Wednesday, July 31, 2013

WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT OUT OF LIFE?

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady
Many go through life without grasping the full meaning of it life.  Like all of us, at some
point in our earlier years, many have questions, the answers for which they either seldom seek (and find) the correct answers  or get the world’s misdirection or even worse – just give up and let their lives just slip away, meaninglessly.  This is not what God intended for us – whether Jew or Gentile or rich or poor. There is something within the spirit of every human which instinctively desires more than the present condition.  Increasingly, we hear this, not only from those who have not surrendered to the plans God originally had for them, but those who frequently darken the church door.

Some think “if only I had a little more, a boat or a trip to Europe or….” It would make me really happy. Some seek love and relationship, and end up on some dating website or worse – a bar, looking for love in all the wrong places.  Some seek answers in their occupation, lacking the proper perspective of what work is really about. Some seek it in music, writing books or athletics.  However, no matter what the temporal condition of the person in question, it is all boils down – more times oft than not – to “is this ALL there is”?! Is this it?

This is the same question that Super bowl Champion New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had! Here is a man who has everything a man could want, in the world’s eyes! Brady has the big multi-million contract. Brady has the huge diamond-studded Super Bowl rings. Brady has the awe of his peers and the world sports media. Brady has the massive mansion in California. Brady has the fashion model pretty wife. Brady has it all…or does he? What did he have to say about all of this? Now he does seem to be a nice guy on the human level, and has taken a liking to born-again Christian and new Patriot Tim Tebow, so this not a personal attack on Brady. It is though, an honest look at what makes successful men tick (or not) and why honesty really is the best policy...as well as the first step to personal, spiritual redemption!

I recommend you watch this Plumbline program called “WHAT DO PEOPLE WANT OUT OF LIFE?” – It is the introductory program to my 12-Part study of the entire Book of Ecclesiastes which will be posted here over the next several weeks. This upcoming series is called “THE MEANING OF LIFE”. The underlying Spirit-led premise is this- if you and I really want to know what the true meaning of life really is – FIND IT IN THE GOD OF THE BIBLE!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

A LIFE WELL LIVED, Part 4 - AWE


Webster's dictionary describes AWE as an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred.Another dictionary defines awe as "a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder"In both cases, we see two things - the use of the words "feeling (or emotion)" and secondly - "sacred (or reverential)".

Both definitions include the words "dread and fear" and both have the same word, wonder, at the end of their respective definition. So that does that mean to us? No one could have said it better than the great prophet Isaiah in Chapter 6 of his book. Remember, as you read this short passage, Isaiah was already a servant of the Lord - as we are! Remember also, and then search your own soul, that we are no better than Isaiah!

Why do I say that? Well, we live in the same corrupt and profane world as Isaiah. Just like when King Uzziah was reigning, we live in relative prosperity, ease and comfort. Just like that time in Judah's history, we are a corrupt, foul-mouthed and perverse generation. Just like these early days of the ministry of the great prophet, the people of God are tolerating perversion, misrepresentation and misapplication of the Word by politicians and pastors who are no more sons of God than the fig tree that Jesus cursed.
ISAIAH 6 (NKJV):
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,And your sin purged
".

When we have an encounter with the Living God like this, it is all we could do to react in the same way as the Prophet did in Verse 5 (re..."woe is me, for I am undone..."). The Word which is used in the Hebrew for "undone" is "DAMAH". In the AWESOME Presence of the Great God of Heaven, he became completely "destroyed physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and any other "-ly" you can think of!

In using the word 
"Damah", the Holy Spirit Who wrote this Scripture through Isaiah is recounting exactly what happened to Isaiah in the awesome presence of God! He was not just "undone" but was brought to the end of his corrupt earthly tradition! The word also means "silenced" and "ceased". The profanity and cultural "Christianity" (to put it in today's terms) which Isaiah was living had now been silenced and ceased/destroyed/wiped out and cancelled forever!

Isaiah was sanctified, literally sanctified, right in front of God...and it was confirmed in verse 6b, when The Seraphim touched his mouth with the hot coal to now, physically purge his mouth from speaking the world's stuff, so he could now speak clearly and cleansed for God!

