The Fear of The Lord

THE FEAR OF THE LORD:

  There was a time, not that long ago in fact, when people had a natural feeling regarding God, His ministers and things related to God. There was a natural inbred fear where people knew there was a clear line between what was right, and what was wrong. People had a conscience and should they do anything wrong it bothered them; they became acutely aware that they had said or done something that, in the eyes of God, was wrong. It seems that this nation has lost that. The closer we get to the Rapture of the Church, and the Tribulation period that will follow, the more the world creates a “grey” area. It seems the line between right and wrong is becoming more and more foggy or unclear.

  In your Holy Bible we find a phrase that many have no real idea what it means. A phrase and a philosophy that many parents have not taught their children about and, it is something that needs to be addressed more in the pulpits of this nation, and around the world. The phrase for which I’m speaking is “The fear of the Lord.” Do you have any idea what those words really mean?

  What is the simple meaning of those words? I could bore you with a very long and in-depth study on this and quoted dozens of verses and many stories, but for the sake of time I won’t. The simple meaning of “the fear of the Lord” is this: having such a deep respect and love for God that one is afraid of saying or doing anything that might offend Him or bring a reproach to Him or His Kingdom. Now that’s about as simple as it can get.

  You and I are to have such a deep abiding love for God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, that we’re afraid of saying or doing anything that would offend Him, bring shame or a bad mark against Him in any way shape or form. We should have so much love and respect for our God that we walk each step of this life, speak each word we speak with the knowledge that we need to be careful not to bring Him any shame. We need to live each day as though He were our constant companion, walking every step we take with us: because in reality, He does.

  Not too many years ago we’d very rarely ever hear of a burglar targeting a church for his crime. A few years ago, and I’m talking fifty years at the most, even the majority of the criminal element in this country would not break into a church to steal anything because they were afraid that God would strike them dead if they did. In the year 2012, churches have become a target of burglars who want to break in and take sound equipment, musical instruments, computers, money and anything else of value they can find in a short amount of time.  They’ve lost that respect and fear for the things of God and, for God Himself.

  Just a few years ago, a pastor stood in the pulpit of his church delivering a power packed, Holy Ghost anointed message to his congregation. As he preached, a man walked into the church and began walking down the center of the church. When he reached a point, only a few feet from where the pastor was speaking, he pulled a gun, pointed it at the preacher and began to fire. He unloaded his weapon at point blank range in an attempt to silence this man of God. By the grace of God, not a single bullet touched this pastor and the man was subdued and arrested for this crime.

  As you’re watching many pastors and ministers teach these days, you’ll notice two or more men close by him facing the congregation as he ministers. These are not ushers or elders in the church: these are armed off duty law enforcement officers hired by the church to protect the ministers as they preach. Who would ever have thought that such drastic measures would ever be needed in the house of God? Who would’ve ever believed that anyone who have the guts to walk into a church with the intent of killing the minister, or anyone else for that matter? Who would’ve thought the day would ever come when church burglary and arson were so prevalent, that churches would feel the need to install alarm systems and hire security patrol services? When I was growing up, that thought never entered my mind.

  People have lost the fear of the Lord and seemingly don’t care about anything that has to do with God or the Church. It is becoming more and more the norm for there to be children in our society who have never been to a church service except for a funeral or wedding. Parents are not teaching their children about God, about the Bible or the importance of having a healthy respect for God and His ministers. We’ve all but lost an entire generation of young people because of abortion and because of them not being taught about God. This is so sad that it makes my heart ache inside of me. This is so horrible that it makes me want to weep for the millions of children and young adults who have no concept of who God is, or who Christ the Savior is either.

  As Born Again Christians, we’ve got to bring back the concept of the fear of the Lord into our churches, our work places and into our homes. We’ve got to be ever mindful that our lives are the only Bible that some people will ever read. We have got to develop such Godlike character that our private lives are a godly reflection of what people see when we’re in church or in public. We have got to live our lives in the fear of the Lord to the point, that we’re ever mindful of our actions, our words and how people will perceive them.

