Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving to God is a celebration of praise for his Devine goodness. Therefor Psalm 100 says, enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, his mercy, his steadfast love is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations.

Our God is forever faithful to his word. Therefore Thessalonians says, Rejoice Evermore. Pray without ceasing, In everything give thanks. Keeping an attitude fo gratitude is to pray without ceasing and in everything to give thanks. We’re thankful not for who we are but because who he is. It’s not thankfulness for the blessings but for the Blessor. For he alone is worthy…

Sin springs from an ungrateful heart. According to Romans 1, there are two primary sins: First, even though they knew God they did not honor him. Honoring God is to obey him from a heart of love, bowing down in humble awe and adoration for his goodness, mercy, grace and love. For Everything we are and everything we have, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights in whom there is no darkness or shadow of turning. Second, neither were (they) thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Psalm 139 is a Psalm of awe and honor for who God is and for all he has done to bless us exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think. The ultimate blessing is in the Lord himself. Even in David’s affliction, he praised the Lord for his goodness. Afflictions, and tribulation are trials to prove us and reprove us to reveal his true character in us… so that we can learn his commandment. Through the refining fire of God’s crucible and his furnace, he will burn away the dross to reveal his true character within us. For tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

There is a civil war raging in every culture and in every human heart. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to the other so that I cannot do the things that I would. Who shall deliver me from this dead body? The answer is in Romans 8. For there is therefore now no comdemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death.

To put to death the nature of the flesh, this dead body we inherited from Adam, walk in the light as He is in the light and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The light of Christ is the disinfectant, the cleansing power, and the antiseptic to deliver us from the body of this death.

Success in the eyes of the Lord are the opposite of the world’s definition of success. Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn over sin and the nature of unrighteousness, those who are humble and meek to acknowledge that God only knows that which is good. Blessed are the downtrodden, the persecuted, and the slandered… Jesus said, blessed are they when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven.

The little book of Philemon is a letter of encouragement and joy. Philemon was a rich man who helped the church. He had many servants and bond slaves. One of his slaves Onisemus had run away and had fled to Rome. There he met Paul who discipled him as a brother in Christ. Paul wrote a letter to Philemon to receive him back as a fellow Christian brother. He wrote, I’m encouraged because I know you have refreshed the brothers in Christ.

As brothers within the body of Christ, our job is to refresh others… to edify, to comfort and to encourage one another in love…

The lyrics to the poem “Do It Now” by Berton Bradley are on-point:

If with pleasure you are viewing
any work a man is doing,
If you like him or you love him,
tell him now;
Don’t withhold your approbation
till the parson makes oration
And he lies with snowy lilies on his brow;
No matter how you shout it
he won’t really care about it;
He won’t know how many teardrops you have shed;
If you think some praise is due him
now’s the time to slip it to him,
For he cannot read his tombstone when he’s dead.
More than fame and more than money
is the comment kind and sunny
And the hearty, warm approval of a friend.
For it gives to life a savor,
and it makes you stronger, braver,
And it gives you heart and spirit to the end;
If he earns your praise – bestow it,
if you like him let him know it,
Let the words of true encouragement be said;

Do not wait till life is over
and he’s underneath the clover,
For he cannot read his tombstone when he’s dead.

A refreshing word of encouragement and thankfulness is a reflection of the love of God….

… that with a thankful heart, we may edify one another as members of the body of Christ to the praise of the glory of God’s grace..

Your brother in Christ,
Michael

First Love

1 John 4:19 says, “We love him, because he first loved us.” For in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Without God’s having loved us first, we would not have the capacity to love him in return. God was the prime mover. He loved us not because of who we are but because of who He is. For God is love and in him there is no darkness at all.

The sermon on the mount began with Jesus’ teaching the multitude about the way to the kingdom of heaven, to put God first by loving Him above all. Approaching the Lord begins with a heart of meekness and humility. When we approach His throne with a broken and a contrite heart realizing we are poor, lacking in the spirit of God and mourning over the sin that has separated our heart from His heart, he will fill us with his Holy Spirit and comfort us with the comfort of his spirit.

The people had never heard a message like this. They had been to the synagogues and to the temple and listened to the teachers, scribes and Pharisees. However, unlike the religious leaders, Jesus did not speak with great swelling words of vanity, but in the power and authority of God’s spirit. He laid bare the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. They misrepresented the path of righteousness by telling the people that they were justified by their own good works. Jesus said, they have their reward…. their reward is of men but not of God.

Jesus Contrasted the teachings of the religious leaders with the truth of the authority of the word of God. Six times, Jesus said, You have heard…. but I say unto you. He exposed and explained the false teachings of the religious leaders. Jesus said, You have heard it said that you should hate your enemies but I say unto you, love your enemies and do good unto those who persecute you and despitefully use you. If the law requires you to carry a Roman soldier’s pack one mile, then go a second mile. The first mile is of obligation, the second mile is motivated by the love of God to serve others from a heart of Love.

The Pharisees said, how can anything good come out of Nazareth? They did not understand Jesus’ message of salvation and redemption by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. They were blind and could not see from a spiritual perspective because they did not have the spirit of God to see and perceive the truth of the Word of God. They were blinded by their own pride and by their conviction that they were right in their own self righteousness. They thought they were the only ones deserving of righteousness by keeping their interpretation of the Old Testament Law and that they alone were deserving of righteousness. They thought everyone else was guilty of condemnation and death.

Jesus said, Unless your righteousness is above the righteousness of the Pharisees, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. The Pharisees thought they were righteous and that Jesus was not. They railed against Jesus for ministering to sinners, the downcast, down trodden and destitute of this world. Jesus said, I have not come to minster to those who think they are healthy but to those who know they are sick and in need of God’s healing wholeness.

We are in the midst of a spiritual battle. In the Old Testament the enemies of Israel represented sin and the contamination of the wickedness and evil of this fallen world. The Amelikites were the enemies of God’s chosen people who worshipped the wrong god. God said through his prophet Samuel to Saul the king of Israel, “You need to eliminate and utterly destroy the Amelikites. You need to purge the evil from this land in order for God’s righteousness to prevail.”

