A Gathering of Eagles

Available, But Not Automatic, Part 2

2012-02-13T14:58:00.000-05:00

This is a continuation of the previous blog wherein we are looking at the blessings and promises of God and how they are available, but not automatic.

"For if the words spoken through angels proved steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, ³how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him" (Hebrews 2:2-3).

How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? I want to remind you that the word "neglect" here means to be "careless with; to treat lightly; to make light of, to not regard as being as valuable as it is." I've had to receive the Lord's rebuke and my own as well as I think that sometimes I'm simply careless with this salvation and life that God has given me. I don't always value, or treat them as priceless, as I should. And how do I do that? By giving greater importance to other things.

That can oftentimes be seen in my day-to-day decisions. Every day we are faced with a multitude of choices and decisions. So many times people ask: "Pastor, how can I know what God wants me to do? I'm trying to make a decision in my life." It's amazing to me how many people go to their pastor looking for direction. And I'm not advising against that, there is a place for it. Usually most people who come to me for counsel already have their minds made up, or they have not really sought the Lord on their own. Many times they want me to confirm something that they're suspicious of, but most of the time they're going to do it how they've predetermined anyway. Hopefully, throughout the course of this series, we'll all be better equipped in the decision-making process that God would want us to follow.

Here are the criteria for every decision you make. I want to remind you that when Adam and Eve were in the Garden, they had to make a choice between two, and they made the wrong decision. Don't ever think that you're somehow smarter than Adam. He's the guy who named all the animals. But when he was faced with "two," he made a wrong decision. And I know why he made the wrong decision; it's because he didn't follow this little piece of advice I'm gonna give you. This isn't because I think I'm so smart. It's just that it comes from a very familiar passage of the Bible. You all know Joshua 24:15, right? There's a little nugget tucked right in the middle of it, "As for me and my house we will choose to serve the Lord." He said to the people of Israel, "Choose ye this day whom you will serve." Choose. You have a choice to make. Will you choose the gods of your fathers, the pagan gods that they decided to go after? When I say, "The gods of their fathers," I'm not referring to "Jehovah," as their fathers served strange gods.

Are you going to follow that example, or will you follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the one true God? Choose this day. You know, in every choice that we make, it can come down to something this simple, and it will help clarify our decision-making. This is what drives us nuts sometimes, causes us to walk in so much confusion, and why oftentimes Christians have to pay a terrible price. We can't figure out why we're not blessed. Well, we would be if we made the right choices!

No, you wouldn't live a problem-free life, but even in the midst of your struggles, you'd know what to do to overcome, to get to the other side, and to walk in the blessings of the Lord. You can make right choices, and every choice by definition involves choosing. So Joshua says, "Choose whom you will serve." Every decision is going to serve somebody or some cause and bring about some result. Every choice you make has ramifications.

We must choose what God desires for us even though we don't always understand why He would want us to make that choice at that specific moment. We may not understand. It's called, "being led by the Spirit." Oftentimes there's contention between being led by the Spirit in obedience to God and doing what we think is best. Eve saw the fruit and that it looked good, to be desired, and that it would taste good. She took it, bit it, gave it to her husband, and he ate it, too. Don't you know that they thought that they were making the right choice at that moment? Why? What could have caused them to think that they were making the right choice? They did not give heed to the things they had heard, so they drifted away and made the wrong choices. They didn't make the decision that would serve the Lord.

So we have to ask: what god are we serving? Are we serving some strange god of the world, the god of flesh, of greed, of selfishness, the god of self? He says, "How shall we escape if we neglect or treat carelessly so great a salvation?" Our choices in life are a direct reflection of the god/God we serve. Let us choose carefully this day whom we shall serve.

~ pg

Available But Not Automatic

2012-01-31T23:14:00.006-05:00

“The blessing of the Lord makes one rich” (Proverbs 10:22). I think that we’re rich beyond our comprehension. We have wealth that we don’t even know about. Part of the Church’s responsibility is to help people become aware of the wealth that is theirs, so they can get their hands on it and use it wisely for the expansion of God’s kingdom.

The minute that I say “wealth,” most people naturally think about money. But there’s a wealth of blessing that is not necessarily monetarily related. I believe God wants us to have abundance in every area and that certainly includes finances. The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow to it. That’s the first point I really would like to make. God doesn’t attach sorrow to His blessing. Now, He can certainly use bad situations to bring about good results, but He does not add sorrow to His blessing according to His Word.

That’s why I’m calling this blog, “Available, But Not Automatic.” The essence of the message is this: the blessings of God are available to us all, but they are not automatic. God gives to us everything that He has. As joint heirs with Christ, we are equal heirs with Jesus. Therefore, biblically, everything that God has, He makes available to you and I, but it is NOT automatic. It is not something where we push a button and waa laa, there it is! It doesn’t work by magic; it doesn’t work by formula. It may be available to us, but that does not guarantee we’re going to get our hands on it!

I believe this includes the manifestation of God’s grace, His presence, His gifts, and His glory in our lives. We can ill afford to take for granted the blessings of God. Even though we know that all we have has been made available to us through Jesus Christ, that is not cause for us to take the blessings of the Lord for granted. And when we begin to think that things are automatic, it’s easy for neglect to set in.

Think about “neglect” for a moment. It’s like a child who takes his toys for granted, and as a result, tends to neglect them. This principle works in our lives even though in chronological age, we may be adults. It bears repeating: things that we take for granted, we tend to neglect, even kingdom things, kingdom values, and the blessings of the Lord.

Hebrews 2:1: “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.” I want to break this down. We must give earnest heed. In other words, we’re going to have to pay careful attention to the things that we’ve already heard. That’s what the writer of Hebrews said. The tendency is for us to drift away if we don’t pay attention. And he’s writing to, I assume, relatively mature individuals.

There’s a danger in drifting, and it is infecting the Church today. And you don’t have to get off course by much to end up with a bad result. It’s sort of like the airplane pilot. If an airplane pilot is off by just one degree, of course depending upon how far his intended destination is, being off by one degree, he’ll certainly miss the mark.

It’s true in golf. Now, I never really had to worry about it too much in golf because I could never hit the ball far enough to be too concerned about being off a few degrees. But if you’re Tiger Woods, and you can drive a ball 300 to 325 yards, the more accurate it better be, or you’re gonna end up out of bounds. And the same is true in our Christian walk. The longer you drift off course without taking corrective action, the farther you’ll end up off course. You keep going, going, going, and believe me, that one degree is going to make a bigger difference the longer it is ignored. Are you with me here? The writer of Hebrews says, “Give earnest heed, pay attention, to the things that you’ve heard in order to avoid drifting away.” That’s a great admonishment for us to listen to, take earnest heed, and pay careful attention!
~ pg

A Heart of Thankfulness, Part 4

2012-01-27T10:30:00.003-05:00

If you want more of God, He’ll give you more of Himself. That ought to make you happy. It ought to make you want to rejoice all the time. ALL THE TIME! I’m not going to say that you don’t have the right to be depressed. Yes, I am. You don’t have the right to be depressed! Who do you think you are? Oh, no wonder you’re depressed, because you don’t know who you are! Does that make sense?

Let’s look again at 1 Thessalonians 5. “Let us not quench the Spirit.” Then he goes on to talk about not despising all things and holding fast to that which is good. This could be a whole lesson on life, all of these points in this chapter. These are clear instructions on how to live.

There are obviously many more verses, Old and New Testament, which deal with the issue of remaining thankful. Ephesians 5:20, “Giving thanks to the Father at ALL times.” In other words, is there ever a time when we should not be thankful? NEVER! NO! There is never a time when you should not be thankful—or without the double negative—we should always be thankful! It will change your world. “But what if I can’t pay my bills,” or, “Well, what if,” there is never a time for you to not be thankful and to give thanks to the Lord. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men.

You’ll find out that giving thanks leads to peace. Just read Philippians 4:6-8. Maybe you don’t have peace because you’re not thankful. So many things hinge on thankfulness. So much of our ability to live a victorious, successful Christian life depends upon our discipline to establish and then maintain this disposition. You may have to work at this because maybe you weren’t raised in a thankful atmosphere.

I love to hear testimonies of people saying, “We were poor, but we didn’t know it.” Isn’t that great? We didn’t know. Why? Nobody told us. Mama was always just rejoicing and thanking God. Huh? You look at many of the youth of today and is it any wonder? They’ve been raised in greed and a sense of entitlement. And I see many Christians living the same way. And that sense of entitlement keeps them from being thankful, and if they’re not thankful; they can’t overcome. Does that make sense to you?

I want to encourage you to read Deuteronomy chapter 8 wherein the Lord reminded the children of Israel about maintaining an attitude of thankfulness. Moses was speaking to them, and they were about to go and take the Promised Land. God obviously revealed to Moses their concern that people would quickly forget. They didn’t remember the many great things that God had done on their behalf. And so Moses kind of rehearses over all those things. “Remember what the Lord has done. Remember what the Lord has done.” And he even says in Deuteronomy 8, “Do not forget.”