  Folks, you and I need to live like Christ is watching every single word we speak, every gesture we make, every action we take and every other aspect of our loves. We need to walk the walk and not just talk the talk. The world can see right through a smoke screen, they can tell if a person is really a God loving person or, if that person is just another hypocrite. They can tell, they can absolutely tell if you and I are the real deal, or just another phony.

I’m asking each of you to do what I’ve been doing for the past several days: I’d like for you to stop and take inventory on your life. Do you live each day with such love and respect for your Father that you’re watching how you conduct yourself all the time? Do you love God so much, that you don’t ever want to be guilty of saying or doing something that will bring a reproach or bad mark against the name of your God? Do you love God so much that you’re doing all you can to ensure that you’re actually walking the walk, rather than just being another talking head? We should all take a careful inventory of our lives and make certain that we actually are living in fear of the Lord.

  Thank you for reading this blog and please, take time today to make sure that you and God are on good terms. Take the time to make sure that you’re living a life that reflects your love, respect and fear of the Lord. Pray more, study your Bible more and do your absolute best to show forth the love of Christ in your private and public life. Also keep in mind that ole saying: “Your life is the only Bible some people will ever read: what does yours say?”

God bless you and keep you.

Pastor Dave

Wake Up, He's Coming

Ephesians 5:14 (NKJV)  
 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."

We're living in the age of deception and political correctness; an age where people are drawn more to entertainment, smooth words and religion than they are the truth of what God's Word has to say. Many in the church world are asleep, they slumber while the world around them is going to hell and, sadly, they don't seem to care. The church is fighting amongst itself over points of doctrine and theology that have no barring on whether someone goes to Heaven or not, while souls are dying daily who have never heard the Gospel message.


 Our job, according to Holy Scripture, says nothing about arguing doctrinal points, it says nothing about cutting the cities into little sections for this church or that church: the Bible is very clear on what our job is and, it isn't what most church's are engaged in.

 As Born Again Believers, our two most important jobs are to love everyone, and to preach the Gospel to the entire world. Our job is to live a life that is so blessed, so loving that the world sees us and is made jealous. We are to get the world to conform to the Bible and not the other way around. Our duty to our God and King is to be awake, vigilant, and ever about the Father's business: the business of winning souls to Christ. But rather than find this happening we see church after church painting a target on other churches rather than doing what we're supposed to be doing.


  It's time for God's Church to stop all this fighting among ourselves and to fight our real enemy; the enemy that is killing our sons and daughters at an alarming rate. Our job is to awaken from this slumbering sleep and get busy winning souls, witnessing and living a life that is pleasing before our King. We have got to stop playing these religious games and get serious with our personal relationships with God and do the best we can to be good children.


  We all know the story of the 10 Virgins in Matthew. When the call came out that the Lord was coming, five of the virgins arose, trimmed their lamps and refilled them so they could follow the Lord into the marriage. There were five others who didn't prepare for the Lord's return and they, we they had to go out at the midnight hour to search for someone who could sell them oil. By the time they went out and came back in, the Lord had come and the door to the marriage was closed. When they tried to get in, they were informed that the Lord didn't know them.


  Jesus is coming soon and it is up to us to spread this news with conviction and urgency. It is out job to be prayed up to the point that God's anointing falls us when we're speaking about this and trying to lead people to a personal relationship with Christ. We can't lead people anywhere if we're stumbling around half asleep or weak from lack of spiritual food. We cannot and will not be able to do what we have to do unless we first wake up and get moving. WAKE UP PEOPLE.


  It's time to put aside the theological and doctrinal differences that Satan uses to divide us; time to stop pointing religious fingers at others and just love one another. It's time to stop playing church and start having church. We are running out of time and we are nowhere near where we need to be. We have got to get up now, trim our lamps and rally around the Cross of Christ and around the things we all agree on. We need to rally around the truth that there is no way to Heaven but through faith in Christ Jesus. We need to rally around the fact that God loved this world so much He gave His only Son to pay the debt He didn't owe for a people who could never pay that debt. We need to rally around our Savior and wake up.


