Possessing the Land

Today I was sitting at my desk after work and I prayed to God that He would give me something from His word that would encourage. I didn't have much time and I had to get back to work so I asked Him to lead me to something specific in His word that He had for me that would not take me a long time to find or to read. He led me to Deuteronomy 9:6 and 5:7. Again the Lord is speaking to me about possessing the land and about holiness before Him. I believe that land, in this case, can mean actual land, but can also be talking about spiritual territory, influence, or the reach and effectiveness of a person's ministry. I also believe that the Lord is speaking to many many believers and ushering them into a new season where God will be manifesting Himself in a powerful way in and through the lives of His children. God wants to do this, not because of who we are, or because of what we have or have not done. God shows Himself strong in people because of who He is. It is because of His character that He does what He does. God continues to show me that I cannot earn His salvation, His affection, His calling for me, or His blessing in my life, or His holiness. I have to seek Him above everything else because, after all, God gives me all of these things freely to me because He is God and He loves me. I am so fortunate. He is such an awsome God. Thank you, Lord.

Deuteronomy 9:6 "Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people".

Deuteronomy 5:7 7 "You shall have no other gods before me".

Answers to the Charges Against God: 1.) The Bible is unreliable.

The Bible is a unique book in many different ways. The information that follows will show that without a doubt. Now, it is up to the reader to decide whether or not the Bible is truely divine in its authorship. It is a matter of excersizing the will. God is Spirit. Therefore, it is impossible to prove or disprove His existense with empirical evidence, for or against.

So, on with the evidence.

The Bible is unique in its Continuity. It is the only book written over the span of 1,500 years(The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict, Josh McDowell, pg.4) It was written by over 40 different authors with starkly different backgrounds. It was written in different places including: wilderness, a dungeon, a hillside, a palace, prison, etc. It was written during war and peace, times of sacrifice and plenty, joy and despair, and, confusion and doubt. The Bible was written in the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe(pg.4) It was written in Hebrew (the Old Testament language of the Israelites), Aramaic (the common language of the near east until the time of Alexander the Great), and Greek (The language of the New Testament and also an international language at the time) [pg.5]. The Bible was written in a variety of literary styles includeing: poetry, historical narrative, song, romance, personal correspondence, memoirs, satire, biography, autobiography, prophecy, parable, and allegory.

Although the Bible is incredibly diverse it presents the unfolding of the single story of God's redemption of the human race through His Son, Jesus Christ. And although it has many books and many authors it is, in fact, one book with one story(pg.6).

The Bible is unique in that it has been translated into 2,2oo of the 6,5oo known languages on earth which represent 90% of the population of the world(pg.8).

No book of antiquity has been as well preserved bibliographically as the Bible. For example, the text of Shakespear, which has been in existence for less than 300 years, is largely in dispute regarding the very meaning of the passages. In every one of his 37 plays there are nearly 100 inconsitencies in the wording. This is not the case for the Bible. There are over 5,500 fragments and complete copies of the New Testament in the greek language dating between the third century A.D. and the 1300s A.D. and from these there are no variations in the text that materially affect the meaning on any of the passages (pgs.9&10) The case is the same for the Old Testament. The Bible has been maticulassly preserved over the melinia. It stands alone as a book of antiquity and modernity alike.

The Bible is the only book that claims divine inspiration that contains predictive prophecy (pg.12). There are over 300 prophecies that came true in Jesus Christ that the Bible predicted hundreds of years before He was born. The Bible also predicts the rise and fall of world civilizations and leaders, including Alexander the Great. And it predicts the return of Israel to palestine (Isaiah 11:11).

The Bible is also a book that does not try to make its proponents seem better than what they are. As a matter of fact, the Bible is crystal clear in stateing that mankind is desperately in need of a Savior and that salvation only comes through Jesus Christ. The Bible is very frank in dealing with the sins of its characters. It covers nothing up. The Bible focuses on reality, not fantasy. It represents good and bad, sin and righteousness, right and wrong, and the best and worst in humanity (pg.13)

No other book has had the effect on literature that the Bible has had.

It was said by historian Philip Schaff that, "Jesus... without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without eloquence of schools, He spoke such words of life as were never spoken before of since, and produced the effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, He set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. (pg.15).

As I said, the evidence cannot prove that the Bible came from God. But for this guy... its mad a believer out of me.

Isaiah 9:6&7

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

He is risen!

Knowing and Doing God's Will

Romans 12:1-2
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Father, please help me and all believers to surrender totally and daily to You and to be separated from the world to You as Your holy vessels. Transform us by the power of Your Holy Spirit and through Your Word. Renew our minds. Give us Your Spirit of wisdom and revelation , Lord that we know Your will. Put a willing and right Spirit in us that we also do Your will, Father that all of creation will see that You are God. In Jesus' name, amen.

A Good Soldier

1 You, therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful followers of Christ who will be able to teach others also.
3 Fight through suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 And do not get entangled in the concerns of everyday life(sex, drugs, power, prestige, money, fame), that you may please Him who has chosen you to be a soldier.

