Tag: Church

Jesus is Returning for those who love Him

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“God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11), “They are everyday doing that which is provoking to Him, and He resents it, and treasures it up ‘against the day of wrath.’ As His mercies are new every morning towards His people, so His anger is new every morning against the wicked, upon the fresh occasions given for it by their renewed transgressions. God is angry with the wicked even in the merriest and most prosperous of their days, even in the days of their devotion; for, if they be suffered [permitted] to prosper, it is in wrath; if they pray, their very prayers are an abomination. The wrath of God abides upon them (John 3:36) and continual additions are made to it.” (Matthew Henry, Electronic Version, E-sword)

“If He turn not, He will whet His sword” (Psalm 7:12) “What blows are those which will be dealt by that long uplifted arm! God’s sword has been sharpening upon the revolving stone of our daily wickedness, and if we will not repent, it will speedily cut us to pieces. Turn or burn is the sinner’s alternative.” – C.H.Spurgeon

The destruction of the person at odds with God is assured; however, practically everyone is aware of the “grace note”. God takes no pleasure in the destruction of those deemed wicked. Therefore, even in the midst of the threatening of the wrath of God upon disobedient persons He holds forth the possibility that with repentance the reconciliation between man and God can take place.

“In Adam all die” (1st Corinthians 15:22)

“For since death is through man, the resurrection of the dead also is through a Man.” (1st Corinthians 15:21)

“Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6)

“Sin is man’s declaration of independence of God” – Anon

“Our lives are a manifestation of what we think about God.” – ibid

“Before God can deliver us we must undeceive ourselves.” – St Augustine

“True repentance is to cease from sin.” – St Ambrose

“Born once, die twice; born twice, die once.” – Unknown

“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘Alright, then, have it your way.’” – C. S. Lewis

pc vs morals

The Christian Ideal, part 2

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Theologians whom I have a good deal of respect for have spoken of a point of grace to which all Christians are called to abide in that is as high above ordinary Christian living as ordinary Christian living is above the strictly secular state.  Some of them did not openly subscribe to John Wesley’s way of understanding of the holy Scripture but they still acknowledged, in their own way, that all Christians are called to holy living in this life in the pursuit of purity which honors our Savior.

Generally speaking, Christian dominion in the west has largely become a mass of pagans masquerading as Christians.

Pagans who are openly pagan seem to be more aware of those Christian’s spiritually powerless condition than they are and, of course, the pagans gleefully use every opportunity to cast all of Christendom in a bad light.  Therefore, it is all the more important for all Christians to check themselves and make sure we are correctly connecting to the power which is found with the Spirit of God and pursuing purity which is our high and holy calling.

Most low-level Christians (Pagans masquerading as Christians) have no idea that they have lost their moorings, are not connected to the power source which can make them godly, and are drifting further and further away.  Attempts to warn them often illicit hostile reactions rather than repentance.  We find that there is a tendency towards the worse a person becomes, spiritually speaking, the less he tends to be aware of that fact.  It is not unlike when frostbite and the process of freezing to death begins to settle in that the feeling of warmth replaces the uncomfortable sensitivities.  Many a person who has frozen to death has been found to have tossed aside most of the protective gear and clothing shortly before death occurs.

God sent warnings to America and her Christians via the 9-11-2001 attack and for a brief moment He seemed to have gotten our attention.  For the most part, it lasted about three weeks.  There have been a few more warnings since.  Judgment is coming upon us if there is not a real, genuine repentance and Awakening.

It appears that we have completely lost our moral compass and, unless we find it, we are going to lose our civilization; we are well into losing our civilization already.

Alarmist?  I hope so but I fear not.

  • Pastor Ward Clinton

The Christian Ideal

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The true Christian ideal is not to be happy but to be holy – A. W. Tozer

We must learn that God is holy.  If we are to experience the manifest presence of God’s glory, we must repent.  When Isaiah saw he glory of God in the Temple, he was driven to brokenness, confession, and repentance.  Too many in the West desire to know the manifest love of God without the manifest holiness of God.  We have lost the message of repentance. – Sammy Tippit, “Fire in Your Heart”

“We must learn that God is holy” if we hope to experience the full measure of God’s presence possible during our tenure in this life.  There is a popular level of Christian living that fails to comprehend the level of Christian living promoted as possible, and preferred, in the 15th Chapter of John.  Completely committed Christianity is the type of Christianity that is fully abiding in Christ and it is quite commonly called consecrated Christianity although, unfortunately, it is an experience that is not quite as common as it should be.  The cause of Christ suffers as a result of that fact.