We have a propensity to forget. Why? Because we’re always looking ahead; always looking at what shines in front of us. Do not forget. Then he goes on, “For it is the Lord who gives you the power to accumulate wealth that He might establish His covenant with thee.” Only don’t let prosperity become your god.

Don’t forget where it all comes from. Don’t ever forget it and always seek to honor Him with it. Amen?

A Heart of Thanksgiving, Part 3

2012-01-13T09:32:00.000-05:00

As a continuation of what we’ve been discussing, which is developing and maintaining a heart of thanksgiving, I really want to focus on the next point that begins with verse 19 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, “Do not quench the Spirit.” Now why do you think that He put that in there? “Do not quench the Spirit.” Do you know what it means to “quench”? Literally, according to Strong’s, it means, “extinguish.” You and I have the potential, or the ability, to extinguish the Spirit. I reckon that means something akin to pouring water on a fire.

The Holy Spirit, full of life, is seeking to instruct us in truth as Jesus said the Spirit would. And instead of receiving that life and that truth, we want to throw cold water upon what the Spirit comes to bring. How awesome is the born-again experience in which God comes to live in us. I still cannot wrap my human mind around what it means to have God’s Spirit in me. How does He do that with all of us? And of course, we can give the quick “off the cuff” answer of, “Well, there’s enough of God to go around, there’s no limit,” etc., but God chooses to live in us? To dwell in us? To put His Spirit in us? Wow!

And so Paul says, “Do not quench the Spirit.” Now, how do you think it would be possible for you to quench the Spirit? Let’s take this bit-by-bit. A) Is it possible for you or I to quench the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? B) If possible (which the Word says it is), how would we do it?

Well, let’s read the preceding verses. Verse 16: when we do not maintain an attitude of rejoicing, we extinguish the Spirit. Verse 17: we extinguish the Spirit by not remaining in an attitude of prayer. Again, this does not mean walking around speaking in tongues, praying in the Holy Ghost, and saying “Our Father’s” and “Hail Mary’s,” or whatever you venture to do. It doesn’t mean making a public display of prayer as the Pharisees do, praying on the corner where everybody can see how holy one thinks they might be. It means maintaining a regular communication line with God. Prayer is fellowship, relationship, and communication with God, and it involves speaking as well as listening. Transmitting as well as receiving, and we should always be ready to pray.

How do you respond to bad news? How do you respond to the needs of other people? Do you just get in there in the pity party and wallow around in the mud? I see it in church life all the time. People just wallowing in the mud together like pigs in slop sometimes. I don’t mean to be offensive. Your responsibility is not to join in the pity party; those who are mature are supposed to instruct those who are less mature, not jump into the junk with them! That is a clear sign of immaturity and a lack of spirituality. People don’t need sympathy, maybe some empathy, but sympathy is not going to change their situation. They need compassion. Compassion will seek results and positive change in that circumstance. People don’t just need your emotional input; they need the God in you to be released in their situation!

Oftentimes that comes through prayer. The next time somebody just wants you to jump in the muck with them, take their hand and pray in the name of Jesus! You’ll find out that they’re gonna try to keep pulling your hand in the muck. It’s amazing to me. “Yeah, you can pray, but, but, but,” and they’re just pulling on your arm, yanking you and trying to get you into the muck. And if you don’t maintain a proper attitude, you’ll be yucky, mucky (I don’t think I’ve ever used that term before) in no time at all! It doesn’t take long; you’ll be wallowing around in that stuff. We’re called to bring them out of the muck!

How do we extinguish the Spirit? Look at verse 18: by not giving thanks in all things. By not establishing and maintaining an attitude and a heart of thankfulness. What causes us to not be thankful? Every one of us can identify with that if we just were honest with ourselves here. Sometimes it’s a sense of entitlement. Sometimes it’s our own greed. All the time it’s the work of our flesh. There’s only one thing that keeps us from being thankful and that’s our carnality, or soulfulness, and self-centeredness/selfishness. Like James said, “You want, you want, you want, and you don’t get” (paraphrased). Why? Because you’re seeking to heap something upon yourself, and your motivation is wrong.

I’ve always seen God bless generous people, and I’m not just talking about monetarily. We all know some people who go way beyond their means, yet they do not have a lot of money. But if you ask them, they’ll tell you that they’re blessed. This is not about financial wealth. That’s just one aspect of life. Some of the happiest people that I know don’t have much at all. But my goodness sake, they are so generous, and they’re always happy. No, they’re not just always happy, they’re always rejoicing! What causes us to be dismayed is when we don’t get what we want. So what do you want? Maybe the object of your desire is the problem. What is the object of your desire? Ouch!

We’ll wrap up this series regarding a “Heart of Thanksgiving” with the next blog. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey!

~ pg

A Heart of Thanksgiving, Part 2

2012-01-02T04:45:00.007-05:00

Last week we looked at how we are to “rejoice always,” as the Scripture states in 1 Thessalonians. This week we are picking up with the next directive Paul is admonishing us with in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 17, “Pray without ceasing.” What does that mean? It means, “do not cease praying.” Just turn it around. Without ceasing, pray. It means we should always be in an attitude of prayer. That doesn’t mean that we should be walking around with holy garments and saying, “Ohhhh Gaaawwd,” and standing on the corner like the Pharisees. It means to remain in an attitude of prayer. What is prayer? Prayer is communication with God. We should be in a constant state of prayer, even if we’re not “talking.

Do you know that you don’t always have to be talking to God, and He doesn’t always have to be talking to you? But it’s awfully good to know that He’s there when I need Him. And wouldn’t it be good if God knew that I’m always here if He needs me, too? That I’m not distracted; I’m not caught up in other things. Hello? Hello? There’s God, “Hello, hello, are you there? Can you hear Me now? Hello?”

What if we were as quick to listen to God as He is to listen to us? God hears, but He doesn’t always answer because God isn’t duty-bound to respond. And there’s sometimes when we’re just babbling, and it’s a one-way conversation. I’ve wondered if God sometimes just takes the receiver and holds it off to the side while we’re sounding like one of Charlie Brown’s teachers on the other end. I’m not saying that God does that; I said I wonder if He does. Actually, I’m pretty sure that He doesn’t have a cell phone. That might be hard for some to believe: there are no cell phones in heaven. Oh boy, I just rocked somebody’s world.

Pray without ceasing, verse 18. “In everything . . .” What does “everything” mean? Is there anything that is not included in everything? I just love the way that Paul makes these statements. Look at verse 16 again, “always.” Then in verse 17 it says, “without ceasing.” These are very clear instructions. “In everything give thanks.” Why? Because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you! Does that settle the argument? It ought to. “But you don’t understand. How can I possibly give thanks in my situation.” Why don’t you just hush up and do what Paul says do! Paul says that it’s the will of God in everything to give thanks to Him.

Now, we want to debate that! If you don’t believe it, you’re not debating and contending with the preacher or any other human being, you’re trying to strike up a debate with God, and guess what? You have already lost! The minute you open your mouth to try and debate an issue with God, you’ve lost the debate.

In our academy, we teach our children effective communication, and in the rhetoric stage, they also learn effective argumentation. They learn to communicate regarding ideas and/or truths that are based upon true logic. It is illogical to contend with God. You cannot win the debate. God is not a debater. God doesn’t call us together to maybe, just maybe, find some common ground. God’s not looking for common ground. He’s looking for people with enough common sense to understand that He is God. My friends, His way is not only the best way, but it is either God’s way or the highway. He gives us this powerful thing called choice, or free will. Next week we will go on to the next portion of Scripture that deals with “not quenching the Spirit.”

This gives us plenty to work on this week as we are stepping into this New Year:

1. Rejoice always.

2. Pray without ceasing.

3. Give thanks in everything.

May God bless you mightily!

~ pg

A Heart of Thanksgiving, Part 1

2011-12-29T08:42:00.000-05:00

Worship requires that we establish and maintain a heart and an attitude of thanksgiving. And oftentimes, for some folks, this requires discipline in their lives; it demands that they change something in order to establish and maintain an attitude and a heart of thanksgiving. Failure to do so robs us of many of God’s blessings.

One of the reasons so many are not walking in the fullness of God’s blessings is because of a failure to establish and maintain an attitude of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not just eating turkey once a year! I thank God for Thanksgiving and a nation that seeks to honor the Lord because of His faithfulness and His blessings in our lives. From a biblical point of view, this is not something that we are instructed to do just once a year or only on special occasions. A life of thanksgiving is essential if we are to experience an overcoming lifestyle.

I listen to some Christians grumble, mumble, and complain. I want to remind you that complaining was one of the five sins that kept the children of Israel out of the Promised Land. God does not like murmuring and complaining, so STOP IT! It’s not good for you. God does not like it. He sees your situation. He’s waiting for you to get your heart and mouth in alignment with His Word so He can do something good for you.