However, Saul preserved the king of the Amelikites and the best of the cattle and sheep. This was a sign of the downfall of Saul’s reign as king over Israel for disobeying God’s commandment.

Jesus himself came to inspire and convict those who are called to a different way of life. He gave them a different standard of righteousness. In Matthew 5:20 and following Jesus said, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. 21. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill (commit murder); and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22. But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

We need to be right with our brother before we can be right with God. If you claim to love your brother whom you have seen and yet keep resentment against him, how can you love God whom you have not seen? In order to approach God’s throne of grace, then com with clean hands and a clean heart. This means to reconcile with your brother and your neighbor to come to God with a heart free from guile and vindictiveness. Then when we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When our vertical relationship with God is aligned, as we walk in the light of Christ as he is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ will (continue to) cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus emphasized the spirit of the law instead of the letter of the law. Living the beatitudes… to love your wife and to forgive others is to forsake worldly attitudes… to give up a spirit of anger, strife, contention, vindictiveness, and resentment. Instead we reconcile our hearts with God’s heart with meekness and humility… with a broken heart mourning over the sin nature that has separated our souls from God’s Holy Spirit. When we ask God for forgiveness God cleanses our hearts by the of the blood of Christ, for he is our perfect sacrifice for sin, having shed his innocent blood in exchange for our guilty blood. Then we can walk in the newness of the spirit of life in Christ.

Samuel said, God doesn’t want your sacrifice at the altar… he wants your heart. He wants us to bow our hearts in humble adoration before we bow the knee. The object of prayer is to align my heart with God’s heart. As Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will but thine be done.”

David prayed in Psalm 51 after having committed adultery with Bathsheba and then murdering her husband Uriah to cover up the adultery: “God, against you and you only have I sinned. Create in me a new heart O Lord and cleanse me from all unrighteousness.” A broken and a contrite heart is the beginning of confession and reconciliation. In order to forsake sin, we need to recognize the sin that doth so easily beset us. Then we can come to our Father with a broken heart of meekness and humility. As David prayed, “Be merciful unto me O Lord according to your infinite mercy and loving kindness, blot out my transgressions.”

Who pursued whom? Did we seek God or did he seek us? God himself was the prime mover. For In that while we were yet sinners, Chrsit died for the ungodly. God has called us from a wold of sin and iniquity into the glorious light of the gospel of truth. Before the foundation of the world he chose us and elected us to be the holy and without blame before him in love. This is amazing grace… this is unfailing love. For Christ came not into the world to condemn the world but that they world through him might be saved.

Jesus said… A new commandment give I you… that you should love each other as I have loved you…

… that we may ever live together in fellowship with Him to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

True Righteousness

In the series The Chosen, Jesus said to Matthew as he was working on the sermon on the mount, “I’m showing the multitude about a pattern of how to follow in the paths of righteousness.” The steps of following the Lord are progressive as we draw our steps and our hearts closer to him.

The fourth beatitude says, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. A hunger for God’s righteousness is an acquired taste. God gives us a hunger for the things of God’s righteousness after we realize that without God we are poor in spirt. Then in humility and meekness seeking the things of the spirit we can embrace Jesus’ next beatitude… blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that we are called of God and that he has given us the hunger and thirst for his Word and His righteousness.

Jesus said, blessed are the pure in heart…. those whose heart God has purified through the fire of trials and the crucible of tribulation. His deliverance is through the fire, by the fire or in the fire. God reveals his character in us after we have been purified by his refining fire. Therefore blessed are they when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you fralsely for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven. For the momentary sufferings of this present time are not sufficient to be compared to the glory that shall follow. His Character in us is revealed through these trials of proving and reproving… Our character is in the purity of the spirit of Christ in us the hope of glory.

Jesus came to deliver the message of God’s word to those whom God called… those whom God has filled with a hunger for his truth. The religious leaders didn’t recognize the truth. The Pharisees, the leaders of the temple thought they were righteous in their own prideful behavior. They thought they were the only ones deserving of righteousness, and that righteousness was in their own self righteous behavior.

However, in order to come unto the Lord, we must first recognize that we’re sinners in need of a saviour. He came to rescue us from a sentence of condemnation and death. For Christ came not into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.

Jesus said of the Pharisees, they tie heavy burdens to the people, but they themselves do not do them. They do all of their deeds to be seen of men. For they broaden their phylacteries that hold the Bible verses they memorized as a show to others that they are “scriptural”. They show off their tassels on their robes to indicate that they are superior to the congregation. They do everything to show off that they are righteous and that everyone else cannot measure up to their righteous behavior. Theirs is a works-based salvation. They think they are righteous in their own power.

The doctrine of the Pharisees is based on shame, guilt and condemnation. They preach that the congregation is unworthy for having fallen short of the Old Testament Law of sin and death. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of the Lord.

However, Jesus came to deliver a message of God’s grace and mercy instead of the self righteousness of the Pharisees. The true gospel is based on God’s grace… his unmerited favor. It’s not because of how good we are but because of how good God is. Grace, mercy, love and forgiveness are not our nature but the nature of God himself.

Jesus said, woe unto you scribes, you hypocrites. You neglect the weightier things of the law: Justice, grace, and mercy. You clean the outside of the dish but inside is rottenness, filth, and putrification. Self righteousness results in decay, degradation, and death.

The Old Testament law was given to show Israel that they could not measure up to God’s righteous standard… that in my own flesh dwelleth no good thing. Jesus said, don’t wear the title of teacher or rabbi if this is your selfish badge of honor to raise up your position so that you can put others down. if you live for the praise of others, then you have your reward… Your reward is not of God but of men.

