Restoration

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. Acts 3:19-21

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. 1 Cor. 15:20-28

Hallelujah

eLinews.com

Will the church please stand up...

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

I've been told that I am someone that does harm to the "church" by the way I believe and live my life. Since I am not a card carrying member of a denomination or "church", and refuse to give heed to the "ordained" ones...I am obviously living outside the authority of the sanctioned organizations and have become one who doesn't teach sound doctrine because I don't have the degree or the blessing and ordination from men and women who believe they do.

There is only one Shepherd and One who has All Authority. Jesus. Should I ignore Him and refuse to submit to Him then I would be doing the Church harm. Do I fail and sometimes believe things that may not be of God? Absolutely! I'm still living in an age where I see in part and until He comes...I will continue to learn and grow as I seek and submit to Him.

The last words of Jesus to His disciples was "all authority was HIS and they were to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them..." He never said..."go start a church". Of course, believers were to get together and encourage one another and be the "church", but sadly over the years they chose to divide themselves into groups and follow leaders. The word "church" has been translated from the Greek word "ecclesia" which simply means "called out". It has nothing to do with a building or house or an organization.

Even when Paul started encouraging early home/community fellowship...he warned people to follow Christ and not the leaders of the community. He knew people were saying things like..."I belong to Paul or I belong to Apollos" and though there were people who obviously were in leadership roles, the focus and submission was to be Christ Jesus only. Elders, deacons, bishops, teachers, etc., were elected/selected to "serve" the community fellowships...but they were certainly not the "authority" that the believers were to completely submit to. They were men and women who as we all know...didn't have it all together either.

What I find that has truly become "harmful" to the church...are the organizations/churches that have developed the past 2,ooo years with their creeds and doctrines of men. The "I follow this denomination or that "church" to me is an abomination. It slaps Jesus on the face and tells Him that He is not the "Authority" of the "ecclesia". That what He accomplished was not enough. That the sanctioned leaders of the "church" know better on how to teach people to live lives of obedience and submission to Christ alone.

I believe when we take up our cross and follow Jesus and submit to His authority alone, the Holy Spirit who lives in us, leads and teaches us...and we are believers who are "called out" and live a life that absolutely looks different than the norm. We will be considered harmful to the "church" because of what looks like rebellion to those who follow their traditions. But I also believe that we also see those whom God has placed as elders, deacons, teachers, prophets, etc., and readily submit to them when they are speaking truth. I have those in my life who are envolved in these "churches/organiztions/home groups" that I trust. Yes, I still believe they are believers! If God is moving in them...hopefully, I'm willing to hear and learn.

What I find most offensive and harmful is when people call themselves Calvinist or Baptist or Catholic, or Methodist, or whatever... and proceeds to teach me their traditions and doctrines. It tells me who they really follow and it saddens me. There is only one church and all who follow Jesus are a part of it. The apostle Paul warned the Galatian believers; "But if we, or an angel from heaven should preach to you another gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contray to that which you received, let him be accursed."

I know many of you will say that even though you belong to a certain denomination, you still follow Jesus. I don't doubt that at all..but, I will still remind you that the curtain was torn, and the Temple crumbled, and you are now a new creation and the temple where God resides.

Jesus loves me this I know

"But even if we, or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed." Galatians 1:8

The "prosperity doctrine" that has been preached by many is a doctrine that I believe is not of God. Scripture shows clearly that fame and fortune is not the Gospel message. But people follow those who promise a hope in something. But hope in wealth is not the answer. There is only hope in Christ Jesus.

We all sin and we all struggle with our understanding. But God will deliver us and by his kindness will expose us to bring us to repent. All of us have a chance to repent and be restored. In just the past few years, many "famous" evangelists, pastors, leaders, have fallen because of their struggles and with their preaching a gospel contrary to that which was preached.

Seek Jesus. Not man. God will restore those who have fallen but we must continue to be wise and listen to God and be involved in His work. Look up to see your deliverer!

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/suzanne-hinn-wife-of-televangelist-benny-hinn-files-for-divorce/19365220?icid=main|htmlws-sb-w|dl1|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fnation%2Farticle%2Fsuzanne-hinn-wife-of-televangelist-benny-hinn-files-for-divorce%2F19365220

In the beginning God created...

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Meet you in the Garden...

When my time finally comes...I'll meet you in the garden.

Just a suggestion?

"Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them." Luke 6:30-31

Do you think Jesus meant what he said?

Haiti Earthquake

Give to World Vision (click here)

We've all seen the disaster in Haiti. Many of you have already given and that is good. When things settle down, World Vision will remain and will need continued support. Bless them and give as God leads you. May we remember to continue to reach out and do all we can to help our neighbors.

2010

"As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." I Corinthians 12: 20-22

We begin a new year and I believe it will be a tremendous year for the Body of Christ! Yes, we will see war, earthquakes, famines, and nations falling due to the economic situation of our world. It may be the worst year ever as evil tries its hand to bring chaos into our lives.