Theologians whom I have a good deal of respect for have spoken of a point of grace to which all Christians are called to abide in that is as high above ordinary Christian living as ordinary Christian living is above the strictly secular state.  Some of them did not openly subscribe to John Wesley’s way of understanding of the holy Scripture but they still acknowledged, in their own way, that all Christians are called to holy living in this life in the pursuit of purity which honors our Savior.

Thomas Brooks, English Puritan: “Ah, sirs, holiness is a flower that grows not in Nature’s garden.  Men are not born with holiness in their hearts, as they are born with tongues in their mouths: holiness is a divine offspring: it is a pearl of great price, that is to be found in no nature but a renewed nature, in no bosom but a sanctified bosom.”

The serene, silent beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world, next to the might of the Spirit of God. – Blaise Pascal

The destined end of man is not happiness, nor health, but holiness.  God’s one aim is the production of saints.  He is not an eternal blessing machine for men; he did not come to save men out of pity; he came to save men because he had created them to be holy. – Oswald Chambers

When God purifies the heart by faith, the market is sacred as well as the sanctuary. – Martin Luther

It is time for us Christians, to face up to our responsibility for holiness.  Too often we say we are “defeated” by this or that sin.  No, we are not defeated; we are simply disobedient.  It might be well if we stopped using the terms victory and defeat to describe our progress in holiness.  Rather we should use the terms obedience and disobedience.

-Pastor Ward Clinton

A Great Awakening is Needed

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Our situation is not yet hopeless, but it is quickly approaching that point.

Oh?   I’m supposed to be preaching “Positive Mental Attitude”?

Funny…That is NOT what God told me to preach.  I was instructed, as was every other preacher who was actually commissioned by God, to preach His Scriptural truths, not what man wants to hear. (Unless that man actually desires to hear from God.)

If you do not like it, then you may call “1-800- TELL GOD” and see what that gets you.

(Be forewarned: you might not like His response, but He is God; you ain’t.)

J.C. Ryle listed seven characteristics of the messengers during the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century:

  1. They taught the supremacy of Holy Scripture.
  2. They preached the total corruption of human nature.
  3. They taught that Christ’s death upon the cross was the only satisfaction for man’s sin.
  4. They preached the doctrine of justification by faith.
  5. They taught the universal necessity of heart conversion and new creation by the Holy Spirit.
  6. They spoke of God’s eternal hatred against sin and of God’s love for sinners.
  7. They preached that there was an inseparable connection between true faith and personal holiness.  They never allowed for a moment that any church membership or religious profession was the least bit of proof of a man being a Christian if he lived an ungodly life.

These awakeners continually cried, “No fruit, no grace.”

We must learn that God is holy.  If we are to experience the manifest presence of God’s glory; we must repent.  When Isaiah saw the glory of God in the Temple, he was driven to brokenness, confession, and repentance.  Too many in the West desire to know the manifest love of God without the manifest holiness of God.  We have lost the message of true repentance.  Now the church in the West is the sleeping Giant.  Alarms have been sounded but there seems to be no great or even general awakening; if it doesn’t begin soon the giant may die in its sleep.

Let us pray

Satanic weapon

Find a Good Church

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Just because you attend a church doesn’t make you a good Christian any more than driving a car makes you a good driver, but we don’t blame the car, so why do we blame the Church?

It is not quite enough to know God and Jesus…we must also know and engage the Holy Spirit in our life.  He will empower us to live Godly in this world and thereby we honor the Kingdom of God.

If your current church is part of the popular theological tradition that says that all believers sin every day in thought word and deed then I have a question for you.  How is that any different than the devil?  It is time for all Christians to engage the third Person of the Trinity because He is the power that enables us to live Godly in the here and now.

