God's Truth In Love

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Charleston Church Shooting Effect

In Agape Love, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, End Times, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Loss, Love, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on July 3, 2015 at 4:09 pm

I was in Charleston, South Carolina on June 25th and June 26th during the services for the Christians that were shot and killed on the evening of June 17th 2015 during their regular Bible Study at Emanuel AME Church. In attendance were President Obama who spoke on Friday, June 26th 2015 and Rev. Jesse Jackson who arrived the evening of Thursday, June 25th to a large crowd of Christians present paying their respects to their fallen family members, family members many of us had never met but family they were nevertheless.

Family and effect is what I want to address in this piece in the wake of the mass shooting that took place at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston where nine people were shot and killed, including the senior pastor, state senator Clementa C. Pinckney; also where a tenth person was shot yet survived.

I did not go to Charleston originally because of this event. Our trip was previously planned by my spouse as a birthday trip but in the end it turned out to be much more – it became a moment in history and an opportunity to see what drives Christians.

Our hotel was just a few blocks from the Emanuel Church and it was the first place we headed for upon arrival and check in at the hotel. It took only minutes to walk the few blocks and encounter the street barricaded and filled with police officers and media. Yet, there was also an overwhelming Christian presence, God’s people where there in heavy numbers.

We made our way down to the front of the Church about the time the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrived and as I looked at this now aged gentleman I could not help but recall that as a young man he had stood on the balcony with Dr. Martin Luther King at the moment when Dr. King was shot. Now Rev. Jackson was here in his advanced years to give aid and comfort for yet more men and women of God who had been shot and killed out of anger and hate. My heart went out to Rev. Jesse Jackson as I ponder all he has seen and endured through the years. Both a reverend and an activist, as many of us are.

Spiritual Christian activism on the part of Bible Believing Christians is very important. As our beliefs and our rights to believe as we desire are coming continually under fire we need more Christians who are willing to stand up for and fight for their rights both as Americans and Christians combined. A Christian is not merely an American and an American cannot give up his or her Christian rights and beliefs as our country changes and becomes more and more ungodly. I wonder if we have enough Christian people who are willing to be inconvenienced, let alone killed for their beliefs, like Rev. Jackson and Dr. King.

Which leads me to my next point. What did I see and sense there in Charleston, among those people gathered there? How did the family react? What effect did this shooting have on the Christian family?

Christians are a family and we function like a family when tragedy strikes. Families disagree, they argue, they even fight. They might not talk for months but they are family. They might live in different towns and attend different churches but family is still family. We, the family, can talk about each other all we want. We can argue and perhaps even hurt each other more often than we might like. However, let an outsider come in and hurt the family or a family member and watch how we react. No, no, no – no one messes with the family.

That is exactly what I sensed in Charleston, South Carolina. A place filled with people who had never met, who came from different denominations, of different cultures, different races, different social and economical backgrounds but all part of one whole, one family – one Body, The Body of Christ. There was a comfort and an ease among the people. The family had been attacked and the rest of the family was rallying to give their support through their presence and prayers. Every hotel in the area was booked solid from what our hotel concierge told us.

Banners hung on the neighboring churches with Scriptures on them, one of which had 2 Timothy 1:7 on display.

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

I assure you there was no fear in that crowd. These people were not afraid they were there to show how faithful they were to the family.

There was no disunity found on that street as people from every denominational background, color, culture, economic class, and race stood side by side talking and praying. As I talked with a fellow Christian, an African American Woman, I am Caucasian, we spoke about how this young man had messed with the wrong group, Christians are not easily frightened and when attacked they pull together and offer their support to one another. When Christianity is persecuted it flourishes and grows it does not shirk back or diminish. Courage defines the Christian experience both past and present. We pull together during persecution and find courage and strength through the support and prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ. As the young woman put it so well, ‘He will not make us afraid.’ No, persecuting Christians does not result in fear; it results in faith and a fierce infusion of courage. That is exactly what I sensed and felt coming from the crowds of Believers in Charleston, South Carolina.

The people of Charleston, South Carolina both Christian and non-Christian handled themselves with such dignity and poise during a difficult and terrible time and under such tragic circumstances. There were no riots or protest there, no uprising of any type. This in my view is a result of both the Christian faith at work and southern manners. Having been raised both in the south and in a Christian home, I know firsthand there are certain expectations regarding how one handles themselves during a crisis. Bravo to Charleston, they honored the south and southern manners superbly!

Effect according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is defined as follows:

5: power to bring about a result: INFLUENCE

The effect this young man and his actions had on Christians, Charleston, and the south was to give us an opportunity to display our unity, courage, love, compassion, manners, hospitality, grace, and FAITH. The enemy sought to bring harm but God’s end game was to bring good [Genesis 50:20] and in Charleston on June 25th and June 26th 2015 He certainly did that. If you want to see a Christian community rise up and become even stronger persecute the people.

Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

As I prayed on June 25th at Emanuel AME Church I asked God, why He allowed this to happen. He did not cause it but He most certainly allowed it since our God is sovereign and able to control anything He wishes to control. He did not tell me why He allowed this to happen but He did tell me that He intended to bring something MAJOR out of this incident. That it would have an effect on the Body of Christ like nothing else has in a long time. I continue to pray and seek Him for more information about His Plans for this event as He, and if He sees fit to reveal them to me according to His Will.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Human and/or Spiritual

In Anxiety, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, God's Voice, Godliness, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Renewal, Revival, Spiritual Fruit, Spirituality, Truth, Uncategorized on June 22, 2015 at 3:50 pm

Let me start by posing a question. When you look into yourself, do you see yourself spiritually or do you see yourself humanistically?

