Dis-Integrating

Dis – Integrating – Falling apart from Sin, without Christ.

No matter how hard you work, how fast you run, you will not be whole without Jesus, but are falling apart over the years, for there is a law only Christ can break, the law of sin and death. We are all tainted by original sin, there are no exceptions. It is not your upbringing, environment, your controlling parents, your poor genes, your culture, your economic problems, the ‘oppressive’ regime – it is something much more insidious and evil inside of all of us – our fallen nature – We need more than mere forgiveness and mercy, we need a new nature, and power to overcome the greatest of enemies – ourselves.

Here I sit, studying for my systematic theology midterm here at seminary, and as I read of the doctrine of ‘original sin’, I see afresh and anew, our great need for  a Savior.

There is an itch that nothing in this life can scratch, an inner lonliness, that even though surrounded by people, you are alone. Career, marriage, sex, academic success, family, friends, entertainment, hobbies, or long walks in nature will meet this deep hunger in your heart. I know – I’ve tried.

Wanna be whole?

Give everything to Jesus, and He will forgive, come into your life with power to overcome, put you together again.

https://chrisaomministries.com/2017/02/27/do-you-want-to-go-to-heaven/

https://chrisaomministries.com/2016/08/06/the-purpose-of-this-blog/

Do You Want To Go To Heaven?

The Gospel

Dear Friend,

 

God loves you, and there are five things God wants you to know about Him, and I feel impressed by Him to tell you what they are.

1. Jesus was born. Babies are born every day, but Jesus is different because although Mary is His earthly mother, God is His heavenly Father. That makes Him different than any other person that has ever walked the earth. Think of it this way, the egg inside of Mary was human, the sperm divine. Theologians call this Immaculate Conception, but to most of us, it is the Christmas story. God became a man in the form of Jesus Christ, Emanuel, God with us. God came to earth and joined humanity, like each of us, as a meek helpless baby. Jesus is not merely the son of God, but God the Son, the second person of the Trinity.

2. Jesus grew up, he became a man yet without sin. Although the Bible says little about his first thirty years, the baby we celebrate at Christmas did not remain a child, at thirty years of age, He withdrew from humanity and fasted forty days to come back in the power of the Holy Spirit to show the world what a person, walking with the Creator can be. He healed the sick, raised the dead, fed the multitudes, walked on water, stopped storms, and cast evil spirits out of people.
   
   He did all of this, without sin. Not one time did He ever break the laws of God or man, that qualified Him as the sinless, spotless, holy, Lamb of God, accepted by God, as the only fit sacrifice, for the sins of humanity. He is still the same and doing the same things today. Yet the day came on earth when He was betrayed, and sentenced by a kangaroo court to death. Religious people had Him murdered.

3. He died on the cross. Not a pretty death. Deserted by his closest friends. Beaten beyond human recognition. His face pulverized. Weakened so much by blood boss that this formerly strong man could not carry His own cross. The sky turned black as night, the earth split open and dead people came out of the graves to testify. He spoke three words that still echo throughout eternity, “It is finished” The veil in the temple, was torn from top to bottom, signifying that the separation between God and humanity was now ended. God could again visit with the people He created even as He walked with Adam in the garden of Eden. Jesus bore the sin of the whole world upon Himself on the cross, an infinite sacrifice, for an infinite debt. Atonement!

4. He rose from the dead. You know, the Easter story. HIS story. Not the tooth fairy, Lord of the Rings, or the Easter bunny. Though they laid the body of Jesus in a tomb for three days, His spirit was not there. He went through paradise, He went to hell, yet on the third day, His spirit rejoined His body, and He rose. The stone was rolled away, and He ascended into heaven. For the next fifty days He appeared to over five hundred eyewitnesses, and then while five hundred watched, two angels appeared, and He ascended bodily back into heaven. Many educated moral instructors have lived: Buddha, Mohammed, Gandhi, Plato, and others, yet each of these died, and their body remains in their tomb today. Jesus rose from the dead.

5. He reigns. He is Lord of heaven and earth. God is the spirit, seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and truth. There is only one true God, maker of heaven and earth, yet He has revealed Himself throughout His Word in three separate and distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Son of God, birthed of His Spirit. When He ascended back into heaven, God sat Him at His right hand where He reigns the universe.