Read 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 16. For many years, I’ve regarded the whole first portion of Thessalonians as basic instructions for Christian living. As Paul writes, at least the way that it was translated for us in English, he gives us some very direct instructions in how to live a life pleasing to God.

Notice how succinctly he makes each statement, there’s not a whole lot of explanation. For example, in verse 16, there’s a two-word directive: “Rejoice always.” What does that mean? It means, “always rejoice”! What does it mean to always rejoice? It’s easy to interpret that there should never be a time when you’re not rejoicing! What does the word, “always,” mean? ALWAYS! Now if someone instructs you to do something and he or she says, “Always do it this way,” what does that mean? It means that every time you do it, do it this way. There is never to be a time that you do it any other way. Am I right? So hear the Word of the Lord: “REJOICE ALWAYS!”

How do you do that? I am always to be in an attitude and a mind-set of rejoicing. It doesn’t matter what’s going on around me; it doesn’t matter what people say about me; it doesn’t matter what the situation looks like. Now this can only happen if I have learned to establish and maintain a heart of thanksgiving. You will not be able to rejoice always unless, and until, you have established and worked to maintain a thankful heart. I said work to maintain an attitude of thanksgiving. Sometimes it is work. Do you remember the definition of “work” from MTS or from 7^th grade Physical Science? Work literally means, “force against resistance.”

This tells us that there are forces that are resisting our attitude of thankfulness. Just stop and selah for a moment. It’s amazing how thankful we can be and then someone might say one cross word, and it flips a switch that changes our whole attitude. Come on! Am I the only one? I see it in relationships all the time. You can be around someone having the greatest time, and then one person says one thing, huh? And bam, what happened to the attitude of thanksgiving? Then it’s like, “Well, I’d be awfully thankful if . . . mumble, mumble, mumble.”

Where did it go? Remember the definition of “work”: force against resistance. By definition, there’s going to be some pressure, there’s going to be some push back from time to time. Think it not strange. Even so, we are instructed to rejoice always!

~ pg

Core Values, Part 4

2011-12-23T05:45:00.011-05:00

In John 4:22, Jesus says, "You worship what you do not know. " I began to meditate on that this week. How many people are worshiping that which they don't even know? A lot of people worship money. Some worship other people and other things. Many are attempting to worship God, but don't know Him. Maybe you're like me. For many years I thought that I was worshiping God, but I was so far away from Him. Mine was a pretty feeble attempt. I knew that there was a God, but I surely didn't want to live for Him. If I had wanted to, I would have!

He says you worship what you do not know. May I suggest to you that idol worship is alive and well on the earth today. It's what drives many people to do what they do. And in verse 24, Jesus is not speaking simply of a future time of when the true worshipers would worship in spirit and in truth. He says, "And now is." Wow! Powerful words. Not only is the hour coming, but it is here! What gave Him the authority to make such a proclamation? I believe in part what He is proclaiming is, "The veil is being torn in two." Up until now, common man could come close and then no closer. The priest could come so close, but no closer. The High Priest could enter in once a year, but he'd better be tiptoeing with little bells on.

Jesus came to rent the veil in two, not only between Jew and Gentile, but also between God and man! Do we understand what we have? I don't think we do. So God have mercy on us for our failure to recognize what Christ has done for us by removing the partition between Him and us.

We who were nothing but sinners were granted access to the most holy place. Wow! You can't get into the most holy place if you ain't holy. And the problem with many in the Church is that they're trying to get there on their own. And they're trying to be holy on their own, and there isn't a way to do it, so they strive through religious ceremony right back to the Law and the pomp and circumstance. They think that if they could just do that, they'd be holy and God could accept them in. Man, we gotta be stripped of everything.

We'll pick up next time talking about worshiping in spirit and in truth. I want to encourage you, if I may, to gain understanding in regard to the fact that God is a Spirit and that He's called us to worship Him in spirit and in truth, and that's what He's seeking. And we're going to talk about what that spirit and truth thing looks like next time because there are parts of worshiping God in truth that we may not fully understand. And when we get to a place of truly worshiping in spirit and in truth, it will bring repentance. Revelation is always intended to bring repentance.

It's somewhat like spiritual math: revelation brings repentance, repentance is intended to bring revival, and revival is for the purpose of reformation. It has to happen in us and in the Church and in the culture in which we live. And it IS happening! Reformation is a very slow process. I believe we're in a process of reformation right now, and I'm not praying for reformation anymore. I got a revelation on reformation, and I believe some things are happening. There's never been an instant reformation in the history of the world. Every reformation has taken years to achieve. We just get impatient and want it now.

I encourage you this week to incline your heart to God and truly worship Him. You can do it anywhere, in spirit and in truth.

~ pg

Core Values, Part 3

2011-12-19T05:05:00.000-05:00

Now in John chapter 4, Jesus was speaking to the Samarian woman at Jacob’s well (which is a significant location throughout Scripture, both historically and spiritually). This is where the bones of Joseph were finally laid to rest having been brought back from Egypt. It’s also where Joshua gathered the people of Israel to renew their covenant, and he made that very famous declaration that some of us have posted on our walls: Joshua 24:15, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” After Joshua made that declaration, the people of Israel renewed their covenant to God. And as they were pledging their covenant, Joshua said, “You ain’t gonna do it.” To which they replied, “Oh, yes we are,” and Joshua said again, “Oh, no you won’t.” You can go read it in Joshua 24. Basically, he’s saying, “You think you’re going to do it, but you ain’t gonna do it.” So they say, “Yes, only the God of Israel will we serve!”

And so Joshua says to them in Joshua 24:23, “Put away the foreign gods which are among you and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.” “Incline” means to “stretch, to spread out, to bend.” Incline your heart to the Lord. As important as this place was, after Gideon died, it became a center for Baal worship. Oh come on, there’s going to be worship going on, and there are certain areas where worship is predominant. I believe that. There are focal points or hot spots, and if the people of God aren’t truly worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then there are other elements that will move in.

Let’s look at verse 19 of John 4; this woman is pretty amazing. Jesus asked her, “Where’s your husband, go get him.” Now she could have looked at Him and said, “Which one?” I’ve had five of them—she could have been thinking that—which one does He want me to go get? Instead she said, “I have no husband.” He said, “Indeed, you speak truth. You’ve had five husbands and the one you’re living with now is not even your husband.” You’re shacking up. Well, this catches her attention, “Sir (that’s all it took), I perceive you’re a prophet.” I want you to think about this woman also. To have five husbands and then to be shacking up, what do you think the opinion of her neighbors were? Wonder what the folks in the neighborhood thought about her? She was probably one of those that when she went out in the backyard, wives told their husbands, “You stay in here.”

Now, the account above is interesting because the people of Samaria considered themselves to worship the same God as the people of Israel, the God of Abraham. They held to the truth of the writings of Moses, but not any of the prophets. They did not hold to the teachings of the prophets of the Old Testament. Basically, they didn’t believe that they were true. And yet here she is, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.” You start reading people’s mail, and they get real perceptive. So she recognizes that He’s a messenger sent from God. You know, there are two trains of thought here. One is that she rises up and begins to contend with Jesus. I’m not sure that’s exactly true. I think that she may be displaying a desire to learn after perceiving that Jesus is a prophet. She might be thinking, “If He is a prophet, He has something to give me, some truth to impart into my life. And in verse 20, she said, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where we ought to worship.”

You think we ought to worship in that church, and we say that we ought to worship in this one! Skip down to verse 23 for a moment. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” God is a spirit and those who worship Him MUST, not should, worship in spirit and in truth. Now this woman apparently is very sincere in her desire to learn about true worship. As I said, the Samarians are thinking that they’re worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It’s not unlike certain religions today. And as I said, they rejected the teachings of the prophets, and they became involved in all sorts of idol worship in conjunction with their worship of the God of Abraham.

On the other hand, you have the Jews who were all hung up on religion, ceremony, the Law, and pomp and circumstance. So now here comes Jesus and He’s making clear: worship is not contingent upon where a person is. But what really matters as in the words of Joshua, “inclining our heart toward God.” Oh, if you don’t get anything else, my friends, this week, begin to incline your heart toward God. Let’s come down off our throne. As in Revelation 4, the same way that the four and twenty elders bow down and cast their crowns before God’s throne, we need to cast ours down! For without Him, we are nothing and can do nothing, but through Him we can do all things!

~ pg

Core Values, Part 2

2011-12-14T19:06:00.008-05:00

I almost caught a glimpse of something recently; I was so close and was right there at the door. Sometimes I can get so frustrated when I get right to the door, and I don't get in. But it ran very closely with Revelation chapter 4. What's going on up there in heaven? And if it's going on up there, why ain't it going on down here? If it's going on up there, can it go on down here? Does God have one purpose for those things in heaven and a whole different purpose here on the earth? Or in the beginning did He create these things to complement one another, to be joined in unison? Right now, as I'm writing this, the angels of heaven are gathered around the throne of God singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord."

