Casting out Demons: Origin of Demons

Despite it's centrality to Christ's ministry, casting out demons has seemed to have taken a back seat in our society. I feel I must emphasize that is only in our society that it has taken a back seat. In the rest of the world, demons, their influence, and combating demons is a way of life for many Christians.

Christ told His followers to cast out demons as part of their ministry. He himself delivered many people from demons. He said in Mark 16:17 that casting out demons would be one of the signs of a believer. After Jesus' resurrection, the book of Acts records the casting out of demons as a major ministry of the early church.... Why should it be any different today?

I believe that one of the enemies most effective tactics, is to convince us that he and his evil forces do not exist, or are of no significant threat. It would be a grave mistake for us to buy into this deception. Just as it was a mistake for America to not believe that Osama Bin Laden and a few nomads living in the desert could "declare war" on the most powerful nation in the world....  So I am doing a blog series on demons, and I would like to start with their origins. After all where did demons come from?

First off, I would like to correct the misunderstanding that demons are fallen angels. They most certainty are not angels of any kind. There are two main reasons for this. For one, the Bible says that the fallen angels have been locked up in "prison"(2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6). Secondly, Jesus tells us that demons need a physical body to inhabit(Matthew 12:43-45). Angels, whether fallen or not, have no such need.

Many people believe that demons are actually disembodied spirits. There are basically two different theories for this. The first one suggests that demons are the disembodied spirits of the pre-flood Nephelim(Genesis 6). This would be plausible since although the Nephelim were half angel, they were also half human. So likewise, their immortal soul would be a half angel half human hybrid. After the Nephelim perished in the flood, their souls lived on as what we know today as, demons.

Another theory suggests that demons are the disembodied spirits of a pre-adamic race... weird, I know. Genesis 1:2 plays into this theory in a big way. Genesis 1:2 says that at some point after the earths creation, before God said, "Let there be light!" the earth became barren, empty, and a desolate wasteland. There are additional verses that suggest this was a result of God's wrath on the "inhabitants" of the earth(Jeremiah 4:23-26)...... What inhabitants? This was all between, Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.

Since the Bible tells us that the earth was perfect on the day God created it, Genesis 1:2 declaring, "The earth became formless and void" makes sense. How could the earth be a barren desolate wasteland as described in Genesis 1:2, if it was "perfect" on the day God created it? Something happened in between the earths creation and its desolate state described in Genesis 1:2. Something cataclysmic happened that brought this destitute state on the earth. Some believe that Satan was in charge, the "anointed cherub" over the Pre-Genesis Earth. Since he is described in Eden, walking, and ministering on the earth before his "fall"(Ezekiel 28). This theory suggests that Satan's rebellion and war in heaven is what caused this cataclysmic event. It also killed the pre-adamic race but their souls lived on as demons.

These are all just theories. Regardless of their origin, there is a troubling trend in the Body of Christ to ignore demons. Some consider demons, and the casting out of demons as irrelevant for our times. How does that even make sense? If Satan and his demons are real, and if they desire to wreck havoc on the human race, and if they seek to influence people, families, communities, governments, nations, and even churches then they are very relevant.

But we need not fear. Jesus has given us the power to cast out demons and over all the power of the enemy. God's Word promises that greater is He that is in us, than he who is in the world!

How to Receive the Spirit's Baptism with the Evidence of Speaking in Tongues RIGHT NOW!

God wants you to be a world changer. He wants you to make a difference, to advance the Kingdom of Heaven, and push back the Kingdom of Darkness. He wants you to take His saving Gospel to the ends of the earth starting in your local community. But He doesn't expect you to do this on your own. He knows it's hard, and challenging. He wants to empower you to live out the calling He has placed on your life. He wants to equip you to share the Gospel to the nations, and impact this world for Christ. Jesus called this "empowerment" the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:5, 1:8, 2.4, 10:44-46,19:7)

Maybe you have been seeking and searching for the Spirit's Baptism. You have a longing to be filled up with His Spirit and overwhelmed with His presence in your life. Well if that describes you, that congratulations, today is your day! There is no need for you to wait any longer for a gift that God so desperately wants to give you. I have seen Christians seek the Baptism in the Holy Spirit for years, only to be disappointed. This doesn't have to be the case.