Jesus said, unless your righteousness is above the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Righteousness is not of men but of God. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Sin is to miss the mark… to separate our hearts from God’s heart. The solution to sin is to reconcile our hearts to God, but we cannot approach a holy God in our own so-called righteousness. There is only one way to reconcile with God… for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

The righteousness of Christ in us exceeds the self-righteousness of the Pharisees. Our righteousness is the righteousness of Christ who paid our debt of sin. Jesus said, come unto me all ye who are weary and are heavy laden (with the burdens of sin, guilt, shame, and death). Come unto me and I will give you rest (In the finished work of Christ.). For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. As we live in fellowship with Christ, he will uphold us with the power of the spirit of God.

In walking in the truth of the Word of God according to the spirit fo God in Christ in us, we will be witnesses of the truth. We will be a testimony of God’s grace, mercy, peace, and love as living testimonies to God’s righteousness… the righteousness of God in Christ in us…

… living epistles known and read of all men to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Pete McKenzie 0:08
Last time we were here we talked about your the salt of the earth. And we go into the Beatitudes. And once you get to the Beatitudes, the rest of the chapter five, and six, and seven are telling us this is how it works. This is how the lifestyle in My Kingdom works. And it’s really difficult for us to get a handle on lifestyle in his kingdom. It’s so different from the lifestyle that we’re used to that we grew up with the habits that we formed, the values that we had. And everything changes when you come to know Jesus Christ. Pay man’s in Christ, he’s a new creature, all that other stuff. That’s why all your plans, all your schemes, all your habits, of your hopes, everything changes when you come to know Christ. But it changes in a healthy way, when you’re doing the five things that we talked about up here that bill does every week. When you’ve decided to make Jesus Lord of your life, you see a lot more change in the God’s life, who when Jesus is Lord. When the guy is becoming a man of prayer, you see that guy, and thanks chanting. When men become prayer warriors, when you see men that are linking together with like minded men, like you got this morning, that they’re different guys. iron sharpens iron. so one man sharpens the wits of another, we need each other. You must never be the man of God, you can be or should be without other godly men in your life. Of course, our man code puts us on an island. And we have a hard time with that women don’t have a hard time with that. You get a tablecloth on the table and flowers and they’ll come. But you got to have doughnuts or guys. We don’t even have donut someone brought some breakfast goodies today, and we appreciate that. But you know, Jesus gets through saying, you know, you got to be poor in spirit. That’s the start. You got to understand you have nothing to offer God, you got to be desperate. And in your desperation, you got to mourn over your sin. We were talking yesterday in our team meeting, and we were having a little Bible study on confession and prayer. And we were talking about, you know, sometimes we are mourning over our sin. And we’re mourning not because we heard her God or disobeyed Him. But because we failed. And it’s very subtle and insidious. We make it about us. We’re sorry that we got caught. We’re sorry for the consequences of our sin. But we’re not sorry that we’ve sinned and broke God’s heart and violated his values. And I think we have to be very careful about that when it comes to mourning, and then the blessing of the humble and the meek. And that follows the important spirit in mourning. As you become humbled and make your learner you’re eager and hungry, to learn what it means to be right with God to be a man of God to be a mature Christian. So you hunger and thirst for righteousness. And then once you come through that door, and those four doors, three doors, you come to merciful. You’ve been showing mercy Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. But that sort of the pure in heart for they will see God bless it other peacemakers, for they should be called sons of God. And then after all that, he says, Now, that’s the road that you’re on. And here’s where it leads, but sort of those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness when men persecute you and say all kinds of men or people against you. Rejoice and be glad for that’s the way they did the prophets that came before you. I don’t know about seeing many guys that rejoice in persecution. But I think we have to understand that persecution, not because you hadn’t been vaccinated. But persecution, because you’ve been standing up for Christ. He said, Blessed are you when you’re persecuted for my namesake for the sake of righteousness. Not because you didn’t get vaccinated or you’re not following the rules. So you’re a complete jerk. And you get persecuted for those things, but that’s not what he’s talking about. He’s talking about now standing up for Christ living the life being the light of the world. And that’s what he said. After he said that being persecuted you’re the soft For the earth, it’s interesting to me, we talked about you the salt of the earth, but in any had a big butt. But

salt can lose its flavor. Salt can not be soft anymore. And when the salt loses its flavor, it’s good for nothing. You can’t use it for anything, except to be thrown on the ground and trampled underfoot by men. And it’s interesting to me went ahead when he said, now you’re the light of the world. And, and amazing that God would say, look at a guy like you and me and go, You’re the light of the world. The world the implication is the world is in darkness. I was in darkness before I came to know Christ. I didn’t know what it was up. I knew I was a sinner. No one had I went to a Baptist church we heard about sin every week, sin hell death in judgment, wrath to come. I didn’t know about grace. So I didn’t know what to do with sin and where to go with it. But I knew I was a sinner. I was in darkness stumbling around, not knowing how to overcome sin, where to go with it, what to do with it. And then I came to know Christ that came out of the darkness into the light. You’re the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. So the first thing he said when he said You’re the light of the world is Don’t hide your light. If you’re a light of the world, the light is supposed to give house light to everything in the house. You’re supposed to let your light shine, light is to be seen. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket. But on the lampstand and it gives light to all go in the house. So he gives a warning about salt. They said salt can become flavorless. And when you when you claim to be a Christian and you’re not salty. People make fun of you. They call you a hypocrite. They laugh, they mock for good reason. Because you’re a hypocrite. You’re claiming to be one thing, but you’re living like another thing. You’re backsliding. You lost your flavor. You respond to life the way everybody response. You don’t respond to life and life circumstances and the trials and the difficulties and the pain and the things that happened to us that losses. You’re not responding like a Christian, you’re not soft, making people wish and thirsty for what to have soft as a preservative. Then like, like to me hidden under a bushel basket. Your light needs to shine, he said don’t hide it under a basket that God’s entrusted you with light and that light has borrowed light. It’s gifted like it’s not a light that you had. It’s not like that you could have it’s not like you were born with. It’s not a light you earned or even learned. It’s a light that gave the Holy Spirit when Jesus opened your eyes and called you out of life in your chosen people, a royal priesthood of people from my own possession, that God has called you out of darkness into my marvelous light. And so it’s not a light that emanated from you. It does when you come to know Christ with His light. He came into the world, and he gave light to the world. And that was light of hope and grace and forgiveness. Because the world being in darkness was in misery. And that’s what darkness is. Darkness is ignorance. Darkness is thinking you’re wise but you’re not. Darkness is following the things in the world and you end up in a pile and all the promises haven’t worked. And nothing is working out. And so your light is supposed to be seen. But you know, none of this makes any sense about your the light of the world unless you’re understood. It’s about the gospel, sweat Bill set of men to go it’s about the gospel. You’re the gospel light of the world. You’re the good news light of the world.

