Doing Battle with the Spirit of Religion---Part 5

What an interesting calling it is to be a pastor. For almost 20 years of my 27 years of ministry, I have been one. There are incredible moments, when you know you have spoken for God into someones life. You see them "get it" as the Holy Spirit confirms what you are saying to their soul. There is the time when God speaks to you and gives you a message to give to the people, and as it has been accurately identified, you feel like you are "between heaven and earth." There are times when you see the repentant come before the Lord in honest and open confession, and witness the "amazing grace" of Christ permeate their lives! Hospitals have long been a ministry ground for the pastor, as they visit the sick and needy or sit with the dying and grieving. To them, you represent the peace, healing, and comfort of the Lord. When they see their pastor walk through the door, they just feel like everything is going to be better. These are just some of the rewards given in this life to the pastor who sacrifices and gives of himself/herself to minister to the Lord's "flock." However, there is often another side to this story that often goes unseen by the laity in the church. This is the aspect, where the pastor fights hell and its forces on behalf of themselves and God's people. This is an area where the battle with the "spirit of religion" has taken on new and sinister elements aligned against the pastor and his/her ministry. Let's consider some of those elements for a minute.

The New Testament paints an amazing description of the "role" of the pastor as they fulfill their calling. Specifically, the Apostle Paul has much to say as to the role of an elder or a pastor and how they are to live and function within the Body of Christ, the Church. Paul admonishes his young "Son in the Faith" Timothy as to the qualifications of one in the Pastorate, lets take a look at them in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 (in the New Living Translation):

1 This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be an elder, he desires an honorable position.” 2 So an elder must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. 3 He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. 4 He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. 5 For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church? 6 An elder must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. 7 Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.

Paul also shares with Titus specific qualifications for "elders" or "pastors" in Titus 1:6-9 (New Living Translation):

6 An elder must live a blameless life. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be believers who don’t have a reputation for being wild or rebellious. 7 For an elder must live a blameless life. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or dishonest with money. 8 Rather, he must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must love what is good. He must live wisely and be just. He must live a devout and disciplined life. 9 He must have a strong belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with wholesome teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong.

These qualifications the Lord issued through the Apostle Paul are in relation to the pastors spiritual, moral, and relational qualifications. And for centuries, sincere pastors, called of God, have tried to live up to them. However, the Apostle Paul gives another quality for those in the ministry that has to do more with the pastors money and his income. THIS is where this "spirit of religion" loves to attack the pastorate and limit the effectiveness of the pastor in his/her ministry! Listen to what Paul describes in 1 Timothy 5:17-19 and then in 1 Corinthians 9:7-11 (both from the NLT)

17 Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well,[a] especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!”

7Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? 8Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? 9For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain."[b] Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?

What Paul is saying here is that the one who labors in the church (i.e. the pastor) deserves to be supported by the church as his source of income. But I want you to notice another crucial "spiritual warfare" point that Paul makes in the same chapter of 1 Corinthians 9:3-6 & 12-18...

3 This is my answer to those who question my authority.[a] 4 Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals? 5 Don’t we have the right to bring a Christian wife with us as the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers do, and as Peter[b] does? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves?

12 If you support others who preach to you, shouldn't we have an even greater right to be supported? But we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ.
13 Don’t you realize that those who work in the temple get their meals from the offerings brought to the temple? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings. 14 In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it. 15 Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my right to boast about preaching without charge. 16 Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News! 17 If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust. 18 What then is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach the Good News without charging anyone. That’s why I never demand my rights when I preach the Good News.

Alright then... Now that we have laid a Biblical foundation for what we are talking about, here is how the "spirit of religion" gets involved in the pastors income and effectiveness in ministry. While it is a solid Biblical principle that the pastor should be supported financially by the church where he pastors, and this established very strongly by Paul's writings, the Apostle Paul implies another "principle" here that had freed him to preach as boldly by the Holy Spirit as needed to be preached. That principle is, that Paul took nothing from the church, in order that the various churches he ministered to, couldn't get mad at him for the truth he preached, and withhold their money from supporting him! So, the two principles together look something like this: 1) A pastor deserves to be compensated for the sacrificial ministry he gives to the church. 2) However, the pastor(s) should also have a "secular" means of supporting himself and his family, in the chance that the church refuses to accept the message God gives him, repent of their sin, and withhold their money as a means of "starving him out!" The "spirit of religion" plays a vital role in this type of attack against the pastor. Following the information I have written about the spirit of religion in previous posts and how it operates among our churches, consider the following...