It's interesting that in John 4:23, Jesus says that, "The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth." True worshipers therefore worship in spirit and truth. That's point number one that I want to share. You have to ask yourself, "Am I a true worshiper?" They worship in spirit and in truth. And Jesus says, "The Father is seeking such to worship Him." God is searching, and where does He look? If God is looking to see if it's "spirit and truth worship" that is being offered, where does He look? Well, I suppose He's looking into the hearts of those who are rendering worship to Him. All religions have some form of worship. So the Lord is looking in the hearts of those who worship to see, I believe, if they are worshiping in spirit, and if they are worshiping in truth.

I'm going to bring up a touchy subject here, so please do not get offended. If you are, it's okay, but just try not to be. It would seem that true worshipers of God could and would recognize Him regardless of the culture, the environment, or the style of music being played. I've been thinking about this all week. I've heard people say, "Well, I don't like the music; I can't connect with that style of worship." Do you know what that attitude says? It says that worship is all about me and what brings me fulfillment, what satisfies my soul. We should be able to worship whether we're singing from a hymnal or singing off the wall!

I've had the privilege of worshiping amongst many cultures: American, Hispanic, North African, Haitian, Chinese, Brazilian, Trinidadian, Thai, and many that I haven't mentioned. The amazing thing is that no matter the culture-even if they're playing a bean pod and a broken accordion-I can have a worship experience and encounter God. Why? Because God is there! Anywhere God is, we ought to be able to worship Him. Do you believe God is everywhere? Then it doesn't matter what the music sounds like. WE'RE WORSHIPING GOD! It doesn't matter if we're in a jungle or an air-conditioned, carpeted building. It doesn't matter if they're playing maracas or electric guitars. It's not about the music; it's about God! It's about worshiping Him!

So if we believe God is ever-present, we shouldn't struggle with the form of worship. I get a kick out of people, "Well, you know, culture is very important." I hear about culture all the time. "We don't want to lose our culture." Oh really? Well, that goes contrary to the teachings of Apostle Paul. We need to give our culture up, our old culture, that is, and grab hold of our new culture. Welcome to the Kingdom! Everything is made brand new. "Well, what about my roots?" Some people have such tight earthly roots that they're going to have a hard time going when the trumpet sounds. What happens is that we get used to a certain form of worship, and then we just can't seem to connect with God in any way except our own. I would challenge that mentality. I would ask the question, "Is this attitude healthy, and is it accurate according to Scripture?"

Those are some points to ponder and ask yourself. Please take some time this week to reflect upon your response to God and examine your heart to evaluate if you're a "spirit and truth worshiper," or if you've been allowing your preferences to run rampant and dictate the depth of your worship experience. My prayer is that no matter where we are in our "spirit and truth worship" progress, that we take the opportunity this week to go even deeper.

~ pg

Core Values

2011-12-10T00:32:00.006-05:00

I want to talk about the core values of Cliffdale: Worship, Outreach, Relationship, and Discipleship. The acronym for our core values is the word "WORD." Let's spend some time talking about worship, the first core value. It is so essential. If something is essential, what does that mean? It means that it's the essence. What is the essence of our lives? The essence is the center; it is the most important point; it's the part from which everything else flows or springs.

There is nothing more essential than worship in the life of the believer, and we can prove this by examining Scripture. Worship is not something that we simply gather to do on Sundays. Worship is the very reason that we were created, and you don't have to be a Jordan Deal or your favorite Christian artist or singer to participate. All mankind has this in common: we were created to worship. Obviously worship has been perverted by the world. Isn't it amazing though how gifted many sinners are? People who have no knowledge of Christ? That's not to condemn, that's just an observation. You don't even have to be able to sing like a mockingbird; that's the beauty of worship.

How essential is worship to you? Worship is not just music; it's not just singing. I have a small paperweight that somebody gave me years ago that says, "My work is part of my worship." My work is part of my worship. What we do, day in and day out, should be viewed as part of worship. You've no doubt heard many sermons preached or lessons taught from John chapter 4. But there are probably very few Scriptures, particularly in the New Testament, that focus on worship and its power more than that passage. We have to get it out of our heads that when I say the "power of worship," that it means coming to church and singing songs, singing in the shower, or singing on the way to work. Music and songs are just one form of worship.

Do you believe in creation? The pat answer in church is that, "I believe in creation." I think that before we answer questions, particularly regarding our beliefs, we ought to consider well what the question is before determining that we are giving an accurate response. Do you really believe in creation?

We spent the last two days out in the woods camping, and you know how it is, you feel closer to God for whatever reason. You're out there with the trees and the water and the stars, and yes, the rain and the wind as well. There are certain environments or places that can allow us to have a different experience in worship, maybe experience a different level of worship. Church is supposed to be one of those places. God ordained the Church to be a house of worship. He's always had a gathering place for the purposes of corporate worship and the teaching of His Word.

Again, do you believe in creation? My youngest son and I were watching a science show the other night, and they were showing the Hubble telescope and how mankind would now be able to see how planets are formed, how the gasses come together, and how a new sun is created. And I have no doubt that the above is true. The problem is that when you leave God out of the equation, the questions remain, "Where did it all originate? Where did those gasses come from?"

So we know from Genesis 1:1 that God created the heavens and the earth. And it's an awesome thing to consider that this very same God who created the universe has called you and I by name, selected us, and called us to Himself. So how does worship work into all that? When you consider the handiwork of God, how can you not but worship Him? Again, worship is what we were created for. There were other reasons we were created, but we were fashioned to be instruments of worship and since the very beginning of time, mankind has demonstrated the need and the innate desire to worship.

In my opinion, it was what moved Abel in Genesis 4 to bring the firstborn of his flock as an offering to Jehovah; that was an act of worship. And the truth is that from Egypt, to the temple, to our present day and time, we see this desire being demonstrated through mankind. We see it in Moses, Miriam, Joshua, Paul, Silas, and the prophets. These are all examples of man's need to worship and God's desire to be worshiped. There is so much to be said in this regard. We'll pick up with this topic in the next blog.

~ pg

The Power Of Our Words, Part 2

2011-11-21T11:10:00.004-05:00

“When the Queen had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food on the table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters, and their apparel, his cupbearers, and his entry way by which he went up to the House of the Lord, there was no more spirit within her; it took her breath away.”

Queen Sheba saw such a level of excellence (1 Kings 10:4) that she was left breathless. It’s amazing! Do we have a standard of excellence? You do whether you know it or not. You’re living at your standard of excellence. You might say, “Oh, no I’m not. My standard is much higher than my lifestyle.” Oh really? Do you believe that? I would call that self-deception, my friend. I love you, but that’s what I call that. And I’m not talking about rich or poor, not having a lot of money or having a lot of money, I’m talking about having standards in our lives. Solomon obviously had a high standard of excellence, and it was seen not only in his words, but also in his personal lifestyle and in the way that he carried himself. It was also evident in those he surrounded himself with and those who worked for him.

In fact, it’s an amazing thing that the Queen also noticed the food, the seating, the service, even the apparel of the waiters. She noticed the cupbearers and how they performed their work; she even took note of the entry way by which he went into the House of the Lord. She said in verse 6:

“It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom! However, I did not believe the words until I came for myself, indeed the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men, and happy are your servants who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom.”

Even the people who worked for him were happy. Wow! How do you do that? I walk into most retail stores and grocery stores today, and I’m like, “I’d fire half of ya!” Many times I’ll ask someone who is working in retail, “How ya doing?” Usually the general answer is, “I can’t wait to get off.” And I’m thinking to myself, “If I were your boss and heard you say that, you’d be off from now on, honey. Cuz I don’t want you here if you don’t want to be. Go do something else!”

There's nothing worse than working or being with people who don’t want to be there. You know what they do? They sit and mumble and grumble about their jobs, and they don’t understand that they’re cursing their own lives! They’re just adding to their own misery by the words that they speak.

Now going back to Proverbs, there’s so much here about words, so much about our tongue. I’ve been amazed the last several days as I’ve been researching this. So what does the wealthiest and wisest man have to say about the words we speak? Let’s go to Proverbs 16:23, “The heart of the wise teaches his mouth.” Do you know that your mouth can be taught? Hello? You can teach your mouth what to say! If that weren’t true, it wouldn’t be in there, right? How deliberate are we at teaching our mouths what to say? And it is our heart that teaches our mouth and adds learning to the lips. Some of us need some good “lip-learning.” I love the way the Amplified Bible states it,

“The mind of the wise instructs his mouth and adds learning and persuasiveness to his lips.”

Let’s talk about persuasiveness. A lot of people are confused; they think that persuasiveness is manipulation. I want you to consider how your life would change if you could become more skilled at the art of persuasiveness. If you’re in sales, is there any greater gift than that of persuasiveness? Your job is to persuade people that your product is the best and that they can trust you.