People are lost, you know, philosophers have been able to look at life and history of life and civilizations. And they just see wars and more wars and brokenness. and misery in trials and difficulties and losses and hurts and pains. They see people hurting people. I see marriages break up and don’t work. They say evil, it’s done one man to another and, and they can analyze that. And they, it’s pretty easy to analyze evil, because you see it right before your very eyes. But what they can’t do is say where it come from. The world believes that man is basically good. If you believe man is basically good, you can’t figure out all the evil that goes on in the world. But if you understand that the Bible teaches that man is born with a sin, nature, All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And if I understand that I have a sin nature, then it’s no big strain for me to figure out that I’m the problem. That I have a sin problem. In that sin problem causes me to sin, to be selfish. Everything in life is about being selfish will make power for yourself. And that’s what’s going on in the world today. Men are just scrambling for power and do anything to get it run over anybody killed any baby in the womb. make up lies, breakdown cultures and marriages, education and median and all about power all about greed all about money. That’s the way it’s been. It’s always been that way. But if you believe that man is basically good, inherently good, then you’re confused. Why there’s so many broken marriages, why there’s so many kids on drugs, why they overdosing, why they committed suicide. Wow, these always have wars and rumors of wars. It’s because man is inherently evil. He has a sin nature. And that happened in the fall. So when Jesus says You’re the light of the world, it doesn’t make any sense. Unless you understand the gospel, the good news that God is calling me out of the darkness into His marvelous light. And he said, I’m using you to do that I’ve given you my light can you be entrusted with the light that I’ve given you? Are you nurturing that light in your life? Have you made me Lord of your life? Or your man of the word? Are you made a prayer? Are you like him together with men that are chasing after Christ? Are you committed to be in the light of the world and the gospel and the Great Commission? It begs all those questions to be the light of the world. I mean, how much of Jesus Do you have? Because you have as much of Jesus as you want, you’re as close to Jesus right now, as you want to be. And sometimes God has to break us. Sometimes God has to let us go. Let us go our own independent way. Let us see how smart we really are or not. Let us see how wise we are. Let us see what kind of choices we make and how that works out on our own. Left of myself, I’m set to self destruct. So the worlds in darkness. In John one, it says In him was life in the life was the light of men. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. He came to His own. And those who were His own did not receive him. But as many as did receive Him, to them, he gave the right to become children of God even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but born of God. Nicodemus, you must be born again. Nicodemus couldn’t figure it out. As a guy like this to do what he does, how does he do the miracles he does? How can you be the man that he is? So we came to him at night and said, I know that you must be a man of God because no one can do the things you’re doing. He’s not a man of God. And Jesus has turned around and cut to the chase a Nicodemus, you need to be born again. And Nicodemus was the Teacher of teachers with the Pharisees. He was the most well respected guy.

And he was in the dark. He couldn’t figure it out. He was in the works. He was in the doing things to gain favor with God. He was in the ritual and doctrine, legalism and he was really good at it. Not as good as Paul.

But he was good at it. But when he saw Jesus some stirred within him. He said, What can this man do this? This carpenter from

Nazareth, Nazareth was, like an Alabama take bread city. Bread city was not where you want to live. Now as Nazareth was the same way, and the answer, Can anything good come out of Nazareth. But look, what he’s doing is carpenter from Nazareth. And he got straightened out that night, because Jesus turned around and looked at Mark Twain guys and said, You must be born again, Nick edemas, I could not be born again go back in my mother’s womb, that makes no sense at all. born of the Spirit, now, the flesh, not the will of the flesh, but born of God, he must be born again, you need a new light, you need to be called out of the darkness into the light. You won’t understand unless you do. And so Christians understand things and see life from a point of view that the world doesn’t see. Because we’ve been called out of darkness into the light and the light came into the world, and the world hated it. So we’re in John three, the world would not receive it. The world hated the light. You know why? Cuz deeds are evil. If you’re called into the light, and that’s where he said, listen to you if you’re persecuted for my namesake, because when you’re walking in the light as He is in the light, men are gonna love you, they’re gonna hate you, some will admire you. But many will hate you. They want to put out the light. That’s what the devil does. He thought when he put Jesus on the cross. He thought it put out the light. When Jesus died, the light was out. What he didn’t know as Jesus was gonna be resurrected. And the light came out of the darkness of the tomb into the light of day and into men’s hearts. And he changed the world.

And that’s when John asked him he says, What are we gonna do? Peter?

said, what are we going to do do this and said, Follow me? What are we going to do? And he said, we’re going to change the world.

That’s what light does, it brings light into the darkness light is to be seen. I don’t know. But if you’ve ever noticed that in my house, if light come shining through the atrium, into the living room, and the thing it does is show me all the dust under the shows me all the dust underneath the cabinet shows me all the dust on top of dust on every level thing in the house. It’s okay when there’s no light shined on it. When the light shines on it, no dust is it. Who’s gonna do this? You know, I never saw any deaths when Susan was around. But now see does everywhere when the light shines on it. And that’s what light does, it shines on. And so you’re a Christian and you’re living a godly life. That made your light to shine into the hearts of men who are living in darkness. And they hate it. They love their darkness, they don’t want to leave their darkness, but your light of your life and the discipline you have and the discipline yourself for godliness and holiness. It shines into their life and they’re gonna they’re not gonna invite you to their parties, they’re not gonna want to hang around you. Because that light is their post. And that’s where persecution comes. That’s where the devil tries to say, I’m going to put your light out what I got to do to put your light out Ron, I got to do to put your light out. Because he’s in he’s out to put our lights out and put them under a bushel. He’s out to make us not salty, in those are saltiness. And we live in, we’ve always lived in a world and probably more so now than any time in American history. Where we need light out there in the darkness. But to be the light of the darkness, it requires something to make that light shine. We got to do some things. Paul put it this way, I’m crucified with Christ. It’s no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. If that light is gonna shine and you you have to be crucified. Jesus was crucified on a cross and Jesus said we have to crucify ourselves. We have to give up our right to ourselves. And that’s a hard thing for God to do to lose control. Some have more control freaks and others. But if we’re going to be the light of the world, if we’re going to be the salt of the earth, there’s gonna have to suns gotta go so that salt can be salty. Somebody may have die, my plans,

my ego, my prophet. My right to myself. And that’s what lordship means. It means the same God you can help yourself to my life.

