Monday, May 20, 2013

God Don't Like Boxes

I get so tired of certain Christians & Denominations that put God in a box, and dogmatically preach that He HAS TO do certain things. One of those is He HAS TO heal you!!!

They say that "because of his stripes WE ARE healed"!!! Even when I was a baby Christian and read this, I knew what Peter was talking about (I Peter 2:24), and that was salvation!!! But the Charismatics will ARGUE with you all day about that Scripture and what it means, as they believe that it teaches through Jesus' death we are all healed of any physical problems, (also found in Isaiah 53:5).

Hey I believe God wants to instantly heal His people, BUT He sometimes chooses not to!!! Healing comes in one of three ways; 1) Miraculously 2) Medicinally 3) Mortally (the ultimate healing!!!). God has and can heal instantly, as we have read in the Bible, and have seen with our very own eyes, or I have seen it. He has also healed people through doctors and medicine! And of course the Lord has taken some people on home to be with Him!

So why do people get upset when I say that God doesn't always choose to heal through a super natural way? I mean He didn't heal Paul of his "thorn in the flesh" (II Corinthians 12:7-9), which Paul asked Him to do 3 times. You ever wonder why Paul only asked 3 times? Because he got an answer, "My grace is sufficient for thee", said God. Nothing makes me more irritated than some unknowing holier than thou person, saying "you just don't have faith to believe in your healing", or "you're not receiving your healing", "etc"!!! These make you feel guilty when you are ill or crippled!!! Yet the truth of the matter is, they get in the corner and wipe and slang snot, take aspirins, cold medicine, go to doctors & the ER just like everyone else!!!

How many of you remember who wrote the Book of Acts? Dr. Luke, Paul's personal physician!!! That's right, the great apostle Paul, a man who possessed healing power THROUGH God the Holy Spirit, had a doctor as one of, if not his closes traveling companion!!! But it tells us in II Timothy 4:20, "Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletus SICK". Whereas God often heals the sick, through physicians or without them, it is not the case in all situations, as recorded HERE!!!

Also, one of Paul's peers, Epaphroditus was seriously ill for some time (Philippians 2:25), but Paul nor Luke were able to instantly heal him either. If it were God's will that ALL be healed, surely Paul would have been able to heal both Trophimus & Epaphroditus!! So when people tell me I'm sick or someone else is ill BECAUSE of a lack of faith (and that may be true, sometimes), and then proceed to grab me and start praying for my ailment, and because I'm NOT instantly healed, they make me feel less of a Christian, I just smile at their ignorance and pray to God, for this thorn in my flesh to be gone, if so, I praise Him, and if not I praise Him.

Remember God has been served through ignorant men, which I have been and may still be one of those, BUT He isn't served through ignorance!!! If and when I get sick, please contact my pastor and the elders of the church (James 5:14) and ask them to pray for me and come anoint me with oil, BUT also contact my doctor, for He uses them as well. Never put God in a box and tell Him what to do.

There is only one place in the Bible were God says, "TRY ME", and that's in Malachi 3:10 and He's talking about money, not healing, but that's another sermon!!!

Let Them Eat Other Wild Animals

Ezekiel 34:5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Living for Jesus

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

As I read these verses I think about the change that overtook Paul after his conversion. He was no longer driven by selfish ambition, he was a changed man. Paul was convinced that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sin. This is the message he took everywhere. As a result of knowing this, he couldn’t live his life for himself anymore.

Paul lived for Jesus Christ because he believed that he has died with Christ (Romans 6:6, 11). He believed that dying with Christ meant that he should live for Jesus (Galatians 2:20).

His heart was changed. He had a new focus. It was all about living for Jesus and pouring himself out for others (2 Timothy 4:5-7).

How about you? Has your life changed since you came to Christ? Have you got a new reason to live? Are you living for Jesus today?

For me reading the Bible was much easier when I started in the New Testament. I recommend starting in the Gospel of John, the 4th Book. Then into Acts (shows you how the church was started and spread), Romans, “JAMES”, Ephesians, Galatians, Philippians, Colosians. Then back to Matthew or Luke. Just read the Word, and it will keep you straight.

Be Aware you have Pastors and many Christians here in the “Community of Faith”, that are available for you. We may not know all the answers, but we serve a God that does, and we can pray for and with you about “anything” that may arise in your walk with Christ. I Corinthians 10:13. Romans 8:26

God Bless,

Pastor Cochise RADICAL Minister For Jesus Christ

Preparing Your Testimony

A testimony can be a great way to share your faith as a Christian. I find that people like hearing your story and how knowing Jesus has changed your life. When I share about my testimony I touch on three main areas.

1. My life before Christ – I share things like how I felt, my illness, what sort of things I was in to, my upbringing and the sense of emptiness I had inside. These things set the scene.

2. My conversion – I then share how I came to Jesus. I talk about how I was feeling before coming to Jesus, the people who helped me, the tract I read, the prayer I prayed and the story of Jesus coming to die on the cross for me.

3. How my life has changed – In this final section I share how knowing Jesus personally has changed my whole life and outlook. I talk about the love, acceptance, hope, joy and purpose I now feel inside.

These three things really help me to structure my story and how Jesus’ story impacted and changed my life.

It really helps me to keep on track when telling people about Jesus. I hope it works for you too.

The Four Purposes Of Church

I was doing some reading about church this week. In the book “Introducing Christian Doctrine” it talked about the four main purposes or activities of the church. I found it interesting so I thought I would share it.

Purpose 1 Evangelism – Jesus last words to His followers was “Go and make disciples…” (Matthew 28.18-20). Therefore, if the church is to be faithful to Jesus’ last words and bring joy to His heart, it must be a church that reaches out to others.

Purpose 2 Edification – The second major purpose of the church should be edification. In Ephesians 4.11-12 the Apostle Paul talked about God giving gifts to the church to equip and build up the body of Christ. That is, he wants us to build up and encourage each other.

Purpose 3 Worship – Another activity of the church is worship. Where edification focuses of building each other up, worship focuses on the Lord. We see in the Book of Acts that early church met together on the first day of each week to worship the Lord.

Purpose 4 Social Concern – The final purpose of the church to show concern for those around them. The faithful church must take action where it sees need, hurts and it must work to right wrongs. Jesus often told parables about about helping others in need and how He expected us to do the same (Matthew 25.35-40, Luke 10.25-37).

The book summarized that these points and said for the church to be spiritually healthy it must carefully balance these four major functions.

It said in short the church members must meet together to build each other up and worship the Lord, and then move out into the world to reach people for Christ and help those in need.

Lessons From All

If we had the reverence towards God that the Catholics have. If we had the excitement towards God that the Charsmatics have. If we had the tenacity of the Jehovah Witness'. If we had the practice of “using our spiritual gifts” that the Assembly of Gods have. If we had the heart for missions like the Baptist have. If we had the discipline the Amish have. If we had faith in our Church Leaders that the Mormons have. If we had the belief that the Holy Ghost could and would heal like the Pentecostals have. If we had the indwelling and constant filling of the Holy Spirit preached to us and we had faith in Him as our Counselor, Comforter and Companion as many Independents have. If we................ ….............................could combine a little bit of each of these branches of Christianity into one Body of Believers, we would “shake the earth” off of it's axles. If we had that much faith in God, He would be so pleased that He couldn't but help to stomp His foot and say AMEN!!! I am finally glorified, worshipped and honored by my people. Many born again believers in Jesus Christ DO HAVE several of these God attributes interwoven into their faith walk, but our goal should be to HAVE IT ALL!!!!

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