Category: Podcasts (Page 63 of 80)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

It was a great day in my life when I realized that God had released me from my internal struggles with sin, selfishness, pride, worry, fear etc. After a night of pouring out my heart to Him in sorrow and repentance for my rebellion against Him, the following morning I felt as light as a feather! It was almost like I could fly away!

Soon after that I discovered that I was also free from external bondage, rules “like don’t touch this, don’t taste this, don’t handle that!” (Colossians 2:21). Before it seemed that the Christian life was often all about what I could not do. Now, because of God’s grace at work in me I really felt no need for things that displeased Him, and did not really need anyone standing over me shaming me into doing His will. After this experience the focus was now on the good things I want to do and can do because of His life and power within me.

That is not to say that as a young Christian I did not need some guidance along the way, but my desires had definitely changed. I was truly “born again!” At the same time I noticed that some Christians were still being pressured from external forces, and were less joyful in their walk with Christ. It seemed to me like an “Old Covenant” mentality. Even though few were concerned about obeying the Law given by God through Moses in the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament, some were bound by new laws imposed upon them by their church leaders. These church leaders most likely had the best of intentions. They knew the potential that movies and television had to corrupt our values. They also knew that bars and gambling houses could spell trouble for us as well.

The problem arises when good, practical advice is connected with the means of our salvation. Just like the early Christians were tempted to relate Old Testament laws of circumcision with their justification before God. Paul insisted that now we are justified freely by God’s grace through Christ’s death and resurrection. The faith He imparts enables us to trust in Him and receive His wonderful gift of eternal life! He also insisted that we should “stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1). In our day that yoke of bondage could mean anything that hinders us from abundant living in Him. With the cloud of external oppression lifted, we can think more clearly to discern the will of God for our lives. We want to please and glorify Him, and He will lovingly lead us in that direction, to bring us joy and wellness.

Paul maintained His freedom in Christ by intensely pursuing Him and His purpose. Once he stated:

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NASU)

In another place he proclaimed:

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.” NASU

In other words, we are to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing our truly exalted status as the children of God, we too should have the humble attitude that was in Christ, who took the form of a servant and was obedient unto death. (Philippians 2:1-8)

There is a huge difference between serving and being obedient because we must, and because we choose to. There is a passage in Exodus 21:2-6 where the Hebrew bond slave was to be released after 6 years. But there was a provision made that a slave might decide to stay because he loves his master. A hole was then to be made in his ear to indicate his choice to stay with his master and serve him in love for life.

Paul and many other great men and women of God throughout the centuries saw themselves as willing slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ! They used their freedom to serve Christ and His people. Paul even saw himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 3:1. Philemon 1, 9) He was less concerned with his personal freedom, and more concerned about His Masters pleasure. He reminded us that when Christ “ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives,” (Ephesians 4:8 NASB) We are those who have been delivered from slavery and now belong to Him. We are bought with a price, to be bond slaves of the most loving Master of all!

We are to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), acknowledging Him as the supreme Lord over our lives and over this entire universe. He is to have the preeminence in all things! In this way we become free from every other power over us. We are not slaves of men, but our freedom in Him allows us to become the servants of all! We acknowledge the authority of His love, joy, peace, righteousness, victory, and reject all the powers of hatred, depression, injustice, and defeat that would bring us under!

In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us! (Romans 8:37). What sweet abandon! What delightful captivity! What a powerful victory! This is the nature of the Kingdom of God, and Kingdom Life. Those who move beyond mere liberty to pursuing this upward call are world changers! They possess the freedom to look outside themselves and see individual lives and communities transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit! Their deepest desire is to see His Kingdom come and His will being done in earth as in heaven!

The Good News of the Kingdom rule of God is the Full Gospel! It leaves no stone unturned in God’s plan to bring all things into subjection unto Him. It touches every area of human existence: our hearts, minds, souls, bodies, our families; and even the financial, social, and physical dimensions of life. Most likely there is one or more of these areas in which God wants to change you and use you as an agent of change. If you simply respond to Him, He will empower you to do your part.

