Thursday, November 17, 2011

Your feelings vs. God's Word

Christians have a problem the world over.

The problem, is that somewhere along the line, many of us have decided that what we feel about what the Bible says is more important than what the Bible actually says. Really?

Many Pastors will have you believe that you must interpret the Bible in order to make sense of it. Even worse, they'll also tell you that you should be "applying the Bible to your life". Really?

a) If you interpret the Bible, you'll never know what God has to say, only how you feel about it.
 
b) If you sit there and turn the Bible into a "self help book", you've just exchanged the Bible from "that which speaks of Christ" into "a set of patterns and rules" that will bring you to salvation.

Someone I know likes to say, "If you can learn how to read, the Bible reads like a children's book!" While that may be an oversimplification, he does have a point. If you can learn to stop interpreting everything you read and just read it for what it says, you'll be doing yourself a huge favor.

As for the Bible being a "self help book", Paul tells us that "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Do you see what Paul is saying? He's saying (in plain words) that you can not do anything and that your salvation is a gift of God due only to your faith in Him.

So don't wrap yourself up in what I call, "Commandment Worship". Paul tells us that the law is to be a schoolmaster to us, not a RULE BOOK of instructions on what "we can do". The commandments are a great thing to be used as a "moral blueprint" for society, but "religiously following" those commandments is a waste. You can't.

Galatians 3:24-25 (KJV) - Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

So back to the original issue... Does God care about your feelings? Sure! Any good father would care about their childrens feelings... The thing we must remember though, is no matter how strongly your child feels about something, as a father, you need to be more concerned with the big picture, than whether or not your son or daughter likes your decisions.

So when you apply it to God, it works out the same. God tells us that "His ways are above our ways". What this means, is that no matter what you or I think about any given issue, God's perspective on it is probably different. You can feel as strongly as you want to about: abortion, earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorist acts, wars, or whatever else it is that strikes a nerve, but at the end of the day, if you don't, won't, or can't wrap your head around the single fact that GOD IS IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING, then you're really setting yourself up for disappointment and even worse, you're setting up everyone who you share your faith with for a life filled with confusion and an endless cycle of them doing it to others too. But from a more immediate concern, you're setting yourself up for constant and continual disappointment, because you're less concerned with GOD'S WILL and more concerned about your own will.

You'll thank me (not that you need to) if you can find a way to just accept the fact that God is in control of all, and how you happen to feel about it is irrelevant. If you think that because I've said that, that I'm uncaring or unkind, then you really don't understand love. While we're told what love is (very clearly I might add) in 1 Corinthians 13, if you don't realize that love (at the heart of the word) means that YOU CARE, then you're missing the point of it all. Just like a parent loves their child enough to prevent them from getting hurt or from sticking a fork in an electrical outlet, I too love you enough, to at least try to warn you of the dangerous paths that you may have set yourself up to walk.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Abortion is Murder!

If you don't understand by now, abortion is murder.

A fetus has a heartbeat by the ripe-old age of 17 DAYS!

It says in Leviticus 17:11 - For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

At 17 days old, that "baby" is circulating IT'S OWN BLOOD.

I was speaking to a Bishop of a church today and he told me something that wound up being good. It was good, because it reminded me that all of us are fallible! (including myself) He said to me something that should be a reminder as to WHY I tell you in my book, "Never put your Pastor on a pedestal! They're no different than a plumber, a lawyer or a computer repair person. Some of them know what they're doing and some will make your problem worse, because they just don't know what they're doing."

He said to me, "To be honest with you, if my daughter got raped, I'm not sure what I'd tell her to do. I would probably tell her to get an abortion". So I asked him if we could have a discussion about the topic and he refused to hear what God had to say on the matter. He then continued to tell me, "If I came home and found a thief in my house, I've got a gun right here. I would probably shoot him if I found him robbing my home".

To quote my daughter: O_O

Are you kidding me? These are the kinds of things I expect an atheist to say. And more than that, these are the kinds of things that I expect someone who doesn't know the Word of God to say!

In my show tomorrow night, we'll be discussing "Finding a Church". So if you've ever heard your Pastor say something as ridiculous as I heard today, it may be time for you to find a new church. If you're a new Christian or you've had trouble finding a church that you feel called to be at, tonight's show may be just what you need to get you set.


We'll have the chat room open and we'll be taking calls from the audience too. We're also still giving away a signed, numbered pre-release copy of my soon to be released book, "But is it Biblical?" and of course we've also got the book for sale! Be one of the first to have it and place a pre-order today.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Matthew 18 - Dealing with a sinning brother

There are *3* short verses in the Bible that discuss HOW we should handle interpersonal problems. Not only are there verses all over the Bible that teach this, but these *3* verses were spoken by Jesus Himself!

All of Christendom should learn these few short verses. Not only will it prevent small issues like misunderstandings, but they can prevent lawsuits, hate and even WARS if the situation isn't handled Biblically!


