Concert review
This past Fridy the 12th of September I hosted a concert at my church with Spoken, The Red Airplanes, Ilia, and One Minute Halo. Unfortunatly, Ilia’s van broke down in Las Vegas and they were unable to make it. As some of you may know, I was previously working with someone here in town to bring concerts to town but that person has recently fallen off of the face of the planet. After a failed attempt to get a concert here by myself, I figured that God was telling me I was not called to do this. Then about three weeks ago, I get a call from Extreme Faith Productions who says they have a completly set up show and all I have to do is arrange the venue.
What is your Deepest Desire?
I was listening to a sermon by Mark Driscoll and he made a very interesting point. He said that when he is counceling someone, he asks them to go and think about what their deepest desire is. He says it is either to love and serve Jesus thus following what He says or to follow what ever you wish thus following the flesh.
What is your deepest desire? Do you want to serve Christ whith your whole heart thus mending relationships and repenting of sin or do you want to follow the desires of your flesh? If you think that you can follow the flesh the flesh and still be saved you are sorly mistaken. There can only be one deep desire of your heart and there is a destination tied to each desire. If you choose to trust, love, and follow Christ, your destination is Heaven. If you choose to follow your flesh, your destination is Hell.
God bless,
Anthony
Is the Trinity Real/Provable and is it Important Doctrine?
I just recently began re-reading the Gospels and noticed something fairly profound. I have read the book of Matthew and the rest of the Gospels multiple times but have never really stopped to think about the scriptures as I read them. I am reading the Bible on a program called e-Sword, which is a program that contains multiple versions of the Bible (Including Greek and Hebrew for those scholars out there) as well a great commentaries from scholars like Westley and Barnes. It also has dictionaries/ concordances to help with those unfamiliar words. The program is free but you have to download some of the versions, commentaries and dictionaries separately (most of which are free including NIV, ESV, NKJV). By reading my Bible through e-Sword, I am able to read the scriptures as well as see the commentary for those scriptures.
I read Matthew chapter 3 today and got to the part where John the Baptist Baptized Jesus. I have read this chapter hundreds of times and heard dozens of sermons on it but never got a profound meaning from it. The particular scripture I am talking about is: (Mat 3:16 ESV) And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
Now I knew the importance of the scripture but I did not fully understand what was happening in the scripture but not to its fullist extent. According to the Clarke commentary: “This passage affords no mean proof of the doctrine of the Trinity. That three distinct persons are here, represented, there can be no dispute.
1. The person of Jesus Christ, baptized by John in Jordan.
2. The person of the Holy Ghost in a bodily shape, (???????? ?????, Luk_3:22) like a dove.
3. The person of the Father; a voice came out of heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, etc.
The voice is here represented as proceeding from a different place to that in which the persons of the Son and Holy Spirit were manifested; and merely, I think, more forcibly to mark this Divine personality.” This seems to prove the existence of the Trinity as in this one scripture, God reveals to us all three form of the Trinity at once. There are some “Christians” who do not believe in the Trinity, these people are know as modalists. Modalists are unable to explain or account for the events in this scripture as well as more than 70 other passages according to basictheology.com.
To answer my question in the title, yes the Trinity is provable and not only is it important doctrine, I believe it is essential doctrine. Modalism is heresy thus modalist are not Christians. Some popular modalists in Christianity are the musical group Phillips, Craig, and Dean as well as well known and praised Bishop T.D. Jakes. This is an excerpt from the Enquirer’s Handbook that I took from the blog Sweet Tea & Theology: “Since the death of John and the other eleven original apostles, many concepts and teachings have arisen that do not necessarily coincide with the “one God” teaching of the early church. In the year A.D. 180, Tertullian began using the term “trinity” from which was born the Catholic doctrine of three Gods, co-equal, co-existent and co-eternal. The Roman Emperor Constantine in the year A.D. 325 incorporated the “doctrine of the trinity” into the Catholic Church where it has remained ever since, and most Protestant churches have accepted this doctrine without thorough examination. The “trinity”, however, generates confusion and is not in total harmony with the Scriptures. To say that there are three separate persons who somehow comprise “one God” is like trying to connect opposing sides of two magnets. When you add 1+1+1, it must equal three; and there cannot, under any circumstances, be more than one God.”
To think that God must operate under our laws is absurd. God never dictated mathematics to us thus the rules of math are man made and man followed. I find it interesting that Churches that hold the belief in the Trinity are not diligent in finding out who holds this heretical thought. Thousands of men from thousands of Churches have gone to the promise keepers conferences and heard T.D. Jakes preach. Jakes is revealed as a great pastor among many churches yet he hold this idiotic belief. I would not endorse, listen to, or attend any program or service that T.D. Jakes or Phillips, Craig, and Dean endorse, speak at or are endorsed by. If they hold one heresy how more likly is it that they have more.