I used to attend church with a guy who was tremendously successful at selling used automobiles. People trusted and loved him, and he made big, big money! He used to donate vans to our church and was one of the top givers. Tremendous success! He didn’t do it by ripping people off; he did not fit the image of how we unfortunately stereotype “used car salesmen.” But he was very persuasive, and everybody liked him. WOW! Think of how successful you would be in marriage if you used the art of persuasion, or possibly began applying it to your finances! I mean, just think, even in the area of physical healing, if you could persuade your body that you’re healed, wouldn’t you feel better? It’s the gift, the art of persuasiveness, and it’s not being manipulative.

Persuasiveness simply means to bring the other party around to your idea or way of thinking, to get them to change the way that they think about something and come into conformity regarding a new thought process. Isn’t that what sharing the Gospel is about? Think about how successful the Church would be if we learned the art of persuasiveness. If we went out and preached the Gospel in such a way that people would come around from their old way of thinking, see the light, and understand the Gospel because it’s been given to them in such as way that they can receive it?

We used to be very aggressive with Evangelism Explosion. And what I loved about it more than anything was the persuasiveness of that thing. I could sit with somebody who was an absolute Christ-rejecter and within fifteen to twenty minutes have them on the edge of their seat asking, “What must I do to be saved?” Now THAT’S the art of persuasion. That’s not manipulation. Manipulation is control and domination. Persuasiveness is simply the ability to communicate in such a way that others come into agreement with you. Solomon was actually very gifted at this. I consider him to have been a tremendous leader by just reading about the people who worked for him.

So the Word speaks to us that it is possible for you and I to teach and educate our mouths. Let’s take the opportunity today to minister godly, persuasive words that would help bring others closer to where they need to be with God. And while we’re at it, we might want to go ahead and persuade ourselves to come into alignment with the Word as well. Vickie and I pray you have a truly wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your loved ones. May God bless you abundantly this season.

~ pg

The Power Of Our Words, Part 1

2011-11-16T10:07:00.001-05:00

Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs. He was and still is considered to be the wisest man who ever lived, and he was certainly the wealthiest man who ever lived on the earth. It is impressive how much Solomon writes, particularly in Proverbs, about communication—about the words that we speak.

The words that you speak have tremendous power and can produce either beneficial or detrimental results. In fact, in large part, wherever you are in life right now is due to the words you have spoken. Those words are a result of what is going on in your heart and your mind.

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

Your mouth speaks and tremendous power is released through the words that you let go. I would like us to look at a portion of Scripture that is very familiar for most of us. We can all quote verbatim the first half, but we do not give enough attention to the second part of the very same verse. Here, in Proverbs 18:21, we are told that death and life are in the power of the tongue. I want you to consider that once again. I know that we refer to this passage a lot, but we do so because it’s important! The words you speak have the potential to impart either death or life. It’s a life and death situation, my friend.

In the New Testament, James says that out of one side of our mouth we speak blessing, out of the other side of our mouth we speak cursing. Even though he said this ought not be so, I sometimes find it true in my own life. I might say something like, “By His stripes I am healed, but boy, I sure feel bad.” “God supplies all my needs; where are we gonna get the money?” Out of one side of my mouth flows a blessing and out of the other side a cursing. And “a cursing” in this sense does not involve witchcraft, voodoo, or any such thing. It simply means the restraining or restriction of God’s blessing in my life.

How successful do you want to be? What is it that you want to do in life? Where do you want to go? Your words have a direct correlation to the degree of your success. It has tremendous relevance on your level of influence in this life. Now we oftentimes quote, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” but we ignore the second portion of this verse: “Those who love it will eat its fruit.” In other words, we eat the fruit of the words that we speak. Our words produce fruit, whether good or bad, sweet or bitter, and we are partakers of that fruit.

The things you go through are oftentimes the result of how you have thought and what you have spoken out of your mouth. We are responsible for the words that we speak. As we use words, we either fall under the power of death, or there is the potential to attain to greater life. Our tongue can cause us to experience either blessing or lack. I like to remind folks that our tongues were involved in our being saved. According to Romans 10:10, Apostle Paul says that you have to believe with your heart and with your mouth confession is made unto salvation. We believe in our heart unto righteousness, and as a result of what’s in our heart, we speak, we confess that Jesus is Lord, and we experience the new birth; we are saved.

But I also want to remind you that Jesus doesn’t just come into our lives simply to change us. He comes into our lives to make something new, not to just change the old, but to make provision for something brand new. You’re not only being changed through the transformation of what Romans 12 speaks of; you are to experience a whole new life.

Your life ought to look different than before you were saved. And one reason it doesn’t in the lives of many people is that they never change the way they think and the words that come out of their mouths, particularly about their own life. “Daddy was a loser, so I’m a loser, too.” “Momma said there’d be days like this, Momma said.”

Now, I’ve already stated that Solomon is regarded as the wisest and most certainly the wealthiest man on the earth. He’s highly respected. Those under his authority respected him; he was also greatly respected by other kings, dignitaries, and world leaders. First Kings chapter 10 gives us an account of the Queen of Sheba’s visit. Most of you are familiar with this, but I want to make a couple of points.

“Now when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.” Now let’s just stop there for a moment and examine this. The Queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning what? The name of the Lord. So she came to him with the intent of testing him. The Scripture says that she came to test him with hard questions. Starting with verse 2 the Bible states, “She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels, spices, gold, and precious stones. When she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.” What was in her heart? All these hard questions. So Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing so difficult for the king that he could not explain it to her. “When the Queen of Sheba had seen all of the wisdom of Solomon . . .” Just stop right there, she saw the wisdom.

Now, as we read on, we recognize that she saw the wisdom through his lifestyle, in those around him, and in those who worked for him. She saw it in those with whom he had surrounded himself. But she also saw it in his words, as he was able to answer the questions with which she had come to test him! Wow! Her intention was to put him to the test with difficult questions, and he didn’t stumble or fail; he answered every one of them and at that point she realized, “I see wisdom here.”

I’ll pick up with this in my next blog, but in the meantime, this would be a good opportunity to ask ourselves a few questions such as: What do people see in my words? Do others see wisdom displayed in my lifestyle? I pray that each one of us is found faithful in the usage of our words to promote life, wholeness, and good fruit!

~ pg

Is Tithing A Law, Part 6

2011-11-09T16:58:00.003-05:00

Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek. Why? Look at Galatians 3:8. This might just blow you away.

“And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’”

What’s that mean? Abraham received a Word and a revelation from God. He could only catch a glimpse of what it meant to be blessed of God and the father of nations. He couldn’t comprehend all of that any more than you could comprehend if I was to prophesy over you and say, “There are nations on the inside of you.” For some of you, if I were to say to you, “You’re going to go to many nations,” I mean, you ain’t even been out of Hoke County your entire life. God bless you if you’re a Hokie from Hoke County; I live there myself. I’ve met people in Hoke and Robeson County who have told me, “I haven’t ever been out of this county.” I’m like, “Whoooaaa, wow, that’s gotta be exciting!” I’m not knocking it, and I’m like, wow, you just don’t meet too many people who can say that. I’m impressed, I guess. Not even a drive to Fayetteville?

But Abraham caught a glimpse of something: that he would be the father of many nations, and that nations would be blessed because of him. How could he comprehend that? He couldn’t! But it says that he had “glad tidings preached to him.” He had good news, and as a result, he caught a revelation of the will of God being fulfilled through him. And because he had received good news from God and caught the revelation of the impact his life would have, he gave tithes, by faith, to Melchizedek!

Did you get that? This tithe to Melchizedek was a real act of faith! He didn’t know Melchizedek! Nobody knew where he came from; no one knew where he went, and yet Abram paid tithes, yet why? Because Melchizedek in the Bible is a type of Christ. So when Abram rendered a tithe to Melchizedek, it was as giving to Christ.

Now when we give, when I bring my tithe, or when my wife or I lay that check or those coins in that basket, we’re not just giving to the church. Well, we are because we regard the Church as the Body of Christ on Earth. We are literally taking money that we have earned and putting it into the hand of Jesus. By FAITH! I can’t see His hand. I’ve never personally seen Jesus, but by faith, I’m taking money, and I’m giving it to the Body of Christ believing that Jesus is the Head of the Body, and His Body, according to Scripture is the Church. So when I’m giving to the Body, I’m giving to Jesus! Don’t you know I can expect a return on that seed that I’m releasing by faith? Why? Because God rewards our faith! Oh folks, I have seen this work in the last twenty-eight to thirty years in my life.

This transcends the 10%! It’s not about the 10%; it’s not about warding off God’s curse! It’s not even trying to manipulate God to open up those windows of heaven! It’s not about any of that. It’s about the motivation of our hearts. Is it faith or fear? Is it law or grace?

