Charismatic Experience

There is no way of knowing who will be reading this post – but my hope and prayer is that it will be of help to those Christians who are having doubts about the whole ‘Charismatic’ scene.  I don’t mean those who are cessationists, but those , who like me, believe the gifts of the Spirit are for the Church until the Lord comes, when we will no longer need them.

When I was first born again, as in John’s gospel chapter 3, it was within the backdrop 0f the CofE way back in the early sixties.  The Curate who was instrumental in my conversion had recently been ‘baptised in the Holy Spirit’ as a mini-revival came to those churches.

It was only after several years had passed that I realised the emphasis had been on the experience itself with its attendant supernatural gifts [much like the Alpha Course is now].  In a way – for the most part  it took for granted that you were already a Christian, bearing in mind that this was the CofE.

Fortunately for me I I knew that I’d been born again by God’s Spirit with my sins forgiven. So, when I was taken to a meeting and  hands were laid on me to receive the Holy Spirit [as was the practise]  I really felt no different , being already full of the love and joy of the Lord.

Ironically , this was the second time I’d submitted myself  to this , as I’d had to go to confirmation classes which culminated in the Diocesan Bishop ceremoniously  laying hands on me.  In both instances I’d done it in obedience to men’s wishes and thereby to God [I thought]  – even though I knew I’d received the Holy Spirit when I was first saved. But – it was explained to me that this was a ‘sealing’ on the one hand and a gateway to  the gifts on the other.  How mixed up was that?

With my husband’s situation it was different however, as he had become a ‘seeker’ after witnessing the change in my life.  So it was that we’d been invited to a church meeting, specifically to receive the Holy Spirit.  After the preaching, an invitation was issued to stay behind for prayer with the laying on of hands.  There was then a bit of confusion about who was staying or leaving and my husband found himself accidently in the seated line of people waiting to be prayed for.

When the Minister got to him , to give him his due – he did ask my hubby if he was saved and Charles told him he wasn’t sure but he certainly wanted to be.  The Minister then said that the laying of hands often cleared any uncertainty up.

My husband described what happened next as a mini electric shock going through him and tingling in his hands, together with being filled with God’s love towards him and I believe he began to ‘speak in tongues’ then.  He knew that he’d been born again and both our lives were never the same again as we followed the Shepherd of our souls together.

Of course, now we came under the label of  ‘charismatic christians’ , our enthusiasm and yearnings for the gifts of the Spirit grew and we went to as many meetings as we could [ having a young family and commitments].  The meetings were usually of the huge ‘revival’ kind , with the emphasis on healings and the miraculous for the already saved rather than an actual influx of convicted unsaved souls into the church. The situation is exactly the same today.

It was many years and several denominations later that we began to question this emphasis on supernatural experiences – some of which seemed to have no point to them at all!  All in all, apart from the gift of tongues, I don’t think we personally experienced any ‘instant’ healing and certainly no ‘miracles’.   If anything it had ill-equipped us to endure patiently and it could be very frustrating at times. There seemed to be an on-going conflict between what was being preached, taught and prophecied and the actual realities of every day living , especially when we began to find out the ungodly behaviour and outright sins in the lives of some admired Evangelist or other. Some of it had been covered up for years.

We had been guilty of putting certain preachers on pedestals simply because their ministries had seemed so blessed by God , avidly buying their books and tapes and following their teachings. We never questioned some of their millionaire lifestyles … so different to the Lord and His Apostles. Thank God that He reminded us of His truth.

One thing we did get in our early christian walk was a grounding in the great traditional Bible doctrines. I’m not sure that it happens now. All the famous preachers/evangelists/prophets of today claim they are teaching bible truth don’t they?  Well – they may use the right words but often the meaning of those words is totally different to what you think. The cults are masters at this deception and I’m afraid the same subtlety is used in the church now. Scriptures are quoted out of context or given different slants in order to back up the message, and the unsuspecting will fall for it.  To criticise is negative and we only want positive build up and self-esteem. Well – there’s plenty of that around isn’t there? No wonder the Lord said we must be wise as serpents!

Sadly I still have friends who are caught up in it all and are convinced it is me who is wrong.  Well the Lord knows and we must all follow our God-given conscience , speaking of which – one thing I found is that in the first stages of indoctrination into anything new or alien, for the true believer there comes a niggling doubt, something doesn’t seem quite right. When this happens we either listen to our conscience and query it with said preacher, check it out with scripture, then maybe another person or a testimonial or two;  or we merely check with the preacher and accept their explanation, however unsatisfactory or dismissive it may be [ because we like /respect them as people]. This seems to be the point at which we get more and more entrenched in error.

Because of this lack of care for the truth, the ecumenical mind-set has taken hold of the evangelical church so that all error is embraced rather than seperated from as the Scriptures command us to do.