But on the other side, I believe this year will start bringing God's people together. The church will rise to the occasion and start becoming what God has called us to be. A people full of love and selfless serving to those who are in need. At least this is my desire!

It's time for believers to join together. It's time for the church to become the church. As Paul points out in 1 Corinthians, we all need each other! That doesn't mean you need to go join a church...the church is not a place or a particular denomination, it's people. It's the Body of Christ. If you are out of fellowship with believers, you need to find others who believe and become a part of that discipline. There is no such thing as "Lone Rangers" in the church. Paul notes that even the "Head" cannot say to the "feet" "I don't need you!" Jesus is the Head and He knows each of us are part of the Body...and He needs and desires us to be a part of the Body.

It's time to become useful as a member of the Body of Christ. Look up and know that you have a purpose and are needed. We all are needed. None is left behind to go it alone.

It's a new year and it's a new day. Come Lord Jesus!

Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas to all.
I hope as the new year begins, I will once again try to maintain The Cyberservant blog. I have been pulled in so many directions...but, this coming year is important. I believe we are coming near to a great change and awakening in the church. May Jesus reign and may we live for Him!

The Day of Atonement

Yom Kippur 2009 starts at sundown on Sunday 27 September (Kol Nidre), and lasts all day Monday 28 September, 2009 until sundown. This day marks the culmination of the Days of Awe, the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement is described by Maimonides as "the universal time of repentance" (z'man teshuva lakol). It is spent praying and fasting.

Yom Kippur is mentioned biblically in Leviticus 23: 26-32

http://www.jewishbyte.com/yomkippur.php


The Day of Atonement COVERED sin, but did not REMOVE sin. This is the meaning of Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement.” The Hebrew word Kippur means “covering,” not removal.

1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

The fall of Babylon

After this...I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendor. And he called out with a mighty voice,

"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit,
a haunt of every foul and hateful bird;
for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion,
and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,
and all the merchants of the earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantoness."

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

"Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
for her sins are heaped high as the heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities."

Revelation 18

Scripture gives us history and reveals the future. Babylon is a system. A financial system that will be destroyed in the last days. But Babylon will not go down without a fight. As we have seen throughout history, Babylon has tried to control the world and has really done a pretty good job of doing just that. But like all governments and systems who turn against God, Babylon will meet its demise. With the appointment of Ben Bernanke to continue as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, it seems more than obvious (to me) that we are very close to the fall of Babylon. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601083&sid=a7CC61ZsieV4

The world monetary system had to come to this. Those who are trying to rule the world think they are creating a system to control the people and keep their power. God will use this to bring about His purpose and we will see as Jesus returns who will fix what. Man's time of management must come to an end...I pray it is soon. Come Lord Jesus!

Blaming man

"The whole group of believers lived in harmony. No one called any of his possessions his own. Instead, they shared everything. With great power the apostles continued to testify that the Lord Jesus had come back to life. God's abundant good will was with all of them. None of them needed anything. From time to time, people sold lands or houses and brought money to the apostles. Then the money was distributed to anyone who needed it." Acts 4:32-35

Christians are whinning about Obama taking the USA down the road to socialism. I am one who is finding this a hard transistion, but at the same time, I cannot ignore Scripture or choose to ignore or justify Scripture to make my politics work in my favor.

If the "church" would have remained steadfast in it's purpose...we would be a different world. But sadly, Christians think they have "rights" to prosper (even when many slam the prosperity doctrine teachers) and believe that it is unjust to have governments to take what they have earned.

If Christians believed that "their possessions are not their own" and shared willingly as was the example of the early "church" .... God would not have had to use "governments" to right the wrong that we as "Christians" have done.

We find in Scripture that God disciplines his people. We are being disciplined because we have ignored God's laws and God's ways....and God uses whomever He chooses to bring about discipline and turn His children back to Him.

Fight as you may against the evils that have come upon the USA and the world...but God is not silent and God is not finished as we see Him using the unjust to bring about change. Real change. The change that will bring the nations down to fall at His feet.

We can try to blame those who don't believe in God for all the corruption in this world...but it is not them who are to blame. It is us...believers in God, believers in His Son Jesus Christ, who have the promise of the Holy Spirit to lead us...who are to blame.

May the Lord forgive us and teach us to love as He loved.

He is risen...

I just read this from David Wilkerson's blog...so true.

"When we stand before God at the judgment, we won’t be judged by our ministries, achievements or number of converts. There will be but one measure of success on that day: Were our hearts fully surrendered to God? Did we lay aside our own will and agenda and take up his? Did we succumb to peer pressure and follow the crowd, or did we seek him alone for direction? Did we run from seminar to seminar looking for purpose in life, or did we find our fulfillment in him?"

Faith

"Our faith is not meant to get us out of a hard place or change our painful condition. Rather, it is meant to reveal God’s faithfulness to us in the midst of our dire situation. God does at times change our trying circumstances. But more often, he doesn’t - because he wants to change us!"

