One of the things that we tend to do when we are struggling or going through a time of suffering/trial is to complain. In almost 37 years of full-time ministry, I have seen my share of Christians complaining or grumbling. I, myself, have been guilty of this sin as well. I have many times complained over the course of serving the Lord for almost 44 years. Do I still complain? Yes, I do catch myself from time to time complaining, and I have asked the Lord many times to forgive me, and He does (I John 1:9). It's so easy when something goes wrong, or when I am going through some trial, to fly off the handle and get angry and complain. When this happens, it's hard to be rational and think clearly. You ask, "Pastor Kilborn, do you fly off the handle often?" My answer is, "No"! I am not the way I use to be. God has a way, as you mature and grow in grace, to help you to deal with the works of the flesh or sinful nature so that more of the fruit of the Spirit can come forth.

 

You are not changed overnight; it's a process, and this is what sanctification is all about. God is delivering you from the 'Power of Sin'. He delivered you from the 'Penalty of Sin' when you accepted Jesus as your Savior (Justification). And in the future, He will deliver you from the 'Presence of Sin' (glorification). Salvation in three tenses: past, present, future.

 

Peter, the big fisherman, (I would like to think he was big), failed or blew it many times. He was impetuous, hot-headed; so human. He is a mirror image of so many of us today. What's neat about Peter is that he didn't stay the same. He changed and became mature. The purpose of the Holy Spirit isn't just to save you and leave you as you are, but to make you mature; to make you more like Jesus in character.  In fact, when Jesus first met Peter He said: Dear Simon, son of Jonah, I'm going to call you Cephas. I'm going to rename you. I've got a new name for you. I am going to call you 'Rocky'. (Cephas means a little stone or pebble in the Greek.) Why would Jesus give him such a name? This guy is as unstable as water. Jesus always sees us in terms of the finished product. I hope knowing this will bless you. Jesus was saying, this is you, Peter, with all of your hang-ups, and this is what you are becoming. This is you Peter: Realism. This is what you are becoming: Idealism. We, also, need to see other Christians with all of their hang-ups in terms of the finished product. We are not changed overnight. There is no such thing as instant maturity or short cuts to maturity.

 

 

Yes, it's so easy to complain when things do not go right, but remember, God is doing something in your life. You may not understand all that is taking place, not that God has to explain what is happening to you. Just about every time you are going through something difficult, some trial/testing, the temptation is to ask God: "Why am I going through this difficult time?" Remember this: God doesn't have to explain anything to you. We don't live on explanations. We live on the promises of God! He said: "I will never leave you or forsake you". Again, let 's eulogize and speak well of Him. We need to rest in His faithfulness to grace us with His strength. He will not give you any more than you can bear.

 

This article is an excerpt from part of a message I gave from I Peter, as I am going through this book, verse by verse. I hope it will be a blessing to you.

by Pastor Bill Randles
Believers in Grace Fellowship

Perhaps the most misunderstood story in the Bible is that of Balaam, the pagan prophet. When it is told, it is usually related as a morality story, merely a caution against greed in ministry.  The love of money indeed is part of the story - as well as the danger of false prophets and corrupt ministers. But lately I have come to realize that there is an eschatological dimension to this story that too often is unappreciated. It is amazing how current and relevant the story of Balaam really is to today's geo-political situation.

The story takes place at the end of the Exodus; at the time the children of Israel were preparing to possess the land God had given them. Once again the immediate neighbors of Israel take exception to their rights to the land. The ancestors of the modern Arabs, Jordanians and 'Palestinians' feared the Israeli occupation of the land, having full knowledge of what God had done to Egypt and through them to Og, one of their chief Kings.

Balak, the king of the Moabites, as it turned out, had nothing to fear from the Israelites, not knowing that God had commanded them not to dispossess the Moabites.

This scenario is a current event, for there is nothing the modern state of Israel would welcome more than to live in peace with her hostile neighbors.

Balak, fearing Israel, and knowing he couldn't prevail militarily with them, set out to hire someone who could "curse" Israel. The word "curse" in this sense is a Hebrew word which means to "hollow" them out, to "drain" them of their confidence.

Is this not the modern situation also? Arab neighbors of Israel, frustrated by their inability to dispossess Israel out of the land, have been using their newly gained petro-wealth, and the power that goes with it, to literally hire people to curse Israel! They have been able to successfully deny the very legitimacy of Israel in the minds of many.  Oil money has successfully lobbied political leaders, educators, the media and a good many of those who are in position to shape the ideas and perspectives of the rest of us, to take a belligerent stance against Israel.

Billions of petro dollars have poured into the coffers of institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Georgetown University, and Fox News, as well as into the campaign chests of numerous western politicians, all in the interest of selling us the story line which delegitimizes Israel, and romanticizes Islam's version of history. There are many Balaam's!