In these end times we can take courage, for the Lord and His Apostles warned us beforehand that it would happen and He is at work in us to deliver us from confusion and is strengthening our hearts as we seek constantly to abide in Him and His truth. Who else is there to turn to?  We need His pruning to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in our lives : LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING, GENTLENESS, GOODNESS, FAITH, MEEKNESS, TEMPERANCE   Gal.5:22

Maranatha!

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Natural Selection=Evolution?

I watched a James May programme on BBC last night. It aroused my curiosity because I’d read in the Radio Times that –  ‘James explores Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection and tries to find evidence for evolution. He explains a link between humankind and cabbages’.

My immediate thought was – that sounds really promising – is he actually going to explain that ‘natural selection’ is not the same as and does not need evolution, because he can’t  find evidence for the belief that one species did, can or does change into another ? I was further encouraged when the programme voice-over stated it was ‘looking for the answers to life’s big questions’  …. so far, so good.

But my hopes were dashed as no free-thinking, objective exploration of the evidence was forthcoming. It was just another look at life with atheistic bias.

James May began with a short bio of Darwins abandoned ambitions in medicine and theology, but no revelation of the emotional trauma that made him turn away from God. He went on to describe Darwin’s famous observations of Finchs’ beaks via ‘natural selection’ followed immediately by the statement that the theory of evolution is accepted fact by most scientists today.

I find that unsatisfactory on two counts – 1) natural selection is wrongly equated with evolution and 2) why no discussion of what non-evolutionary scientists have to say?

The fossil record is presented as evidence for long evolutionary time with the old question ‘What came first, the dinosaur[chicken] or the egg? If you want to see evolution in action look at an egg.’

This is a daft statement to make because, as with all life  the egg is DNA at work and nothing to do with the evolutionary idea that one species evolves into another. I am no scientist but I do try to understand within my limited brain function the findings of actual scientific knowledge – and to my understanding, the genes use pre-programmed information within the DNA to make us what we are.  The fertilised egg reproduces after its own kind  – just as all the evidence shows us.

I found it of note too, that in the BBC quote [above] it refers to ‘humankind’ and that little word ‘kind’ is significant. The Bible account of God’s creation states He made things after their own kind  – there was no cross – over between them. We certainly observe variation – but always within its kind. God created everything in adult form to reproduce. Nothing can survive alone  in an immature, primative form – we all need mothers and fathers !

Regarding the fossil record – I don’t think it’s too sweeping a statement to say that every scientist knows that fossils are formed rapidly by being trapped suddenly in a catastrophic happening eg flood. If some animal or human dies in the normal course of events and is buried the body decays over a fairly short period of time until eventually nothing remains.  The Bible description of the great Flood produced exactly the fossil evidence we have today.

James May admits in the programme that the fossil records present obstacles that seem to contradict the theory that they are millions of years old. Rather than face the obvious  [well, we musn’t believe in God !!]  yet more theories are invented to accommodate their preconceived wishes eg Cambrian Explosion, Punctuated Equilibrium etc.

An examination of death and extinction follows with the statement that ‘ the biggest killer is evolution itself’ – it’s all simply part of the evolutionary processs’.   [- so, get over it].  Why don’t we just gloss over the minor detail that it doesn’t actually explain death at all. Let’s be positive and try to create life ourselves.

Scientists are currently trying to create a living  mammoth from the DNA of a frozen dead one. And apparently in 2010 the first man-made life  was created from bacteria. James May says of course, it needed the DNA plus a host cell to do it, and a completely original life form is still science- fiction. Of course it is, because common sense tells you that something can never be produced out of nothing.

To illustrate further the foolishness of atheistic man, we are told that there is redundant DNA with no purpose – they are ‘evolutionary throw-backs’ – atavisms [ where have I heard that one before – the appendix perhaps?].

Well, if evolution is true and there is no God, then there is no meaning or purpose to anything. The natural conclusion for the thinking person is ‘then why bother and why should I care anyway? ‘The spokespersons of evolution know  the resulting despair that such an outlook  can generate, so they have to try to turn a negative into a positive.

So – what does James May finish with? ‘Evolution has never had a goal – so it takes the stress out of life!’   Really?  I would have thought such a philosophy does the exact opposite. I would ask – given the trials and tribulations that we all have to suffer in this sin-sick world – please tell me what it was all for?  And what about justice … doesn’t that matter?

The bottom line is that you have a choice who you will believe – will you blindly believe evolution because you find your idea of God unpalatable – or will you try to be more objective and examine all the evidence for yourself?  I thoroughly recommend the CMI and other creation web sites linked in my Blogroll at right.  Listen to your conscience – God gave it to you. This could be your first step to a wonderful, purposeful new life.

Many blessings   Eileen

Please leave a comment by clicking on ‘comments’ below – and correct me if I’ve made mistakes in my ‘facts’ .

can never be

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The Last Pope?

There are times when I want to write about a matter, but I hardly know where to begin. This is a particular instance where there are all sorts of avenues to explore , but the main one seems to be the role of Catholicism.  A friend alerted me to a Sid Roth broadcast refering to the newly elected Pope.