I love those sentences! They come from David Wilkerson...to read the rest go to:

HAVE FAITH IN GOD'S FAITHFULNESS

March 17, 2009

Since I have my life before me...

At 12 years old, Brooke Bronkowski knew her purpose in life. She committed herself in the way most of us want to commit...but are afraid to do so.

"Since I Have My Life Before Me" by Brooke Bronkowski

"I'll live my life to the fullest. I'll be happy. I'll brighten up. I will be more joyful than I have ever been. I will be kind to others. I will loosen up. I will tell others about Christ. I will go on adventures and change the world. I will be bold and not change who I really am. I will have no troubles but instead help others with their troubles.

You see, I'll be one of those people who live to be history makers at a young age. Oh, I'll have moments, good and bad, but I will wipe away the bad and only remember the good. In fact that's all I remember, just good moments, nothing in between, just living my life to the fullest. I'll be one of those people who go somewhere with a mission, an awesome plan, a world-changing plan, and nothing will hold me back. I'll set an example for others, I will pray for direction.

I have my life before me. I will give others the joy I have and God will give me more joy. I will do everything God tells me to do. I will follow the footsteps of God. I will do my best!!!"

Brooke's life was ended in a car crash when she turned fourteen years old...Brooke led more people to the Lord than most of us ever will. During her funeral, the pastor invited those who attended her funeral (her school and community) and 200 people came forward to accept Jesus into their hearts. Each person was given a Bible that Brooke had kept in her garage to hand out to those she would have the opportunity to minister to. Brooke was faithful to her words.

"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart" Ecclesiastes 7:2

From the book "Crazy Love" Overwhelmed by a Relentless God * By Francis Chan
http://www.crazylovebook.com

Just a thought...

"Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him." Psalm 115:3

We may ask God...Why are so many people dying of starvation?

The fact that God gave man the task to subdue the earth and take care of what He provided, I think we really don't have the right to ask God the question, but to answer Him when he asks us...

Why are so many people dying of starvation?

A Question

"And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him." Matthew 17:1-3

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; 1 Thessalonians 4:16

Most people teach that when you die, if you are a believer in Christ, you come into the presence of God. But the scripture teaches many things like what we have read in the second scripture above. After Jesus finished his work, ascended to the Father and waits for a period of time, he is to return and then the "dead in Christ" will rise. But yet in the first scripture that comes from Matthew, Jesus hadn't died yet, he had not crushed the serpents head, destroyed death and was raised from the dead...yet, Moses and Elijah came to see him. How could they be raised from the dead if Jesus hadn't completed his work?

It would seem there is a contradiction here. Are people (believers) who die dead and waiting for the resurrection or when they die do they immediately step into the presence of God?

I have my understanding...which is really not yet quite clear and I'm not even sure if it's completely biblical. But, what do you think? Whether you comment or not is not the point. But this is something that I think if you struggle with, the Lord will reveal some things that we may have missed that will change a lot of our understanding.

Martin Luther King Jr * The Drum Major Instinct

"And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him saying, ‘Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.' And he said unto them, ‘What would ye that I should do for you?' And they said unto him, ‘Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.' But Jesus said unto them, ‘Ye know not what ye ask: Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?' And they said unto him, ‘We can.' And Jesus said unto them, ‘Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of, and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.'" And then Jesus goes on toward the end of that passage to say, "But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your servant: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all." Mark 10: 35

A couple of years ago our family spent a day in Atlanta. We decided to spend most of it at the Martin Luther King Jr museum. Within walking distance was also the church that Dr. King was the minister. It was a humbling day to see how much this man did to bring about change in America. We purchased books and other material such as his sermon "The Drum Major Instinct".

A friend sent me a link to Mike Huckabee's site which has the whole sermon laid out in an easier to read fashion that what most sites offer.

Please read this great sermon. If allowed, the message will change you.
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?Page=The%20Drum%20Major%20Instinct

The measure you give...

"Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given to you. For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away." Mark 4:24-25

Jesus tells a parable about a sower. One who sows seed along a path, on rocky ground, and in good soil. Of course, the seed that was sown in the good soil brought forth grain and yielded thirty to sixty to a hundredfold.

We have the responsibility as believers to sow into the lives of those whom God places in our care. We can casually speak and teach and see where the seed falls, but if we refuse to plant it deep into their hearts and care for what we plant... how do we expect people to grow? If we teach and then walk away without toiling the soil, watering, and take time to allow the seed to grow...it will get choked out by the things that will grow around it or by animals eating the seed before it has time to grow roots. But how many times do we give up nurturing because of our lack of time, energy, or our thinking that if "they don't care...why should I?!"

I'm sure there were quite a few times when Jesus looked at the 12 disciples and thought "What was I thinking?! These guys will never get it!" But at the same time He knew, "As I keep watering and caring for the seeds I've planted, they will grow and the results will yield much fruit!? This I believe is why Jesus said..."the measure you give will be the measure you get and still more will be given to you."

Don't give up caring for those God places in your life. Love and nurture each one because you know...they are a child of God's.