  Religion isn't something capable of saving anyone. Religion is man's attempt to find God and He isn't found in some stiff, formal, powerless church service filled with ceremony and ritual. He isn't found in messages that put people to sleep or in a service that is devoid of the Holy Spirit anointing. We need to set aside the doctrines of men, the ritualistic crap that isn't biblical any way and get back to the basics of preaching the truth in love, but preach the truth. We've got to stop caring if we're politically or socially correct and worry only about being biblically correct. We have to stop worrying about what man thinks and care only about what God thinks.


  In Matthew 10, Christ told us not to be concerned with man, who could only kill the body; we're to be concerned with God who can kill both the soul and the body. We have got to wake up and get right with God so we can go out and help others get right. We've got to show His love to a lost and dying world while we have time. We need to be building our faith, building our boldness and building our commitment to helping as many as we can find Christ. One soul a day should be our goal. If we all did everything possible to win one soul a day, every single day, we could win the world in a months time. If we made the effort, we could do it, but it's pretty hard when you're sitting under a shade tree napping.





  Here's the bottom line: WAKE UP, JESUS IS COMING SOON! Wake up and do all you can to be as effective as you can in winning the lost to Jesus. PRAY for those who are daily on the front lines witnessing, praying for people, teaching and loving this lost world. WAKE UP and do something for God.


Amen

Vitamin "W"

  Every morning, millions of people around the world will reach for a bottle of vitamins. They will swallow a pill, maybe several, to try and keep their physical body healthy. They seem to feel like if they take these vitamins, it will help them get through the day and will make them a little better off. I wonder what percentage of these people will take the most important vitamin of all: Vitamin “W.”

  When you’re thinking about your physical body, you need to also think of your spiritual body as well. As we’re racing faster and faster to the end of the age, the time when Christ will come for His bride, we need to be more aware of our spiritual needs. We need to be doing everything we can to keep our spirit man healthy, our soul refreshed and young at heart. By starting our day off with a healthy dose of vitamin “W,” which stands for Word, we’re helping to ensure that our spirit man is healthy.

  The great king David wrote that he had hidden God’s Word in his heart that he might not sin against God. The great Apostle Paul, the man who wrote nearly a third of the Bible and nearly half the New Testament, said that we should study Gods Word so that we would be able to rightly know what it says and be able to witness Christ to people. The more we read and study the Bible, the more we refresh our souls and the more we allow God to move in our lives. By reading the Word of God, especially when done after a time of prayer, we grow stronger in our faith, stronger in God’s ability to use us and help us.

  We live in a day and an age where deception is being used on us all the time. We find deception in advertising, in revisionist history and, sadly, we even find it in the church world. So many “teachers” are twisting the Bible to fit what they want it to fit. They misquote the Bible, take it out of context and some, knowing that most people don’t read their Bible, will actually say things that sound like Bible, but really aren’t. These people are often trying to sell people ideas that are very much against the precepts of the Bible and even would cause some to develop hate in their hearts.

  In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus said that we should not let anyone deceive us. The only way to ensure that we’re not being lied to, not being deceived by someone is to have a good working knowledge of the Bible. We must read our Bible and use it to check on what we’re being taught. Just because someone claims to be a preacher, teacher or prophet doesn’t mean they really are. Some, I’m sad to say, claim to be preachers in order to make money or to make themselves seem better than they are. Some use religion in order to propagate hatred for Israel or even a rival religious denomination. This is wrong, but how will some know if they don’t read the Bible, they don’t know what it actually has to say.

  I can’t express to you how important it is for you to have your daily dose of vitamin “W” so you will grow stronger, healthier in Christ; so they you will know, or at least suspect, when someone is feeding you a bunch of junk or an outright lie. The devil is using every method he can think of, every ploy he can devise in order to lead as many as he can astray. He wants to keep as many as he can from going to Heaven, from being saved. The devil will use those actors who portray themselves as teachers and preachers to lead a whole lot of people to hell because many of the fakers have sold their souls to the devil for fame, fortune and other things. They care nothing about your soul: they just want what they can get. If someone doesn’t know what’s in the Bible, it isn’t hard to trick them into believing almost anything.

