I want to become a good husband

I want to become a good teacher

I want to become a good man

I want to become a good worker

I want to become a good Christian

I want to become a good son

I want to become a good friend

I want to become a good “big brother”

I want to become a good student

I want to become a good citizen

I want to become a good soldier

I want to become a good brother

I want to become a good mentor

I want to become a good slave

I want to become a good encourager

I want to become an example

I want to become a light

I want to become a warrior for God

I want to be holy

I want to be become perfect

I don’t want the angels to look at me with shame

I don’t want to live a life were I go before God I am
ashamed

I want to become a good steward

I want to make my father God proud

I want to serve the King forever

I want to be with him in the new earth

I want to be on the Lord’s team

I want to watch Satan and his minion’s destruction

I want to live for my faith

I want to die for my faith

I want to be able to trust God in the mist of adversity

I want to be able to trust in God through tragedy

I want to sacrifice for the Lord

I want to trust the Lord in my “family planning”

I want to trust the Lord despite of my situation

I want to give God my tithe

I want to give God my self

I want to be a living sacrifice

I want to encourage my wife to serve the Lord

I want to encourage my father to serve the Lord

I want to encourage my mother to serve the Lord

I want to encourage everyone to serve the Lord

I want my life to bring glory to God

I want to be meek in spirit

I want to be poor in spirit

I want to be full of love

I want to be full of compassion

I want to live my faith

I want to be on fire for the Lord

I want to do the Lord’s will

I want to die to self

Take this wretched man, Lord, and nail him to the cross,
Lord. Kill this wretched man–me.

Shame and Dishonor be on the heads of these limp noodle shepherds who have allowed this apostasy to grow and remain in the church, but thus is the condition of the church. We are true believers of God should, therefore, be as the bereans were and read the word of God for ourselves and accept what the Lord has to say about fearing him. We should then apply this to our lives and the words of our mouths. Shepherds should feed their flock with the milk of this truth, and we should prepare our selves for Satan to attack us from both inside of the church by sending wolves and outside of the church by using the apostasy church to condemn us.

What the muslims do to worship their idol is what the muslims do, but what we Christians do is of utmost concern. For we claim to know and serve the true almighty God. He demands/desires for us to serve him in spirit and in truth. We need to fear God. This is fundamental part of our relationship with God. We need to reverence God. We should loath ourselves in comparison to the love we have for Christ. It is absolutely sickening that those who worship in idol, that is nothing, can show more respect and fear than we Christians who serve the true and almighty God.

Wake up church and arise from your slumber. Fear the Lord, who is a great an awesome God full of wrath to his enemies and loving kindness to his slave.

Abide in God’s love but continually fearing the Lord.

But what about: “Judge not, that you be not judged,” (Matthew 7:1 NKJV). No one wants to be that judgmental, pious Christian. So, we avoid judgement altogether. We allow some disturbing things go on in our churches, all because we don’t want to be judgmental.

“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?” (1 Corinthians 6:2-5 NKJV)

Ouch… Is Paul talking to Corinth or to us? Can we judge without being judgmental? A few chapters back, it seems Paul says something different…

“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God,” (1 Corinthians 4:3-5 NKJV).

James MacDonald cleared this up for me one day… Of course, he was merely saying this in passing, “We aren’t judging your motives; we’re judging your actions.” One form of judgement belongs to the Lord only and that is the judgement of the heart. We need to judge our actions as well as the actions of others. How else could we ever discern right from wrong? We must keep away from judging the heart of others (and as Paul said, even our own hearts) because there is only One who knows the depths of the heart.

“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart; I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:9, 10 NKJV)

*Side note: I say this in ignorance of the Islam religion: but this is an apparent contradiction. God revealing His will to us is a good chunk of the pie (the pie being His revelation of Himself to us). God cannot reveal His will without revealing bits (or chunks) of Himself. You can find out a lot about a person just by knowing their dreams, likes, dislikes…. actually, that is a great portion of what there is to know about another person: their will. That is just my philosophical counter to the Muslim doctrine that God cannot be known… Of course for the Biblical standpoint you can just check out Romans 1:20.