In short:

 

He came, He lived, He died, He rose and He reigns.

Now the problem of Creation must be addressed. You and I. Each and every one of us have been created in the image of God. We are also spirits, we have a soul, and we live in a body. Jesus did not come to make bad people good, or good people better, He came to make dead people ALIVE! Except a man be born-again, he cannot even see the kingdom of God. God loves you personally and wants you to know Him on His terms. Religion has always been man’s set of rules and regulations attempting to reach God, Jesus is God’s attempt to reach man. He died for you, not because He had to, but because He loves you. Yet, He did not create robots, each of us has a free will. The question He would have me ask you is this: Do you want Him to be your king? Do you want to go to heaven when you die, to be with Him? If you do, the Bible makes this promise to each of us,

 

‘If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Rom 10:9,10’

Here’s what each of us need to do to come to God on His terms.

• We must acknowledge Jesus as our personal Lord. That is, in light of this great love He has demonstrated towards us, we must make a decision as to whether of not we will choose to allow Him to rule over us.
• We must believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead.
• We must confess, out loud to Him that we want Him.

 

Here’s a simple prayer.

 

‘God, I want to know you. I want you to be in charge of my life. I accept you Lord Jesus as my Lord. Forgive me Lord for all the things I have done against you. I believe, Father that you raised Jesus from the dead, and I ask you to come into my life and make me the best person I can possibly be. Amen.’

 

Now, that prayer will get you right with God, today. But what about tomorrow? Each day we need to grow spiritually, in our relationship with Him. That will involve talking to Him about your day, and involving Him in your day-to-day decisions. How do you do that? Well, begin to read your Bible, every day, first thing. Seek Him first thing, and He will add everything else you need to your life. When you see something in the Bible that is new to you, do what it says.

That’s where we come in. Eventually, you are going to need a good church. A place of love, friendship, and fellowship, where we can worship God and work together to make this world a better place. Any Bible-believing church would love to meet you and to hear about your new decision to serve God. There are many fine churches all over the world. Shop for one that believes the Bible to be the Word of God, and where you have peace.

https://chrisaomministries.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/why-go-to-church/

For many years, we attended Victory Christian Center here in Tulsa at victory.com. Great church that will help you grow in your walk with God!

Presently, we attend Rivergate Church here on 71st st in Tulsa, just East of Riverside, under the wonderful leadership of pastors Joel and Linda Budd. The kingdom is alive and active, and we need to serve God someplace, and here, there are wonderful miracles every time we meet. God is passionatly at work among us, and it is exciting to see what He will do next.

Each day, I post a blog on here, on one of the many topics relevant to the kingdom of God. The purpose of this is to encourage you to read your Bible every day, and to pray and seek first our heavenly Father and His kingdom. I would encourage you to subscribe and read along.- https://chrisaomministries.com/2016/08/06/the-purpose-of-this-blog/

Prisoners of Hope!

Prisoners of Hope!

As I read the 105th Psalm, I saw:

Ps 105:6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.

Ga 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

Ps 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
I wish to focus on v19 ‘Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.’

Joseph had a dream from God as a young man, and it was authentic. He would become the prime minister of Egypt. He believed that word, and then all hell broke loose against him. Instead of his brothers rejoicing and participating in his development willingly, they beat him up, threw him in a well, and sold him into slavery.

Then, as God promoted him as a slave, he was falsely accused, and thrown into prison, and God was with him. Then, the chief cup bearer for Pharaoh and the baker ended up in prison, and Joseph’s gift of dream interpretation ‘read their mail’.

Looked like, finally Joe was headed for freedom, but nope, not yet…There was a set time appointed by the Father for Joseph, and his life was on hold, while Egypt was being prepared for his leadership.

I love this verse. Joseph had a word from God!

Yet the very word he had received, tried him!

He had to believe he had heard God, no matter what the circumstances looked like…

Was Joseph trying the word of God?

Nope, the Word of God is already tried.

Ps 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

2Sa 22:31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

Ps 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

So the word of God is already tried, God is holy and cannot lie.

It is us that need refinement, and in believing a personal promise from God, when every circumstance is against us, that provides that refinement.

Now, Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is a heavenly substance, and after we have believed we received, then what?

Then there is Bible hope.