  For almost two years I’ve hosted am Internet radio program. I’ve had opportunity to listen to many radio programs, talk to many who call themselves teachers, preachers, apostles and prophets. Many of these people are wonderful Christians who are called of God to minister and they do a great job. I have, however, met and talked to a few who have no idea what they’re doing. They don’t know the Bible or they’re deliberately manipulating it to fit their personal beliefs and agenda. They’ve been able to trick a lot of people into believing what they’re teaching because these people aren’t reading the Bible and have no clue that they’re being led astray.

  I could write about this for many more pages, but I think you get the idea. We all need to make a point of spending time every single day reading and studying the Bible. We’ve got to be sure that we know why we believe what we believe, and we all need to be able to recognize when someone is teaching a false doctrine. With prayer, Bible study you and I give the Holy Spirit a means to be able to prompt us when someone is teaching things that are wrong, or someone is flat out lying to us. Your immortal soul depends of what you know and what you do with your life. Reading the Bible gives us the knowledge that we need in order to make Heaven our home and rightfully serve Christ who died for us.

  The great prophet Isaiah was given a message from God that I will close this blog with. It reads like this; “ Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge…” Isaiah 5:13. The devil wants to put you in a spiritual captivity by keeping the truth of God’s Word out of your life. The only way to beat him is to have the knowledge that will set you free. Start your day, every day with a healthy dose of Vitamin “Word.” It’s good for your soul, and your heart.

Blessings, peace and love,

Dave

Social Networking

  Social networking is a wonderful tool in the hands of every Believer, if it’s used in the right way. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace can all be used as tools for spreading the word about the love of Christ, or it can be a tool used to tear down, ridicule and embarrass.

  Over the past few weeks I’ve become more and more aware of how supposed Christians, supposed ministers are using the social networking media to wage war against fellow Believers or, in the case of a recent minister who fell from grace, to mock and ridicule. This isn’t right and, in fact, it is SIN! Nowhere in the Bible can you find a passage that gives anyone the right to mock, ridicule, tear down or make fun of anyone. This isn’t what God calls love, not at all.

  Let me ask you a question, a serious question. Let’s suppose that, in a moment of weakness, you go out one night and get intoxicated. You’re a Christian minister and you know better, but for whatever reason, you did it. On the way home you get pulled over by a state trooper; you’re given a field sobriety test and fail it. You’re handcuffed and taken to the county jail where you are book for suspicion of driving under the influence.

  I’ve never been arrested like this, but I was a police officer for many years and have taken numerous people to jail. I can tell you that many of the people I took to jail never dreamed they would ever find themselves in this embarrassing situation. This is a very humbling experience.

  Before the end of the day, some of your “Christian” brethren find out that you’ve been arrested for DUI and they start plastering all over Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networking sites. These people who should be expressing sorrow, grief and love, rather than express disbelief or words stating that they’re praying for you, they opening relish in the fact that you’ve been arrested and begin calling you everything in the book; these people who are commanded in the Scriptures to bare one another’s burdens, to restore one who falls are joining in with the world and making a mockery of you. How would you feel if this happened to you?

  Earlier this week I watched as a noted minister was torn apart by people who claim to be Christians, who claim to be ministers and who should know better. Rather than express words of love, concern and prayer: these people spoke with words of disdain and self-righteousness. They mocked and made fun of this minister and seemed to imply that he was a fake preacher, though there was no evidence to support such a claim.

  The Bible tells us that Satan is the accuser of the brethren and that he delights in making accusations against the saints. When someone who claims to be Christian begins making accusations against a fellow Believer, you cease to become a Believer and you become a sinner! When you point your self-righteous finger at someone who has fallen, rather than offer prayers, forgiveness and love, you have become no better than Satan and he is soon to be in Hell forever. 

  Our job isn’t to spread such news; it isn’t to call attention to someone who, in a moment of weakness, fell from God’s grace. Social networking isn’t for us to use as a means of pushing a brother or sister father down than they already are. How would you feel if every time you made a mistake, every time you sin or fall from God’s grace, you found the sorted story being played out on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube, not by the liberal and sinful world media: but by those who claim to be your family?