To continue on… The reason I almost wish Christians believed this is not necessarily because God should be mysterious to us, but rather that we elevate Him and humble ourselves. Why is the fear of God not discussed more? I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO FEAR GOD CORRECTLY! Why isn’t my role as His slave a popular sermon subject? How else am I going to properly humble myself and carry out the will of God? More importantly, how is the church going to properly carry out the will of God? Why do I hear that I am God’s friend when He has not called me friend? Why is it that when I sin, I no longer hurt God? I guess the plain and simple answer is that we are in denial, and let’s face it: we are hypersensitive to slavery. The lowest we go is servant because at least a servant is paid for his work. That’s just selfish.

Why is it that I always hear, “God desires your acceptance; He yearns for you.” While this may be true, I won’t deny it… But shouldn’t we be focusing a little less on how irresistible we are to God and a little (I use the word little meaning a LOT) more on how our love for God is lacking? Can we at least find a nice fulcrum? How could we ever please God if we aren’t loving him through and through to the absolute best of our ability with the guidance of His Holy Spirit? “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength,” (Deuteronomy 6:5 NKJV). Correct me if I am wrong, but this isn’t the ‘emotion-love’ but the action. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends,” (John 15:13 NKJV). That’s definitely an action.

“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love,” (1 John 4:8 NKJV).

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”(Galatians 5:19-25 NKJV)

The Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to love God. “We love Him because He first loved us,” (1 John 4:19 NKJV). Put away fleshly desires and follow spiritual convictions…

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30 NKJV)

And again….

“But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.” (Isaiah 63:10 NKJV)

Aaand again….

“Do not quench the Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19 NKJV)

If that isn’t your problem, then it may be….

“These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” (Jude 1:19 NKJV)

If I don’t get a hold of myself, I’ll have copied and pasted a Psalm’s worth of verses. My rant is done. As the Roman Catholics say: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen.

Is this a fair or accurate statement? Is looking into the doctrine of soul sleep distinguishable from your relationship with God? I think not. I and probably most people would not care to study what the Bible has to say about the after life (soul sleep) without Christ.

This statement also fails to recognize that God has specifically enabled certain believers with a hunger for the truth of the Word and then to use this truth to teach others. If God were not to give certain believers this hunger for the truth of the Word, how could we ever fulfill 2 Timothy 4:1-3:

“¹ I[Paul] charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus…²preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound^[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.”

Do you see what Paul is charging us with? He is charging us with God as his witness to be ready at all times (in and out of season) with true teaching. In the future, people will not endure sound teaching. Does God care about sound teaching? Does God care if we know the truth? Or is this underneath His desire to have a relationship with His children? Certainly not! God doesn’t want your relationship with Him to be based off falsity, but truth.
John 4:23:
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

What is the Lord seeking? Is he seeking people to just worship him? Or to worship him in spirit and in truth? How do we discover such truths? Doctrine! Doctrine is not outside of our relationship with the Father and Son; it is an absolute necessity.

So how does this relate to an issue such as soul sleep? Jesus constantly talks about the hope to come. All of Christianity is based on the concept of the resurrection, i.e salvation. Is salvation in this life or the next? Therefore, understanding fully the hope to come is important. Lastly, if you want to declare for or against soul sleep you should be sure that your doctrine is correct, for James 3:1 declares:
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

God gives a greater strictness for those who teach the Word of God, because he is concerned with doctrine. He doesn’t want teachers misleading believers into worshiping God in falsity. See again that Paul prays for the Colossians in verses 1:9-10:

…[I] pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, ¹⁰so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

He asked the Lord to fill his Colossian saints with knowledge of his will in all spiritual understanding (doctrine). Why? To fill us up with knowledge and not work? To become walking libraries? Absolutely not! The Word of the Lord says this knowledge or doctrine results in, or is supposed to result in, walking in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him. Notice that knowledge not only equips the believer to bear fruit in every good work, but it also is an end-state in and of itself “increasing in the knowledge of God.”

God wants his saints to learn about him; to care about him; to love him with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength,” — Matthew 22:37/ Mark 12:30/Luke 10:27

Doctrine is not about you. It is about the Lord almighty. The problem with so many Christians today is they are so wrapped up with themselves. They will not subconsciously confuse this. It is a practical reality for them– that they themselves are the center of gravity and God revolves around them. This could not be more wrong. God is the world and we are nothing more than a detail held within. The sun is a typology of God; the dust particle revolving around the sun is a typology of us humans.

This is God’s world and we are simply here to give God glory. Being filled with a mind full of knowledge of Him, and hands full of work for Him should be the goal we all strive for. Doctrine doesn’t take us away from the Lord, it only brings us closer.