On tongues and gifts

I have heard lots of arguments on both sides of tongues and gifts. I believe that when we as believers in Jesus Christ bog ourselves down in such arguments we loose a great deal. I don't believe the core of the issue is do we have this thing or have we experienced that thing. Our focus should not be whether or not we have a spiritual gift or trying to figure out in our own wisdom whether or not these gifts really exist. God is infinitly more knowledgibe than we. He is all powerful. Isn't that the point. He is God. God's word tells us that eternal life is to know Him. Eternal life is knowing the all-powerful, all-knowing, everpresent God. What really matters is experiencing Him. He is our all in all. Nothing else really matters. Paul said that if he had lots of cool gifts but he didn't have love then the gifts are worth NOTHING. If we don't have an intimate relationship with God through Jesus we have nothing. On the other hand God is a God of miracles and wonders. We shouldn't try to put Him in a box. If we do we are guilty of unbelief. Again God is our all in all. He is our life and our teacher. At least He ought to be. Instead of trying to convince each other how knowledgeable we are or that we are right or what a great debater we are we ought to spend some of that time we waste with God growing in our relationship with Him. He is our teacher. Personally, I don't worry about what ANY person tells me I should believe about a particualar topic, especially a Biblical one. The fact of the matter is that God is our Teacher. When the Lord saved me He buried me with Him baptism and raise me up with Him and seated me at the right hand of the Father with Christ. God has already given me an inheritance in Christ and that is Christ IN me. God lives in me. I am the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. He resides in me. If we can really get a hold of this truth it has life transforming ramifications. With all do respect to all the great theologians out there with all there wonderful opinions, convictions, beliefs etc. I don't need their opinions. I need truth. Jesus said that He is the truth and that the Holy Spirit will lead us into ALL TRUTH. Again, He said ALL TRUTH. I don't need a denomination or a local church or a committe to tell me what the Bible really says. Especially after all of the things I have experience pertaining to my Lord. GOD IS MY TEACHER. The Creator of the Universe. The Beginning and the End. King of kings and Lords. My Father. He gives wisdom and knowledge liberally to those that ask of Him and not of man. He teaches us by His Holy Spirit through His Word. (John 14:26; John 16:13-15; Ephesians 1:17-23; 1 John 2:27) Let me shut up and leave it at this. We need to abide in God and God adide in us. Fast, pray, beg, plead with God. Do whatever it takes to be transformed constantly by His blood, Word, Spirit, and love. We should get every ounce of God we can get...continually. And STOP CARING SO MUCH WHAT MAN TELLS US AND CARE ULTIMATELY ABOUT WHAT GOD is speaking to us, because my God is a tremendous, most excelent God.

Six degrees of Separation (Divine Providence)

This is the story of how God has been moving in a remarkable way to make all the pieces of the puzzle come together. He has been connecting the lives of various people that otherwise may have not been brought together.

So it starts kindof like this. I got back from Puerto Rico six years ago. I had been there for three years working as a missionary. When I came back I attended Willow Lake Church once again. At that time I met Melissa Johnson and Casey Lynn. Melissa was working with the children's ministry while a student at Columbia International University. and I met her only once back in 2003. I then met her again just months ago. She lives in Charlotte now and is from there. I met melissa again because she is friends with Kelly Hawkins. I met Kelly two summers ago. I was out in her neighborhood going door to door inviting people to come to my church. Through Kelly I then met and became friends with Jessi Adkins. Jessi is close friends with Melissa. Jessi comes to Willow Lake Church quite often. Jessi invited Melissa to come to church with her not knowing it was the same church she used to go to to work with the kids. Now Melissa is from Charlotte. I live in Columbia but have been to Charlotte many times over the last couple of years for various things. I have been up there to hang out with Melissa and with mutual friends. I have been up there to drop my brother-in-law off at the airport. I have been there with my Pastor to meet with a pastor and assistant pastor from a church there in Charlotte. We went there to get help with our small groups. I was also there to go to a worship conference. When I went I had been a worship leader for a year. I was sent to the conference at the recommendation of my Pastor's brother-in-law. He said that is would be good for me to go to get training and to get ideas for the praise team. I was originally going to go to a Conference in California and then Atlanta but finally went to the one in Charlotte. Finally, one of the guys that helped start Willow Lake Church moved to Charlotte for a while to work in a Church in Charlotte. Its also note also noteworthy that all these things are geographically close to one another in Charlotte.

OK, on to Casey. Casey and I were on the praise team together at Willow Lake years ago. I had not seen her nor heard from her in a couple of years. Months back I started attending a Bible study/prayer group on Thursday nights. I was invited there by Jessi Adkins. When I first started going one of the leaders of the group would read emails every week sent by a girl who had been on a missions trip in Africa for a couple of mounths. They told incredible stories of people being delivered from demonic possesion. As I began to put to clues together I figured out that the Casey in the letters was the same one that I had known from years ago. When I first started going to the group I had no clue what this group was about or who was in it. I don't know exactly what God is up to, but I know this...He's up to something.

I have heard similar testimony from many other folks about how there lives are being orchestrated in a way that it can only be described as divine providence. As I said He is up to something and I look forward to seeing what that something is. Keeping you posted, D.