In order to understand true Bible hope, I quote Kenneth Copeland:
“ If you look up the Greek definition of the word hope, you’ll find it means “to be intensely expectant, to be confidently looking forward to something you fully expect to happen.”

You can see this kind of hope in action in Philippians 1:19-20. There, the Apostle Paul says, “I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and my hope…” For emphasis, Paul used the two Greek words there that mean earnest expectation. In other words, he was saying to them, “This thing is so inevitable I’m just burning up with expectancy!”

This sheds a brand new light on this wonderful verse brought before us pastors Terri and Steve Spanish from Victory Christian Center here in Tulsa, OK.

Zec 9:12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;

When pastor Terri uttered those words, they literally leaped off of the page for me, under the illumination of the Holy Spirit!

Here is what I saw, clearly that night!

It is only after we have believed we received, that we need Bible hope. Hope is the total, passionate expectation that which we have believed, will surely come to pass.

The very word from God that we have believed, is what makes us a ‘prisoner of hope’. We see clearly by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the vision of God for our lives, and no matter what the daily circumstances scream, we are captive to the vision. We have believed we have received, and each day, we fully expect that today is going to be the day it comes to pass!

This captivity, this heavenly vision, this faith in action, is what empowers us to:
2Ti 2:3 ‘endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.’

It empowered the apostle Paul, when he cheerfully proclaimed the gospel in chains:

Ac 26:19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:

The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force!

We are in a war, it is the fight of faith! To believe when it looks impossible, because faith makes the impossible, possible, in fact, inevitable!

When we have authentically heard God, that which He has spoken, tries us, refines us, forces us to grow, to discipline ourselves, to get equipped, trained, fit for service.

I believe this is what sustained Nelson Mandela through his years in prison, before becoming the first black leader in apartheid South Africa. God raised him up, through hardship, to be a vessel of great wisdom, compassion, mercy, strength, and forgiveness, in prison. I believe he knew he would be President for many, many years before it happened, and that this inward knowing was his faith in operation, and that this word from God, tried him, just like it tried Joseph.

How about Martin Luther King? The words, ‘I Have A Dream!’ have been a battle cry against racism here in the United States since he rallied this nation to confront this great evil. He died for what he believed, yet his work is immortal, and still goes on today, for there is power in heavenly vision.

Think about President Abraham Lincoln: his repeated failures, yet, one of the greatest Presidents to ever live: http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/…/education/failures.htm

As Paul Harvey says, ‘now for the rest of the story!”

Isa 61:7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

Both yours and mine days of promotion and prominence will indeed come to pass, as we move forward in obedience to Holy Spirit, after we have believed we received.

Heaven is on its feet, the great cloud of heavenly witnesses, watching our course with joy, eternal testimony being written on parchment of time, we call, history.

Indeed it is HIS story, written in eternal record for all the universe to see, when we victoriously serve Jesus in this life!

Let the process have its work in you, remember, we never try the Word of God, it is trying us!

Let’s Pray:
‘Father God, I ask for confirmation, strength, encouragement, and fresh revelation of the vision for my brother or sister today. May we walk out, without compromise, the heavenly vision, and come out of this trial, perfect, entire, and lacking nothing. We ask this Father, in Your name Lord Jesus, Amen’

A Christmas Prayer by Max Lucado

A Christmas Prayer By Max Lucado…

Dear Jesus,

It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.…
These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows.

To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.

Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,

Your Children

Love Loud Today!

Light Illuminates, Darkness blinds
1 John 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

Love is like light, it brightens this dark world with hope, faith, and joy.

I remember when I was 21, working aboard a sailboat. We had sailed from Key West, Florida, and were now in Madiera, Portugal. The relationships on the boat had deteriorated to the point, that there had been open talk of murdering one another.

Dark, dark days. In this state of mind, I received a day off, and went ashore to explore. Madeira is a bee hive of commerce, and the open markets watching people haggle and hustle were a wonder to behold. Stopped at several places: A private club up on a mountainside, where a ladies bridge club was meeting, seemed they had seven people and needed a fourth to complete their second table, so I sat in for a couple of hands. These ladies questioned me about Canada, and were very educated, and began breathing life into my tired soul. It had been a tough couple of months crossing the Atlantic, and the tension aboard the boat was tangible to the point, where something had to give, or something was going to snap. After a couple of hours of pleasant fellowship with them, I decided to climb to the top of the mountain there, and off I went, following the criss-cross cobblestone streets, higher, and higher, until I finally left the city, and found countryside.