I agree with Martin Luther and the reformers that your are saved by grace alone, through faith alone. Amen, hallelujah! However, we must remember the caveat that they place on this statement that is so often excluded: “I believe in faith alone, but not a faith that is alone,” – Martin Luther.

What did he mean by a faith that is not alone? At first glance, it appears that Martin Luther is merely contradicting himself. However, after careful examination, one sees that Martin Luther was speaking about a great paradox in the bible.

James says that faith without works is dead. Faith needs works to be alive or existent. You, however, don’t need faith plus works. They are invariably interwoven. If you have faith without works, then the reality is that you don’t have faith at all. See James illustrates this in 3:15-17:
¹⁵ If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good^[b] is that? ¹⁷So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Take note to what James is saying: that faith without works is like a man saying go in peace and be warmed and filled without actually doing anything for him. This is ridiculous. This is not true concern or charity. This “concern” or “charity” lacks consistency. There is no substance found within.

This is how faith without works is. It lacks validity. How can you say Jesus is Lord, and not do his will (works). How can you say Lord not my will but your will be done (works) and do only your own? You my friend have a dead faith, which will produce nothing.

Notice what Jesus says in Matthew 7:21:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven

What is Jesus saying here? He clearly states that not everyone who professes faith (Lord, Lord) is truly saved. It’s not the one who professes to have faith and has no works, but the one who does the Father’s will.

Can you do the Father’s will and not believe in him? Of course not. As Martin Luther said, “Faith alone, but not a faith that is alone.” How much works do you have to have? There is no such requirement given in scripture. If you truly have faith in Jesus Christ, you will be born again, and your new redeemed person will have works.

One of these works that will result from your new redeemed life is repentance. God will give you not only the desire, but also the power to repent of your former ways. Philippians 2:12 :
work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

So who then is doing the work? Is it you or is it God? The Word of the Lord says it is God. So whether it is faith (Ephesian 2:8 …it is a gift from God…) or your work (Philippians 2:12 …it is God who works…) it all comes from the Lord. Therefore, if you are in Christ, you will have no problem doing Jesus’ command, “to believe and repent,” for both of these things will be given to you.

This is all, however, God’s perspective. Man’s perspective is that you need to believe and repent — work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Don’t let any tradition of man rob you from the truth. It is not enough to simply believe. You must believe and repent, for this is true faith — the former will only get you to Matthew 7:21 “…Lord, Lord…” The latter will bring you to Revelation 21:1 “…a new earth and the new Heaven… “

Adam before the fall was not contaminated by sin. Sin was not in his life. He had no sinful nature. Now what do I mean by a sinful nature? Do I mean that he had some entity outside of himself causing him to sin? Certainly not! The word nature here is meant in the following sense: genetically controlled qualities of an organism, or the inherent character/basic constitution
of a thing.

Now what does this all mean? Since words are nothing more then
symbols annotating meaning. I will give you a word picture:
The nature of a lion is to kill. This desire to kill and hunt for food is not outside of the
lion but an inherent characteristic of the lion.
Here’s another:
A doe naturally is a peacful animal. It goes from place to place grazing. It will only fight to
defend itself or family but does not seek other animals with the desire to kill
them.
Both of these animals are examples of how God created them with
particular natures.

Now, getting back to man…
Man before the fall did not have a natural inclination to sin. He naturally did not want to sin. Or did he? That is another question that I will leave for another time –for time’s sake. However, if you do say this, then your stating that God created man with a nature (desire/ inclination) to sin. This opens up a can of worms.

We do know that man(after the fall) is born with sinful desires in his heart. It is part of our nature to rebel against God. This passed down from Adam, thus resulting in a sin nature. Adam’s choice to sin without a natural desire to sin is nothing like our choice to sin because we indeed have a sin nature.

To illustrate this point is another word picture:
A doe choosing to kill another doe and eat it is wholly different than a doe eating
grass. The first doe is going against its nature by killing and eating one of it’s own. The other doe is only following its nature.

When we analyze how we choose our actions, this point becomes more clear. Man, or decision making entity, decides to act or make a decision. We only ever do what we want to do.

What does this mean? Well, let’s first examine what this doesn’t mean. This doesn’t mean that I am always 100% for an action– as in I even want to take that course of action, such as going to work. I don’t want to go to work. I would much rather do various other things. So then why do I go to work? Because I would rather work than starve. My desire to not go to work is less then my desire to starve. Once again, even in an action I am not completely for, I still did what I wanted to do.

