It is amazing to me how mixed up many Christian concepts of heaven are.  They seem to be a blend of what the world believes, what superstition says and what they might have been taught at church or in bible study group.  I think the average believer spends very little time in scripture and consequently they don’t voice their beliefs with other Christians because they can’t defend those beliefs. We live in an age where the average person, whether Christian or secular, has access to many different translations of the Bible and yet we still seem to know so little of what the word of God actually says about the subject of heaven….other than it’s preferable to going to hell.

Today, many preachers refer to the body of Christ as “Sinners” while Paul refers to believers as “Saints”. Is it because our loyalties are divided and we don’t seek to walk as saints or is it because we have been taught a lie about our new nature? Whatever the reason behind this bad teaching, it moves believers farther from Christ instead of closer to him.

Few Christians today talk about the soul, whereas in previous generations it was a prime topic to speak or write about. We have drifted from seeing the importance of the soul. I think much of that is because the church has turned over giving counsel to secular professionals, rather than pastors and shepherds of God’s people who understand the deep connection between the Word of God and a healthy soul.

People generally love things that are reliable and predictable but what if a lot of things in life aren’t that way? For Christians, the idea and expectation of a reliable life is heightened by the idea of God setting up our future so reliably that many have bought into the idea of their future being  “Predestined”, which believes our eternity as well as this life is both guaranteed and that no worry or concern is needed. But what if that teaching is an exaggeration of scripture and not biblical? What if life and eternity is only as sure as we continue to trust God rather than just trusting our own thoughts and intentions? What if life is far more unpredictable than we realize? For many, that idea is unsettling and can create fear and anxiety unless people are truly trusting God day by day.

This idea of predestination is really a concept that both secular and religious people wonder about. Many movies wrestle with the idea of our destiny being set or not.  There are many movies that have been made in the last twenty years relating to time travel and trying to figure out if people can change their past or not because people want to know if we are predestined or not.

Many Christians have been taught that God predestines our future so it is set before we are even born. This theology became strongly developed for many Christians because of the reformation and the shift in theology by people like John Calvin, Martin Luther and others in the 1500s. These church leaders were trying to figure out what theology was wrong in the Catholic Church doctrine and they came up with the idea of going back to Augustine in third century for a confirmation in which God predestines people. Much of this shift in my mind came from the hatred of many over the sale of indulgences to wipe away the past, unrepentant sins of those who were about to die or had already passed away.

The strange thing is that these writers and others base this major doctrine over five verses from the New Testament in which the apostle Paul wrote instead of looking at the overall bible context of both the Old and New Testament. The idea of God choosing people for his purpose, also known as “election”, was formulated mostly by Calvin to say that certain people are chosen by God to be saved for eternity and others are predestined to go to hell for eternity regardless of their choices or desire. Once a person was baptized they no longer needed to worry about salvation or their conduct.

Romans 8:28-29

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

One of the problems of this doctrine is that it makes God out to be a liar when he says anyone can choose to follow him, and if we choose him, he will bless us both now and in eternity. Secondly, using Rom:28-29 to support this doctrine fails to look at the context. Paul is referring to people who are living according to God’s purpose, not our own, and they are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Our predestination is about our calling to become like Jesus “NOT” predestined about our future. It is easy to twist scripture when failing to look at the objective and context.

Another verse of scripture about predestination used by many to justify God choosing us before the foundation of the world comes from individuals having a calling before they were born. Unfortunately, they fail to read or acknowledge that the purpose God set before the foundation of the world was about “HOLINESS” to walk in a blameless way with God and thus our adoption is based on what John wrote about a person’s adoption as God’s children.

John 1:11-12

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Ephesians 1:4-5

Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

Lastly, Paul writes in the book of Ephesians about being predestined according to God’s purpose, not being predestined to or for individuals desires. When Paul uses the word predestination it’s always in reference to God’s purpose, not according to some notion of election regardless of our choices. God, throughout the scripture from Genesis to Revelation, is calling man to choose rightly with the promise of blessing and if we choose wrongly the results are punishment and sorrow.