  We need to use our social networking sites not to put others down or to point out when one of our relatives fails or falls; we should be using them to show love, forgiveness and to tell the story of Jesus. We should be using them to motivate people to come to Christ, motivate people with words of encouragement and put Scriptures out that could lead someone to our Lord and Savior.

  Rather than use your social networking sites as a tool to embarrass, ridicule or put down a Believer… remember that to do so is sin. When you point a finger at someone to point out their sin, especially if you do it in any form of self-righteousness – there are three fingers pointing at you quoting Jesus. “Ye who are without sin may cast the first stone.”

  Father, forgive us for being accusers of our brethren rather than loving them, praying for them and doing all we can to restore them. Help us Lord to not allow this great sin to ever be found on our doorstep because it isn’t right and brings a bad light on Your precious name, Amen.

Say What?

  I wasn't going to write anything about this, but I can't keep it inside of me any longer. Someone sent me a YouTube video of a woman trying to declare that there's no need to read or study the Bible. She tried to assert that people who claim that Bible study are simply religious zealots and trying to frighten people.

  This is another example of someone speaking who shouldn't. Another example of someone who isn't in tune with God and does not have understanding that only comes from a real experience with the Father.

  Prayer and Bible study are very important to our daily walk with the Lord. Paul wrote that we should study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that had no need to be ashamed because we could rightly explain the Word of God. King David wrote that he had hidden God's word in his heart that he might not sin against God. The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit would bring the Scriptures to our remembrance when we needed them, but He could never do this if we hadn't first read them, heard them, studied them and already had them in our heart and mind.

  Folks, we need daily Bible reading and study every day just as much as we need food and water to live. We need to have some quality time with God and His love letter to us so we learn how to live godly lives and are able to know when some bag of wind is teaching a lie, such as this poor misguided woman is teaching.

  Paul warn us in his second letter to Timothy that there would come a day when people would run from truth and would heap to themselves teachers who would tickle the ear, but wouldn't teach the truth of God's Word. We're living in that day and deception is growing and, sadly, its growing in the church.

  Please, dear friends, don't listen to people who tell you that you have no need for prayer or Bible study. Keep away from people who are trying to tell you that you have no need to study Gods Word for whatever reason. In Matthew the 24th Chapter, Jesus warned us and commanded us when He said, "Let no man deceive you!" Many will try to sell you a bill of goods that sound good, sound right and might even make sense... but they're still wrong. Pray and read that Bible daily; seek out a Bible church and find teachers and preachers who have the integrity to preach God's Word in all its power and fullness.

 
  There's an old saying that I've come to adopt and believe in because of its simple truth. "If your Bible is torn apart, your life isn't." Remember this old saying because its full of truth.

God bless and keep you,

Dave

I Resolve In 2012

The great nineteenth century preacher, Charles Spurgeon, is quoted as saying. “We shall not adjust our Bible to fit the age: but before we have done with it, by God’s grace, we shall have adjusted the age to the Bible.” Mr. Spurgeon, also known as the “people’s preacher,” could not have been more correct.

  In this modern age in which we’re now living, so many denominations, preachers and common people are trying to rewrite the pages of God’s Holy Bible. They are trying to claim that the Bible is outdated and has not kept up with the times. I beg to differ with those who say this. The Bible isn’t the one who isn’t keeping up, it is those who want to change the Bible who aren’t keeping up.

  Would any of you like to have a foundation under your house that shifts with the changing weather conditions? Would you like to have a foundation that changes with every whim of some neighbor’s fancy or desire? The obvious answer is no to both questions. Why then do you want a moral and spiritual foundation that can be changed to fit the whims of men?

  The Holy Bible has been the unchanging moral and spiritual foundation of man for thousands of years. Its clear message of morality, its clear message of social justice has rang clear and in no need of adjustment since the foundations of the earth. What creation dares to tell the Creator that He’s made some error in His work? Who are we to tell the King of the universe how to rule and reign in His dominion? We’ve no more right to tell the King how rule than we have to tell the sun not to rise on the morrow. It simply isn’t done.