Here is a short expositional view of Matthew 18:15-17: - Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Jesus says that if your brother sins against you (upsets you, steals from you or makes you think they've done something wrong against you), you should go directly to your brother and tell him what it is that upset you. If your brother hears you (or understands your position and apologizes or otherwise explains the situation) then you have gained your brother (or fixed the problem), then you're done. This single step is missed in problem resolution 99% of the time. That old sneaky "flesh" of ours gets in the way some times and we jump to conclusions and blame people for things that didn't actually happen or if they've accidentally happened. Each of us MUST seek to give our brother the opportunity to straighten out the situation, one-on-one. If you chose to skip this step, you are absolutely going to create whole new problems, bigger than the first! If that's your intention, then perhaps you've got bigger problems than you think? This is why it's so essential to handle things Biblically.

16 - But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.'

You must go to your brother with an open mind and be ready to listen to what he has to say. But if you go to your brother and he ignores you, belittles you or otherwise tells you that you're wrong and you are not able to make your brother appreciate how you feel or why you feel that way, Jesus tells us to grab 1 or 2 other brothers who are witnesses to the issue or have personal knowledge of the issue and tells us that we should attempt to make a clearer case, so that our brother may better understand what it is that they've done. If you do this and your brother hears the 2-3 witnesses, then you have gained your brother like in verse 15. If you don't approach your brother in the Spirit of love, if you approach your brother as an "angry mob", if you can't approach your brother in "all humility", again, perhaps there are bigger problems than your brother has created?

17 - And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Jesus tells us that if you have taken 1-2 witnesses with you to speak to your brother and he refuses to admit or acknowledge his wrongdoing, you should THEN and ONLY THEN bring the situation to the attention of the church. At that point, you are devoid of actual witnesses, but you then bring it upon their hearts and their minds that they make decisions on the issues based on how they feel. This is usually a Christian's first step in the problem resolution chain and instead of amicably fixing the problem, you have now had people who weren't involved in the first place making judgment calls on things that can only be based on how they "feel about" the situation. Very rarely will the "whole of the church" decide to handle things Biblically, but instead, emotionally. Very little good ever comes from this step and should be reserved for only the most heinous and unforgivable acts. Jesus goes on to say that if your brother refuses to hear the whole of the church at this point, you should probably try to share the Gospel with your brother, because if he's not willing to love his brother as himself, then he's probably not a Christian and this may be your opportunity to evangelize him and get him in line with God's Will and not his own. Finally, Jesus says that if your brother still refuses to listen, he should THEN be treated as an outcast at that point.


If your brother stole your oxen, your car or even your wife, I can see you going to the church as a whole. If your flesh is on fire for revenge or the ability to "put your brother in his place", perhaps you've got deeper issues than whether or not your brother has "sinned against you"?

Jesus tells us in Matthew 10, that if you get blamed or accused by your brother of something other than what you actually did, at that hour, you shouldn't worry about what you speak, because it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Following the steps the way Jesus lays out is a guarantee that we maintain the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Peace. If you've accused your brother (even in your heart), and you're in the wrong, you owe it to yourself and to your brother to obey Jesus' instructions in these verses. Amen?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

I'm back!

Brothers and sisters, I have been very busy over the past few months, but the Lord has been hard at work too.

I am in the process of finally releasing my book and I've also been approached by a wonderful, Spirit filled sister to do a Radio Show!

We had our first episode tonight and it was so much fun!

Click HERE to listen to last night's show...

And also keep abreast of the rest of the shows and maybe even buy a book HERE.

I'll try to keep better updates!

Blessings,
Keith

Monday, March 28, 2011

Keep buying those iPhones and iPad's

Keep buying those iPhones and iPad's... Apple wants your money, but you can only have Apps that don't offend gays...

http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/news/30539-when-christianity-offends

I haven't owned an Apple product since 1980 and now I know why... Apple was on their way into devastating failure when the liberal/homosexual population made them popular... Now the whole world is providing Apple with the perfect platform to do their dirty work...

What's next, a gay App to tell you where to have gay sex? Or maybe a gay App to unite all unrepentant homosexuals in an attempt to influence elections?

I'm disgusted...

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

More on Harold Camping and Judgement Day

My daughter is currently in her senior year at UF (University of Florida) and while she was waiting for the bus to go home today, an entire ARMY of trucks drove by her plastered with this stuff all over it...

I don't mind a little evangelism, but to be spreading untruths at college campuses is downright wrong...
Preach the Gospel message...

Trying to scare these college students into submission is the wrong way to go about it... When was the last time you tried to convince a NON-CHRISTIAN college kid to do something?

There is no date contained ANYWHERE in Scripture, no matter how hard you twist numbers around or misunderstand Scripture itself. It is NOT POSSIBLE to set any dates about Judgement Day or the end of the world for that matter. Unless of course you think that God is a liar... Wasn't it He that said, "No man knows the day or hour, but the Father only"?

I pray that his campaign does as little damage as possible...

Friday, January 7, 2011

Fishpocalypse ?


For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past week or so, it seems as if birds from all over the world are falling out of the sky and fish have started to float to the surface like some kind of Biblically related fish apocalypse!


There's plenty more to choose from HERE

Do I think it's the Fishpocalypse ?

In a word...
No...

But don't take my word for it...
Do some Google searches yourself and see what you think...