Ephesians 1:11

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

Starting with Adam and Eve, God creates mankind with the potential to make choices, either good or bad, either constructive or destructive. Adam and Eve chose poorly and they suffered for it.  You would think their children would take stock in their mistakes and learn to make right choices. Abel made the right choice and honored God and Cain did not, which resulted in him killing his brother. Here is what God says to Cain when he is so mad and ready to do something so stupid it will cost him for the rest of his life.

Genesis 4:5-7

God did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the LORD said to Cain,

“Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

God posed to Cain that he was in charge of his future, either good or bad. He challenged him that if his feelings rule in his life he is in trouble and if he listens to God he will be blessed. Throughout scripture, God says the same thing. Our choices set our course, not some notion of being predestined outside of our choices.

God puts great value on our choices. He doesn’t make us choose, he lets us choose. Real love cannot be forced and thus God gave us the potential of choosing to love or hate. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can’t do anything about your future because God says otherwise. He says you have the power to make the future we want. Remember the enemies plan for us.

John 10:10

The thief ( Satan ) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Satan wants to steal our future and to kill any hope of redeeming it, thus destroying our faith in God for change. Remember Jeremiah’s prophetic words to rebellious Israel, who went into captivity because they chose poorly. These were the people of God and yet they did not inherit God’s blessing but his curse.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you and you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

It is better to listen to God’s own words than to listen to theologians who don’t seem to read scripture as it was meant to be read and understood. Your choices mean a great deal to God and they should mean a great deal to us as well.

Questions:

1) Have you believed the lie that people are predestined to heaven and hell regardless of their choices? Study the word of God yourself and discover how important your choices are.

2) Have you bought into the lie that once you’re saved you can never get unsaved? Ask yourself what salvation is about. Is it about letting us live like fools or like Christ?

Loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength,

Pastor Dale

If there is anything I have learned from being a believer with a bad past and pastoring people who have a past of brokenness and bad decisions, it is that we often mistakenly carry our past failures and mistakes into our Christian experience. With the extra baggage our transformation slows to a crawl, or only lasts for a short time.

Now, to be sure, I believe Christ changes us from the inside out. But we tend, if not always, to take with us some of our brokenness into this new life, often without realizing it. I can’t tell you all the lives I have encountered that struggle with things of their past that they never really got over even though they are bible believing Christians who read scripture regularly.

The question is: why would we contaminate our new lives in Christ with our past mistakes and woundedness? Let me say at the outset that many of these broken things in our lives are because we are ignorant of God’s truth about them, and because we refuse to identify them and own up to our need for change. A case in point is how many Christians have you met who believe in horoscopes and follow them, even after becoming a believer? How many Christians can’t seem to break their addictions they brought into their Christianity? There are so many cases in which people genuinely believe in Christ and yet stumble with their refusal to give up baggage from the past, and they think they can keep these things hidden from those around then when in fact people see the baggage of brokenness in us, they just don’t bring them up to us personally.

There is a story in the book of Acts that defines such a person who carried wrong motives and baggage that were logged in his heart even though he accepted Christ and was baptized. Some will try to make this man out as not being truly born again, but if we read scripture honestly without coloring it for our own comfort we will see the truth that he was born again but still brought the baggage of pride and witchcraft with him.

Acts 8:9 & 12-13

Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;

But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.

The problem with Simon was that he was captivated by the adulation and praise of people. His baggage was pride and praise mixed with his addiction to witchcraft, and he brought these addictions into his relationship with Christ. None of us come to Christ without some hindrances towards transformation. It takes time and humility to expose and overcome these hundrances.

Acts 8:9-10

Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, This man is what is called the Great Power of God.