We talk about that a lot. But that’s when you get there and bow over next 20 He was on his way to Jerusalem, he told us elders from Ephesus were down at the Mediterranean and he was saying goodbye to him. He said, I’m heading for Jerusalem. He said, Don’t go to Jerusalem. They’re killing pig Christians in Jerusalem.

They’re throwing them in jail. He said, Don’t break my heart. By asking me not to do what God’s calling me to do.

Don’t you know that I consider my life is no account is dear to myself. That I may accomplish that mission that God had given me the gospel, to preach the gospel. Don’t break my heart. I don’t consider my life is it any account is dear to myself. If you’re gonna lie, if your light is gonna shine, you got to be like Paul. Like Jesus. And that’s what light means. Light means that you’re living a life that reflects Jesus Christ. That’s what light does, it will reflect His light. We transmit it. It’s light from one person to another. That’s what we do we transmit.

And God’s called us to be transmitters. He’s called us to be liked. He’s called us to show him by our very lives what

Jesus is like. So when you’re slapped on one cheek, what do you do? What Jesus did what he said he was reviled here about not when he suffered he under no threats, that’s when your light is gonna shine

when you miss that three foot, but you put your light under a bushel, or you can let your light shine. Now I have to admit I’ve never rejoiced when I

missed a three foot putt. But I hadn’t broken few clubs, or at least one. So when I was doing that, I had the wrong motive, wrong

purpose. I forgot who I was. I wanted to be a single digit handicap guy. But I didn’t want to practice and have to work to get it. So I never got I never practice. Granted, put a few before round. But I want to make Jesus Lord my God. I wasn’t anything I was hanging out with guys that could really play. I couldn’t play like them. And so I had to change my whole motive, my whole reason for playing. And that’s what we have to do in life. You have to change your motive, in reason for playing for being a Christian for letting your light shine. If your lights gonna shine, some things have to go. You got to get it out from under that basket. And we put a light under a basket or light as when we’re backsliding. That’s when we’re loose with our tongue. We’re watching pornography and things we shouldn’t watch. We’re skipping their quiet times. We’re not men of the word and meditating and memorizing the word. We listen to music, it’s good music, maybe, but it’s not the best music. It’s not the music that nurtures your soul and your spirit.

Because you have to discipline yourself for godliness if that lights gonna shine. So God has called us to the gospel He’s called us to be light in a dark world.

But you know we have some enemies. In doing that one is humanism. secular humanism is defined it was seeking a middle position between a dogmatic belief in God and militant atheism. Seeking to find a common ground and love between all people. If you think there is basically good, do you think that we could get love going among people. But in the most intense relationship that we could have, and that’d be marriage, we find it not working. You can’t be a culture that tells you everything is about you and you deserve everything. You’re the main you’re your own main person. Take care of yourself. We have a world that tells us to be selfish. get what you deserve. Take up for yourself. And all that leaves is selfishness and you can’t be selfish and be friendship relationship. And with our wives, we want to be a friend to our wives and them to be a friend of us. But when it’s all about you, it’s kind of hard to pull off. When you want to your way, your timing, you’re set on the thermostat. When you want to be neat, and they’re sloppy, or vice versa. You want your way. And that just breaks up relationships. We can have phileo for a while. That’s friend, friendship, love. We can have store gay, we can have family love. But look at the man’s family, sir. And today. Look at the separation and the kids are rebelling, and wives and husbands breaking up. What’s the problem? They miss a line. They tried to do it on their own. And they, they bought into a culture that tells them it’s all about you. And so all you can possibly have when it’s all about you is wars and rumors of wars, family wars, marriage wars, parent, Kid wars, nation against nation. Politics, is all wars, it’s all selfishness.

And Jesus says that’s how you put your light under a bushel. And there’s no better place to let your light shine than in your own home.

There’s where your biggest challenges come are on the golf course. Materialism. I don’t need to instruct you about materialism, this inordinate money and possessions and material objects. The feeling that you never have enough money to buy what you need, not what you want. But what you need. The feeling is that more you have, the more successful you are. There’s never been a country that’s had more to be materialistic and has become in our country. I don’t know any other nation that has storage units on every corner. We can we fill up our house, we fill up our garage. We don’t have basements and attics in California like I do back East. So we have to get storage units. And we have to pile stuff in storage units. And if you and I have just this group this morning, we’re gonna take all the clothes we had more than a year out of our closet and put it in the middle of the floor here would have a hard time getting through the door. And so we got materialism. And then we got hedonism.

When you got a lot of money and you got time you want to have it’s in pain parks, we have sports, we have plays, we have movies, we have television, we have video games,

and they all get more technology added to them all the time. And so we become slaves to materialism and humanism. In our lifetime this as a hard time shiny. He gets Damn. It’s easy to forget who we are and why we’re here. But you know the thing about light is when when light is meant to be seen. Light can be a guide, a light into my path is what the word is a lamp unto my feet.

Is not only does light shine into the darkness is show us our sin. Light shine. It also shows us away out of darkness. Nicodemus, you must be born again. That’s a light it brings me to darkness it’s that light it says from refuse foolish, ignorant speculation that only leads to quarrels, lords. bondservant must not be quarrelsome.