You know what? I’m gonna go out on a limb. I’m pretty sure that God would have met my needs if I had never given a dollar. Some of you reading this are saying, “No way.” No, I’m pretty sure that God loves me so much. Now, I might have needed welfare or drove the most beat-up car in the parking lot. I might still be living in that mobile home with the broken windows where I couldn’t pay the phone or the electric bill about half the time, you all ever lived there? You know the place I used to live . . . with the old brown Pontiac sitting up on blocks in the front yard? Yep, that one.

I do believe as a result of sowing, I have reaped. I believe that tithing as a principle, has brought me out of poverty. I will say that. Not because it’s the Law, but because it’s a law that I was taught to practice in my life. I see the results of living a principled lifestyle according to the laws set forth, not the least of which is, “Give and it shall be given unto thee, pressed down, shaken together, and flowing over shall men give unto thy bosom.”

Somebody said, “That verse in Luke 6 isn’t even talking about money! Man, it’s talking about whatever you give! It’s not talking only about forgiveness! It’s not just talking about love. Yes, it is talking about those things, but if you love God, wouldn’t we give Him what is important to us? And what’s really important to the people of God today? Don’t tell me money’s not important. Most of you will get up early tomorrow morning and go to work so you can make money! Money is important! And what we do with our money is important! Whatever we do with it, we ought not do because we’re under Law. We ought to do it because we’re living under grace—grace that can only be experienced when we walk by faith.

This is important though. I want to make a declaration over the people of Cliffdale Christian Center. I want you to be set free today from the Law. And I pray that I have never in any way, shape, form, or degree have led you into thinking that you have to tithe or else God’s going to get ya.

Now, I will say this. If you don’t obey God, don’t expect the fullness of His blessing. To the best of our ability and according to our faith and understanding of Scripture, we are responsible to obey the Word of God. If we don’t, it causes us to not experience the fullness of His blessing. I haven’t reached the fullness of His blessing. I’m going after it, and that’s what I want. Man, it’s been something. I’ve seen what He’s done in the past thirty years; I can just imagine what the next thirty are going to be like!

I know that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him, and He is a rewarder of those who obey Him. I have no right to expect His abundance and His fullness of promises if I’m living a life of disobedience. It takes faith to obey God. It takes faith for me to forgive when I’ve been offended. It takes faith for me to love when I ain’t feelin’ the love. It takes faith for me to pray for people whom I know are using me. It takes faith for me to walk in the love of God. It takes faith for me to give when I don’t see where it’s coming from. It takes faith because the just will live by faith. Are we purposing to be people who live by faith? This will be the last blog in this series, "Is Tithing A Law," which was derived from a message I shared at Cliffdale Christian Center on September 19th, 2011. Thank you for joining me on the journey!

~ pg

Is Tithing A Law, Part 5

2011-11-02T20:45:00.000-04:00

In Genesis 14, Abram gives Melchizedek a tithe of all the spoils. We are sons and daughters of Abraham. And we are a people who are to walk by faith. And I submit to you, I believe there's a higher principle than what we've previously assigned to the tithe. There is a principle, the law that God instituted, and it's called, "The Law of Sowing and Reaping." We can find it in both the Old and the New Testaments. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked. As a man sows, so will he reap." Paul told the Corinthians, "If you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. If you sow bountifully, you reap bountifully!" Man, that's a law! Some of you are going to feel challenged by this message, while others will feel delivered!

It's not the Law, it's a LAW; it's a principle of the Kingdom. God instituted this thing way back in Genesis 8, as long as the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, winter and summer, will not pass away. We currently live according to the principle of sowing and reaping.

God wants us to check our motivation regarding our giving. Do we really believe that if we don't tithe, that God is going to curse us with a double curse? Cursed with a curse! Years ago I preached the double curse, I did! I had to ask God to forgive me. In Malachi it says, "Cursed with a curse," and anywhere it says that, it's a double whammy, or so I thought! Now understand though, that to "be cursed," oftentimes simply means the withholding of God's blessing or the removal of God's hand. And if His hand is removed in any area of my life, I am very vulnerable to attacks by the enemy. You might ask, "Does God ever remove His hand?" It isn't so much that God is removing His hand, it's more likely that I am restricting the hand of God. There are a lot of ways that we can bind God's hands from blessing us.

You reap according to what you sow. I know that Lisa's sister and brother-in-law own a big farm in Iowa. They grow a lot of crops, and they just recently went through the harvest season. Now Mark, her brother-in-law, he's a smart guy. He's a good Christian and a shrewd businessman, and that's a good combination! He's shrewd in a good way. Now, Mark doesn't just take his harvest and sell it all. No smart farmer would sell his entire harvest! If I had ten bushels of corn, I mean, don't you think I'm going to plan for next year's harvest? How many bushels am I going to keep for seed to plant for next year's harvest? I know that next year's harvest is going to be proportionate with the amount of seed that I sow. So, if I sow one bushel of corn and sell the other nine, give it away, or eat it (a lot of us eat it), my harvest next year is going to be in direct proportion to that one bushel's grain or seed, right?

Now, next year's harvest is important to me. I'm looking ahead; I'm not just trying to get as much as I can today, because a wise person is going to look to the future! This is called stewardship. Now, if I keep two bushels, can I expect to get at least twice the harvest as I would have received by only planting one bushel? Come on!

If I have ten bushels and plant one bushel, I can expect a harvest off the bushel. If I plant two bushels, I can probably expect a double harvest. This is called sowing and reaping; it's the principle of God; it's a biblical law. It's not the Law, it's a law of the Kingdom called sowing and reaping, seedtime and harvest.

It's biblical to expect a return on seed that is planted. Who would plant a seed and not expect a return? My son planted a seed in a clay pot he received at Children's Church, and when he planted it, he fully expected it to sprout and grow. He checked it every day! And boy, was he disappointed when it didn't! Why? Because he expected it to grow! When we plant seed we can expect a return; we can expect a harvest. That is a biblical principle set forth in the Word of God.

~ pg

Is Tithing A Law, Part 4

2011-10-27T11:39:00.002-04:00

Every kingdom has laws and principles. The just shall live by faith! Faith is a medium of exchange. Every kingdom on earth and even Heaven’s Kingdom has a medium of exchange. In America, it’s the US dollar. Go to Europe, it’s the euro. Go to Iraq, it’s the dinar. Go to India, it’s the rupee. Go to Thailand, it’s the bhat. Go to the Dominican or Mexico, it’s the peso. Every kingdom has a medium of exchange, and what is the purpose? Exchanging goods and services. You pay, you receive, right?

Well, the Kingdom of Heaven has a medium of exchange as well. It’s called, “faith.” Faith is the medium of exchange in God’s Kingdom, just as currency is the medium of exchange in earthly kingdoms. And I think this may be one of the reasons that Scripture speaks so much in regard to money, wealth, and prosperity. It talks more about money than hell and heaven!

So it’s an important issue, particularly to God, and stewardship is an equally important topic. We need to talk about that. Now, I want you to keep in mind that faith is a principle. It is not simply a formula by which we live. Many have tried to utilize faith more as a formula than as a principle.

A principle is defined as follows: “It is a comprehensive and fundamental law, a rule or code of conduct, a primary source, the origin.”

Faith is a principle. On the other hand, many try to use it as a formula.

A formula is, “A set form of words that is used in a ceremony or a ritual. It is a conventionalized statement intended to express some fundamental truth or principle, but it has become conventionalized.”

Sayings like, “Oh, I’m blessed nonetheless.” We think that’s faith. We complain over here and then say, “You know my dog died, my house burned down, they came and repossessed my car, but I’m blessed, nonetheless.”

And so out of one side of our mouth proceeds cursing, while at the same time, and out of the other side of our mouth, comes blessing. And all the while the Scripture says that, “The just shall live by faith.” And faith is not denying your house is burning while flames engulf it. Faith is a principle and not simply a formula, not a catchphrase.

Now, Paul is speaking to the Galatians because they’ve been bewitched by Israelites who were trying to subject them to the Law. Church, we must not allow ourselves to be led astray. Another word for “bewitched” is to be “beguiled” or to be “deceived.” Paul makes a very clear point here and in other places where he is writing to believers. He states that we are saved by grace, not by works, lest any man boast. The great Martin Luther revelation was that we are justified by grace, through faith.

Faith is the dynamic that releases the grace of God and causes a man, woman, or child to be saved; it’s by grace. And Paul says, “You’ve begun in the Spirit, now don’t allow yourselves to get into the flesh.” And so today, I want you to ask yourself why you give. Why do you bring an offering to the Lord? Why do you pay your tithes? Why do you bring tithes to honor God? If it’s simply to avoid a curse, then you are living in bondage to the Law. That’s called, “F.E.A.R.” I don’t want God to curse me, so I’m going to pay my tithe. Do you really think that God is such a manipulator? He’s not manipulating you, and He’s not looking for you to manipulate Him with the following: “I’m going to tithe so God can open up the windows of Heaven so that He will pour me out such a blessing that there will not be room enough to contain.” That’s trying to manipulate God!

