broken_skai

Last Sunday part of the message preached at my church caught my attention. In closing, the pastor said something to the effect of how we're all good people trying to do the best we can, but our works are as filthy rags before the Lord. I can't help but wonder where he got the idea that man is good. Because that idea doesn't come from the Scriptures. In fact, I believe the Scriptures proclaim quite the opposite. Man is evil.

Genesis 8
21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.


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Titus 3
1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

What was Paul talking about here when He spoke of regeneration? My Bible commentary explains it this way:

( Regineration )

Leviticus 18
24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:
25 And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.




Leviticus 18
27(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)
28 That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you.



Like my friend that posted about this video, I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the events described in these news reports below, but when I saw the video I immediately started thinking about the Scriptures. The shedding of innocent blood brings judgment upon the land. Homosexuality brings judgment upon the cities. God tells us that man's sin can become so prevalent and vile that it even defiles the very land in which we live (Numbers 35:33-34; Jeremiah 2:7, 3:9, 16:18; Ezekiel 36:17). As a result, creation itself tries to spew out man and his evil ways.


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  With whom did God make this covenant? He cut it with his son, Jesus... and they agreed to its terms before the very foundation of the world.

In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;(Titus 1:2).

...according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the World began(2 Timothy 1:9).

This covenant was a formal agreement between father and son. And, today, we the seed of spiritual Israel are brought into the covenant by faith. Amazingly, this heavenly contract work was not done in secret. The Bible openly records the terms of the covenant. As we examine these terms today, it becomes clear that God recorded these covenant arrangements because he wants us to be encouraged by such a detailed revelation. This covenant, cut before the world was formed, has in it the sworn oath of almighty God to save and deliver us from the power and dominion of Satan, just as surely as he did it for his own son. This covenant was cut with us also, since we are one with Christ through faith.

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My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips (Psalm 89:34).

What is God talking about, exactly, when he speaks of covenant? Covenant is an agreement or pledge between two or more parties. Today we would use the word contract to describe a covenant. And like any contract, a covenant contains terms or duties that each party has to perform in order to fulfill the agreement. Such covenants are legally binding. And once they've been finalized, the parties can be penalized for not fulfilling their respective terms.

The term covenant plays an integral part in the Christian faith. The holy scriptures themselves are divided into an Old Covenant (or Testament) and a New Covenant. I believe it's vitally important for the church of Jesus Christ to grasp the New Covenant as we face the coming perilous times. The Bible tells us that in the last days Satan is going to pour out his wrath on the earth because he knows his time is short. As that happens, God's people are going to need the full assurance of this covenant. This ironclad pledge has the power to release in all of us the overcoming strength we need to be more than conquerors, in any situation.

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A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? Malachi 1:6a

I was reflecting last month how every spiritual problem we deal with has its roots in not knowing how to relate to God as our Father.  A number of recent conversations on fatherhood have only served to reinforce this observation.  Why do I say this?  Because the Father's remedy for man was to sacrifice His Son so that we could be reconciled to Him and know His ways (John 1:18; II Corinthians 5:19).  This is the answer for all mankind: to know the Father and be known by Him.

Last week, I was asked to speak on a blog talk radio show regarding the article "Biblical, Godly Authority", which caused a little stir amongst some Christians on Facebook.  What was the big deal?  Asserting that God's authority is patriarchal, stating that there is an order God has established for the home & church, and daring to contend that there is anything like "authority" in the Body of Christ to which we are called to submit.  Even some who said they heard and agreed with the talk show still contacted me to contest these same points again; demonstrating that they really didn't understand what was said at all.

There continues to be a blindness in man's heart as to what it means to know God as our Father and the key to this understanding is found in repentance.  It is not until we turn from sin (align our view of sin with God's) that we can know God in this way.  Unless we do, we will never be able to walk in God's perfect will for our lives.

God Himself wants to be honored as a Father.  Yet if we do not understand what this means, how can we offer Him the reverence He seeks from us?



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"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Psalm 1:1

Someone sent me an article written by their "friend" who had twisted Scriptures and put forth lies in order to justify the rebellion of matriarchal authority in the Church.  In spite of the error of the article, my highest concern was for the person who sent it to me.  I let them know that I would never call any person who could so deliberately pervert God's word a "friend".

Similarly, another person had a "friend" on Facebook who was forwarding vulgar and perverse items under the guise of them being "funny".  However, the truth is that such persons merely delights in perversion and finds amusement in that which is vulgar.  The things which are offensive to God is entertainment to this "friend".

In this day and age, it is common to call everyone a "friend", especially on many of the popular social networking sites.  However, we must be very careful who we let into the inner circle of our lives.  Not everyone we meet is sent to us by the Lord, but some are sent by Satan in order to derail us from the things of God.  We can be so concerned about offending others by not referring to them as friends, that we wind up endearing to ourselves those who are the enemy of God.
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