Lords bondservant must be kind to all that’s a light. All meaning people that are unkind to you, as well. Kind of all able to teach by your life and your example. Kinda all able to teach patient when wronged. See this light shining? Someone wronged you and you’re patient with them. You don’t have have to get back out on you don’t have to get even your patient gently correcting those in opposition. So you’re not hammering them and reading them the riot act and reading your offenses against him in your resentment bank. You’re gently correcting them. And he said, Now if you’re gonna accomplish a great commission, this is what how you got to live. You got to be that kind of person. You can’t let foolish ignorant speculation make you quarrelsome. God takes a fight out of you. When God starts taking the fight out of you, the light starts burning brighter. You have perhaps God may grant them repentance. It’s a gift repentance is one day you mourn over your sin, you repented, you came to know Christ, but that was a gift. It wasn’t something that came from you. That’s another gift that God gives to repentance. Seeing that your sinner mourning over that not knowing what to do with it and going to him and asking forgiveness if perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth. When your light is shining, people are led to the knowledge of the truth. When they see Jesus in your life, they see his character. They say mercy and purity. In peace, your light is shining. But to do that, you have to die to yourself, can’t be easily offended. can have a tough skin, tender heart. That’s what you gotta have, instead of a tough heart and a tender skin. easily offended, easily quarrelsome. Here, perhaps God may grant him grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth that they may come to their senses. And that’s what God has called us to do. We help people come to their senses. Makes sense out of life, to understand why they do what they do, understand what the answer is, how they can have peace, and love and joy, and goodness and kindness in gentleness and self control. That’s what the light is, and they’re called into the light that they may come to their senses into what escaped the snare of the devil. And that’s and hold your captive to do is well. So God has called us to help people come into the light and escape to scare the devil who holds us captive to do as well. You’re the light of the world now let your light shine and that’s what I mean every week when I say get out there and give them heaven. That’s what it means get out there and shine your light. Get out there and be the salt of the earth. Get out there and show him what Jesus looks like. Go out there and be a man of God. Go out there and turn the other cheek and go the second mile be patient with those who are not friendly to you. Gently correct him turn the other cheek go the second mile Bless those who persecute you pray for your enemies give them heaven shine your light in the salt of the earth. In your own home start there you can be a glide in your own home you can be alive anywhere you can be the salt of the earth with your wife and kids and grandkids

and you can be salt anywhere God has called us to be light in salt. Salt to you today. How bright is your light shining? What’s keeping your light from shining today? What’s what’s bettered under a basket

you’re angry you’re resentful Are you bitterness if you’ve been taken advantage of you’ve been slighted if your rights been violated go like that preach it brother he finally hit on something I can understand cuz all that’s happening in there all opportunities, every slight every neglect, every sarcastic thing said about everything that they’ve done to attack you. It’s all opportunities to shine your light. Or you can respond like the world become bitter and upset and they hit you you hit them. They saw the wind you read they read the whirlwind with you. So be alert to your opportunities. Forget yesterday. Forget when you even came over this morning. Now you’re going out there to give them haven’t take advantage of the opportunities God gives you to shine your light and usually it’s in pain and suffering. Turning the other tickets pain and suffering they’ve been hit on one cheek

You’ve been persecuted blessum They don’t wish you well and they’ve been harassing you great far. Takes a tough man who’s died to himself to be a man of mine

to be a man of salt. If you want to humble yourself, God will humble you.

Would you rather have if you’re a guy that only preys on a crisis go give you plenty of crisis. So you got a crisis going on now in your life, that it’d be an opportunity to shine the light. Amen. punch your brother on the shoulder and say he’s talking to you

because we all need to hear Can I get an amen from the congregation. So we’re gonna go out of here today, and we’re gonna do what we’re gonna give them happen because we have the power in our life to do it. And I’m not telling a bunch of guys that don’t have power. You got the power of the Holy Spirit and he’ll hold without nothing from you to shine your light today. Now if you need to repent, repent. I have been chatting my life I’ve been resentful and bitter. I’ve been getting even ignored. I’ve been build bridges. Go back and make restitution. If you need to repent, repent. That’s the thing I love about Christ. He always gives me a new start. They’re always new beginnings. I can always repented he’ll forgive me and put that sin behind him and give me a new day and a new way and a new opportunity. And that’s what he’ll give you today.

If your life yourself has lost its flavor, he will give it back to you. He’ll make you salty again. No trace sheets. If your light is become dim, he’ll give you a new light.

You’re burning a lot brighter than ever. Just repent. father, I’ve sinned. I’ve been selfish. I’ve been bitter. I’ve been unforgiving. And you’ve forgiven me. And here I am forgiving others you’ve given me mercy and I’m not giving mercy to others. You pray for me at the throne of your Father’s right hand. And I haven’t prayed for them repentant, receive its forgiveness. Let your light shine and follow. That’s what we do today as men of God. We want to let our light shine in such a way that people would see our good works or good deeds and things that we do that reflect your nature and your holiness and Your goodness and Your Grace. We want to reflect that. We want to be the man of light in this dark world. Thank you for calling us out of the darkness into the light thank you for your forgiveness and mercy. May we be men do reflect that. Even today in Jesus name and all God’s men said getting heaven guys

Clear Conscience

John said, If you walk in the light as he is in the light, we will have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The cleansing is in walking in the light of Christ. The blood of the lamb cleanses us from the sin of the world.

Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful above all things. Who can understand it? Our hearts often deceive us into thinking according to the world’s standards. However the light of Christ dispels the darkness and deception of this world. The world says that we should condemn ourselves when we sin.

However, Romans says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.

According to 1 John 4, If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things. Even if our heart condemn us, God does not condemn us if we have been born again of his spirit. For Jesus Christ who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

The heart is the Greek word Kardia. The heart biblically speaking is the heart of our physical being. It is the seat of our soul-life where our thoughts and emotions reside. Soul life is our biological life. However in our soul, we cannot do what God has called us to do. We need both soul and spirit to do God’s will. The spirit is the nature of God himself that we received when we were born of God’s spirit, not of corruptible seed that we inherited from Adam, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever.

