What does it mean to abide in him?

As God's first born children left Egypt, the Egyptians were moved by the spirit of God to give them Gold,  and Jewels, and precious things. The Chosen's hearts became inflamed.  So instead of worshiping God, they turned towards a New God: the Golden Calf.  Working with their newly acquired Gold they attempted to supplant God with a God they could see and worship in their newly formed.  They deemed the Golden Calf more worthy than a God they could not envision.

 Jesus received a blessing of anointment from his father when John baptized him in the Jordan.  Jesus was tempted right afterwards for forty days in the desert by the Devil.  But instead of creating food from stone, or throwing himself off of the top of the temple, or claiming what was already his; he abide in the LORD.
Jesus walked under the shadow of God to illustrate God's enduring Love: love that does not change,  lasts forever, and  provides enough to eat when times are tough.

We are chosen to be stewards of a kingdom that is not yet complete but has already been redeemed.  We must turn to the LORD and repent for a Heavenly Kingdom is near.

Building Prestigious Sand Castles

A Person's prestige is built on good and bad events in their lives. A person will defend their position as a hero or a victim with a profound sacredness.

III. Not Gloryfying Us, We Glorify Him: What is the Interlopers Gospel...

LORD's Supper Day Three: Praising Him for His Great Goodness Towards Us...

**** THe Merriam Webster Dictionary Defines Interloper as one that intrudes in a place or sphere of activity****

Granter of All Wishes: Give me what I want or I won't go! Quick Exchanges: Interlopers want quick gospels. Feeling Good: Interlopers sing happy songs about you! Marketing: Do not offend the world. The world has our money-bags. Interloper's views lead to Heresy. Franchising: Interlopers branch their churches out. American Idol: We become self centered Gods.

Are You Glorifying the LORD or YOUR COMMUNITY or Yourself? Allow the Interloper In You to Be Weeded Out.

Deuteronomy 3:24 O LORD GOD you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours. I know that at times I am a definite Interloper who acts like a hypacret. I am such a good actor that I fool myself. Lord thank you for your Holy Spirit which allows us to weed through the crapy self centered goodness. Allow me to grow as a person under you. Make me a man of integrity.

II Right Assurance: Han Solo Reflecting on the Hand of a Living God

LORD's Supper Day Two: Right Assurance

Captains Log
Written through the Eyes of Han Solo:

Chewie and I were doing a routine flight through the Dogoba System. Chewie, dumb Wookie, accidentally hit the light speed button. I yelled some unprintable words at Chewie. The fear was that we would be burnt to a crisp, as the ship continued to exceed in speed. We seemed to be crashing through the fabric of reality. We felt doom. When, suddenly, we fell into a place of fragile existence,

God's hand gently caught us,

we wavered in midair.

30 AD: Mission Given to the 12 by the Holy Spirit

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother.
Shakespeare- Henry V.

I will be working on understanding God's mission for the rest of my life. But what God has shown me so far is this....

The mission is to realize that it is not about us, but about our Glorious God's relationship to all of us. Our neighbors interest before our own. That we are not to author the stories of our lives. That our own force has nothing to do with the mission of establishing God's Kingdom. When Greg Maddox the pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers said, when he feels the pressure, he gets "Softer."
Ezekiel 11:19;
And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, thaty they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.
The map to our lives is written before we are even born. How is Christianity not a footnote in the annals of history? Because Christianity is authorized by God. God loves us so much to not be up and away, but in and amongst our messy lives.
As the Zohar reads in Chapter One:
By the secret and silent action of the divine will, from this primal luminous point radiated forth the vital life-giving spark which, pervading and operating in the great, enteric ocean of forms, became the soul of the universe, the fount and origin of all mundane life and motion and terrestrial existence, and in its nature and essence and secret operation remains ineffable, incomprehensible and indefinable.

We are to make disciples of all nations. All Nations. Not Just the United States, but all Nations. The lines on the map are man-made divisions. (This teaching is scary, yes scary). Baptizing all with the love of all. The spirit of being Christian is bigger than us. Because this lesson is so difficult to follow we are given the promise of a God who is stronger than any one of us.

Acts 2
When the day of Pentecost arrived they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house were they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them rested on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.... we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean." .... "Brothers what shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will recieve the Holy Spirit."