So many people claim they know themselves but do they really. They may know the self they created but do they know who God created them to be. Most likely, unless they have lived a while in pursuit of God they know only the self they were able to construct and have yet to discover the person God intended them to be.

Life takes it toil on people and for various reasons they develop characteristic in their personality that are not in-line with what God created them to be. People also have personal desires that they believe will bring them fulfillment, happiness, success, popularity, etcetera and in order to achieve those personal desires they recreate themselves into whatever they believe is necessary to help them obtain those desires. Then there are those individuals who construct who they are around what someone else wants them to be in order to fulfill a secondary person’s desire to live vicariously through that person or either create the person that they deem acceptable to them. None of this is God’s Will for people, no matter how well intended it might be.

When people try to self-create, either based on their own desires or the desires of another, they are entering into humanistic behavior. A person who acts with this comportment as a way of life is living in a humanistic manner because they see themselves humanistically. It is all about them. What they want. What they believe. What they can achieve. What they deem worthy. What they see as important and so on.

Humanism per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is defined as follows:

“3: a doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests or values; especially: a philosophy that usually rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual’s dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason”

There are major drawbacks associated with this type of living.

One – Self-reliance, which self-realization requires, is a myth for one thing. A person cannot rely solely upon one’s self in this life. Everyone will need other people at some point and time in some manner. No one person knows how to do everything and is capable of doing everything.

Two – A person’s own knowledge, their own values, their own insight, and their own intellect can only take them so far. At some point each of those attributes will be insufficient for the task. Then what will happen? One can grasp for insight or knowledge from another human being but then where is their self-reliance; additionally, other people’s knowledge and insight will only go so far as well.

Three – Humanistic living leaves a hole and emptiness in a person’s life. Since they are only capable of doing and accomplishing so much in life they never feel quite like they have reached their goal, they never quite fill fulfilled in life. This is because they have set up for themselves a false god, themselves.

When a person views themselves in a spiritual manner, as a human but also a spiritual being that God created, they view life through different eyes. They view their life, hopefully, as a means of God expressing Himself through them to the world. There heart is to live as the individual God intended them to be not the person they would like to be.

Now let’s make it more personal…

Are any of us even close to perfect at living this way? No, not at all. However, the purpose of these writings, the purpose of teaching, and the purpose of exhorting or encouraging one another is not to say, ‘Hey look at me I am perfect and this is how you can be perfect as well.’ No, the purpose is to lift up the Standard of how God intends for things to be done in our lives no matter how well or how poorly we might be living out those truths at the time.

There are far too many people who remain quite about what God’s Principles, Truths, and Standards are because they fear being judged for their own mistakes or being called a hypocrite but God will judge us much more severely for what we do not say, write, teach, or proclaim than for what we did proclaim yet, often failed to perform sufficiently. Rest assured precious Child of God, He will also judge those who stand in judgment of you as a hypocrite more severely than He will judge you falling short of His Standard when He knew you were trying and it was your heart’s desire to live according to His Standard.

Most people spend a good portion of the first half of their lives trying to live humanistically, even those who call themselves Christians. They say they are Christians but God has little control over their hearts or lives. Then they reach a point in life where all their efforts have only drained them, all of their success leaves them lacking, and all their well laid plans are in ruin. Then as a Christian or as a person, a non-Christian, seeking answers they call out to God either in bitter anger or confusion seeking to understand where things went wrong, especially if things looked so right due to worldly success. People just love to pride themselves on “their” accomplishments.

At this point God often has to point out that this, that, and the other was never His Plan for their lives. He never designed them for the task or profession or ministry they have undertaken. He never wanted them to move to so and so. He never wanted them to marry the person they married. He never intended them to be living as they are living; they themselves have made those choices. They are living a carnal life though humanistic values that have nothing to do with what He created them to be.

The only way out of such a trap is to surrender, surrender to God everything in your life and if need be let Him take it all away. However, make sure He is making the changes, directing your steps, and doing the taking away. Let Him know, you surrender to Him and His Authority in your life as your Creator. Let Him know you only want to see yourself through spiritual eyes from here forward, meaning you only want live as He intended you to live, be what He intended you to be, and fulfill your purpose based only on what HE SAYS is His Purpose for you.

Will a person be able to change everything they have created in their lives through humanistic means and allow God to recreate them solely based upon what was His intended Purpose for their lives? Perhaps not fully. Let me explain.

From the moment we were born each decision we made either propelled our lives in God’s intended direction or altered His Will for our lives. With each alteration our overall life was changed.

God is sovereign yes, but He allows freewill and will not interfere with that freewill. Once we repent and surrender our lives to His Original Purpose, He will act on our behalf to correct as many mistakes as is still doable but it does not mean He will relocate us to where He truly wanted us to live or that He would have us divorce the person He never intended for us to marry or that He would have us leave our profession we have chosen and invested years of service in. Altering these life choices must only be done after heavy prayer and consideration and only with God’s approval and at His direction. However, the moment you surrender and begin to daily seek Him for only His Will for your life and to only live as the person He originally created you to be, He swoops in to bring as much of your life as is possible back to His original design or as close as is still possible with the balance of life you have yet to live.

Living our way is humanistic and only gets us what we can get in life. Living God’s way is spiritual and will get us all that God wants us to have in life. Living humanistically limits our knowledge and insight. Living spiritually makes available to us all the knowledge and insight of God. You have to ask yourself why in the world we would ever have wanted to sacrifice living spiritually so that we might live humanistically.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.