The key to a Life Well Lived is being in that same place as Isaiah - UNDONE! 
DAMAH! It is only the cleansed and transformed vessel that God, through Jesus Christ, can send to the World, to speak and live and minister for Him. But it begins as with falling at His feet in completely awe, reverence and submission and then saying to the King - "Here I am, send me"!


Sunday, July 21, 2013

A LIFE WELL LIVED, Part 3 - UNDERSTANDING, DISCERNMENT

Wisdom is the best friend you will ever have in this life- Godly wisdom, that is.  Every decision, choice and more, comes out of process where at least some measure of wisdom has been applied to the decision. It all goes back to your Perception (as we saw in Part 2). Your perception is your worldview, and hopefully - for your own sake - it is a Biblical worldview. Now Wisdom is the outflow of that worldview. Therefore, again - for your own sake - it is preferably the Wisdom that comes from God!

A perfect example is a man who just became the head of a favored organization and was set to undertake one of the most amazing projects in History. All he had to do was follow his beloved late father's plans and execute. Being a very young man (he called himself a child), he needed guidance and in 1 Kings 3:5, God Himself appeared to Solomon in a vision and offered to give him ANYTHING he asked for! Here is the rest of how that conversation with God went: "Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” (1 Kings 3:7-9).

Two things from this prayer of Solomon, who is now the head of millions of God's people in Israel will guide us to a place where we ourselves can have the very SAME mind of Wisdom God gave to him. We would be wise to follow this same prescription for attaining true wisdom, the kind which made Solomon the wisest man in the world for a time. We condemn his lifestyle after he fell prey to sexual immorality and idolatry, but this is because of his own human foolishness. He did the same thing Adam did - walk away from the Wisdom of God and let his passivity take him down.

Verse 9 of 1 Kings here, has two very important criteria  (in bold red) for the kind of wisdom we need for the "Good Life":
1. An Understanding Heart -the words God uses in the Scriptures here for  is "Shama and Leb" They go together in this Hebraic context because the "Leb" or the "Heart" is the conscience, the inspiration. the imagination, the skill, the intelligence, the mind, the spirit and heart you need to do anything! 

The accompanying adjective - "Shama" - tells you how to use the heart effectively. God said in this word, pregnant with meaning, we are to have understanding in the sense of obedient, listening, truly listening, hearing, truly hearing, really obeying, witnessing, taking heed, processing, taking really good notes, comprehending and more!!
It is obvious here that, in our lives, we would be a lot smarter and function with clarity and power, if we listen more than we speak! A truly wise man is an understanding man whose conscience and spirit are focused on comprehending a situation before acting on it

2.Discern - the king wanted an "understanding heart" that he might be able to "DISCERN" and thus, make the right decision. We are to seek the same. The word God uses here in Hebrew is "BIN" -(pronounced 'bean'). This word, like EVERY word God uses, is FULL of all kinds of meaning from acting with care and caution to learning the full scope of a situation. Then you interpret the evidence correctly because you have an understanding heart full of "Bin", so you can observe, ponder, explain (to someone else if you have to), be prudent, clever and more to be just the smartest person in the room!

God, in His Magnificent Grace and Love, has given us the three simplest forms or elements we need to walk as the wise in this evil world - if only we would pay attention to Him! We do not need the systems devised by the corrupt minds of men and women, who are flooding the airwaves, bookstores and culture with their ungodly imaginations to follow and still think we will have a fully engaged life. Following those people will lead to despair, depression, confusion and one day - destruction.

Following the beautifully simple recipes of the Lord will lead to peace, love, joy, contentment and eventually eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Friday, July 19, 2013

A GOOD NAME IS BETTER THAN RICHES

PART 7/12 ...OR CHAPTER 7 ON THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES
So many people are losing their minds in the world today. The Culture of Celebrity delights in building people up, only to tear them down. Many get to the finish line of life, only to stumble right before the tape - thereby blowing it all. We live in a time when one's word does not seem to matter...where up is down and down is up.

It is and was never supposed to be like this. Hence the reason for my indepth TV series on the powerful Book of Ecclesiastes for the weekly Plumbline TV show. I went through a chapter per show, doing into the major themes and exhorting viewers to read the study the rest of the chapter themselves. 