For those who may not know, Sid Roth has a TV programme called ‘It’s Supernatural’, and this particular broadcast is of an interview with Tom Horn and Cris Putnam. And talk about stuff to ‘tickle the ears’ !  Sid Roth believes these guests  have been ‘hand picked by God’ to research their subject.

They reveal the existence in the Vatican Library of a 900 year old document by St Milachy listing names and prophecies cncerning 112 Popes, which they believe have been fulfilled with stunning accuracy.  Pope Francis is apparently the last Pope on the list  – proving that we are in the Last Days.

He is the Pope of the great tribulation, when there will be great persecution of the Catholic Church. [ this makes the RC Church the victim not the perpetrator!]

My first question is – should a true Bible believing Christian look to outside sources predicting future events – however ‘accurate’ they may appear?  Tom Horn and Cris Putnam certainly think it’s ok to do so. Cris Putnam talks of taking St Malachy’s list seriously because of its accuracy.

I found the whole interview very confused and muddling to listen to at times because it’s difficult to know exactly what they’re endorsing and what they’re not, or even who’s side they’re on.

Much time is spent talking about Vatican belief in Aliens and their technologically advanced Telescopes  set up in Arizona – one in particular called ‘Lucifer’ because of its special infra-red camera eye looking for other worlds.

They quote Vatican Astronomer Guy Cossolmagao as saying the nations are going to look to the Aliens for salvation. Secret Vatican files reveal that Jesus could be the son of a Star Child – an Alien Intelligence. The Virgin birth was an alien abduction scenario and Jesus will return to earth as an alien.

Now, the confusion arises for me because, although TH and CP , I presume, do not believe this themselves , and they do believe UFOs, abductions and the like are demonic … none-the-less they relate supernatural things they have experienced themselves – including seeing UFOs !!

Tom Horn says a lot of Christians are seeing UFOs [ which is very worrying if true] . They are saying Aliens are on earth now and moving in and out of our reality and they include human hybridivity …[ I seem to recall reading some such scenario by Chuck Missler ?]

Apparently these vatican files reveal information coming from these other worlds that will mean a re-writing of the gospel as we know it ….  I find that almost laughable when the Catholic Church doesn’t preach the true gospel anyway !

TH and CP believe this is a huge deception of course, but they seem to believe it is just the RC Church that is to be deceived in these last days ….. oh what a tangled web.

Sid Roth and his guests , confusingly, also seem to have a high regard for Catholicism. CPs education, if I heard right, was by both ‘Catholic and Protestant Reformers’ and Sid Roth adds a seperate little video testifying of his gratitude to Roman Catholic Charismatics. He says , as a new Jewish Christian, he needed ‘mentoring’ and the greatest blessing in his life came from RC Charismatics,  adding ” don’t you try to tell me they weren’t saved – they were as saved as any protestant.  They taught me things of the Spirit that I even teach to this day”    The mind boggles !!

If they were saved, why did they remain within a false system that doesn’t preach the gospel?  it is a betrayal of those ex-catholics who do leave and suffer persecution for it, not to mention those martyrs burned at the stake so long ago.

For an overall view of the history and current aims of the Catholic Church pay a visit to ex-priest Richard Bennett’s web site http://www.bereanbeacon.org and read his article Pope Francis Elected, Mystery of Iniquity Continues.

many blessings,   Eileen

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Is God Doing A New Thing?

Let me say right at the outset of this post that I still believe  God equips his church with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but I thank Him that I no longer walk in the realms of hyper-charismatic ‘Revival’ and ‘healing’ crusades [ maybe that’s an old-fashioned term and they call them something else now?]  where no questions are asked – everything simply accepted as the work of God.

God forbid that I should make excuses for myself , but as a young Christian I just took it for granted that the Leaders/Pastors/Teachers/Evangelists were holy men of God who were guiding me into truth. Of course – the ones who taught me to believe and rely on Scripture were. I also received instruction from some not to accept every voice/ impression as the voice of God, but to test the spirits.

From the mid-sixties through to the seventies I think the most controversy I ever experienced  was over the role of women in the church and head coverings!  I was for the most part blissfully unaware that I was getting any wrong/bad teaching because we were all being swept along with the excitement of this ‘new thing’ that God was doing.  We rejoiced in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the fact that even the traditional CofE and RC churches were being blessed with it. It seemed a bit ‘odd’ – but who were we to question what God was doing. I fully expected these dear people to leave the said churches when enlightened.

However – as my husband and I grew in Christian maturity we began to realise that all was not well and started to question things. Over the years whenever we shared our misgivings they were rejected until eventually for our own spiritual well-being we had to leave  and found ourselves without a sound church to belong to.

That was many years ago and it grieves me that back then we’d already led new Christians into that excessive charismatic scenario. What saddens me is how invasive the false teachings have become and how admired those Leaders who promote them are.

Because I don’t have much, if anything, to do with hyper-charismatic churches now, I tend not to have anything particular to say about them. However, occasionally I have something sent to me or mentioned in conversation in a favourable way – as if I must be in agreement with it – that forces me to look something up and revisit old ground. This is where the internet keeps me up to date.