If your desire to not go to work was 51% and desire to go to work was 49%, would you go to work? No, because you would rather not work than work. Very simple concept but yet very hard to truly absorb.

How does this apply to the discussion at hand? Since man only does his greatest inclination at any given time, then he is bound by his desires. Therefore, if man does good then his desire was to do what is good over that which is evil. Likewise, if man does what is evil that means his desire to do what is evil is greater than his desire to do good.

Is man prior to being saved and receiving a heart of flesh in place of a heart of stone evil or good? Before you say that is a false dichotomy… What if he is morally neutral? He could, theoretically, be neutral but by what basis does he choose right from wrong? He would have to choose based on an arbitrary decision or a decision outside of moral considerations. This would make his moral decisions meaningless and God’s corresponding wrath of his meaningless decisions unjust. If man chooses to make a moral decision it has to be meaningful.

Once again, how does he make these decisions? Based off of his inclinations or desires. How does he receive these inclinations or desires? Are they against his nature or from his nature.

If you answered they are against his nature, this is impossible. If they are against what he was, then he couldn’t possibly do it. If he did this, it would only prove that this was a part of his nature. It all goes back to you can’t do what you don’t want to do. You can’t use what you don’t have.

If man is morally evil, then it is impossible for him to choose good. His evil desires will always be greater than his nonexistent good desires. Even if man did have a 49% good and 51% percent evil, he would still never choose to do good. He would have to be morally good, or at least 51%
good and 49% evil, to choose good — I.E. choose the goodness of the gospel of
Christ. If this were the case, then all men would choose good. However, we know this is not the case.

What if man was 50% good and 50% evil? Could this be a possibility? Unfortunately, no. If this was the case, man would be unable to make a decision at all. This lack of a decision would be a decision to not choose God. Thus, all men would go to hell. This is not reflective of reality.

This brings us to the question: if all men are evil (at least 51% evil), then why would anyone choose good? According to my previous words he wouldn’t. This is an accurate assessment, and this is where Calvinism comes into play: God is the one who places that desire into man, giving him the desire to choose good over evil. God, which is his sovereign right, also allows other men to remain in their evil state.

Now, I am in no way trying to convince you of Calvinism through this analysis of man’s decision making. I am simply trying to say that Calvinism is completely logical, and the alternative is either undiscovered or illogical. I say undiscovered because it is a possibility. This is, however, highly unlikely. God has given teachers to the church, to discover and share His truth. Truth is important to God, and He wants us to worship Him in truth and in spirit. It is possible that God would not have revealed this mystery to one of His servants. But, it is unlikely that God would leave us in the
dark on such an important truth.

Remember, fellow servant of God, that He created logic. Without logic, there would be no way to interpret anything or put meaning on any of God’s Word. Logic is not a Christian’s enemy, but his friend.

Some things are beyond logic, but they are never illogical. Is man’s moral inability to choose what he doesn’t want to illogical? –quite the opposite Man choosing what he has no desire to choose is illogical.

In conclusion, we have to study the Word of God and see what it reveals about the condition of man. I see that the Word consistently teaches that man is evil and not that man is good. If this is true, you then match this up with understanding that man only does what he desires to do. The result is total inability. This leads to the question: how is anyone saved? And you have a mystery until you read the scriptures and find out about God’s sovereign election. Thus, the doctrines wee refer to as Calvinism.

Now, there is so much more I would like to say about why Adam, Satan, and the angels choose evil, but that would be too much for this one article. I would also love to show you in scripture where God talks about the condition of man and sovereign election, but this again would be too much for this article.

I hope this helps. God bless you; abide in the fear of the Lord and shun evil.

I have read this verse before, but I never zoned in on the fact that Job shunned evil. I was always too perplexed about the fact that Job was blameless and upright. What did this mean? I thought the Bible said that none were righteous, no not one. Did Paul forget about Job? Of course not. But, that is a totally separate subject that I will discuss in a future article.

When I read the holy Word of God this time, I noticed, as if in bold, that Job feared God and shunned evil. He shunned evil. What does that mean? Webster’s dictionary says to shun is to avoid deliberately and especially habitually. In my every day usage of the word shun, I have only ever used and heard shunning to people such as ‘Don’t shun me’ or ‘the Amish church shuns its former members.’ However, the idea of shunning evil itself is a revolutionary idea to me; it is also a concept I see is completely low and void in society and, most sadly, in the Christian community.