The church is the called-out of God’s people… those whom God has called to gather together as a body of like minded born again believers. When we assemble together in the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, called according to the spirit of God we can fellowship together, worship together, edify and encourage one another as individual fittings within church, the body of Christ.

Jesus said, if you continue in my word then shall you be my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Jesus Christ came to set the captives free from the bondage of sin and iniquity of this world. As disciplined followers of Jesus Christ, we are witnesses of the Holy Spirit…we manifest God’s nature of mercy, grace, love and compassion in a world of darkness.

Jesus said, if the son has set you free you shall be free indeed. Not only are we freed from the bondage of sin, but we are freed to do the will of the Lord. How do we use the freedom we have in Christ? The answer is in Galatians 5: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Only use not liberty as an occasion to sin, but in love serve one another. True freedom is in serving the Lord by serving one another in the church which is the body of Christ.

1 Peter says, keep a clear conscience so that those who do evil against you will be reproved. It’s better to suffer for doing good than to do evil. In the last beatitude Jesus said, blessed are they when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven. Romans 12 says recompense to no man evil for evil… provide things honest in the sight of God and men. It’s not the wrath of God but the goodness of God that calls a man to repentance. Too reconcile others to Christ, we do not bring them a declaration of war, but instead we offer them a peace treaty from the prince of peace. John 3 says, Jesus came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

The greatest victory is the greatest surrender. In order to defeat the enemy, we must surrender to God… Therefore make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free. Force me to render up my sword and I shall conquered be. I sink in life’s alarms if by myself I stand. Imprison me within thine arms, and free shall be my stand.

Without God, men have their conscience “seared with a hot iron.” Conscience means “with knowledge.” A healthy conscience operates “with knowledge” of the word of God. God will guide us and direct us according to the knowledge of His word. Wisdom is acting upon God’s revelation he reveals to us in his Word.

There is such thing as healthy guilt that acknowledges and mourns over wrongs done. This type of a guilty conscience leads to repentance… to turn away from sin that separates our heart from God’s heart and to return back into the presence of the Lord. According to 1 John 1:9, if we confess our sins (of having broken fellowship with God) then he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then when we return our hearts to the Lord, we can walk in the light and the blood of Jesus Christ will (continue to) cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Blessed are they that mourn for Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of. When God opens the eyes of our spiritual understanding so that we can see the contrast between the sin nature we inherited from Adam, and the spiritual nature that we received when we were born again of God’s spirit, then we can change our minds and follow our Lord and master, Jesus Christ… Then we’re no longer a slave to sin.. We become bond-slaves, servants of Jesus Christ to serve him from a heart of love.

It’s important to keep a clear conscience, free of the condemnation of guilt, worry, and fear that separates our heart from God’s heart. This is the theme of Romans chapter 8. Instead of condemnation, we have been made the righteousness of Christ. Romans 8 concludes: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

… That we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Clear Conscience

John said, If you walk in the light as he is in the light, we will have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The cleansing is in walking in the light of Christ. The blood of the lamb cleanses us from the sin of the world.

Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful above all things. Who can understand it? Our hearts often deceive us into thinking according to the world’s standards. However the light of Christ dispels the darkness and deception of this world. The world says that we should condemn ourselves when we sin.

However, Romans says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.

According to 1 John 4, If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things. Even if our heart condemn us, God does not condemn us if we have been born again of his spirit. For Jesus Christ who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him.

The heart is the Greek word Kardia. The heart biblically speaking is the heart of our physical being. It is the seat of our soul-life where our thoughts and emotions reside. Soul life is our biological life. However in our soul, we cannot do what God has called us to do. We need both soul and spirit to do God’s will. The spirit is the nature of God himself that we received when we were born of God’s spirit, not of corruptible seed that we inherited from Adam, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever.

The church is the called-out of God’s people… those whom God has called to gather together as a body of like minded born again believers. When we assemble together in the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, called according to the spirit of God we can fellowship together, worship together, edify and encourage one another as individual fittings within church, the body of Christ.

Jesus said, if you continue in my word then shall you be my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Jesus Christ came to set the captives free from the bondage of sin and iniquity of this world. As disciplined followers of Jesus Christ, we are witnesses of the Holy Spirit…we manifest God’s nature of mercy, grace, love and compassion in a world of darkness.

Jesus said, if the son has set you free you shall be free indeed. Not only are we freed from the bondage of sin, but we are freed to do the will of the Lord. How do we use the freedom we have in Christ? The answer is in Galatians 5: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Only use not liberty as an occasion to sin, but in love serve one another. True freedom is in serving the Lord by serving one another in the church which is the body of Christ.

1 Peter says, keep a clear conscience so that those who do evil against you will be reproved. It’s better to suffer for doing good than to do evil. In the last beatitude Jesus said, blessed are they when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven. Romans 12 says recompense to no man evil for evil… provide things honest in the sight of God and men. It’s not the wrath of God but the goodness of God that calls a man to repentance. Too reconcile others to Christ, we do not bring them a declaration of war, but instead we offer them a peace treaty from the prince of peace. John 3 says, Jesus came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

The greatest victory is the greatest surrender. In order to defeat the enemy, we must surrender to God… Therefore make me a captive Lord, and then I shall be free. Force me to render up my sword and I shall conquered be. I sink in life’s alarms if by myself I stand. Imprison me within thine arms, and free shall be my stand.

Without God, men have their conscience “seared with a hot iron.” Conscience means “with knowledge.” A healthy conscience operates “with knowledge” of the word of God. God will guide us and direct us according to the knowledge of His word. Wisdom is acting upon God’s revelation he reveals to us in his Word.