The spirit of religion, which is at the heart of many people going from church to church, moves people into a pastors church. The pastor begins to notice the increase in offerings to the church. The pastor may begin to get compensated in a way in which he had never been able to be compensated before. He buys a new house, new car, and begins to give his family a life-style they have never had! He rejoices! The pastor and the church as they experience this new found growth and wealth (albeit, transplant growth), may decide to add on to their building or build a brand new church. The loans are signed, the dedication is done, and NOW the spirit of religion strikes! Those church people, who are being influenced by the spirit of religion, now feel that it is time for them to leave. They may even put a very spiritual "face" on their leaving by saying something like: "God is done with us here!' or, "God is calling us to another place and ministry!" And the poor pastor and the faithful of the congregation are left holding the bag! Or, in this case the mortgage note! The pastor, who came to rely on the new income of these "roamers" is now faced with paying the note or feeding his family! The pastoral family at this point may face many emotions. Some weather it and come out blessed by the Lord because of their faithfulness. Tragically however, some pastoral families face severe resentment (sometimes even against God), depression, bitterness, financial hardships and difficulties, and even the resigning and quitting from ministry! How could these things happen right under our noses and us not recognize it? Well....... This IS a war you know? And the "spirit of religion" is a pro at defeating ministerial families! This is one of the reasons for such a high attrition rate in the ministry! This is why a vast majority of pastors have anonymously said that if they had another means of adequately providing for their families, they would leave the ministry and follow that path!

Still yet another diabolical attack of the "spirit of religion" within the same above scenario goes something like this: When the building and debt has been accumulated, those controlled by the spirit of religion will often fight the "true" move of the Holy Ghost, or the "true" preaching of the Lord's Word. They simply imply to the pastor, that if he still wants to "eat" and feed his family, the service BETTER go the way they want it to go, or they will withhold their giving! The pastor, his preaching, the word of God, and the genuine move of the Holy Ghost are NOW held hostage! Why? Because of a well laid out and implemented plan of the enemy through the "spirit of religion!"

How do we "battle" this assault against the pastor and his/her ministry? How do we take away the spirit of religions ability to enslave our pastors, their families, the Word of God, and the genuine move of God? This will be discussed in our very next posting. Please READ IT as it has the ability to free your pastor and eliminate a vary strong element of the "spirit of religion" and its battle against the Church!

Doing Battle with the Spirit of Religion Part 4

Spiritual warfare is first and foremost about discernment and spiritual perception. The Holy Spirit gives us the discernment to know what spirit we are battling when we come up against the enemies strongholds. This discernment enables the Body of Christ to first understand what we're dealing with, and then how to effectively deal with it, then get back to the preaching of the gospel and the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Such is the case with the discernment and subsequent battling of the spirit of religion that is dominate in the South East. In this post, we will continue to deal with the destructive effects the spirit of religion has on the Church of Jesus Christ.

The Lord has determined that His people are to be a part of a local congregation. If we are "IN" Christ, and Christ is "IN" us, then we are a part of the Church Universal. However, we all live, work, raise families, and worship in local areas. God expects of us to find a "LOCAL" expression of the "UNIVERSAL" Church and to become a part of it. The attack of the spirit of religion that undermines this, is that it encourages Christian believers to never really become a part of a local congregation and to reach maturity within that body.

The reasons for being a part of a "local" church body are extremely important and "life-sustaining" to Christian believers. First, within the local body there is accountability. Throughout the writings of the Apostle Paul, we see admonitions of local bodies of believers to hold each other up to a holy standard of faith and living. In other words, there is accountability within the Body of Christ. Second, we are all meant to receive and use, various "gifts" from the Lord, through the Holy Spirit. Those "giftings" have a two-fold purpose: 1) For the purpose of having power to be witnesses of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. 2) To edify and build-up the local body of believers, the church. Third, we are placed within a local church body for the sake of "Christian mutuality." Christian mutuality is the principle within the Kingdom of God in which God's people mutually support one another. When one grieves, we ALL grieve. When one rejoices, we ALL rejoice. When one is in need, we ALL are in need. When one has abundance, we ALL have abundance (see Acts 2:43-45).