I have forced myself to listen to podcasts and watch videos on YouTube, but overall I find they are prophesying and claiming things very similar to the ones from way back when. Mainly that God is about to do many unusual healings and miracles all over the country. God’s Kingdom is coming to earth just as it is in Heaven.  He is restoring Apostolic Ministry. This of course is pure Latter Rain, Kingdom Now theology [previously thrown out as heresy by the AOG].

I couldn’t help but notice that the audiences in the videos I watched are more cheering, whistling and whooping it up than I ever remember in my day. Crowd manipulation is rife – just as it is in the world and it seems we are partying big time gratis the holy spirit ! How anyone can think this glorifies God is beyond me. Whatever happened to sef-control and a meek and humble spirit ie  the FRUIT of the Spirit ?

I don’t say this in a ‘holier than thou’ frame of mind, but with fear of the Lord in working out my own salvation : I praise and thank God that my righteousness is in the One who died for me and not in myself.

Those who speak out against the errors and excesses are brushed aside [or worse] as being divisive and judgemental and committing the sin of not going along with what God is doing, plus maybe having a ‘religious spirit’. But my response is ‘what better way for Satan to keep Christians in fear and from finding the truth of the matter?’ Not to mention allowing these Leaders to ‘get away with it’. It would never have been  ‘tolerated’ in the early church.

I would thoroughly recommend anyone interested in the Truth to read Kevin Reeves book ‘The Other Side of the River’.  He has a web site of the same name which is well worth a visit. [Link at right side]

Please feel free to comment [by clicking on comments above]  or ask questions as I’m never certain whether I’ve explained myself properly or missed out relevant points.

Many blessings,     Eileen

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Lamentations

No  – this isn’t a treatise on the ‘Lamentations of Jeremiah’  – but it’s my own lamentations on the condition of the world and the church.

I’ve been a Christian long enough now [49 years] to have observed how much has changed during that time. I wish I could say ‘for the better’, but sadly from a moral point of view that isn’t the case.

As the belief in evolution and therefore humanistic atheism has become more and more ingrained in peoples’ minds, so their lives have become less and less governed by absolutes.

From a simple understanding of God as the ultimate Authority and the Ten Commandments as the moral code to live by, it seems we are now free to pick and choose any philosophy that takes our fancy. If we do happen to have some remnant left of ‘God’ – He certainly isn’t the Biblical one as the Bible is just a book of myths , so God becomes what we imagine him to be. Truth hardly matters does it? What is truth?

The vacuum or space left by this removal of our Creator has to be replaced and filled by something – anything, so as to give some semblance of meaning to our lives. The likes of Richard Dawkins pronounce life to be bleak and pointless – but even he has to give purpose and meaning to his own existence by making it his fervent ambition to rid the world of ‘religion’.

The traditional British ‘stiff upper lip’ has had its day – psychology decrees it’s bad for us to repress things so we must now let it all out – the more tears, hugs and kisses, the better. This all seems to lead  into a sort of mass romanticism  – evident in the many sentimental emails that ‘do the rounds’ with veiled hints of  stopping the blessings if you don’t send them on to others. They are totally unrealistic but they make us feel good.

This spills over into weddings and funerals too. I go to more and more of the latter these days and boy, has there been a change!  It’s good to lighten the load of course , but favourite pop songs replace hymns and the mourners ‘pay their respects’ , but there is no real certainty of an after life – only vague references to the deceased person ‘looking down’ on us or somehow carrying on doing ‘up there’ what they always did ‘down here’.   At weddings [not that I’ve been to any for years] the bride and groom make sentimental [ and easily broken]promises to each other  – there are no binding vows made before God anymore  – except for true believers. Of course – like christenings, the clergy collude in it all.

Many give meaning to their lives by engrossing themselves in various hobbies and activities and if they can support a charity at the same time – so much the  better. If you’ve been blessed with a sense of humour and quick wit you can just laugh your way through life and cheer up others as you go, or you could help people going through a difficulty you have experienced yourself.

All these things are admirable and give meaning and purpose in an otherwise ‘orrible, sad world. But when all things are ended and you depart this life – what then? What’s it all been for? Has it all been one big senseless struggle?

And what about justice?  Do the murderers , paedophiles, the cruel, the cheats and the liars who have never been found out simply get away with it?  And lets not forget to include ourselves in this list  – according to Jesus – if we commit a sin in our minds we have done it for real. Not one of us is sin-free, even though we think we’re not that bad. But either way – don’t we all cry out for justice to be done?

The Bible has proved itself to be true in every respect and it is when mankind deviates from its teachings that things go wrong for society. Our laws were based in the Judeo/Christian revelations from God Himself , but gradually things are being turned on their head  – the latest to do with the meaning of marriage. And who would ever have thought that the government would allow Sharia law to practise legitimately in certain instances in our country?

