in them from Heaven. If they believe something beyond the word, it is fiction pure and simple.

This much we know, then. But the question comes, what do we do with knowledge thus gained? Does God care if we continue on as we are? Is there an eternal significance to the Sabbath to which true followers will eventually be drawn ? Is God more concerned with the picture or the reality of our rest in Jesus Christ and the coming rest of the planet during the Millennium? Are we under any laws of any kind in Christ Jesus, or are we truly free from law when in Christ?

Most of us are probably not aware of all the "Old Covenant" things we do in connection with our church life. Think of all the Psalms we sing, the prophecies we read and believe, the great histories of God's men and women. All of this is before Calvary and Pentecost, yet somehow we think of it as part of the will of God for us.

Let me ask you this: What common practice in the New testament Church was first practiced in the Old Testament times, but without a recorded command from God? It began in Genesis spontaneously, or so it seems, and was later a part of the Law of Moses. It was never specifically commanded in a New Testament book although it is implied in several. Since the New Testament church was first Jewish, we expect it is probably for today. Pastors swear by it, but it is much less a New Covenant idea than the seventh day Sabbath which is nearly written off as cultic. Answer? The tithe.

We are literally steeped in Jewish ways. Why do we want to exclude the Sabbath rest? Did God?

The question of the Sabbath, only one of ten commandments, and those commandments only one component of a comprehensive legal system, must be considered in a broader context if the hint of a solution is to be found. The much more difficult question concerns the law itself. What is the law's place in the believer's life? Did the law pass away? Are we totally lawless now?

For the answers, we return to the only written Source of Truth available, and call upon the Truth Himself to guide us through this maize. Let's read His prophet Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 31:31-34 [portions]. "Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah- not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers... My covenant which they broke...But this is the covenant that I will make...I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

a. First note that this covenant is not suddenly "Gentile". It is to be a new covenant for the old people. We know that Gentiles were admitted in, but it is originally offered to Israel and Judah. And originally, it was those Jews who responded.

b. Its newness has as much to do with method as with message. In fact, no change to the message is mentioned. But the way of communicating this covenant, we discover later, is the Spirit of God and His filling of the believer in Jesus. This will bring the obedience so long sought for by God.

c. But not to be overlooked here is the word "law" itself. "My" law, says God, the things I have always wanted them to do, not some new law, will be inside them. The destruction of all law is not envisioned here, only a way for God's people to keep that law holy.

Here then is a glimmer of light to help us to understand how the Sabbath, and other Commandments, can be kept by believers in our own day.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. I have created over 200 blogs and the site features a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosen together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. I love to write Scriptural works. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Occasionally you will see depictions in art of the scene Jesus portrays in Matthew 25. That's where He stands before a divided congregation of sheep on one side and goats on the other. Artists usually see Jesus standing alone and the two groups before Him. I think there might be something wrong with that picture. Consider:

1. Jesus is not coming back alone. He is coming with the saints.

2. The saints have already been "judged". I'm talking about bona-fide products of grace who overcame the world and were caught up to meet Jesus in the air. They are not breathlessly waiting to see whether they are a sheep or a goat.

3. The terms and conditions of the offer made to these two groups is not the same as the salvation offered now. It is works-based. Because you did such and such, namely offer friendship to a suffering Christ, you may now come to Heaven. But although works are produced by saved saints, the message to them is clear: we are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves...

4. If this is about rewards as we know it, where is the mention of the preaching of the Gospel, and the many other gifts and ministries that operate in a Spirit-filled Church? Why no reward for this?

5. Why are the saints surprised when they discover that serving others is serving Christ? (Inasmuch as you did it to the least of my brothers, etc) Babes in Christ know this.

No, I think this passage is a victim of tradition, and needs to be seen as it really is.

The prophets talked about a Kingdom, Israel in its fullness, that would be ruled by Messiah. Daniel sees a plurality of thrones, as does the Revelator. A kingdom truly is coming. And many kings will reign under King Jesus.

But Kingdoms are made up of subjects and rulers both. And those Jewish prophets saw ordinary people doing ordinary things entering into that Kingdom. In fact, at the end of that Kingdom period there will still be people on earth able and willing to rebel against Jesus the Lord over all the earth for 1000 years at that time. Surely Spirit-sealed saints do not leave the City.

No, the Kingdom of God will be a combination of saints (rulers) and non-saints (subjects) who will have the opportunity to give their heart fully to Christ or reject Him and pay the consequences. The Millennium, though incredibly peaceful and orderly, will still have room for imperfection, thus the need for rulers. Eternal bliss follows the Millennial reign.

So, do you now see three groups in Matthew 25? The saints, coming back with Jesus, stand with Him, poised and ready to rule. But they need someone to rule. That's group 2. Who will it be? Those who had a heart to help the suffering Jesus- the Body of Christ persecuted - when he was being hurt by evil men. On this basis, following the worldwide tribulation, the entire planet is separated. One group is asked to stay and enter the Kingdom.The other group, group 3, the goats, is sent to eternal perdition, the public pronouncement of which will take place 1000 years later.

Let us humbly bow before our God who calls us to be Christ crucified in this evil day. Are you a member of His Body by faith?

Look for "Bob Faulkner" on http://sermonaudio.com There you will find a combination of love for the Scriptures and a desire for North Korean believers to have their needs met. There are nearly 300 blogs, ovber 200 Bible teaching MP3's, lists of resources, NK picture albums, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond.

30 Days To Creating Super Habits