Chapter 7 really spoke to me about a critical need for everyone alive today, about how to travel the highway of life. You can read the entire chapter 7 here after watching the next 26.5 minutes of a teaching on it

PLUMBLINE CAN BE SEEN EVERY WEEKEND @ 5am CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME HERE ON CHRISTIAN TELEVISION NETWORK AFFILIATE WLCF TV (streaming), AND EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT AT 9:30PM

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

A LIFE WELL LIVED, Part 2 - PERCEPTION

The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet...John 4:19
Perception is the way we look at things, nay, at Life! Perception is everything because the way we look at life pulls in EVERYTHING we ever thought, believed and experienced. All of this influences our thinking and our actions. All of this influences our entire outlook. We then become creatures of our environment, allowing that plus our experiences to determine how we react.

Perception is significant to living well.  This is why a person’s worldview is so critical to his/her personal, emotional and spiritual well-being. Your worldview could be worldly – like most people in this country, and you can be just as deluded as they are about their eternal future. OR, you can choose to be informed and seek true wisdom, which comes from God (James 1:5).

Function follows form. What this indicates is that the more a person is immersed in a certain environment, such a person takes on its characteristics. It is evident, by the very nature, of the incredibly vile behavior of all sectors of society these days, that two entire generations from the Baby Boomers on, are lost forever. It is almost as if this was done by design. The ungodly indoctrination of filth masquerading as sex education in public schools; the unseemly social conduct promoted by perverted professors in American colleges; the willful re-education of our college student by over-priced colleges and universities away from the Great American experiment of Life and Liberty for all, have all taken a huge toll. People are more depressed than ever and fearful.

But look at the simplicity and beauty of what the Samaritan Woman at the well said (to Jesus), in the verse above – “I perceive,sir, that You are a prophet”. That’s it – one line and very basic one, obviously. The word “perceive” original language means Biblical discernment.So how can an unsaved Samaritan woman – who had nothing to do with the Jewish religion or Jews – be filled with this kind of Divine Perception? Well,  the answer is simple – the Holy Spirit had already called and revealed to her just Who this "prophet" was/is! On top of this truth, the original word in the Bible for "perceive" is "theoreo" in the Greek...as in "THEO" - God! Therefore Godly perception and discernment can only come from God.

The perception of the Samaritan woman when she encountered the true Living God - Jesus - Who knew EVERYTHING about her, was immediately self-evident to her and it forever changed her life.This is the kind of perception which WE should have. This is the Supernatural Perception which has the power to change, transform and redirect lives to a more purposeful pathway! This is the kind of perception, which when properly deployed as the foundation of WHO we are, as children of God, can lead to a Life Well Lived!
NEXT: WISDOM

Monday, July 15, 2013

A LIFE WELL LIVED, Part 1 - HONOR



Living well....and finishing well, is the main goal of every level-headed person I know. Several of my friends have bucket lists and are fortunate enough to have the means to accomplish the items on that list, one by one. Given the brevity of life, we are more than encouraged to get the most out of life and there is nothing wrong or ungodly about giving it your best.

This is what short series is about - A Life Well Lived. The first sign that God wants for us to "Live long and Prosper" can be found in the first commandment with a promise - The Fifth Commandment. God said "honor your father and mother that your days may be long, which the Lord your God has given you" (Exodus 20:12).  This is a horizontal or relational statute because it pertains to us on a human level. But because it comes from a Divine Source, it carries all the weight in the world.

This is the start of a life well lived - kabad in the original Hebrew - meaning glorify and treasure with respect your parents, because if you do - you will honor, revere, adore, glorify, magnify and lift up the Holy Name of God, from Whom all blessings flow! He has promised, if you do that, He will give you a long and fruitful life!

Are you living that today?
TOMORROW - PERCEPTION

Thursday, July 11, 2013

REMEMBER THE ROAD TO RESCUE AND RESTORATION

He divided the sea and caused them to pass through, And He made the waters stand up like a heap....Psalm 78:13


Many of our fellow citizens feel like the Egyptian army today that attempted to chase the Israelites through the Red Sea. 
There is an overwhelming feeling of being swamped by one wave of bad "stuff" after another. There is the bad news of a health report. 
There is the rising cost of food and fuel, which move a family to and from, from work to church. There is the hopelessness of the job search. 
There is the sad reality of grown adults moving back in with elderly parents, because the system has failed them. 
There is the reality of moral perversion destroying the culture and corrupting our children. 
There is the oppressive feeling of a boot on the neck of Freedom as satan shuts down every Biblical Truth in the public square, thus trampling on Galatians 5:1 - where Jesus Christ gave it all so we may be free. There is all of this and more.