  Religion seeks to change with the age in order to make it seem relevant. Religion, a device of men, can be changed to fit the moral decay of a generation because it seeks to use man’s reasoning, man’s knowledge and man’s pride as its measuring tool. It doesn’t take into account the Divine plan of the ages that only the Creator can change. Man’s folly is to try and create a religion that falls short of the King’s desire that all men come before Him in righteousness, in humility and with the knowledge that He alone decides man’s path.

  These religions that seek to change the Bible are wrong and they will suffer the punishment of God because they are leading souls away from the truth of God’s Word. These “preachers” and “teachers” who are trying to explain sin, trying to comfort the soul, trying to appease the masses by declaring the Bible is wrong or outdated: these are the ones who will face the anger of God if they don’t repent, and now. These who are mocking God by trying to overrule His authority, overrule the commandment of the King: these will face certain Hell if they don’t repent and come back and teach the truth.

  God isn’t a religion! God is the Creator and more importantly: HE IS KING. In a kingdom, the sovereign establishes the constitution and laws that govern their domain, their kingdom. No citizen, no matter how well meaning, can come in and change this because the word of the king is the law of the land. No citizen, no subject has the right or ability to overrule the monarch and, to attempt to do so is an act of treason.

  Jehovah is the King of the universe. Jehovah is the King by right of creation in that He created all that we know or ever will know. Because of this FACT, He alone makes the rules, the laws and has the right to write the Constitution. He has done this and seen to it that it was given to His all mankind in the book we call the Holy Bible. This is the Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven and it cannot be altered by the hand of man, PERIOD. Anyone who attempts to do so is committing an act of treason against the King and could be subject to a sentence of death if they don’t repent.

  One last thing I’d like to add to this. Every preacher, teacher, prophet, evangelist, apostle and bishop called of God is an ambassador of the Kingdom of Heaven. The very first rule of an ambassador is that he or she has no personal opinion on any subject or law that the King has included in His laws or His Constitution. IF they King has made any statement on a subject that an ambassador is questioned on, that ambassador cannot give a personal opinion on: they can only quote from the King’s Constitution or from the King’s law.

  Every “preacher” is an ambassador and therefore is not allowed to have a personal opinion on any and all subjects that His Majesty has covered. No matter how an ambassador may be pushed, may be pressured; the only answer an ambassador may give are “I don’t have a personal opinion;” and, “It is the position of His Majesty’s government that (and the quote the Constitution or law). This takes the pressure off the ambassador and places back on the King thus giving the ambassador the freedom to quote the King and leave it.

  A wise man once said that “preachers are not to be concerned with being popular, but that are to be concerned with being biblically accurate.” This is the position that all ministers should take. We aren’t called to be popular, we’re called to preach and teach the Word of God, the message of the Kingdom. We aren’t called to adjust His Majesty’s words to fit the age, we’re required to speak to the age and tell them how to measure up to the Constitution, the Word of the King.

  This isn’t easy for me to say, but this must be said. Jesus told us that the world would hate us because we speak the truth. Jesus warned us that to be popular with the world meant that we weren’t teaching and preaching His message and that of His Father, the King. No matter what the personal cost may be, no matter how unpopular it might make me; I have resolved that I no longer have a personal opinion and that I will not be concerned with being popular: I’m going to make sure that I accurately quote His Majesty. I will not chance being wrong and missing the mark that my God and King has set for me, and neither should you.

  As citizens of God’s Kingdom, our job is to be in right standing with the throne. Our job is to make sure that our lives and our answers to the social questions we’re asked match those of the King. To do any less is an illegal act and could cost our soul, and that of the poor person who asked. I would rather offend someone with the truth, than to tell them a lie that will damn their soul to Hell. What about you?

  In 2012, let’s all resolve to learn God’s Word, to be ready with an answer He would be proud of and to make sure that we remain faithful doers of the word and not just hearers. Let us all resolve to be good citizens of the Kingdom and to remain in right standing with our King.

God bless you and keep you,

Dave