Jesus said, “Except our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees.” That’s what the Pharisees lived by, the Law. Jesus said, “Except your righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees, you will not see the Kingdom of God!”

And why didn’t Jesus talk more about tithing? Over the years, you must have asked yourself that. As many times as we’ve had opportunity to give at offering time, we’re always using the same Scriptures. You know why? It’s because in the New Testament, there’s not much written about the tithe. In fact, you can look it up under “tithe, tithing, tithes, tither,” I bet you wouldn’t find more than six examples, probably four.

And in one of them, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees. He said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

Nowhere in the New Testament does it command us to tithe. Why? I just had to ask that question the other day. “God why didn’t you just make it plain?” Well, because when the New Testament was written, it was a given. The Israelites, they knew they were supposed to tithe. They were tithers! Think of the rich young ruler. “I’ve don’t this, this, this, and this . . .” And it was answered unto him, “Yeah, but one thing you lack.”

Why is that? It’s because God is looking for more than the tithe. It’s not so much what we do, but why we do it. It’s called the motivation behind one’s actions. Jesus didn’t have to address the issue of tithing. People in the synagogues were doing that. He said, “Except our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees.” Even the Jewish community and heathens regarded the Pharisees as the most righteous group of people on the earth. These were righteous people! They appeared to live according to the Law of God. They went to great extravagance and extremes to abide by the Law of God, and they were faithful to tithe.

Jesus said, “That’s okay, but what you’ve neglected to do, which is even more important, is that you’ve neglected to do justice, you’ve neglected to show mercy, you’ve neglected to walk by faith!” Wow, might I remind you that if you’re tithing to avoid the curse according to the Law given by Moses, I want to give you a heads up. You probably owe God a whole bunch of money. I’m just saying.

According to the Law of Moses, there were three tithes: the Levitical Tithe, the Festival Tithe, and the Welfare Tithe (to take care of every three years in order to provide for widows and orphans). So if you’re only living according to the 10% rule so that God won’t curse you, you ought to be thankful God is not the IRS, or you’d be getting a dirty letter in the mail that told you how much you owe in penalties and back fees! You don’t even have to call Bender and Bender. I just gave you some tax relief, as ultimately, the tithe was like a tax.

It really boils down to getting out from under the idea of being subject to the Law in regard to tithing and beginning to operate under the principle of sowing and reaping. There’s a bit more that I’d like to share in regard to this topic, and I’ll include that in my next blog.

~ pg

Is Tithing A Law, Part 3

2011-10-24T04:33:00.001-04:00

We’re continuing with the topic regarding tithing and how it relates to the Law. I want us to consider Abraham just for a moment. And I’m going to use an obvious example, as it’s probably one we can all relate to.

Many of you know Brother Ray. He’s one of the foremost Bible researchers in our church. I remember him teaching one time regarding the Law of First Mention. That is going back to the place in Scripture wherein something is mentioned for the first time. We’ll see where that concept comes into play as we look at the following.

Why did Abram give tithes to Melchizedek? Did you ever think about that? Remember how Sodom and Gomorrah had been raided, Lot had been taken captive, Abram got his guys together, and they went to save Lot? They destroyed the enemy, and then they came back with the spoils of battle. Suddenly there is this strange thing in Scripture, almost like an enigma. Melchizedek, whom we know little about (we don’t know who his father was, who his mother was, where he came from, or where he went), suddenly appears to Abram. He’s the King of Salem, which means, “peace.” Jerusalem means, “new peace.”

So, here’s Melchizedek, and he mysteriously appears out of nowhere, right? He speaks a blessing over Abram, and the Scripture says that Abram gave tithes to Melchizedek. This is the first mention of the tithe in Scripture. Now we know there were other offerings presented to God as early as Cain and Abel back in Genesis 4. I’m really going to zero in on the tithe in this message because if it’s a reasonable question to ask, “Why did Abram pay tithes to Melchizedek,” the follow-up question would probably be, “Why are we paying tithes to God?” You may want to ask yourself that question. If you’re a tither, why do you tithe? That’s really the essence of this message.

You might say, “Because Malachi 3 says that if I don’t, I’m cursed with a curse, right”? So a lot of people tithe in order to avoid the curse. I did that for years, even preached it. God knows how many people I put in bondage including myself. You see, Malachi chapter 3 was really a directive towards the priesthood, the Levites. So we’re all tithing in order to get God to open the windows of heaven and pour us out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to contain, and we do it also because we don’t want to be cursed with a curse. That is living under the Law.

To be cursed, in simple terms, it is not always the pronouncement of something bad happening to you. In other words, we all know that we live under grace. Here’s the problem: we live with one foot under grace and one foot under the Law, depending upon what topic we’re discussing. That’s how the Galatians were. That’s why Paul said, “Who’s bewitched you?” Malachi 3 was written as under the Law, that had to do with Israel living under the Law. What they were doing was a violation of the Law, the Mosaic Law, which had been passed down from generation to generation. It was not because of laws and principles. We are still to live according to the principles of Scripture.

In fact, I would go as far to say that we live according to a higher law. Everybody is familiar with the law of gravity, right? The law of gravity says that if you knock something off the table, it’s going to fall down. I bet if I was standing in front of a table that had a bottle of water on it, and I knocked the bottle off a thousand times, it would hit the floor a thousand times, unless there’s a higher law. It would be the “law of the catch” in this case. It’s somewhat like aviation. Aviation defies gravity; it supersedes it. I believe we live by a higher law than the Law. The principle, or law, that we live under is that of sowing and reaping. And this isn’t just a New Testament principle. In fact, it dates back prior to Abraham! Look at Noah. Genesis chapter 8, Noah gets off the boat, builds an altar, and offers a sacrifice to God. God comes and speaks with him: “I’m not going to do this again; I’m not going to destroy the earth and mankind again the way I did this time.”

And then in Genesis 8, God says, “As long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest (summer and winter) will not pass away.” “Seedtime and harvest” is a law. It goes something like this: You plant a seed, and you get a harvest. That’s easy for us to understand. Nobody ever planted a seed without expecting the seed to sprout. If you did, you’d be wasting your time! You might as well eat the seed.

I will continue with this topic in the next blog. Thank you for taking the time to join me on this journey of bringing clarity to this often misunderstood subject.

~ pg

Is Tithing A Law, Part 2

2011-10-13T20:25:00.006-04:00

In the first part of “Is Tithing A Law,” we talked about the difference between a principle and a law. We’re going to pick up from there and look at Galatians 3. In this passage, we will discover a couple of very important truths. The first point I want to make is this: to whom is Paul writing? He’s writing to Galatian believers, and in this region, they were primarily Gentiles. That is an important point.

Another key point is this: the Law was given to Israel. Notice I didn’t say, “laws and principles.” There are still laws and principles we live by. The Law, speaking of the Mosaic Law, was given to the people of Israel. It doesn’t mean we should totally ignore it, and it doesn’t mean that we should just do away with it. Jesus did not come to do away with it, but rather to fulfill it. And actually, Jesus even said, “That unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).

Now the Pharisees lived by the Law as given by God primarily through Moses. They were legalistic. Now we live under grace and not under Law, right? Paul basically told the Roman believers that even though they were under grace, that they should not let that be a license to sin. Now he was not referring to mere biblical principles by which to live. We’re under grace and not under the Law. He was talking about the Law that was given to Israel. We ought to be thankful that we are not subject to the Law. But we must also understand that God did not give the Law in order to put His people in bondage; He gave them the Law to teach them how to live. They were coming out of four hundred years of slavery wherein they were surrounded by a totally ungodly culture/society. They did not know how to live any other way other than what they had been raised in and had become accustomed to.

That brings to mind, to some degree, folks in the church today who don’t know how to live any other way except like that of one in bondage to ungodly situations and/or cultures. Israel was coming out of that, and God gave the Law to Moses so that he could ordain the Levitical priesthood (who set forth the lifestyle by which Israel was to live). He was so thorough in the Law that He even talked about relationships, how they were to deal with their animals, how to treat one another, how to handle their money, and He even talks about their diet, if you can believe that! And if you read about the Levitical diet, God didn’t come up with it simply because He has a personal thing against Carolina barbecue or with pig pickin’s! It was God declaring, “This is good for you, this is not. I want you to be strong and live long, so I’m telling you what to eat so that you may maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

If you have any nutritional knowledge and compare the Levitical diet to the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet, aka, sad), it will be easy to see which one is the better diet/lifestyle! It wasn’t a matter of subjecting them to the Law so that they may be in bondage; it was a matter of instructing them how to live so that they might be blessed. Many times we in the Church, particularly in the modern Church, have a skewed view of the Law, of biblical laws, and of reverencing God. It’s apparent in our lifestyles, even in the way that we do church.