Perhaps the last straw is the seduction of leaders of the confessing Christian church into "cursing Israel".  No less than the Pope himself leads the charge in delegitimizing Israel's claims to the Holy Land, as here recounted in a Jerusalem Newswire story dated May 17, 2009 entitled,

"Pope to 'Palestinians', Israel is Your Forefather's Land"

"The Biblical land of Israel is actually the "land of YOUR forefathers" Pope Benedict told the Palestinian Arabs in Bethlehem last week. With this statement the pontiff, who has now departed Israel after five days of meddling in the country's affairs on a "pilgrimage" he called "a mission of peace," authenticity on the massive deception that is "Palestinian nationhood".

At the start, in the middle, and at the end of his visit - which was hosted by the State of Israel at no small expense to the taxpayers and mass disruption of Jerusalemites' lives - the head of the Roman Catholic Church voiced his strong support for the creation of a Palestinian state on Jewish lands.

His first and last statements to this effect were made unabashedly in front of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - who has been trying to sidestep international demands that he surrender Israel's biblical heartland to the Arabs.

Speaking at PLO Chief and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' palace in Bethlehem, where he went to conduct a large mass, the pontiff spelled it out:

"The Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbors, within internationally recognized borders,"

The World Council of Churches, the United States Presbyterian Church, and a host of other church groups too numerous to mention have condemned Israel, divested themselves from Israel, in short have "cursed" Israel, in the sense of hollowing out their confidence, sense of legitimacy and validity as a nation. Balaam lives!

The reward has not always been money, however, as was the case with Balaam. These church groups siding with terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, against the only legitimate democracy in the Middle East, imagine that they are "speaking truth to power", as they "curse Israel". The image of themselves as guardians of the human rights of the Palestinians is reward enough for these false Christian groups.

Perhaps the most tragic of all is the erosion of the rock solid support which evangelicals have had for Israel.  In the American Thinker article "Splitting the Evangelicals from Israel", Ed Lasky cites Replacement Theology, the testimony of certain Palestinian Christian leaders, and former US President Jimmy Carter as part of the influence turning many once pro-Israel Christians against Israel. This is a portent that doesn't bode well, even as the story of Balaam doesn't end well for anybody but God's chosen people. Part 2, Part 3 http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/01/splitting_the_evangelicals_fro.html

"He that is faithful in little is faithful in much" Luke 16:10  

By Dr. Foster H. Shannon

"If the gold rusts, what will the iron do?"

We live in a time when Christians, who believe in God and admire the truth of the Bible, may find themselves discouraged. We see values that have been previously held in our nation eroding. Changes in views of morality have come like an avalanche. Good people who have held views of the sacredness of marriage have been caught up by the winds of change. Others have been stunned by the change of mind that many have had on this and other subjects. It was not that long ago that a majority in our nation believed abortion to be a sin to be avoided. Now the position in our society is about 50-50. In the 1940s fifteen percent of marriages ended in divorce. At the present time, it is about fifty percent. One-third of our children do not have a father in the home. The percentage of couples who choose to live together without the benefit of marriage has increased substantially.

It is tempting to give up and withdraw-to throw in the towel! Many who have held to the basic moral teachings in the Bible have changed their minds, and interpreted the scriptures differently. It is easy to be caught up and carried away by this flood. We have a calling from our Saviour that we find in Matthew, chapter five:

"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how will its saltiness be restored." "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid...Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

What should we do in these days? Should we dig our fox holes and hide? No, someone needs to be the gold. Someone needs to be the light. Someone needs to be the salt. We have a wonderful view of the San Gabriel Valley from our house-looking east. Almost every morning we can see the sunrise, and I never get tired seeing it. Every day it comes up and every day we have light! We rejoice in the light of the new day! What would we do if we did not have that light? We have many neighbors who are trembling with fear, and who are waiting for you to show up. If those who know you, see that you are firm in your convictions-they will be encouraged. The world is waiting for us to see that we are faithful to our God.

Goodness is not an invention. It is not something that someone stumbled on. It comes from God, and without him we would not have known goodness. God knows better than we do! We, who believe in him, are to be the light and the hope of the world. The Bible from beginning to end assesses our plight and our potential. Read II Peter, chapter two. God knows that our trouble is heavy. Through Peter, God calls us back to the prophets of the Old Testament and to the disciples of the New. May we celebrate and rejoice in the greatness of our God!

Deluded!

by Sandy Simpson , 10/22/15

 

Seth Dahl, Bethel Church, Redding, CA: Dahl tells the Bethel Redding congregation of his experience with an enormous angel. Dahl asked the angel his name and then Googled in the angel's answer. The angel's name was the same as that of a finance company. Dahl then realized the angel was

"here for our finances at Bethel..." Dahl states, "You just need to hear a testimony so you can know what's available to you 'cause I'm not trying to preach a sermon, I'm trying to invite you to a new way of life." ( Bethel Redding children's pastor Seth Dahl, http://mywordlikefire.com/2015/10/21/bethel-redding-childrens-pastor-and-the-giant-finance-angel/)

 

Deluded!