I hope I was helpful and that you may be a little more clear on the existence of the Trinity and the importance of the doctrine. As Christians we are to be vigilant into the things we are taught and who we are taught by. When you are going to have a speaker or attend a meeting with speakers you are unfamiliar with, research them to find out if they hold true Christian beliefs.
God bless,
Anthony
How do we Reach This Generation?
As some may know, during the first week of August Reno hosts Hot August Nights ( a classic car show that pretty much over runs the city). During this week thousands of locals and tourists fill the streets and parking lots of downtown sparks and reno and their various hotels. I happen to love this week so I have been out walking around a few times. Downtown sparks is the local teen hang out spot during this week. While I was walking around, I started thinking about all the teens and why they were there. Most teenagers don’t really care about the cars they are just there to socialize. The question that was running through my head was how do we reach this generation of kids who sees profanity and promiscuity as fun.
Obviously we cannot change the Gospel, but is there a way to change the delivery method so teens will listen? We still need to tell this generation that Hell does exist and that they need to be saved. I am just not sure what the most effective way to do that is. Some ideas are the entertainment outreaches such as concerts/ festavals and the like but are we reaching them or just keeping them occupied. Then there is the street ministry ala Way of the Master (which I have used and works on occasion) but is it to much info too fast thus overwhelming the person. There is simply inviting strangers (and friends) to youth nights but you may only get transplants from other churches. Don’t get me wrong, all these ways are effective and I have used and use them all but the question is which is the most effective?
What do you think? How can we reach this generation of sex obcessed teens? I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. I think ministries sharing what works is great.
God bless,
Anthony
You like Pepsi, I like Coke. I’m a Christian, Your a Muslim.
My last post got me thinking about something the Imam said on the show. He said that when he prays to Allah and Muhammad, and we pray to Jesus we are really praying to the same god. While this has always seemed absurd to me it has puzzled me why people would actually believe it. In essence, we are equating religion to a cosmic soda choice.
When choosing a soda, you have a preference (Coke, Pepsi, Dr. pepper) but you don’t deny that they others are soda. Have we really boiled our eternity down to the same process as choosing a soda?
The fact of the matter is that there is only one way to God and His name is Jesus Christ. You cannot call on Buddha, Allah, and other false gods and you will not reach God.
It is funny to me that “Christians” can join with these other religions and have joint prayer services. They are denying the Bible and Jesus’ words the He is the only way, only truth and only life. I would even go so far to say that when you participate in such a service, you are deceiving others into thinking they can get into Heaven by serving their god.
So next time you hear someone degrading the majesty of Christ to the difference between root beer and dr. pepper correct them and share the one true Gospel.
God bless,
Anthony
What we Can Learn From Extreme Religions
Recently I was watching a program called 30 days. The point of the show is a person spends 30 days in someone elses shoes. some of the episodes are 30 days in jail, ” ” living off of minimum wage, ” ” as a coal worker and various other things. But one particular episode stuck out to me and was very interesting. The episode was 30 days as a Muslim. The person was to spend 30 full days in a Muslim community in Michigan and was to read the Koran and observe the 5 daily prayers (he didn’t have to pray just had to observe them) as well as eat to the Muslim customs and attend the Friday weekly prayer at the mosque. At one point the Imam of the local mosque told to man the be it Jesus or Allah you are praying to the same god (obviously not true BTW). The show got me thinking about the extreme religions of the world and how devoted their followers are and I think there is something Christians can learn about raising kids and discipling from these religions.
When raising children I think it is important for a child to see their parents completely sold out to Christ and willing to serve Him over all. This seems to be the key the extreme religions have to raising kids to become part of their faith. If a parent doesn’t 100% believe and trust in what he/she is teaching their child the child will never believe it either. One example is prayer. In the Muslim faith, children are raised to pray 5 times daily with their family and are held to it. It’s a miracle if a Christian child prays with his parents once a week at home (blessing the meals doesn’t count).
Another important part of getting children and teens to be committed to the faith of their parents is to see sacrifice. Sacrifice shows that you believe in God enough to inconvenience your self to further His work (be it physically, time wise or financially). Those in Extreme religions give their all to their faith. The Amish give up all the modern comforts of life to because they think it makes them holy. Most Christians won’t give up their Starbucks. Some parents expect to teach their children sacrifice by making them give an offering while never showing their children by example. I think that children should know about their parents giving and tithes because even though parents may do it, the kids may not know. Radical Muslims give their lives in suicide bombings for their religion. Christians won’t even wake up an hour early to pray and read their Bible.