When the Lord gave me this verse above, I had a quizzical look on my face, until I realized what He was telling me here. Throughout Psalm 78:6 the great next worship song writer in the Bible after King David - Asaph, is telling of the wonders and miracles of God, to a people who needed to be reminded of what He has done for them.  We are no different. In fact, in many respects we are worse of than those who had forgotten what God had brought them through 3000 years ago, because we have no excuse!

We have EVERY resource known to man to teach, encourage, edify (or build us up) in the wisdom and truth of God. We have every translation of the Bible -the Word of God - from the most literal to the dumbed down paraphrase called "The Message". We have it on TV in cartoons, videos, audio bibles, dramatized audio bibles and cd-roms. Just days ago, the popular web app YouVersion of the Bible just crossed 100 million downloads! Let me repeat that  - 100 million downloads. We have all of this. I confess to having Bibles everywhere myself - the car, my desk at work, one in almost every room of the house. I have an audio player of the dramatized version; an mp3 version; cds in my car of both Max McLean and the dramatized version.....I have no excuse either!

The poor Israelites had to be told the Word by a priest, who had the only copy of the Scroll, painstakingly handwritten on expensive parchment. Still they sinned, and we sin daily. Even worse, the majority of this country and the rest of this world has turned away from the Author of Truth...and the Author and Perfecter of our Faith. Just this one thing - you have 100 million downloads of the Bible, yet only 9% of adults in America with a Biblical worldview! This is less than 20 million people! The math does not add up.

What this means is we have a level of unbelief and lack of Trust in the ONLY One Who can save, deliver, redeem and restore.  We mouth His Name and shut down our hearts to true regeneration and conversion to His Way of Thinking (Isaiah 55:8). 

Think about what God just said in the verse above..."and He made the waters to stand up like a heap (Psalm 78:13b). Does the meaning of that really sink in? Forget the lost and stupid who deny God ever parted the Red Sea, we know He did. Forget the lost who believe in evolution and a big bang that nobody witnessed, hence it is unscientific. Forget the lost who promote evil and call it good. Their day is coming soon, to a Judgment Throne near you.

But YOU, remember THIS GOD - the One Who gives you breath. 
Remember THIS GOD - the One who gives you life daily (and can take it away).
Remember THIS GOD - the One Who gave you the food in your fridge and the fuel in your car.
Remember This GOD - the One Who healed you the last time you thought or heard you had an incurable disease.
Remember THIS GOD - the One Who brought you through when you thought you were dead in the water of financial difficulty, trouble with the kids or the bullies in the schoolyard.
Remember THIS GOD - the One Who rescued you from falling into immorality and pulled your fat out of the fire when you were tempted to go down a road of lust, adultery, fornication, abortion, rage, hatred, alcholism, drugs...and on and on.
Remember THIS GOD - the One Who will deal with those who hate Him, but would rather give them more time and Grace to see His Goodness....remember that God will you?
Remember THIS GOD - the One Who so loved this world that He gave His only Son, who begged three times in Gethsemane for the cup of God's wrath against sin, to be taken from Him, yet submitted to the Will of the Father, that we might be saved.

Remember THAT God, Who has, is and will continue to part the Red Sea of trouble and destruction - the way of escape, with a Road of Righteousness and deliverance SO BIG, you can drive a Mack Truck through it. Next time you and I doubt, let us remember that Divine Lord and Master! Why? It is for our own good....then, go back and read the entire Psalm 78 and marvel and The Goodness of our Great God in Heaven! AND REMEMBER - HE PARTS THE RED SEA OF OUR DESPAIR SO WE CAN GO THROUGH IT - ON THE DRY LAND...NO MUD, NO CLAY - BUT SMOOTH DRY PAVEMENT!

