Learning discipleship

Just wanted to share something that resonated big time in my heart and mind out of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship.

"The only man who has the right to say that he his justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ. Such a man knows that the call is inseparable from the grace."

There is a higher calling than what many church folk are settling for today. 

You're Made In God's Image

St. Paul wrote in Ephesians about putting on the Armour of God in vss. 11-18:

¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

¹⁵ And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶ Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

¹⁸ Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 I wanted to share with y'all that when he wrote this Rome was the reigning power and he most likely was describing what would've been familiar to the Church at Ephesus - the uni of a Roman Soldier.... Of course helmets were part of their garb and the Apostle included this critical part of the soldier's defence. He tells all of us to don the Helmet of Salvation. Below is a pic of a typical Roman Soldier helmet; notice the lack of a face shield like the ones we'd see on an English Knight's helmet. Ok, with that in mind think back to when the Jews brought a coin to Jesus and asked if they have to pay taxes. What was Jesus's response? He asked who's image was on the coin. They said Ceaser's. Then Jesus told them to render what was Ceaser's to Ceaser, and what was God's to God. Right? Mark 12 vss.13-17

¹³ And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.

¹⁴ And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?

¹⁵ Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.

¹⁶ And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.

¹⁷ And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him.

 Here's my point: In who's image are you? God made us in His image. Genesis 1:26

²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

For those of us who are Christian, when we Armour up, remember our face is showing - God's image. Right? So if Christ dwells in us (Col. 1:27) we ought never walk about with a sulky or angry or mean or any other negative countenance; but one that reflects the Joy of the Lord; and of Peace and Love. Amen? He is our Light, so let your Light shine!

Liberty and Service

Odd that I would find true Liberty only as a slave to the One who bought me.

If you want the "Then"...do the "If"

2nd Chronicles Chapter 7, verse 14

14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from my wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

If you want the “...THEN will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." Do the “IF my people which are called by my name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways..." because you can't get the “then" without doing the “if".
Simple, huh? Grace and peace be unto you. Soli Deo Gloria

Redeemed Outreach Center prayer request October 1, 2014

Please pray for Redeemed Outreach Center in Phoenix, Az. as we continue to do our Kingdom-se... - http://ins.pr/pVCxrLbJsGcIGAApm #instapray

A Spin on the Lord's Prayer

Hey everbody! I hope you all had an awesome service in church today! I know I did. Todays post is about a thought that came to me as we sang a worship song which had been written based off the Lord's Prayer found in the Gospels according to both St. Matthew and St. Luke. For this post this from Matthew 6:9-!3

9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which aet in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

What I want for us to look at specifically is verse 10. The Kingdom come. Thy will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven. Notice how the Holy Ghost had Apostle Matthew write "Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,"? What did He (the Holy Ghost) mean by "in" Earth? He did not use the word "on" so as to say "on Earth", nor did He use the word "World", so as to say "in the World". So what did He mean. The truth is I do not know except in the manner it has traditionally been taught; in means on.

Now, let us shift to a familiar parable, the Parable of the Sower. In this parable Jesus likens the soils on which the Sower spreads his seed to our hearts. Correct? Okay, now allow me to ask a question. How many times have you said or heard a statement concerning "Head-knowledge"? Or, in other words, where we know in our minds who Jesus is, what the Bible says, about different doctrines and so on, but you or someone you know admits they do not, or did not, have Christ in their hearts? (I pray the latter is the case and since have come to Christ!)

With that in mind let's go back to Matt 6:10, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Replace the word "Earth" with Jesus's soil reference to our hearts, and "Heaven" with my head-knowledge reference. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in our hearts, as it is in our minds. this goes right to what is written in the Epistle of St. James in chapter 1 verse 22, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only," because of  what the Bible says Jesus told His Disciples "If ye love me, keep my commandments." You see how it points right back to our heart? We love from the heart. It is written in Ez 36:26, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away your stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." There is another earthy reference to our hearts, but this time it's hearts of stone. God also tells us what His will is: to completely remove the stony heart and replace it with a heart of flesh. Also, with Nicodemus, Jesus alludes to him having Head-knowledge in John 3:10 "Jesus answered and said unto him (Nicodemus), art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" Nicodemus was a "Master", a teacher who may have been the equivalent of a Ph.D or like an Harvard professor, who had all sorts of knowledge and perhaps should've been one of Christ's Disciples. Except he lacked one (major) thing, Heart-knowledge. It was hardened to the Spiritual.

Anyway, I'm going to wrap this up by saying we may be able to look at this prayer example in a different perspective. I do not know if this is an acceptable example to be taught but hey, it's out of the box and, I believe, it kinda works. ("Kinda" is not a Theological term, I'm sure.) I do hope it was, at worst, a fun read; and, at best, the Holy Ghost uses it for His purposes.

In Christ's Peace, Joseph

Kim Walker "Fill Me Up"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWCgyMaWcDs&feature=youtube_gdata_player