My lament is that much of the Church [ except for a relatively few truly Bible-based churches] has become like the world and absorbed it’s practises and beliefs into its own – so much so, that anyone speaking up for the authority and infallibilty of God’s word is regarded as a naive fundamentalist who won’t face up to the ‘facts’ and move on.

Well – we are surely living in the time that the Bible warned would come  – perilous times when right will be wrong and the truth will be a lie; when people will love themselves [rather than love God and their neighbour] ; they will be proud and boastful and rebellious. They will also mock and despise believers.

However –  Christian believers have an anchor in Christ their Saviour and have a mission to fulfill while here on earth – that of bringing the good news of the gospel to those who are willing to listen. If you happen to be one of them and have questions – I urge you to seek God  and trust His word. We are alienated from God by our sin.  He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die in our place so that we can be forgiven and live with Him in eternity. Eternal life is a free gift given by God – there is nothing you can do to earn it, simply  believe and repent .

” And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of  God has not life. These things have I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.”   1 john 5:11-13

 

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Is The Brainwashing Complete?

‘ ……. they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.’ 2 Thess 2:10/11

The essence of  brainwashing is to denigrate, ridicule and destroy the old , traditional – and probably in this case , loosely held, beliefs  –  in order to replace and establish the new required belief system.

Today we see the pernicious influence that a generation [or more] of the teachings of evolution have had on whole public institutions, governments, business, education and the media and consequently on to the ‘man in the street’. Evolution is accepted as fact even by many who believe in God – right into the Church itself.

Yes  –  there is a great conspiracy going on – but led by God’s enemy, Satan himself, who, the Bible tells us, will one day rule this world. He will come in the guise of an Angel of Light and will be heralded as a Saviour – but in truth – he is that Man of Sin , the Antichrist .  Hitler was a mere shadow of what is to come, as the German people worshipped him and allowed terrible persecution of their fellow human beings – the Jews [ plus any Christians and others who stood against him]. Hitler was a great believer in evolution , with himself of course at the top of the tree.

But , to return to my subject – the atheist/humanist has become much more aggressively evangelistic for the cause of evolution in the last few years, as they seek to ‘liberate’ people from their ‘religious’ shackles. [note Matthew 11: 28-30] But of course, their ideas about God were way off the mark in the first place .  Had they grasped the meaning of and the reason for the Gospel message, they would have been led into the truth by the Holy Spirit.

One could argue that they have themselves, become so shackled to the mind set of evolution that they are in a straight jacket that they can’t get out of, no matter what contrary evidence is shown to them.  They refuse to debate with scientists who are believers in Creation because they know that they have a strong case, whereas theistic evolutionists are easy pickings for them . The likes of Richard Dawkins do not encourage independent, objective examination of the scientific evidence, especially from the young,  because for them, everything must start from the premise of and utter faith in evolution as fact. And of course – this is how they want their readers and students to approach the subject. The other side of the argument is never presently seriously.

Let me just appeal to reason for a moment. Evolution teaches that the human race is no more than a slightly ‘higher’ evolved animal  – any wrong doing is just put down to our natural instincts – after all that’s what we see in the animal kingdom. But the question is – where did our conscience come from?  Why did music and laughter develop in us? How come we can appreciate beauty and where did our creativity come from? These hardly seem animalistic characteristics and dog-eat-dog, do they? We could add all sorts of other examples of where we are so different from the animals. This evidence  is much more in line with the Bible description of the first man being uniquely made in God’s image, with God-breathed life in him – completely different to the animals.  Evolution would have you believe life suddenly appeared out of nothing and over millions of years developed into our wonderful, complex world. Hardly credible is it? Have you ever noted anything developing from nothing in your life?

Everything in our world is so obviously designed for purpose. Everything we use has been designed and made by someone. Even Richard Dawkins admits that ‘everything appears to have design’  – in which case , the obvious question is  – who designed it? Methinks that’s why some scientists are spending vast amounts of time and money trying to find evidence of life elsewhere in the universe  – maybe we were made or brought here by aliens ?? in that case – who made the aliens?? Yes – it all goes into the realms of more and more fantasy and imaginings instead of facing facts.

Well, to get back to our world –  it seems that with a few exceptions, the whole of mankind is travelling on the evolution road – even ‘religious’ people.  Jesus spoke of two ways  – the narrow and the wide, leading to two different destinations. By default we are on that wide road and heading for God’s judgement. You are more than a mere animal – you have been given a choice to make.  Should be a ‘no-brainer’ shouldn’t it?  The narrow road is the one you  travel with the Lord Jesus Christ – destination Heaven.