In Galatians 3:1, Paul says, “Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” You all remember that TV show, right? The one wherein the lady would wiggle her nose. “Who has bewitched you?” The Galatian believers had been bewitched. They loved God; they probably went to church. And Paul says, “Who has bewitched you? Who has deceived you? Who has put these things into your mind?

There were Jewish believers who were trying to subject non-Jewish believers to the Law. Not so much to the principles or to the laws to govern life, but to the Mosaic Law. They would make claims such as, “If you’re not circumcised, then you’re not saved.” I’ve heard preachers, even in my generation, make claims such as, “If you received Christ, but didn’t get water baptized, and you got hit by a car and killed, then you weren’t really saved because you hadn’t been water baptized. I’ve heard people say that about communion and speaking in tongues as well.

The Galatian believers had been bewitched by those who were living under the Law. Now, if they were living under the Law, it was a given that they were Israelites. They were Jews. Nothing wrong with being Jewish; this is not an anti-Semitic message. But those of the Jewish belief were trying to convince Gentile believers that they were still subject to the Law, when all the while, the Law was given specifically to Israel. “Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only, I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” My pastor used to tell us that it’s much better to start off in the flesh and end up in the Spirit than it is to start in the Spirit and end up in the flesh.

“Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith? Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’”

Was Abraham considered righteous in the eyes of Jehovah God? And what was it that caused him to be seen as righteous other than his faith? It was not his works. He believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness, and that was even before circumcision. So it could not be the act of circumcision that caused him to be seen as righteous. And may I remind you that this took place four hundred years prior to the Law being given to Israel. So the Law did not make him righteous; there was no Law. Abraham acted in faith; he believed God and acted in faith, and it was accounted to him as righteousness in the eyes of God. Verse 7, “Therefore know that only those who are of faith,” not just those who have it, but those who are of it, “are sons of Abraham.” Wow! We are the sons of Abraham.

I'm going to stop here. In the next blog, we will look at how all of the above directly relates to tithing.

~ pg

Is Tithing A Law?

2011-10-06T10:46:00.005-04:00

How many of you believe, as the Scripture says, that the just shall live by faith? Do you really believe that? You should try saying this aloud, “The just shall live by faith. I am ‘just’; therefore, I will live by faith. I walk by faith and not by sight because I am just in the eyes of God.”

You know at least three times in the New Testament and a couple of times in the Old, we read this statement that, “the just shall live by faith.” To be “the just” means, in other words, to be the justified: those who are seen as not guilty in the eyes of God. Do you know that that’s how God sees you?

So no matter how guilty you think you are, God says, “No, you’re not.” And it’s kind of like we’re standing in a courtroom before Almighty God, and we have Jesus as our Advocate standing next to us, and God declares us “Not Guilty,” and we want to keep saying, “No, Your Honor, I really did it.” He then responds with, “You are NOT GUILTY.” Then we counter, “But, You don’t understand, I did it!” He replies, “I said, ‘NOT GUILTY.’” We want to get into an argument with God about our guilt, and the whole time God is trying to say, “You are declared, ‘NOT GUILTY!’”

Now we all know that you really did it. But when you confess your sin, He’s faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from all of your unrighteousness, or in other words, all of your guilt, right? He washes it all away; it’s gone.

So the Scripture says that the just shall live by faith. Faith is a principle of God’s Kingdom. Every kingdom has a set of principles or laws by which the citizenry lives. Can we agree on that? If I live in America, I am to live according to the laws of the land. If I go to South Africa, guess what? The laws are different, and if I don’t heed the traffic laws of South Africa, I will very soon find myself in a head-on collision with another automobile, because in my opinion, they drive on the wrong side of the road!

But according to South African law, you are to drive on the left and not on the right. Right? No left! Did you get that? So every kingdom, area of domain, has a prescribed set of principles by which the citizens are to live. God’s Kingdom is certainly no exception.

A short time ago, I remember making a statement about how we sometimes get hung up on legalism. If you are one who is hypersensitive about that word/concept, then you might have a real problem with God, because oftentimes, God might appear to be legalistic. For instance, He says, “Do this; don’t do that. If you do this, you will be blessed. If you do that, over there, the opposite of it, you will not be blessed.” And if we’re not careful, that may sound a bit like legalism to our ears. All the while, God is giving us laws or principles, which are synonymous, by which we are to live because He wants us to prosper and have good health, as it states in 3 John 2.

Now if we’re going to prosper and have good health, wouldn’t we be wise to apply His principles to our lives? Do we think it’s just, fair, or equitable to live in a constant state of disobedience and expect the blessings of God to flow freely in our lives? Does that make sense? It certainly does not line up with the Word of God. In this series of blogs, there will be times that I refer to “laws.” When you hear me say that, I am simultaneously speaking of “principles,” as they are synonymous.

A principle is a law. It is a sure thing. Now, if you hear me say, “the Law,” I’m talking about something entirely different, and it’s important to understand the difference between the two and keep this in mind because the Kingdom of God is established on certain principles such as faith. Without faith it’s impossible to please God. The just shall live by faith. And how about this one: Abraham believed God, had faith in God, and trusted God. It was accounted to him as righteousness.

The Bible is actually a book of principles by which we, God’s people, are instructed to live. We are not to be ones who are simply looking for a religious experience. We’re not to be merely religious. We’re certainly not to become legalistic as the Pharisees did. However, it is important to keep in mind that God promises to bless us as we walk in the obedience that comes from faith. I’m talking about the same kind of faith that is expressed and illustrated in the life of Abraham.

We can expect the blessings of God to flow unhindered in our lives when we are a people who live principled lives based upon the Word of God.

I’ll be continuing this for the next couple of weeks in order to bring clarity to a variety of topics that are interrelated: the Law, principles, laws, obedience, blessing, curses, and tithing.

~ pg

Spiritual Math, Part 4

2011-09-30T08:04:00.001-04:00

One more thought I’d like to pass along regarding 2 Peter 1 and doing our “spiritual math.” While researching the keywords in that passage, “brotherly kindness” wasn’t exactly what I thought it might be. It spoke of uprightness of life and heart, and genuine love towards others of like faith. It is demonstrating love, honor, and respect to those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s gotta begin there. And that can be very challenging: this love thing, this honor thing, and this respect thing. We’re good at doing it to one another’s faces; we’re not so good behind one another’s backs.

Quite some time ago, I was out to lunch with a good friend, Omar Reyes. And there was this old, homeless guy watching cars in the Chinese restaurant’s parking lot, and he recognized Omar and said, “Hey bro, don’t worry, I got your back.” And Omar said, “You leave my back alone!”

Sometimes the people who got out of their way to tell me they got my back, makes me want to say, “You leave my back alone. God’s got my back, cuz I don’t know what you’re doing back there.” We really ought to be our brother’s keeper. We really ought to commit ourselves to watching out for one another and defending one another; that’s called “honor.”

And to brotherly kindness, Peter says we are to add “love.” This speaks of a love for all mankind. There is to be a peculiar affection for brothers and sisters in the family of God, and then there is to be a true, genuine love for the entire human race. And in doing the math, look at this in verse 8, he says, “You will not be barren, you will not be unfruitful,” in other words you’re not going to be idle, and you’re not going to be inactive. To say that you won’t be unfruitful is to say that you will be fruitful. And each of us is going to be judged by our fruit!

Peter says that if you don’t want to be unfruitful, do the math! Add it up. Go through the process. He says you won’t be shortsighted, in other words, you won’t be blind. To be “shortsighted” means that you can’t see far off. In fact, the word being used in this passage is not found anywhere else in the New Testament. It literally means to shut the eyes, contract the eyelids, to blink, as one who cannot see clearly, hence, to be nearsighted. He said, “You will not be shortsighted”; you’re going to be able to see the bigger picture. You’re going to be able to see beyond where you are.

And then he says we are to make our calling and our election sure. Look at verse 10: “If you do these things.” “Do” is the action word; look at this promise. I just love this. “If you do these things, you will not stumble.”

You know there are times that I stumble. And now I know why. I stumble because I’m not doing these things. Wow, pretty simple math. Do these things, and you won’t stumble. In other words, if you don’t do these, then you will stumble. So when I stumble, it’s because I’m not a’doin’ these things that He says that I oughtta be a’doin,’ cuz when I’m a’doin’ the things I oughtta be a’doin,’ then I’m a’doin’ what I oughtta do! Harvey Tater.

And finally, in verse 11, “And so an entrance will be supplied to you.” Look at that, “an entrance” will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This speaks to me even in the “now.” What this means is that if I do these things, I’ll not only enter in, I’ll experience a greater realm of the Kingdom of God in this life and in the life to come. It’s not just talking about in eternity and in the sweet by and by. There will be an entrance granted to me into the Kingdom that I have yet to experience. I will be able to experience, to see, to experience, and thus demonstrate a greater amount of God’s Kingdom than I can if I don’t do these things. This is how I believe that we experience a fuller measure of God’s Kingdom in this life and in the life that is to come.

~ pg