You see, it is not simply about my freedom, your freedom. It is about the entire creation that is groaning in labor pains to see Jesus Christ fully revealed in His body, the church. For the creation itself will then be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God! (Romans 8:19-22).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

This week in America many are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Sunday on which the British rock band, the Beatles, first performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. That variety program played a large part in what became known as Beatlemania in those days. As the name suggests, it was a crazy time. Coming from a musical family, I was already beginning to play the guitar and drums, but the excitement generated by their music helped to spark this 12 year old’s enthusiasm even more. That enthusiasm has continued to this day.

As the Beatles matured, some of the themes of their songs matured as well. In 1967 the anti-Vietnam war movement was in full swing, along with the hippies and their emphasis on peace and free-love. I was fascinated to see God becoming popular among these young adults and teens. That was also a time of great optimism, when great Christian leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King dreamed of unity and harmony among all races of humanity.

1967 was the year of what became known as the “Summer of Love,” and the Beatles were right there in the forefront again. The world’s first live global television link broadcast them live performing their song, “All You Need is Love.” It was watched by over 150 million in 26 countries, and was broadcast via satellite that year on June 25.

In this song the answers to all the world’s problems seemed so easy. Again and again we heard the warm and wonderful words, “All you need is love.” And many of us believed those words. Sadly, their love was not enough to hold the band together. Three years later a bitter breakup occured.

If love is all you need, what is the problem? Why can’t we all just get along? Are there different kinds of love, or differing degrees of love?

All this reminds me of another aspect of my teen years. It was then when I learned that the first and greatest commandment was to love God with all of your heart, mind soul and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. That sounded much easier to me than how I understood what preachers in church were telling me to do. Just love God and others, and everything will be fine. Right? Well, I eventually found, as perhaps the Beatles found, that we need help in doing just that.

After leaving the influence of the Church I felt my life starting to fall apart. My understanding of love was not enough, and I did not have the right kind of love, if in fact that was all I needed. What ever I had was not enough.

When I returned to both God and the Church it all came together for me. God Himself filled me with His love, and began teaching me more about what it meant to love others like He loves. The love that we need comes from God Who first loved us in our fallen, sinful condition. It is that sinful, selfish nature that hinders us from fully expressing any true, genuine love towards God and others.

But there is Good News! By surrendering to God and His love, receiving the free gift of forgiveness through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, we are set free from this old nature to start a completely new life in Him! From that time on we begin to reckon that old life to be dead, even when we are tempted to acknowledge it. If and when we weaken and give in to old habits and thoughts, we can immediately recover through repentance and confession of sin. (1 John 1:9).

The Love of God surpasses all knowledge. It is greater than signs, wonders, miracles, prophesies, even faith and hope! (Ephesians 3:19, 1 Corinthians 13). This fact does not eliminate any of these things. Faith expresses itself through love. (Galatians 5:6) The Truth is spoken in and because of love. (Ephesians 4:15). It is because of His love that God sent His only Son to save us. (John 3:16). Without His power and authority God would be helpless to express the fullness of His Love.

His love in our hearts motivates us to spend time in the Scriptures and become better equipped to serve others. There we learn that love is at the center of God’s great plan of the ages for His creation, to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God! (Romans 8:19-21).

God’s Divine Love is truly all you need to motivate you to grow in grace, learn of Him, serve others, build up the body of Christ, share the Gospel, pray for the Kingdom to be fully revealed and so on. If we truly humble ourselves before Him and receive His Love, these things will begin to work in our lives. If they never begin, we might be fooling ourselves, as did many in the so-called Summer of Love, who consequently fell into the deception of drugs and lustful living.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

“This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.” (Genesis 5:1-2 NKJV)

Contrary to modern pop-psychology, men and women are not from different planets! However, the One Who created them definitely established a distinction between them. Together they become a wonderful picture of their Father God. Being an invisible Spirit, He has chosen to reveal Himself through the amazing form of these human beings He has created!

It did eventually happen, however, that we humans fell from that lofty estate through disobedience. (Romans 4:12). This set in motion God’s plan of redemption wherein He sent His only Son to die in our place, and live again to restore our union with Him. (Romans 5:8-11). Nearly two thousand years have passed since Jesus reconciled mankind to God, and yet the struggle against sin and death continues.

It has always been so, that when we turn from our own way, believe the truth of the Gospel, trust in Him and receive His gracious gift of eternal life, everything changes. With this clean slate, both males and females of this once fallen race now have this fantastic opportunity to resume the original quest for which we were created. There is much lost time to recover, and many old patterns and habits to forsake. For this, we His redeemed people need the constant renewing or our minds.