However, the attack of the spirit of religion renders these extremely important principles about the church and the Kingdom of God, null and void. At the prompting of the spirit of religion, Christians move from church to church, masking the spiritual deception as "promptings" from the Lord. Phrases like: God is done with me here! I am just here for a season! Or, my ministry is to go from church to church and help out the pastor, then leave! This spiritual deception renders the Body of Christ weakened and underdeveloped! Perhaps that's why the statistics on the effect the Christian Church is having on America is so pathetic! We are loosing the battle for the soul of America because we do not recognize our enemy and how he is attacking us! Consider the outcome of this type of spiritual deception: There is NO accountability! There is NO spiritual edification of the Body through the giftings of the Holy Spirit! There is NO Christian mutuality! For many Christians do not stay in a local church long enough to develop any of these Divine principles of growth and maturity! Hence, the Body of Christ is severely weakened! We sing our songs. We pray our prayers. We listen to Pastors preach good messages. We may even do some outreach and ministry. BUT.... We "NEVER" fully develop! We "NEVER" fully mature! We "NEVER" quite get to the place where our commitment and faithfulness supersede our desire to "leave" and "run" from our spiritual obligations!

Look, growth and maturity are not easy things! Accountability sometimes is not the most pleasant thing! Staying with your Brothers and Sisters through the difficult times, well, can be.......... DIFFICULT! But, this is where and when we experience GROWTH! This is where we are REFINED! This is where our faith GROWS in "leaps and bounds" and this is exactly what God intended to happen! However, for many it NEVER happens, because just when it gets a little too uncomfortable; or demanding; or a little unpleasant, ...... God suddenly "CALLS" us somewhere else! This my Brothers and Sisters is "DECEPTION!" The deception of the "spirit of religion!"

My Brothers and Sisters, if this describes your Christian experience thus far, ..... YOU CAN BE FREE! The steps are relatively easy! The first key is recognition of your enemy and his tactics. Then confession and repentance to God for believing that deception. Third, (and this one gets kind of hard but is necessary) you may need to make restitution. Restitution to the Christian Brothers and Sisters and/or pastors, God lays on your heart, that maybe your actions have offended. Unity within the Body of Christ begins with reconciliation! Reconciliation brings unity, which in turn brings the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit!

I write this to you as a Pastor. I have seen people leave, just when they were about to have a "breakthrough" and their faith reach new levels of maturity and depth. However, I do not write these blog posting out of anger or hurt, I write them out of a sincere desire to minister to Brothers and Sisters who have been deceived by the spirit of religion! I write these blogs revealing what God has shown me, we are battling within the church! Please receive these writings with the love, concern, anointing and truth God is using through me to those within His Body! Together, we can defeat our enemy, ...... the spirit of religion! GOD BLESS YOU!

Doing Battle with the Spirit of Religion Part 3

WARFARE!

That's what the Apostle Paul says we are engaged in here while we wait upon the return of the Lord. Listen to what he says about this in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." NIV

The Church needs to desperately come to the realization that we are truly in a spiritual war! The individual battles are for the souls of people, the hearts of our cities, and the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the enemy is taking this war much more serious then we are! Many of us become so content to think of our participation in the Kingdom of God from a "bless me-bless me not" mentality. However, we must ask ourselves the question, from a military standpoint, what is the purpose(s) behind the attack of the spirit of religion upon this area of the United States and the Body of Christ?

First, is the obvious answer. To saturate the church with religion is to provide a type of "fake spiritual stimulus." We "FEEL" very spiritual when we go to church, so, church is doing a good thing in our life, and God must be pleased with our ability to stay "connected" to Him, in the midst of such sinful lifestyles of people all around us! We go to church, we sing familiar songs (and even throw in some new ones, so we are viewed as contemporary), we pray, the preacher preaches, we hug, pat each other on the backs, and go eat dinner. We ARE the Church..... TRIUMPHANT!...... Right?...........WRONG! We are actually pathetically impotent in our spiritual discernment and advancement of the Kingdom of God! We gather together and "YELL" at the devil and are smugly satisfied with our spiritual strength and victory! And the devil.......... LAUGHS!

The second, purpose of this attack of the spirit of religion is that it weakens the churches that ARE truly repentant and seeking to serve their Lord. Churches launch into ministry because of a sincere devotion to their Lord based upon the gifts and finances of those in their church at the time of their ministerial undertakings. The spirit of religion attacks, and soon those good Christian brothers and sisters are headed down the street to their "NEW" church where something "GRAND" and "EXCITING" appears to be happening! The church that is truly trying to do something to carry on the ministry of Jesus, is suddenly thrown into a situation that may be "over their heads" because of a limitation of people and resources.