A favourite African American song of mine [ we used to be able to call them Negro Spirituals – and always with respect anyway]  –  called  The Gospel Train, urges us to board the train that’s going to Heaven, but you have to reserve your ticket first and be ready to leave. The ticket was already paid for by Jesus when he died on the cross. It finishes with the words – ‘Oh sinner you’re forever lost, if once you’re left behind’  

This world is in a tragic, hopeless, no win situation as the atheist and godly alike do their best to try and bring their own solutions to patch things up. But the truth is – we can do nothing to save ourselves – none of us deserve anything from God. The good news is that God is gracious and merciful and will forgive us, but it must be on His terms and not ours.  ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16

             ‘ …… Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him.’ 1 Cor 2:9

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Learning to Trust

‘And He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me  …… when I am weak, then I am strong.’  2 Cor.12:9,10

Each stress and strain in life has its own peculiarities and pressures. I had already suffered the mental and emotional upheaval of the loss of my dear husband and soul mate some five years ago but now am experiencing the upheaval of downsizing from a house to a flat.

It’s said that these are the two most stressful things that can happen to us and I think that is true, but at least with moving house you are looking beyond the many pressures involving Estate Agents, Lawyers, chains etc to the excitement of all things new. Bereavement however, is a traumatic event, taking your life in a direction you hadn’t planned for and don’t want.

As a Christian though, the sting of death is taken away as we know our eternal destination and we truly experience the comfort of the Holy Spirit. We know that God’s soveriegn will ‘allows’ our adverse circumstances to happen, but through them we can learn to trust Him if we are willing to do so, and , as the above scripture asserts, we see His name praised and glorified through and at the end of our trials. That is the ultimate purpose – to demonstrate that His power, purposes and glory cannot be denied as He works in our weakness  … people will say ‘that has to be God’ and we reap the benefits of trusting Him.

So – the big question is ‘ Why, oh why do I fret and fuss so??’  –  because I am human and there is a continual battle going on between the flesh and the spirit. The problem comes when I try to fight my own battles and feel so guilty each time I fail ! It is such a relief to realise what I’m doing [walking in the flesh] and ask the Lord’s forgiveness and to then walk in the Spirit , simply trusting the One who won the victory for me  to get me through – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me !

Our adverse emotions can be so strong at times that they become overwhelmimg and we feel powerless to change, while struggling to change anyway  … but we are new creatures in Christ and He will do what we can’t do  – it is God who is working in us to will and to do His own good pleasure. What a relief it is to trust His word! I’ve experienced mini-miracles when I’ve remembered to ask the Lord to give me grace and change my outlook on a given situation.

We need the anchor of God’s word when we are being tossed about by our emotions, for this is how He guides and enlightens us. He is always faithful to His word and to us, as we learn to trust it will never change or fail.  The fact that the Lord Jesus said even the hairs on our head are numbered and He sees every sparrow that falls, means that God, our Father is interested in the very smallest details of our lives. When I think of who God is and His sovereign power and glory , and how insignificant I am in this vast arena of life , I have to ask myself – HOW can this be?

But – it is so  …. I remind myself each Christmas of that fact … that God sent his Son into the world to save us  – each individually …. that’s how bothered He is about us! Wonderful Saviour !

 

 

We see this happening

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Before and After

Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases  PSALM 103

I know that unbelievers can find religious words a turn – off and sometimes embarrassing in conversation; or the subject itself not even worth bothering about. After all – you’re either brought up to be ‘religious’ or not, according to the tradition of your background and culture – you have been indoctrinated a certain way so you don’t know any better. Therefore what suits you doesn’t necessarily suit me – right?

Well, that view doesn’t take into account the many examples of people who change from one religion to another or from no religion at all, to a deeply held belief in God. Something profound must have happened to them to have caused this serious change – especially in many cases where it brings family or cultural disapproval or dis-ownership and persecution.

It also happens to all sorts of people – there is no particular ‘type’ or ‘personality’, level of education or intellect. [God is no respector of persons in that regard. Acts 10:34]

I think it was mainly this fact that prompted me to do my own search for ultimate Truth. Why does anyone become a believer?

Now, from the point of view of one who has crossed that great divide – I would like to write here about the difference it made to my life – the Before and After.  It isn’t my intention to boost up and draw attention to my own ego, pleasant and therapeutic though it may be to write about oneself, because it can be pretty boring to other people. But what I do hope and pray is that it may draw those of you who are interested enough to read this, into thinking afresh about God and what the meaning of your life can be; especially if you consider yourself a total atheist.

If you want to enter into a debate on any point – please feel free to do so by clicking on ‘comments’. I would love to hear from you.

The Bible says that once we have found God as Saviour in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are born again as a new person – the old passes away and everything becomes new. We are a new creation with a new start. That is a truly miraculous and marvelous thing isn’t it?

We become aware of our sin -nature and our God-given conscience becomes sharpened. We realise we are accountable to God and it makes us far more careful about what we say or do.

That may appear to be a burdensome thing , and it is,  if it’s done illegitimately in the guise of ‘religion’.  Jesus said He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that we can’t reach God in any other way … that’s why I call religion illegitimate, for we have no righteousness of our own. When we are born of the Spirit of God, He gives us the strength and power to live the Christian life because He loves us. We love Him because He first loved us.It becomes our pleasure and delight in life to love and trust Him whatever befalls us. To obey God as best we are able brings its own rewards – the freedom that comes with forgiveness of sin and a clear conscience.