God has designed victory for everyone who accepts Christ, along with the power of three major elements to overcome the baggage we bring into our life in Christ. Here is the catch: it doesn’t happen automatically. They must be applied regularly and together. They are Scripture, Discipleship and the Holy Spirit. If any one of these, or all of them, are not applied regularly we most likely will become imprisoned and trapped in the addictions of our past again. Too often these assets of victory are underutilized because of the lack of sound teaching in the local church.

In Simon’s case he was so consumed with the tools of his former life that he could not get past the addiction to them. Christ does not reject us because of our baggage, but the road to recovery and wholeness will be harder, if not impossible, when we cling to such baggage. Simon just couldn’t resist his old ways and tried to bribe Peter for the power he had.

Acts 8:18-20

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!”

Getting saved and growing in Christ takes having the formula of real God-inspired discipleship, regular reading of the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to work properly. Not giving up our old baggage often cripples us, even though we have experienced Christ’s love and forgiveness.

In Psalms 119:105 it states that God’s word is a lamp or light to our path but if we are not letting the revelation of God’s word reveal the path before us we stumble.

Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 that we are to go into the world and make disciples. He didn’t say build church buildings and teach sermons. We so often replace real one-on-one discipleship for sermons. Is there any wonder, then, that the average Christian has a spiritually stunted growth in God?

Jesus said in John 14:26 the Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us of what Jesus said. Without this help we are forced to figure out this Christian life on our own and we all have seen how that turns out.

God will expose the baggage we are either ignorant of or unwilling to give up simply because he loves us and wants the best for us. One of the ways he does this is by equipping the body of Christ so that through the gifts of the Holy Spirit these things can be revealed: like a word of knowledge, a word of wisdom or prophetic utterance. But if we, and those around us, are not led by and inspired by the Holy Spirit we walk in the dark, even though we have God’s word.

My advice is to bring your baggage, no matter how small or large, to the Lord and let him deliver you. Forcing God to confront us is far more painful. Let the love of God through the Word, discipleship and the Holy Spirit set you free from the past and keep you free.

Questions:

1) As you grow in God and his word are you being disciple? If not, why not? Don’t be like Simon who got saved and was still bound to his past.

2) Have you approached a person who is more mature than you are to ask them to disciple you? Make yourself vulnerable and be honest with a brother or sister who has demonstrated maturity, and ask them for help.

Pastor Dale

These days very few writers talk about the fear of the Lord because I think that they probably don’t understand the topic from God’s perspective in the scripture and because they think it is only an Old Testament concept which is outdated because Jesus came. So, is the topic useful to those who believe in Jesus or is it an outdated concept for Bible believing Christians?

People are born with an innate desire to build relationships and friendships. God made us to be “Social Creatures.” But, what happens if we encounter bad relationships or friendships? These bad encounters can, and often do, hinder our willingness to be open and transparent with people which is a building block in cultivating future relationships. This includes building a healthy friendship with God.

In the first article on healing I talked in great detail about God designing our bodies to self heal and without that design no doctors or medicines would be able to heal us. Secondly, I talked about being in harmony with God in order for his additional blessing in our healing process.  Many Christians today have been taught to confess that they are healed when they are walking contrary to how God intended. Confession is a positive element in healing as long as we are walking as God intended. If you have not read the first article, I suggest you do so because I laid out a foundation for how I will proceed with this topic. 

This is the third article on myths we believe in. If you have not read the first two, please read them first to understand why I am calling these topics myths. When Christians read the scriptures we take our cues about how to understand what God is saying from so called “Intelligent” people who claim they know Greek and Hebrew words and sentence structure. But, have we been brainwashed to believe false ideas about what God is saying? History is not always right, especially when it comes to scripture. 

When you listen to many in the Christian community who profess they believe the Bible is the word of God and the ultimate authority in their lives you might want to dig a little deeper to see if that is in fact the truth or if  what they really mean is they support their Christian doctrine with their particular slant.  There are many who profess they believe that scripture is the final word in their lives when it is not.