The third purpose of the spirit of religion's attack is to keep the Body weakened. What I mean is, God "gifts" each member of the Body with Spiritual Gifts (charis) intended to be used WITHIN the local Body to strengthen and mature that local Body. More than any other thing, the devil fears a spirit-filled Church! And, if he can keep people moving around from church to church, they never fully develop or use those gifts, and the intended purpose of strengthening the Body is never realized, hence Spirit-inspired, well thought out ministry plans suffer a type of "spiritual abortion."

The fourth reason for this attack of the spirit of religion is quite simply to bring division. To "divide and conquer" is one of the most basic strategies of ANY military campaign! And let me remind you ONCE again, ..........we are at WAR! People moving from church to church to church, leave in their wake hurt feelings, broken commitments, and help facilitate a weakened divided Body! ONLY when their is unity in the Body of Christ do we see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (See Acts 2). The outpouring of the power of the Holy Ghost is EXACTLY what we so desperately need ........ RIGHT NOW! This will NEVER happen, as long as the spirit of religion goes unrecognized and undefeated! However, REMEMBER.............


"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

Knowledge of our enemies strategies and attack points, are the beginning of defeating the spirit of religion! FIGHT ON!!!!

Doing Battle with the Spirit of Religion Part 2

EXPOSED!

When the Lord first called my wife and I to come to Knoxville Tennessee, He called us to come and begin a new church... a "plant." for the first two weeks, we did nothing but settle into our new home, getting to know some of the people. Now because of family living in this area, I had preached here on several occasions, as well as living and ministering here in the 80's. So, as a result, there were some people who were familiar with our ministry. I must confess, one of the questions I asked the Lord was: "Why are you calling us to an area that is over saturated with churches already?" I had to be content with the answer that it was His will, and I was. However, one night after we had been here a few days, the "rest of the story" was given to me by the Lord. On that night, I was awake and lying on my bed fully awake even though my wife and daughter had already gone to sleep. Suddenly, the room changed perspective and God gave me a vision. In that vision, I turned and looked down the hall from my bed, and seen a serpent-like creature with the face of a man, slithering down the hall towards me. It reared up and tried to enter me. I said "Absolutely not! You will not enter me!" Then the scene changed and I was standing in front of a college-aged young man sitting in a chair, and he was obviously "demonized." Around me were several other people whom I didn't know, and we were casting this demon out of this young man. Then the scene returned to normal. I asked the Lord what this vision meant, and who was this demon that I had seen slithering down my hall? He said to me: "This is the dominant stronghold in this area, and he is the spirit of religion!" He went on to say that if I would build a church that was built upon the centrality of His Son Jesus, he would draw people to Him, and begin a revival to set His people who are bound by this demonic stronghold free! Hence, the name of our Church: Christ the Rock! In the roughly 4 1/2 years that I have been here, I have seen with unbelievable might and deception, the ability of this demonic stronghold to deceive God's people!

The first two ways in which this stronghold manifests itself among God's people is first, by reducing Christianity down to a "social-family" thing that they do. What I mean is, people in this area love football, eat biscuits and gravy, drink sweet tea, and oh yeah, we go to church! Every one's a "Christian!" Within a 5 mile radius of our church (I know this as a fact, because our demographics person put together the list) we have 252 Christian churches! Yet we still have hungry/homeless, we still have many bars/nightclubs, we still have strip clubs, and we still have the occult. Why? Because people have been deceived into believing that "We go to church because Mama and Daddy went and Papaw and Mamaw went, so it's just something that we as a family and community do!" Unfortunately, while we may have many church-goers, we do not have many Disciples of Jesus! The second manifestation of this demonic stronghold is a type of "non-committal" to the local church. This demonic spirit of religion gets Christian people to believe that the Body of Christ is to viewed and experienced like a "potpourri!" A type of ""buffet" that we pick and choose from based upon our particular preferences at that moment. I have literally had people, with tears streaming down their faces, say to me: "I have never felt such a strong presence of the Holy Spirit as in your church! And we feel so loved when we came through the door!" ....... And NEVER see those people again! Why? They had gotten their fill of that particular "spiritual entree" and they were moving on down the smorgasbord. Now before you "write-me-off" as a disgruntled pastor, please understand, I am not! I was sent here with a vision and a mission and because of my love for the Body of Christ, I am exposing this demonic stronghold that has infected and bound so many Christian people. I desire to see the People of God set free, and the ONLY way is with the truth of God! Jesus said in John 14:6--- "I am the way and the truth and the life." The Lord is exposing this incredibly powerful stronghold that has so many of His people enslaved and never fully realizing their potential for Kingdom work! They fail to get into a good bible-believing spirit-filled church and identify and develop their gifts to use to reach the lost, and build-up the Church and stay their, partnering with their "spiritual-family" and with God to build the church and reach the lost.