I joked with my wife, my more dearest fellow partaker in the work of God, the only thing I have seen is Christians shunning people who shun evil. We call them square, uptight, and self-righteouss; we unfairly accuse them of trying to earn their salvation. Surely no one who wasn’t trying to earn there salvation would work hard at actually doing the will of who we so piously profess is Lord and savior. Works have nothing to do with self-righteousness, if so then all of our church fathers, previous Prophets, and apostles were self-righteouss sinners who should have been more like the rest of us –abandoned, condemn homes.

Jesus Christ called the religious leaders of his day white washed tombs, for they look good on the outside but inside were full of dead man bones. Verily, verily I say onto you that at least they look good on the outside. Today we don’t look like “white washed tombs.” We look like open caskets . We can clearly see that nothing but a dead man lies in front of us.

Oh, dear God how long will you have mercy on men. How long will you restrain you justice and wrath.

My point here is not that we should be like the religious hypocrites of Jesus’s day; we should be better, not worse. We should be new creations in Christ’ old things passed away, all things new.’ Be clean inside and out. Shun evil. Fear God.

Is shunning evil mean that we entertain ourselves with it? That we watch movies, play video games, or bask in it all day ? Are we the local slander or do we buy any product they are selling. Are we walking pornography, or are we viewing it? Stand up men of God and be encouraged. Job was merely a man just like we are. WWJD – what would Job do. Sometimes it is hard to relate to Jesus due to his absolute perfectness and divine nature; it can seem impossible to match up or relate. However, Job was exactly like you. Actually, he is worse off because he didn’t have the benefit of having the full revealed word of God to encourage him. You do! Stand men of God. Fear God. Shun evil. Walk worthy of the Gospel you where called. Before your offended by this last statement read Philippians 1:27 (²⁷Only let your manner of life be worthy^[h] of the gospel of Christ). Follow God’s word not the traditions of man.

Praise the Lord. Let God be right and all men be found a liar.

You are not alone, indeed. Neither was Elijah alone. God has reserved his elect for himself.

It’s funny that you say ‘this problem is so pervasive that to merely suggest finding another church is problematic’, because that is exactly what I was going to suggest.

Since this is not a suitable answer, I will suggest an alternative: It just so happens that I was talking to an army chaplain yesterday, and I asked him why he joined the ministry. He answered, “because I was tired of reading and gathering so much knowledge from the Word and not seeing it be taught or applied. So, I decided I was going to get into a position to change this.”

You are unique in the fact that God has revealed these truths to you. Most don’t even see it. Now the question remains: what will you do with this knowledge?

“God is not building libraries,” a Godly man once told me. He is building workmen/ slaves that know His will and do it.

Therefore, I encourage you to do one of three things:
1.) Share with your pastor about your feelings; if he receives it, praise the Lord. If he doesn’t, his guilt is off of your shoulders.
2.) Support a man of God who is teaching in a way that honors God, not men.
3.) Become that man of God and lead His people.

This man approached Jesus as we all should: with worship and humility. In verse 12 ‘…saw Jesus he fell on his face and said Lord if you are willing, You can make me clean. ‘ Once he received his healing, verse 13 ‘immediately the leprosy left him’, He quickly became disobedient and forgetful of what the Lord commanded him. The Lord commanded, not suggested, that he was ‘to tell no one and but go show yourself to the priest…’ even though this commandment was
strange and was counterintuitive to the man, he was still required to be obedient to it.

Let this man be a lesson. So many of us start the race off strong but so few of us finish it. James 1:22 “… he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror, for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” Let us be better than this. Let’s not forget the men we were, and the men we are striving to become.

The Christian life is a marathon not a sprint. Many have started off strong, but few and finished the race they have started.

Finally, the cleansed man reveals to us sometimes God commands us to do things that we don’t agree with or seem strange, but this shouldn’t be surprising to us for the Lord said ‘my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not
your thoughts.’ Are job as his slaves is not to question Him, Our Master, but to obey him – regardless if we agree or totally understand. This is part the process of renewing our minds.

Philippians 1:12 & 20 & 28-29 – God works all things for his glory.

God bless you; be blamess, upright, fear God, and shun evil — Job 1:1.