 

There are only three (possibly four) angels named in the Bible and neither of them bear the name of the "finance company" for Bethel Church. Gabriel (Daniel 8:15-27; 9:20-27), Michael (see Daniel 10:21 and 12:1), Lucifer (not his actual name) or Satan, a fallen angel (Isaiah 14:12-18; Luke 10:18) and Apollyon/Abaddon (Revelation 9:11). Angels named in the Bible have important roles in Israel and/or the Church and would not be named after a finance company for a church in Redding, CA.

 

Seth Dahl, Bethel Church, Redding, CA: This youth leader states that in a vision Jesus picked him up, began to weep, and asked his forgiveness. ( Bethel Redding children's pastor Seth Dahl, http://mywordlikefire.com/2015/10/06/bethel-redding-youth-leader-says-jesus-asked-him-for-forgiveness/)

 

Deluded!

 

Jesus does not ask forgiveness because He is and always has been without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 2:22). He does forgive our sins if we confess them (1 John 1:9) and are "in Christ" or when we first believe.

 

Charles Capps: He [God] framed the world with His words. You can't build without substance. He took words - faith-Filled words were God's substance. Here, essentially, is what God did. God filled His words with faith. He used His words as containers to hold His faith and contain that spiritual force and transport it out there into the vast darkness by saying 'Light be!' That's the way God transported His faith causing creation and transformation. (Charles Capps, Dynamics of Faith & Confession [Tulsa, OK: Harrison House, 1987], 28-29, emphasis in original.)

 

Deluded!

 

God did not create the world by having faith or by filling "His words with faith" as if faith is a substance. God did not use any "force of faith" to create the world. He did so by His Word (2 Pet 3:5), His power (Isa 20:46), and by His will (Rev 4:11).

Kenneth Copeland : "Heaven has a north and a south and an east and a west. Consequently, it must be a planet." ("Spirit, Soul and Body I" [Fort Worth, TX: Kenneth Copeland Ministries. 1985] audiotape #01-0601, side 1.)  

 

Deluded!

 

Heaven is actually the "third heaven" (2 Corinthians 12:2) not a planet. Planets inhabit the second heaven. There is the earth, heaven and third heaven. The Third heaven or Paradise (2 Corinthians 12:4) is outside of the universe of space and time.

 

Fred Price : "If you keep talking death, that is what you are going to have. If you keep talking sickness and disease, that is what you are going to have, because you are going to create the reality of them with your own mouth. That is a divine law." (Fred Price, Realm, 29).

 

Deluded!

 

There is no such "divine law" stating we can kill ourselves or stop sickness and disease by what we say. This is all part of the "force of faith" "name it and claim it" "confession doctrine" of the New Thought, Word of Faith heresies.

 

John Kilpatrick : "You need to understand friends, your words are like containers. When they come up out of the innermost part of your belly, out of the heart, the mouth speaketh. As these things come out of your heart, they are spirits, by the time they come out of your mouth, that spirit is encapsulated in some little package and when you begin to speak this stuff out whether it is good or evil, it comes out in the way of little containers in your home and it goes out in your home and it begins to burst. As they burst life is either released or death is released. Blessings are released or cursings are released." (Glory on Your House, John Kilpatrick)

 

Deluded!

 

Again, this is Word of Faith nonsense. Our words are containers that are spirits? Our words are our words and they cannot "release death". God's words are above all human words (Psalm 19:4, 138:2). Only Jesus hold the keys to death and Hades (Revelation 1:18).

 

Rory Alec : "This represents the fact that Jesus, when you partake of this, this represents that his blood has washed you clean of all sin. And therefore you are gods; you have been purchased by the blood of Jesus." (The Christian Channel Europe "Good Morning Europe" Date Unknown)

 

Deluded!

 

The "you are gods" doctrine of Word of Faith is the original lie of Satan in the Garden. Genesis 3:5 "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." There are no other gods but one God. Explicit statements: Ex. 8:10; 9:14; 15:11; 2 Sam. 7:22; 1 Kgs. 8:23; 1 Chr. 17:20; Psa. 86:8; Isa. 40:18, 25: 44:7; 46:5, 9; Jer. 10:6-7; Micah 7:18. Being like God is a Satanic lie: Gen. 3:5; Isa. 14:14; John 8:44. Fallen man become "like God" only in that he took upon himself to know good and evil, not that he acquired godhood: Gen. 3:22. There is only one true God: 2 Chr. 15:3; Jer. 10:10; John 17:3; 1 Thess. 1:9; 1 John 5:20-21. All other "gods" are therefore false gods (idols), not gods at all: Deut. 32:21; 1 Sam. 12:21; Psa. 96:5; Isa. 37:19; 41:23-24, 29; Jer. 2:11; 5:7; 16:20; 1 Cor. 8:4; 10:19-20. A born again Christian is a child of God (John 1:12) and joins the bride of Christ (Revelation 19:7) but is not Christ Himself, which would make the above Scriptures a lie.

Benny Hinn : "Now I am going to read one scripture and then I am going to preach and the Devil is going to drop dead." (The Christian Channel Europe "Praise The Lord" (TBN) 22/2/98)

To continue reading this article by Sandy Simpson, click here.