Of course – I am only human and at times I feel sorry for myself, feel lonely, fret, fuss and worry about things …. but the Lord always reminds me that there is a better way to handle my life, illnesses, troubles and circumstances  – the way of  His Spirit. So I ask Him ‘how’ and He always answers me, either by changing my attitude towards the offending thing or by changing the situation. He gives the peace that passes understanding as  promised in His word.

Our natural software has the default button set at panic/worry/fear, but we can learn to click on to the ‘ Trust Me ‘ button and the sooner the better!

When I was an atheist everything that happened in my life was put down to either good or bad luck. Nobody ever could explain what exactly ‘Luck’ is.  Our first  son was born with Spina – bifida and then developed hydrocephalous. After a couple of operations at six weeks old, his tiny life hung in the balance and we could do nothing but wait anxiously.  I remember a friend suggesting we might try praying.  I knew he meant well, but I felt highly offended that he should suggest such a thing  – I saw it as an insult to my intelligence as he knew full well that I was an atheist.  [The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Psalm 14:1]    How differently I see things now.

I have an enormous sense of belonging to God and that he is fully aware of everything that happens to us.  I learned through reading the Bible that even the really bad things , things we think we’ll never recover from, are all working together for our good when we love God. He sees the whole picture while all we see is our own small part. God knows exactly what He’s doing – He sees every sparrow that falls and even the hairs on our head are numbered.  I don’t want to be a ‘fair-weather’ Christian – just loving God when life is good and things are going well. I want to love and trust Him all the time, for who He IS.

A truly wonderful thing that happened and surprised me at my conversion was that my physical vision also must have been enhanced in some way , just as my spiritual eyes had been opened, because the natural world around me increased in its beauty for me.  They sky looked so much bluer and the grass so much greener.  Later I discovered I wasn’t alone in this . There is a lovely hymn called ‘ I Am His’  [ Loved With Everlasting Love] written by G. Wade Robinson , which expresses it so well in the second verse:

“Heaven above is softer blue, Earth around is sweeter green, Something lives in every hue, Christless eyes have never seen, Birds with gladder songs o’erflow,Flowers with deeper beauties shine, Since I know, as now I know, I am His and He is mine.”

Would I ever want to go back to my atheistic life?  How could I ?  I know what side my bread’s buttered on !

Bye for now …..

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In Defense of Discernment Ministries

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgement; that you may approve things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ.   Philippians 1:9,10

Some Christian folk seem to  feel very uncomfortable regarding Discernment Mnistries and their web sites, thinking they shouldn’t focus so much on what’s wrong within  the church, but to present a more ‘balanced’ view.  Maybe they think the heresy problem has been exaggerated and that Christians shouldn’t be judging each other this way?   [NB – we should judge righteously and not hypocritically]

Well, so far, the comments I have received here have been very favourable and may I say gratefully received – but then , my readership must be very low I  know.

Several times lately though, I’ve heard it said that the web sites in question write about nothing else [ which has also been said about the ‘Creation’ sites].  But I would respond by asking  –  in the secular world,  wouldn’t we expect specific information relating to the purpose of the particular site? That surely would be their raison d’etre.

The Christian faith is a vast subject/arena and you surely write about what you know and what your own experience is don’t you?  Hopefully, in the case of discernment ministries, it’s stuff that will help to inform people about things they may not be aware of. It can often be a great relief to Christians who know something is amiss in their church [ they don’t always know what] but feel they are alone in their concerns.  I personally have found out things which help to make sense of what is happening.

Unpleasant though it is for peace – loving Christians to have to face up to – heresies have to be confronted. It is our duty to to know the  scriptures, to test the spirits and to defend the faith.     It was no idle thing for the Lord Jesus Christ to say that there would be false prophets and deception in the last days and also for the Apostles Peter and Paul to warn about damnable heresies and seducing spirits infiltrating the church itself.  But these days it’s difficult for some Christians to accept that there is anything wrong at all – especially in the light of what they perceive as God’s  blessing.

I am very grateful to the Lord that he brought me face to face with false teachings extremely early in my Christian life.  I’m sure I’ve mentioned elsewhere that my late husband and I had been saved only a matter of a couple of weeks before we had Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons on our doorstep.

Not knowing any different, we welcomed them as fellow believers and invited them in to listen to what they had to say.   The JWs remembered me from their previous door-knocking and knew I was an atheist so they were most surprised when we told them how we had come to a saving faith in Christ.

They proceeded then to tell us what our beliefs were [ as then members of the CofE] eg. they said ‘you believe in the trinity’  and  ‘you worship Jesus’   –  to which we wondered ‘do we?’ They told us this wasn’t scriptural and left their literature with us.