There is such thing as healthy guilt that acknowledges and mourns over wrongs done. This type of a guilty conscience leads to repentance… to turn away from sin that separates our heart from God’s heart and to return back into the presence of the Lord. According to 1 John 1:9, if we confess our sins (of having broken fellowship with God) then he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Then when we return our hearts to the Lord, we can walk in the light and the blood of Jesus Christ will (continue to) cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Blessed are they that mourn for Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of. When God opens the eyes of our spiritual understanding so that we can see the contrast between the sin nature we inherited from Adam, and the spiritual nature that we received when we were born again of God’s spirit, then we can change our minds and follow our Lord and master, Jesus Christ… Then we’re no longer a slave to sin.. We become bond-slaves, servants of Jesus Christ to serve him from a heart of love.

It’s important to keep a clear conscience, free of the condemnation of guilt, worry, and fear that separates our heart from God’s heart. This is the theme of Romans chapter 8. Instead of condemnation, we have been made the righteousness of Christ. Romans 8 concludes: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

… That we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Ambassadors to Israel

Pastor Matt and his wife Elizabeth serve at the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Jerusalem where Matt is the director. Israel is mentioned over 2500 times in the Bible. God is referred to the God of Israel in the Old Testament. It’s fitting to view Israel as God’s chosen people through the Bible’s perspective.

Phil Hanlen and Ryan Van Deussen’s ministry Ambassadors and Embassies has partnered with Matt’s church in Israel since 2016. Phil and Ryan consider themselves Ambassadors to Israel according to 2 Corinthians 5, and Matt’s church is their embassy in the Middle East.

When Matt was in his twenties he prayed that God would use him like he used Billy Graham. Over time his prayer has changed to, “Lord let me finish well.” Through patience, God will show us his character within our hearts when we are faithful through trials and tribulation to stand in the midst of the spiritual battle and the onslaught of flaming arrows of doubt and discouragement.

Elizabeth grew up in foster care. When she married her husband, they prayed where God would have them serve. She had been brought up in a foster home and became a disciplined follower of Christ. She and her husband were both convinced that God had called them to serve in Israel. They had a difficult time getting through the Beurocracy in Israel who opposed them at every turn. However, through persistence and God’s grace, mercy, and divine providence they became permanent residents of Israel.

Elizabeth didn’t know her biological parents until the age of 26. Through the linkage of her biological father, she found out that she was of Jewish origin. When he passed away at 98, he had given her the family’s documentation that proved they were of Israeli heritage. According to the laws of Israel, those of Jewish ancestors were welcome to make their home in Israel.

Only one percent of residents of Israel call themselves Christians. Matt and Elizabeth are blessed to live in a Christian enclave in Jerusalem. About 20% of Israelis consider themselves religious and most of these are liberal, not conservative Orthodox Jews. Even though the Israeli ministry welcomes those of Jewish ancestry, they are closed to Christians and other outsiders. The exception is that if you were of Jewish ancestry and you were brought up as a Christian “through no fault of your own.”

For four years Matt and Elizabeth appealed to The Israeli Ministry of the Interior to allow grant them Permanent Resident status but to no avail. They finally received help when an Israel Supreme Court judge intervened and ruled in their favor. For four years they were ostracized as foreign outsiders who could be deported at any moment until the judge ruled in their favor.

The prevailing Jewish religion leads to death. When their son required hospitalization the religious leaders said to Matt and Elizbeth, “he’s fourth generation Jewish, what is that to us?” They denied them medical insurance and medical treatment. Through these ordeals, God has shown them that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

The biblical story of Israel continues today, even though the twelve tribes of the house of Israel have been scattered. In the midst of this spiritual battle, in the very place where the devil couldn’t stop Jesus’ resurrection, his priority remains to silence Christians and shut down Christianity. In the land of Jesus’ birth, Elizabeth and Matt have withnessed spiritual warfare first hand.

Through their struggles, Elizabeth has come to realize that they are on the front lines of the spiritual battle. In military strategy, you don’t confront the enemy head on. Instead you attack the weaker flanks. You don’t attack the enemy’s forward ranks by inflaming his passion for war, death, destruction and annihilation. The enemy’s flanks in the spiritual battle are to recompense no man evil for evil… but to love and follow Christ’s example to love your enemies, to bless them and to do good unto those who persecute you and say evil against you falsely for Jesus’ sake, for great is your reward in heaven. The light of the Word is a reflection of Jesus Christ himself. In Isreel there is a stark contrast between the darkness of the secular world and the light of Christ. Light always overcomes darkness.

As the salt of the earth, we represent the salt of truth amidst the flavorless lies of the devil. 2 Corinthians 5 says that God has called as Ambassadors for Christ. When we deliver the peace treaty from our Sovereign Lord, we are the sweet smelling fragrance and savor to them that God has called to salvation.

God’s blessing of Abraham to his dependents from generation to generation continues today. God said to Abraham, whoever blesses Israel I will bless and whoever curses Israel I will curse. Romans 11 is about God’s relationship to Israel in today’s world. According to Romans, we Christians who have been born again of God’s spirit, have been grafted into the root of Israel.

In 70 AD the zealots of Israel tried to rebel against Roman rule. However Rome put down the rebellion and destroyed the temple of Jerusalem and annihilated and ostracized many of the zealous Jews. Ever since the first century, Arabs, Muslims, and other nations in the Middle East have hated and detested those of Jewish origin.

Today the Zionist Christians who are one percent of the Israel’s population understand that in the midst of the spiritual warfare between Jews and Arabs, Jesus Christ is the one who reconciles… There is no peace without the Prince of Peace. To reconcile our hearts with one another we must first reconcile our hearts with God. There is only one remedy for irreconcilable differences…. for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

In Israel like America, we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness from on high. The battle belongs to the Lord. As Abraham Lincoln said, the best way to defeat your enemy is to make him your friend. We make friends through our mutual friend, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who brings peace by reconciling our hearts with God’s heart and our hearts with our Lord Jesus Christ. Then when we love God above all, we can love our neighbor as ourselves. This is our mission and our commission… building bridges instead of putting up walls… to deliver a peace treaty from the prince of peace. Therefore we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God…

In other words, Go give ‘em Heaven!
That together we may live to the praise of the glory of His grace,
Your brother in Christ,
Michael