Grace over Religion

He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” Luke 5:36-39 ESV   There has been a lot of discussion about “Change” lately, especially during the resent presidential campaign and upcoming presidency. A recent Twitterer asked the following   question – “ What is your opinion about change? ” and I quickly answered, “ Change is a necessary element to fullness of life, without it we grow stagnant... ”. As I was pondering my response I decided to see what God would have to say about this discussion.   Here is my conclusion: Change is an absolute! With out it, we will in...

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 2Corinthians 5:1-4 ESV   How are you living? Is your focus only upon the tangible, the stuff that you can grab hold of or are you living with the absolute awareness of a promised future – one that begins in the here and now but goes on into eternity? Are you a sojourner?   Sojourner – 1. a temporary resident 2. a person who resides temporarily in a place – “A TRAVELER”   Paul lived “in” the assurance of his hope… immortal glory. Many don’t like to discuss death; I get that the idea of dying can be s...

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-19 ESV In a nutshell, discipleship is... ·          REPRODUCTION!! – “LIFE giving LIFE” ·          learning and teaching “ Life Principles of the Kingdom ” ·          the empowering of others as God has empowered us The disciple is a learner, open and teachable. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”. Proverbs 9:9-10 The disciple seeks to be proficient* ...

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 ESV   To give a little backdrop to this post… Yesterday during our gathering, the question was asked – “If we are free in Christ, does that mean we can do whatever we want…won’t people take advantage of this?” Well let me tell you, this opened up a conversation that lasted the rest of service, it was great! I pondered this topic the rest of the day and on into the evening. In fact, I woke up this morning with the subject still fresh in my thoughts. So I figured it would make a good post…   To you, what does it mean to be free in Christ? We use this term constantly but is using the term enough? Are we living in “freedom” as the Bible means or are we living as we want? There is a difference.   The world would define freedom something like this; to be really free and able to do exactly what ever you want, when ever you want, how ever you want and...

I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11 We have all read or heard stories about those who have chosen to die for the glory of God and we think to ourselves “Wow! I wonder if I could stand even in the face of death”. But what about “continuing on” in the face of tragedy or out-of-our-control circumstances? What about trusting God in all things - even when they make not one bit of sense to us? I believe it is easier to choose immediate death for the glory of God than to keep the faith in the wake of life’s turmoil. Remember Todd Beamer, the hero who helped over-through the hijackers during the 9/11 attacks? Many have marveled at his wife Lisa, whose strength and ability to carry on after the tragic loss of her husband, was quite inspiring to say the least. Through it all she has adamantly given all the credit to God for her strength and peace. Several years ago - Lisa ...

For it is not ourselves that we preach; we preach Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. The God who said, “Out of darkness the light shall shine!” is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God’s glory shining in the face of Christ. Yet we who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us. We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair; there are many enemies, but we are never without a friend; and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed. At all times we carry in our mortal bodies the death of Jesus, so that his life also may be seen in our bodies. 2Corinthians 4:5-10 GNB The Story of the Cracked Pot (Author Unknown) A water bearer in India had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it and while the other pot was perfect an...

So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus, “Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?” Jesus answered them, “How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! You are hypocrites, just as he wrote: ‘These people, says God, honor me with their words, but their heart is really far away from me. It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!’ “You put aside God’s command and obey human teachings.” Matthew 7:5-8 GNB I have been a believer for more than 14 yrs and I have been involved with several mainstream denominations while on this journey. One thing that I have learned so far is that no one movement has all the answers. In fact, the reason we have so many denominations and movements is because leaders come to the conclusion that whatever piece of truth they have come to understand and so they must go off and teach this truth under a...

I was talking with a friend yesterday and we got on the subject of prayer and flowing in the Spirit. He said something so simple and yet huge – “When I pray, I try to pray from God’s perspective on the situation…” . Now, you are probably thinking, well duh! But when I first heard him make that statement I didn’t think much about it either but after we unpacked it, the hugeness of that “simple” blurb exploded in my spirit. I began to ponder the day-to-day life of the average Christian from God’s perspective, asking myself “How does God see this and how does God see that” … I realized that all-to-often the prayers of the saints are born from our very limited human perspective, producing VERY limited results. The Bible is full of stories about great works of God taking place when men and women were lined-up with God’s agenda (perspective). If we would take the time to see the situation (whatever it may be) as God sees it and then pray and/or act according to His perspective, WOW! One thin...

Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives. Matthew 26:30 I hope that I grabbed your attention with the title – Lol! There is great debate regarding this subject, especially here in the south. I have known the Lord for more than 14 yrs. now and I have heard numerous times that the only true offering of worship is in the form of "hymns" meaning, those songs which are found in the "Hymnal". Well, this morning as I was reading in the book of Matthew, I came across the word HYMN – I don’t know why I haven’t seen it before but I saw it today as clear as could be. They sang a hymn … as I looked at the word hymn I realized not only that hymns are Biblical but that they were here way before KJV was even a thought. Then I noticed something even more incredible… Jesus was right there with the disciples singing a hymn to His Father – WOW! Right then and there I realized that I can no longer speak of “hymns” as just some antiquated form of worship and that all “...

I wrote this blog some time ago but in light of my last post, I felt compelled to post it again here... To all survivors of - 9/11; hurricane Katrina; the tsunami; the war on terror; the Amish slayings and most recently, the Carolina beach fire. To the homosexual community. To those whose innocence was stolen while abused at the hand of those who were called to show the way. To those who have been judged instead of supported with grace. To single moms who have been shunned instead of girded. To the many other groups and/or individuals I have not mentioned here by name... I 'M SORRY! Let me explain, I am a Christian leader and I have been very frustrated for some time about comments and protests that have been made "in the name of God" by those of the Christian faith who claim to represent Him in the vocational capacity. I am not going to name any certain group, individual or denomination as that would simply add to the problem. I must also confess that in the past, I too...