When the Mormons [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]  called , of course they majored on Joseph Smith and left with the request that we pray and ask God to reveal to us whether JS was a Prophet or not.    Well – we did pray and afterwards my husband opened the Bible at the very page that warned ‘beware of false prophets’ !  But even then I was almost seduced into thinking they may still be ok  ……

We asked our CofE Curate about our visitors and he explained that there were certain groups of people who called themselves Christians but they were outside of the mainstream legitimate denominations because of their extreme deviations from the Bible and true Gospel. They were following false prophets and had their own hierarchies and were known as Cults.

So began our own study of the Bible to see what it actually taught about the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, sin and the Atonement etc, etc. It became blatantly obvious to us that these people were in terrible deception and over time we tried to witness to as many as we could, praying that the Lord would open their blind eyes.

As our family grew and we moved house, changing churches as we went, with dismay, we found that within our own church  fellowships some very suspect and deviant things were being taught,  far too many to go into here . Each time,  we tried to voice our concerns to no avail.  So for some years we were ‘churchless’ but not ‘God-less’  ….. I thank the Lord that I am now associated with a Bible-based Church and a faithful Pastor.

So – returning to the subject of Discernment Ministry web sites  – I believe they are doing a sometimes thankless but very necessary work and they deserve our support.   From their own comments lately though, it seems as if  criticism is on the increase. I find this very sad and I believe misplaced. Aren’t we all on the same side and shouldn’t we all be concerned for the TRUTH?  And why is it always assumed they are being ‘unloving’ if they dare to point out a wrong ?  I leave you with the Apostle Paul’s words to the Galations : 4:16

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth ?

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Another Response

[ I am  replying to Adrian again on a main page, partly because I’m not sure that people find the comments button easily. I must look up ‘help’ pages to find out how to make comments visible without having to click on a button. P’raps there’s another Blogger who can tell me?]

1]   Regarding the internet, we do need to excercise some judgement here and I agree that the  Midnight Ministries site doesn’t seem good. In fairness though, I have only read one article but thought it gave a flavour. I don’t know the name of the man in charge but I think he is in as much, if not more error, than the man he seeks to correct – Colin Urquhart. He has departed from the traditional christian teaching on the Person of the Holy Spirit and is very much led by his own prophecies and dreams, so I personally wouldn’t set any store on what he says.

I really only like to promote the web sites that have a genuine concern for the Church and who speak out where nobody else will. They are sites that have come about through need i.e. they have experienced un-challenged error in their own church and have eventually had to reluctantly leave . [ I don’t think the quote from C S Lewis applies here] They then go on to discover that it isn’t just their own church but can see a pattern forming and fitting the Lord’s and the Apostle Paul’s description of something that would happen in the Last Days’.

I think as long as we are keen to exercise Biblical discernment and are grounded in solid, traditional doctrine [ the tradition that Paul spoke of], then we shouldn’t find ourselves being tossed about by all these sites [and preachers] …. it can be quite traumatic to realise that even as a faithful Christian, you have veered off the narrow path and onto a diversion for a time !

Personally I found the best way to channel my own concerns was by way of this Blog. I don’t see it as a ‘Crusade’ in promoting my views, more a hope that God will be gracious with my feeble efforts to help others in their stand against error when they come across it. He deals with us all in His own way and timing. If we are lovers of the Truth then the Holy Spirit has promised to lead us into it.

2]  My views on the return of the Lord have developed over the years. Looking back at the Hippie/Flower Power days, we seemed to be in something of a ‘Revival’ at the time. Young people [ I was in my 30s then  – old  ! ]  especially were very open to the Gospel and spiritual things in general, and although many were drawn into Eastern type religions, many became Christians.

The ‘Rapture’ of the church was a hot topic and gave our evangelism a certain urgency – which I think was a good thing as long as we focussed on the Gospel . However – then, as now, we should not make the error of trying to set dates.

If we study the scriptures, we see that certain things must happen first. In 2 Thess chapter 2 Paul tells the church not to be disturbed by anyone claiming that the ‘Day of the Lord’ is at hand [or ‘imminent’]

We can believe that we are living in the Last Days because of  [as you point out Adrian] prophecies already fulfilled in our life time regarding Israel and also the worsening state of affairs in the world and the church. But to speculate or worse still, to be dogmatic [as some definitely are] before events actually take place is not wise !

That Day will come soon enough  …..  it will take the world totally by dismayed surprise, as a thief in the night, but to us who love and look for His appearing, it will be a day of redemption and rejoicing, with the added bonus that, being alive at the time, means you won’t have to experience physical death …. formidable !

Meanwhile , we should live our lives as the Lord would have us live them ….  abiding in His word so that we know what His will is and waiting patiently for His return.

nb:  In my own examination of the various ‘Rapture’ theories , I notice that the ‘Day of the Lord’  is named in Scripture under several titles  ….  all referring to events on that same Day.

nb 2:  I’ve just had a re-look to see who writes the Midnight Ministries web site and discovered it is Malcolm B Heap. He s a former member of  Herbert W Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God.  Apparently he had a dream that Diana, Princess of Wales, would be resurrected to validate the authority of Midnight Mnistries   …..  I rest my case .

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