As you are reading this, your response will be one of four responses: 1) Steve, your absolutely crazy! 2) Steve, my spirit bears witness with the truth your are telling! 3) Steve, what you are saying is probably true, but that's not why I have changed churches several times! 4) That's true Steve, and I realize that's me, now how do I get free? If your response is that you think I'm crazy, then I challenge you to seek God and ask Him to confirm or deny what it is I am saying. And if he confirms it, then you must be aware that there is a good possibility that YOU are blinded by this demonic stronghold? If your response is that's probably true, but not why I changes churches several times, then you are most definitely deceived by this demonic stronghold, but good news! ..... There is freedom in confessing this as spiritual deception and sin, and asking Jesus to set you free! Tell the devil you recognize his lies and reject them over your life, your family, and your church! Then declare you freedom in Christ! One other thing........ Are you ready for this one? ........ You then need to go back to the various Pastors/Ministers you walked out on after committing to them, and ask them to forgive you! YES..... I know that will be difficult, but you can do all things Through Christ who gives you the strength, and it is VERY NECESSARY, so that corporate healing and deliverance can come to the body of Christ from this demonic stronghold's deception! If you are one of the two that agreed with what the Lord has revealed through me, then begin joining with me in praying against this stronghold and praying for the liberty, deliverance, and freedom of your fellow Christians who are bound by this deception. Copy these articles the Lord is giving me to give to you, pass them out, and help lead people to freedom in Christ! Together as His Body, we will defeat the spirit of religion!

Battling the spirit of Religion Part 1

Just another Sunday in the Bible Belt! People flood the roadways dressed in their best, heading for the current church of their choice. And trust me, there are a LOT of churches to choose from! Almost like walking into a huge library with the idea of looking for a book to read this week, the choices are almost limitless. So it is, with the churches in the Bible Belt. And honestly, many of the Lord's people have succumb to this kind of mentality when it comes to choosing churches. Where will we go to church this week? Will we choose the church with good praise and worship music? Will we choose the church with a choir? Will we choose the church with good preaching? Will we choose the one with a great children's programs? Where will we go, and how long will we be there?

This may seem like a very strange scenario, and for many, totally contrary to how you've been raised. Many have been raised with the idea that once one becomes a Christian, they find a good Bible believing church and become a part of that church through good times and bad times. They stay, find their gift's, develop those gifts, and become a productive mutual supporter of that church and its members, growing together in the truth and graces of the Lord. Do Christian people "REALLY" go from church to church based upon the "goods and services" they offer? Unfortunately YES! Why would otherwise spiritually sound people do this? How could these people of God fall for such a tragic trick of the devil? Because of the "spirit of religion!" Some of you may be saying the WHAT? The spirit of religion is the dominant spirit in many places in the Southern parts of the United States. In fact, you can find his activity in various "forms" all around the United States. This, for many unsuspecting Christian people, has been the "motivation" behind their going from church to church, and choosing where they worship, like one chooses a book in a library to read, or a new car from a car lot. In the next few articles on this blog, I will be exposing some of the symptoms, manifestations, and principles of this spiritual stronghold over much of the church in America, as well as how you can tell if your under its "influence." With this, we will also offer some Biblical advice on how to break free from this stronghold, and how to do battle with it if you live in an area that is under its influence. So, please check back often, copy these articles to your word processor, save them, copy them, and pass them out to your family and friends, so they can be prepared to do ........"Battle with the spirit of religion!"

God is up to something!