Because of the Fall, the roles which God designed for men and women have become greatly distorted. The resulting image has been a poor representation of the image of our wonderful Lord. The abuses that men have heaped upon women and women upon men have scarred humanity in many ways. Sin takes a serious and deadly toll upon us all. The scars are often deep and not often recognized, but they powerfully shape our thoughts, feelings and actions.

Thank the Lord that healing has come! No longer do we have to live in the pain of the past, and in the false conceptions of this fallen world. Christ has set us free, and we are truly free!

Men are now free to be men as God intended, and women can truly pursue their deepest desires in Him as well. Those characteristics that were once designed for good and the glory of God have been twisted and distorted. The boldness and strength He placed in man have been used for evil and oppression, and the sensitivity and gentleness He created in women has been used to seduce and manipulate.

There is an equally damaging and sinful reaction to these situations today. Our modern culture seeks a solution in blurring the differences between the sexes that God had wisely designed. Men are being feminized and women are being masculinized in extremely subtle and deceptive ways, even in the Church. While Jesus did teach us to be meek, He did not say for us to be weak. Jesus was a real man. He stood for righteousness and truth always, without abusing His authority. He was infinitely loving and kind, but also uncompromising in the Truth.

He sent other men out into the world like Peter, James, John, Paul, Luke, Timothy, Apollos and others, to make the same stand for His Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Ours is a different world and a different time, and yet this very same adventure continues. In opposition to this, our adversary the devil has used the succeeding centuries to develop more distractions to consume our time. He has benched millions by simply convincing them they are not needed. Their efforts are useless. Their lives do not matter.

Many try to affirm their masculinity by big talk, coarse attitudes, and rude behavior. Others by the accumulation of things. Some succumb to the culture by becoming passive, nice guys who would not dare to confront evil or even face controversy. Others test their bravery in heated battles over the pettiest of issues and opinions, destroying the unity and harmony in the community and the Church.

Jesus is calling us to be real men. There is a battle worth fighting and a war worth winning. But this one is not with flesh and blood. Real men resist passivity. They take responsibility for themselves and those whom God has placed in their care. They can do all this through Christ who strengthens them! They resist selfishness and self-indulgence. If they are married they learn to love their wives as Christ loves His Church. If they are single they keep themselves pure for His sake.

They are willing to endure hardness, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:3) They understand the true Grace of God that empowers them and teaches them to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present age. (Titus 2:12). Instead of running from the battle, their true inner manhood motivates them to engage it. With a renewed mind they set out to prove that good, acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2). Excuses are not for real men. This cowardess is unnecessary because of the indwelling power of Christ.

Real men admit to failure and repent. Real men confess their faults one to another and are healed. Real men do not try to fall back on an easy, armchair religion or blame others for their mistakes. Real men receive correction from the Lord and those He sends to them. Real men get back up and fight the good fight of faith. When tempted to feel sorry for themselves, they seek out other men for encouragement. They cultivate a thankful heart.

Is there something inside of you that cries out to break free from the constraints of fallen humanity? Do you sense that there is more than simply accepting and coping with life as it is? The fact is that the freedom you seek is only found in submission. Your submission to Christ and the challenge to manhood that He presented is the answer. His offer is one of a dangerous and challenging existence, and yet one that is exhilarating and fulfilling!

It is time for many of us to give up the complacent, purposeless life of one who has lowered his expectations to fit his circumstances. No. Christ came to change everyone’s circumstances, by first changing our hearts. His compassion will never be satisfied to leave us unchanged, and the circumstances of others unchanged either. It is the Lord’s to decide what should be changed and when, but real men are ready when He is. Every simple act of obedience to Christ becomes a courageous challenge to the gates of hell! No command from their Commander and Chief is too small or too large to them.

They can truly hold their heads up high before the world as they humbly bow before their Savior and Lord, Who has given them their true dignity, and Who awaits to crown them with His Crown of Life. (James 1:12, Revelation 2:10).

Because they have surrendered their lives and their future to Christ, they will be able to stand with our beloved Paul, who near the end of his life wrote these compelling words:

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2 Tim 4:6-8)