Called To Be Saints, Benjamen Leahey

1Corinthians 1:2-.. to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints…

Paul addresses his letter to the church of God in the beginning of v.2. This is an important word, as it encompasses all those who have placed their faith in Jesus. The word for church in the Greek is ‘ekklesia”, which means, the called out ones. What have they been called out from? They have been called out from the world (John 17:16). What do they do? They take up their cross and follow Jesus (Matthew10:38). How do they do this? By denying themselves, serving Christ in holiness and righteousness Luke 1:74-75). I find it increasingly important to differentiate between what the popular voices say and what the scriptures say.

What’s Wrong With The Gospel? Section 1:”The Missing Parts”, Part 3of6, Keith Green 1953-1982

Continued Missing Parts,

5. The Fear of God and the Judgment Seat of Christ.Instead of the awesome majesty of Jehovah, today the Lord is presented as a sort of “ice cream man-Santa Claus.” And the Church is the “candy store” where you can get “every goodie your heart desires.” Jesus Himself is portrayed as “a sweetie pie,” so good, so loving, so forgiving, and so gentle, that you can almost hear the preacher whisper, “Aw, He wouldn’t hurt a fly…” But what happened to “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31) or “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’? (Proverbs 9:10)10

A Christless Pentecost, Part 4of6, David Wilkerson Inspired by Frank Bartleman

Colossians 1:18-19, “And He is the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell… ” (KJV)

Part two of I. We Make Christ A Stranger – By Giving The Holy Spirit Pre-Eminence Over Him!

We praise a Christ to whom we will not pray! We have become a praising people, but not a praying people. For many of God’s people the prayer closet is a relic of the past. “Why ask God for what He has already promised? Just get hold of the promises and simply command deliverances!” We no longer want Christ as much as we want what He can do for us.

Marks Of A Disciple, Part 1of3, Pastor Phil Sessa

John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

How can one tell if someone is a fan of a particular sports team? Perhaps if one wears a
teams clothing, jersey, hat, etc…. However if I put on a NY Yankee jersey does that mean that I am on the NY Yankees? Of course not! How then can one know if one is a disciple of Christ? Well one way to know Jesus said is that His disciples would have love one to another.

Light Without Heat, 1of2, Evans Olang

Acts 19:11-15, “11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” 

I have been moved in the last few years seeing a generation of young Christian men and women going back to the rock from which we were cut. By that I mean going back to sound biblical teaching. That the current fads in the land are not moving them, in fact they are refuting those who contradict the word of God including big names. I have listened to radio programs, read blogs, listened to sound teachings and I am amazed at the depth of knowledge. And while this is good and most necessary, I am concerned that little is wrote, mentioned or encouraged concerning praying. The danger I foresee in my judgment is becoming a generation that has light (the word) but no heat (prayer) and you cannot separate the two. You cannot separate heat and light from the fire.

Light Without Heat, 2of2, Evans Olang

Acts 19:11-15, “11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

I recently spoke of the importance of prayer at an evangelism class. What I hammered the most was how light and heat cannot be separated from the fire. You can have light to show the way, however you need the heat to melt the hearts. Paul in 1Corinthians 4:20, makes it clear, “For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power”. He is not disqualifying the Word, he is showing that the word is incomplete without the power.

2Peter 2: Beware Of Toxic Gospel, 1of7, Evans Olang

2Peter 2:1-22, “vs. 1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber”

A few months ago I was reading and meditating on 2Peter 2 which deals with false prophets and false teachers in detail and I began to pen a series of messages off it. The more I read, the more I became burdened.

I was led as I am from time to time to address the subject of biblical discernment. Then around that time I was handed an account to work on only to find that it was an account of two ministers I would call false teachers with a very expensive private jet worth millions.

2Peter 2: Beware Of Toxic Gospel, 2of7, Evans Olang

2Peter 2:1-22, “1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction”

In the bible, Jesus addresses extensively false teachers (prophets) in Matthew 7:15, Matthew 24; and so is Paul in 2Corinthians 11; and Peter in 2Peter 2; and in Titus 1; and John in 1John 4; in Jude 1. They kept sending warnings and even gave marks of such people. Peter here deals with the false prophets and he teaches us how to identify them so that we flee. These were not personal issues but doctrinal the same reason I address them. How sincere they are and many are is also not the issue, TRUTH is the issue. Peter and Paul could tolerate those who were hostile to them as long as they preached the gospel of Christ.

2Peter 2: Beware Of Toxic Gospel, 3of7, Evans Olang

2Peter 2:2, “And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed”

Much of what the world believes about Christianity is what they see mostly on the media; and anytime anyone says they are pastor or evangelist, they think of televangelism. You are considered one of them when you are not. And here comes the sad part, many follow their destructives ways.