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

AMERICA UNDER JUDGMENT - HOW THE CHURCH BLEW IT

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17)
America's "famous pastors" are well known for their glitz and glamor as well as their megachurches and multi-media. They are celebrities at conventions and conferences. Their TV shows are watched by millions and they're invited on secular news programs to speak about this or that controversial topic from time to time.  They tweet. Their followers sometimes troll blogs and websites to post comments defending them, sometimes with vitriol, if they find their favorite celebrity preacher mentioned in an unfavorable light. I know personally about this. One time an Andy Stanley fanatic found this relatively small little blog and reacted to me mentioning his hero, in a comment about a group of ministers who make teaching videos.

One thing you will not see America's pastors talking about this past year is the issue of so-called gay "marriage". Even when the Supreme Court through the dictates of one man, redefined God's Word - an unpardonable sin - America's super-pastors kept silent. They are still speaking loudly by their silence. On the local level, it is a mixed bag. Still, there IS a remnant out there. 

Not a word from the National Association of Evangelicals and others who used to pontificate on fake phenomenon like global warming.
Not a word about the coming global warming - HELL - from the "amen" corner, because they are afraid to offend their million-dollar personal fiefdoms in Houston, Southern California or Seattle or Atlanta or Orlando or New York City or Michigan or Barrington, Illinois etc etc... 
Not a word about the coming Judgment on America by Holy God which they refused  to warn of because they would offend the seekers by "being too judgmental".
Not a word about sin - personal, corporate and national, while national leaders sin with impunity and the corrupt culture are leading our young people into hell.
Narry a word of outrage over the continued loss of Religious Liberty, still constitutionally protected, as more and more secularists are manipulating the words "Religious Liberty" into "freedom of worship",

What is the reason for allowing the world to so turn the minds of the so-called "under-shepherds" of Christ? Is it the loss of 501 C 3 tax free status of the church, in case they proclaim Truth from the pulpit like to power, like Jeremiah or Ezekiel? We know they are afraid of losing rich tithers and some of the younger church leaders want to appear cool.  But don't they know the following is still operational - "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.(James 3:1)

They will be judged more intensely than those whom they allowed to sit in the pews, Sunday after Sunday. 
By being in charge of programs to finance parking lots and new carpets or chandeliers, rather than ensure their flock was being discipled, these church leaders will suffer loss.
By going for atmospherics and contrived feel-goodism, they will suffer loss.
By allowing the generation who grew up on YouTube and Darwinism to not relate the Bible accounts of the Creator to even the youngest person's life, they will suffer loss.
By staying silent while 60% of their youth engaged in sexual activity and the rate of divorce is as same as the secular world, they will suffer loss.
By staying silent while national and even church leaders compromised to get along and curry favor with those in power, they will suffer loss.
By staying silent while saints overseas were persecuted
By staying silent when military Christian chaplains are told not to pray in Jesus' Name
By staying silent while activists with demonic agendas blasphemed God and Jesus Christ
By staying silent when lost people redefine and rewrite God's Word, thereby violating every command of Scripture, there will be some very serious accounting to face.

Where are the men like AW Tozer, who warned of this same evil compromise over 60 years ago?
Where are the men like David Wilkerson, who prophesied about the coming day of degradation and filth we see today?
Where are these men? There're already speaking - Paul Washer; Dr. John MacArthur; Dr. Voddie Baucham; Dr. Erwin Lutzer....and a few others. These are not the popular and will not be hip to those in the Macchiatto and Starbucks church crowd. 


Today, as fires rage across the deep west...today as extreme heat pounds pagan California....today as extreme weather hits almost every region of these once great United States except the Bible Belt, there is still no biblical discernment from the official church. It is obvious to those of us who pray and can read the sign of the times, by knowing the End Times prophesies, that this is the beginning of Divine Judgment.

The reaction to all of this is not to create another sinful affront to God, like "global warming or climate change" but to repent, fall on our collective knees and beg forgiveness from Holy God. Do you think this country is up to that? If past is prologue - no. Many will be surprised on That Day, when the Lord declares "Depart from Me, I never knew you!" - to America's so-called Christians and church leaders.


Don't take my word for it - read the Bible and believe, or disbelieve at your own peril. If thou wishest to avoid that day, repent....repent....repent and put your entire life in Jesus Christ as Lord of your Life - now....and  thenl, keep praying!