Misty, mysterious paths, that led higher. I still remember how I towered above the Portuguese, at my 6’1” height, and how, as I saw these pale, hard working people scurrying fearfully between shops, with cruel shop keepers, and often security guards with machine guns, watching, that I vowed that I would never become like them. They reminded me of caged pets, running on a treadmill, but going nowhere.

Open sky, and open ocean were to be my lot in life…or so I thought…

The cobblestone path I followed, cut through the back yards of some small houses, and in one back yard, a little girl, a toddler was playing. She saw me, pointed, and giggled, and then laughed out loud at the appearance of the strange giant in her world.

She loved me!

When she did, something broke in me.

All my worry, stress, fear, anger, hatred and rage against the crew, left in an instant, and suddenly I felt unburdened, and free to live again. Simply from a loving gesture from a toddler!

Love is like light. It dispels darkness. That little babies love blasted away my darkness and negativity in an instant.

Psalm 119:130

The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

Obviously, my footloose and fancy free days have long gone, although I still love to travel, and meet new people in new cultures and languages, as a parent with children, the big ‘R’, has found its place in me (Responsibility!)

In Rwanda, after much prayer, I had a similar experience, many, many years later. I had been invited to speak there by a friend of mine, Parfait Karakazi, and I found myself in the same state of mind I had been in so many years before working on the boat. I had just lost eleven thousand dollars on an unpaid construction contract, and faced about twenty five thousand dollars of unpaid bills on my desk. Tension in my company was high, and I needed to either bust a move, and make something happen, or we were going to lose the company. In the midst of this madness, now, I heard Holy Spirit speak to me: ‘Go to Rwanda!’. To make a long story short, a client paid for my trip, and off I went.

Before getting there, I was scared, having heard about the genocide there, and the reality of what I was about to do, really settled in. So, instead of climbing a physical mountain, I climbed another mountain, the mountain of prayer. I began to pray in other tongues, and determined that I would pray in tongues, and listen to the audio Bible on my headphones, the entire 27 hour plane ride to Kigali, Rwanda. In the midst of this, a verse of Scripture erupted into my heart, and suddenly, I was no longer the beleaguered businessman, but an instrument of God’s love, with a message for an entire nation!

Mt 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Suddenly, all my years of Bible school and study came alive in a moment, as I entered into the reason I was created.

Hatred, murder, genocide, are works of darkness. The people of Rwanda, were so broken, shattered, and uninstructed in the Word of God, that they sat, hopelessly, and helplessly in darkness, the whole region was covered by the shadow of death. (With 1.1 million people slaughtered in genocide, only 15 years previous to my 2009 trip, the shadow of death still loomed over the land in many ways)

Yet, the gospel, is the love of God, and is always good news.

God is love, and He is healing a nation….

Ps 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

I suddenly saw that the people of Rwanda were incapable of ‘getting up and getting on with it’, without the help of heaven.

They sat…

Yet, we are called as Christians, to walk by faith, and to stand against the obstacles of life, in faith.

Faith works by love, and love is light….

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God….

Suddenly, I began to gently weep, as the love of God for the people of Rwanda, began to flow through me. I knew that God was about to do something spectacular, but had no idea what or how….

Mt 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

God, my heavenly Father, was about to adopt some children, a whole nation of them, if they would receive Him!

And the rest is history. So, after my all night flight and prayer vigil, I was given the opportunity to speak on the local radio station, and I am told that 100,000 Rwandese heard my message of Jesus love.

For 45 mins after I spoke, the telephone lines were jammed with people calling in for prayer.

Many, many people received Jesus that day, and now we have many Bible schools in Rwanda, teaching the love and power of God.

Love is light and life…Love loud today!

You have no idea the depths of darkness, pain, and suffering people are in around you, the difference your simple love and joy are making…

Let’s pray:
‘Father, You love. It is Your very nature. Love Loud through me today! Flow through me with joy, laughter, life, peace, and Your unstoppable power today! Make today count in light of eternity, may I make a difference in someone’s life today, in Your name I pray Lord Jesus, Amen!’