I do not claim to be a parenting expert, which would be silly seeing that I have no children (or a wife for that matter) nor am I saying that i think parents are doing a bad job. I do think however, that as parents and as a church (who should back parents) we are missing something in keeping our kids in church once they turn 18. I have lived and grown up in two different states and I can only think of a few Christians kids I grew up with that are still serving Christ.
Above all, preach the Gospel to your children and never stop praying for them. I don’t know how many times I have heard stories of parents praying for their children for years and years and finally seeing a breakthrough after a long, rough road.
What do you think we can learn from these extreme religions? What do you think about the notion of including the children in the offering and tithing process?
God bless,
Anthony
Selfless or Selfish?
At my churches Bible study earlier this week, my pastor had a thought provoking question. If you had access to a machine that would transport you to Heaven instantly for the rest of eternity would you leave now?
What was your first reaction to the question?
If you are anything like me, you probably said show me the door but then Pastor said “What about all the people that aren’t saved?”
After hearing the question, a couple of the people in the row behind me began murmuring things such as “I’m sorry but someone else can witness to them”, “There will always be lost souls so I would just go”.
What if every Christian said that? Who would witness? Would you stay if all the other Christians left?
As Christians, we are called to be selfless. That means preaching the Gospel till you drop. If you cut out because life was getting hard is that being selfless?
While the concept may be extreme, this brings to light a very common sentiment among Christians. Some Christians may share the Gospel for a while and then decided that they have done enough. Others never preach the Gospel at all. This is a selfish way to live. As Christians, we hold the Truth and it is our job to share it with those in darkness. If we hold the truth, shouldn’t we want to tell every person possible about it.
If you preach the Gospel, you will most likely not be the most popular and you may offend some but I think I would rather offend some to Heaven rather than comfort them to Hell.
We are to preach the gospel to all nations (Mar 13:10, Mat 28:19). In order to reach all we need to give our whole life not just until it gets old.
God bless,
Anthony
Somthing to do with Jesus
tWhile at Aquire the Fire, I purchased a bracelet for the 2CJC campaign. It stands for To See Jesus Christ as well as Second Coming of Jesus Christ . It is meant to serve as a witnessing tool (meaning one) as well as a reminder to Christians the Christ is coming so we need to witness. I wear this practically all the time and everywhere and get asked about it often. While at work, I was asked about the bracelet to which I explained the meaning. The girls reply was “oh, I figured it has something to do with Jesus”.
I began thinking about the seemingly unimportant response and have come to realize something. Our live are supposed to just be a bunch of somethings to do with Jesus but rather every thing in life should be for and about Jesus. Jesus is the reason I live. He saved and changed me. The least I could do is give Him my entire life. It may not be an easy task but it is something to strive for.
God bless,
Anthony
What are you Thinking About Right Now?
What are you thinking about right now? Depending on when you are reading this it could be about what you have to do for the day or winding down from a day. It could be planning your weekends activities or homework you need to do.
When was the last time you thought about Jesus or what He has do in/to your life? Sometimes I find myself taking for granted all the things Christ has done for me. Rather than thanking Him for a roof over my head, I mutter to myself that I wish I could afford a better apartment.
All throughout the day we should be thinking of Christ and what He has done and what He wants to do. If we fail to have Him in our thoughts we could become occupied with the hustle and bustle of the day and miss a blessing or evangelism opportunity.
I strive to allways be thinking of the things of God be it the Bible, blessings He has given me, and what I can do for Him.
Once we realize that our day is another way to worship Christ, our day to day life is transformed and even the most monotonous things have purpose.
God bless,
Anthony
Is your Bible Filter on?
I recently went to Acquire the Fire in Sacramento. It was fairly enjoyable but while there, I made an interesting observation. Too often, people take everything a preacher says as the word of God. It is important to remember that you are not hearing the word of God but rather hearing the explanation of the word of God. The difference has to be noted because its possible to take everything a person says as infallible simply because they are speaking about the Word.
When I looked around at all the kids that filled the ARCO arena, I noticed that there was only about half (if not less) that had a Bible and even fewer who had it open to read the scripture being used. When I examined a scripture that was used, I found that it was severely twisted and taken out of context. If I had not had my Bible open following along, I would have never caught it and would have just taken the preachers word for it. I think thats a big problem. We are called to check everything we hear or see with the Word of God and that includes sermons. Too often people put trust in man and expect him to get it right every time. It may not be intentional but sometimes a person may misuse a portion of scripture and as Christians we must protect ourselves from being misled by false use of scripture.
We must filter every thing we hear preached through the Bible or we have a high chance of being led astray.
Please take this as a admonition to guard yourselves through the word and study so you can be prepared to sift through everything you encounter.
God bless,
Anthony