God commanded that we live holy; Holy Spirit empowers us to obey that command.  If your pastor claims holy living is not possible during this sojourn on earth then it is time for you seek out a pastor who knows and is showing the way to connect to the power that can make you godly; your unsaved friends and family members are desperately looking for that kind of completely committed Christian.  Be one.

Godly Power

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Life “de-powers” us. It saps our energies, depletes our courage, drains our patience. People–pressures get us down; problems stir us up; physical ills distress us; worry over people we love disturbs us.
We all need strength—strength to think clearly, love creatively, endure consistently; strength to fill up our diminished reserves; supernatural strength that flows from a limitless source, quietly filling us with power.
I want you to meet Someone who can provide that kind of strength. He is willing to listen to us and understand, He will encourage us to talk until we know what we really want to say. He will probe to the nub of the issue of our fears and frustrations with X-ray discernment and wisdom, and will help us to see any confusion in our thinking or distortions in our emotions. He not only can lead us to the truth about ourselves, but possesses the power to help us act on what He guides us to be, say or do. He has the power to heal our painful memories, sharpen our vision of what is best for our future, and enlist us in a purpose that’s big enough to fire our imaginations and give ultimate meaning and lasting joy to our daily living.
That’s a tall order. No loved one, friend, psychiatrist, psychologist, pastor, or social worker can meet all of these qualifications. But there is One Who has all of these qualifications—and much more.
He alone has the omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence to give us the kind of help we need. He can help us with our problems, relationships, and decisions, for He knows everything. He is with us always, for He never sleeps. He has all power to give us the gift of primary faith as well as pertinacious faith, guidance for our daily lives, conviction and courage to face the future unafraid.
Who is this? A Person spelled with a capital “P.” He is a Person in the Trinity. He is the Holy Spirit.
We celebrate Pentecost and remember the time fifty days after Passover when Jesus’ disciples and followers received the power of the Holy Spirit. (read Acts, chapter 2). There is no greater need in your life and mine and in the church throughout the world than for a contemporary Pentecost. We confess with John Oxenham,

Not for one single day,
Can I discern the way,
But this I surely know—
Who gives the day
Will show the way
So I securely go.

The Holy Spirit is the Greatest Counselor in the World. The word, “counselor” may not be the first word that comes to your mind when you think of the Holy Spirit. For many, the Holy Spirit is the least known and understood Person of the Trinity.
Jesus used this propitious word, “Counselor,” to declare what the Spirit is meant to be in our lives. – Lloyd John Ogilvie

I do not want to be two-thirds of a Christian – I desire and need to have the Spirit of God engaged in my life to make me wholly Christian; a properly empowered Christian.

Last Days Stuff

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One popular theological tradition says that all believers sin every day in thought, word, and deed.  That seems so much less than the victory over sin promised by the Bible.  Across the years far too many Christians have settled for too little, emphasizing human frailties and the pervasiveness of sin.  Caving into the argument that a person is doomed to stumble along in constant failure, they have lived defeated lives.  Some have given up Christianity altogether.  Not only did individuals suffer personal defeat, but the reputation of the Kingdom also suffered.

As human beings, we were created in the image of God to live in holy fellowship with Him.  Much of that fellowship was lost to sin.  The experience of heart holiness offers us a restoration that put us back on track to fulfilling God’s original plan.

Because of this, genuine, wholehearted love for God, our neighbors, and the rest of His creation is possible for us again.  The doctrine of entire sanctification is that door that leads us into glorious, full and perfect fellowship with God. — from an Article by Howard Culbertson, Roger Hahn and Dean Nelson. For more like this visit http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert

So why would we, as Christians, want to live at a level less than that which Jesus has indicated is possible for us while we reside in this temporary life?  God commanded us to be holy, we find that we are unable to do so in our own power but it is  a command, nonetheless.  Therefore God must have provided a way in which it could be done since it was a command and not merely a suggested ideal.  Some reportedly have found it like Lloyd Ogilvie and Billy Graham who are definitely not of the Wesleyan theological persuasion and have their own way of proclaiming the higher calling of empowered Christian living and heart holiness.

It is not enough to know God and Jesus – you must also engage the Holy Spirit in your life – Lloyd John Ogilvie

  • Pastor Ward Clinton