What a statement! Yet, it is very true! God IS up to something very big at this time. The question is: "What is He doing?" I believe He is getting His church prepared. Not, prepared for His coming, although I do believe He is coming very soon, but rather for a last great ministry effort of the church. This is to reach those who not heard or accepted Jesus as their Lord. In order to do this, there is coming a genuine revival to the church. The question is: "Is the church ready for revival?"
Genuine revival has very little to do with guest evangelists and big name singers/performers, and more with the heart condition of the Church of Jesus Christ. I genuinely wonder if the Church in the West, especially in America, is ready for the revival that is coming upon our land. I wonder about our readiness because of what I believe it will mandate of us to be part of this revival. Our lives, including or "ministries" are so intricately entwined with our lifestyles that revival for many, may be the last thing they really want to see. Why? Because of change. Change in focus; change in goals; change in values; and perhaps even a change in our very lifestyles.
Our lifestyles demand service. Our homes are big, our schedules are bigger, and the lifestyle we have created demands that we maintain it. The problem is, that leaves very little time for the members of our churches, to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ. We do some church programs that focus on "outreach" and "evangelism" but not a lot of genuine "ministry." The kind of ministry that Jesus told us we would do like Him, only "greater," because of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Truly think about it! When was the last time you saw a news headline that read like this: "This just in.... people being raised from the dead!" Or, "healings and miracles taking place at such and such church!" Not likely! At least not lately anyway. However, on ANY given Saturday you will most likely see in most newspapers church ads for all sorts of dinners, concerts, festivals, and fund-raisers. Not much power nor ministry there! Really, we NEED genuine revival! A "power-encounter!" Most of the Lord's Disciples know that! The REAL question is: "Are we ready?"

Recorded Sermons

Below is a link to some sermons that I have preached that I submitted through SermonNet. There are 10 sermons that you can listen to at your leisure. Please take a listen and then feel free to comment here under this post.
Here is the link: http://sermon.net/directoryDetail/c/1261

Prosperity Gospel

Below is a video from GodTube.com that I believe is a "must-see" for all Christian's. The Gospel message of Jesus has been so tampered with by the devil. Why? Because he knows his time is short! We must "RECLAIM" the simple truth of the life-transforming truth of Jesus, and the power of that truth...... "FOR GOD SO LOVE THE WORLD!" Give a listen to the video, it's just a few minutes long, and let me know what you think.

What Are You Saying?

How does what we confess when we are coming to Jesus differ from that which we confess once we are a Christian Believer? There are some who have the misunderstanding that if a Christian Believer sins, then he/she must go back through the "formula" to become a Believer again. This is error, for "HOW" we deal with sin after Jesus is our Lord is very different how we deal with it once we have received Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Below is a teaching I recently gave on a Wednesday Night. I was asked by a friend to put it in writing, so here it is:

The "formula" for going from being "lost" to being "saved," or in other words, receiving Jesus as our savior, is found in Romans 10:9-10 which reads:

Romans 10:9-10
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved." NLT

Notice that the "confession" we are confessing is a our belief that Jesus is Lord. In other words, it is a total acceptance of His atoning sacrifice for us, and a willingness to receive Him as Lord. Our belief is in the truth that not only did Jesus die in our place, but He also rose from the dead. Hence, the righteous penalty of sin entering humanity was paid in full by Christ, and the result of sin (death) was overcome and defeated by Christ. Therefore, by placing our faith in Jesus, we are accepting in full (in a vicarious fashion) what Jesus, who never sinned, did to meet the righteous requirement of a Holy God. As Paul would say:
"We are in Christ and Christ is in us!" This then is how we are "saved."

However, the truth of the matter is that we are still living in a sinful world, and we are subject to temptation and the possibility of giving into that temptation. When we sin, is it necessary to go back through the "salvation formula" of Romans 10:9-10? Of course not! NOW, we go to what the Word of God reveals to us "HOW" Christians are to deal with sin, when they fall prey to it. That truth is found in John 1:8-10.

"If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts." NLT

Notice the change in the "formula!" We are NOT re-confessing. We are NOT re-believing. We are NOT re-accepting the Lordship of Jesus, we are simply acknowledging or confessing our sin, and immediately the forgiveness of Jesus is applied! When we as Christians sin, we simply confess that sin. We are not getting "saved" all over again. How do we know this will happen for every Believer? Quite simple! When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to "indwell" us as "proof" that the sacrifice of Jesus has been applied to our life, and also as a "guarantee" that God will finish the redemptive process He began is us, when we are finally with Him. Therefore, since the Holy Spirit indwells us, one of the activities of the Holy Spirit within our life is to convict us of sin. When He does, the "NATURAL" response of a genuine Christian Believer is to feel sorrow for that sin as an offense to God and to "get rid of it." We get rid of it by simply confessing it!

I hope this is helpful and "LIFE-GIVING" to those who desperately need to know how much Jesus has done for them, and how much He has in deed made us a New Creation! Now while this is how we deal with sin once we are Christian Believers, please keep in mind, this is not to be confused with the false doctrine of "unconditional eternal security." We are "CONDITIONALLY SECURE!" The condition is that we remain "IN" Christ! This article is written for those who are genuinely living for Jesus, but need to know who they are in Christ, what He did for them, and how to deal with sin.