We are at war today, tomorrow, yesterday... for all time: a battle to either to accept human kind divisions, or to live differently and with Christ. We are involved in an eternal war.

Luke 21:13
For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or combat.
IN time differences will become part of the whole of Jesus:
Jeremiah 31:31
Behold the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. (Uniting North and South Kingdoms together).

Inspired by the music of:
Blitzen Trapper, Gold for Bread

Books Referenced:

Bruce F.F. New Testament History. Garden City, York: Anchor Books, 1972.

Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1982.

Latourette, Kenneth Scott Christianity Through the Ages: New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1965.

30 AD: Ieus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorun: King of the Jews

What does it mean to be a religion where our God has been humiliated?

What is the cross?

Why does it matter to us today?

Why does the Cross need to remain pure?

Why won't deodorant take away the odoriferous smell off the cross?

Cicero warned, "Let the very name of the cross be far, not only from the body of a Roman citizen, but even from his thoughts, his eyes, his ears."

This weekend someone stole our two Church signs. These were signs were very important to the community of Redeemer Presbyterian Lakeland. They represented the desire of our community to reach out to those who may need some fellowship. The signs were put up in Love by our church. Our group loves the 863; and we do not make any type of indictment on the 863.

We don't believe in forcing our message down the guts of non believers. We do not try to market God to unbelievers. We believe our role is to witness to the Glory of God. We see this as telling others what Christ has meant for us.

But the Cross does smell! Humanity us humans, are responsible in the death of our Messiah and our God in flesh.

So why would someone steal our signs? How do we explain the anger towards the concept of Church?

How do we combat the human evil the human church has been part of for ever?

How do we show love when Christianity is an Exclusive Truth in a time of Relative Truths?

These are questions our Church and other Churches are working to answer. In the mean time we desire to bring our yearnings of peace and love, and our desire to dialogue in truth with others.

Shelley Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language Waco, Texas: Word Book Publishers, 1982.

325 Answers to Heresy from the Early Catholic Church

The Early Catholic Church worked to safeguard the pure story of the cross.

First: The apostles kept the story alive, by being careful about succession of the gospel truth.

Second: Iraneous, Linus and other men codified the New Testament.They finally agreed on the twenty-seven books in the New Testament by 367.

Third: . The Apostles Creed was a big shield in preserving the Gospel Truth:

1. Answer to the Marcionites belief that a wicked God called Demiurge created the heaven and earth:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth;

2. Answer to the Marcionites belief that Jesus was a seperate God, who remained hidden until out of pure Love He revealed himself in Christ:

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit,
and born of the Virgin Mary

3. Answersto the Mysteries and their belief that there is no historical signifigance to Christ.
He suffered under Pontious Pilate;
was crucified, and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day he rose again from the dead.

4. Answers to Montanism who believed there were future prophets who would be able to judge our world. The Montanisms stand in the way of the Biblical Fact that Jesus alone judges the quick:
He ascended into heaven,

and is seated on the the right hand of God the Father almighty.

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

5. Answers to Novation belief that sins/relapses could not be repented of once baptized:
I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

6. Answers to the Gnostic and Marcionites separation of soul and body. They believed that the body was evil and bound the soul in a prison. The biblical truth is that our bodies are not evil in of themselves... they mean enough to be resurrected...
the resurrection of the body,


and the life everlasting. Amen.

The heresies were a threat because they could drive away the believer from the core truth of the gospel. They were much like Oprah in there attempt to take "God out of the Box".
Marc Driscol beautifully critiques this gospel.

These are my observations on how the Apostles creed answers the Heretic Threats. If anyone wants to shine some more light on this issue please reply to my post. I am just trying to learn here!!!! And know I do not have the education needed to be an expert on this in the least....

We are KOBE BEEF Awaiting the Slaughter House

Amos 4:1

We are the Kobe Cows of Bashen. We sit grazing on fine grains. We eat our ice cream. We are delighted. We build fine houses thinking they will always be there. We build up debts on our credit cards. Our houses become foreclosed. We become oppressed and poor because we do not turn the true source of our wealth. So run to him! Run to our LORD! Run to our LORD now.