If you have not yet received this blessing which God gives to empower and equip you to live out His calling on your life, then now is the time. You can be Baptized in the Spirit right now, if you will only reach out and receive His gift. Jesus said, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who asks" (Luke 11:10-13). 

We can know that if we ask God for the Holy Spirit, He will not give us a counterfeit. You have no need to feel as though you have not experienced the "Real McCoy". As far a speaking in tongues. It isn't about repeating what someone told you to repeat. That is not right. God will give you to words. Well are you ready to be filled with the Spirit? Then let's get started! 

Get alone with God, and start thanking Him and worshiping Him. Praise Him and thank Him out loud with your mouth, with your words. I have not seen one person receive the Spirit and start speaking tongues with their mouth closed. Just be in His presence praying, worshiping, and thanking God out loud, asking Him to fill you with the Spirit. Tell Him that you receive the Spirit by faith in the name of Jesus. Continue talking to God out loud and when you feel the presence of God, you will feel something stirring and rising up from within you. Just let go and let God do whatever He wants to do in your life. You will feel this rising feeling prompting you to speak new words, or new words may come to your from nowhere. Let go! Start speaking those new words that you feel rising up within you. Continue speaking by faith. It is about letting go, and speaking what is coming to you.

You can pray in tongues whenever you want. You don't have to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon you. Acts 2:4 does not say that the Spirit possessed the apostles and forced their mouths to move. The Bible says they spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave them the ability/utterance. They were the ones speaking in tongues, God's Spirit just enabled them to do so. Once you have been Baptized in the Holy Spirit, you already have the ability to speak in tongues, it is then up to you to begin speaking and using that gift.

Go ahead, receive all that God has for you today, so He can empower you to change your world! Once you have received, please comment or message me back telling me the good news! Let's rejoice together in the infilling of the Holy Spirit!

Speaking in Tongues and Evangelism

I have already shown how the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift given so that we can be empowered to witness to the lost. For those who missed that post...

For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.                                                                                          -Acts 1:5

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
                          
                                                                                                  -Acts 1:8

If you read my last post on the Spirit's Baptism you will also remember that Speaking in Tongues is the initial physical evidence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, whenever people were filled with the Spirit, they spoke in tongues, but why? Why did God choose something so strange as speaking in tongues to be the initial sign of the Spirit's baptism?

Before I answer that, I should point out that there are three different types of "tongues" recorded in the New Testament. The first kind of tongue we find in Acts 2:4

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

                                                                                               -Acts 2:4

Now in this instance, if you keep on reading, they crowd that had gathered understood what these 120 Christians were saying as they were speaking in tongues. This might be the weirdest kind of tongues. The Greeks heard the believers speaking in Greek, the Arabs heard them speaking in Arabic, the Jews heard them speaking Hebrew, and so on and so forth. Each person in the crowd heard what was being said in their own native tongue.

There are reports of this happening today. I have heard of people from different countries coming to a Charismatic service and heard people speaking in tongues, only to find out that they people were speaking the foreigners native language and didn't know it! So this first kind of tongue is man ward.

The second kind of tongue is what many Pentecostals call prayer language. This is when a Spirit-Filled believer prays in tongues in their private devotional time. The Bible says that when we pray in this kind of tongue, we speak "mysteries" unto God. That we are personally build up and edified through this kind of prayer life.

For he who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
                                                                                                -1st Corinthians 14:2

The one who speaks in tongues builds up himself.....

                                                                                               -1st Corinthians 14:4a

So the second kind of tongue is God ward. The third kind of tongue is the gift of tongues accompanied with the gift of interpretation. This is a form of prophecy. It is when someone gives a public proclamation of tongues in a service, and another or that same person gives and interpretation so everyone can understand and be edified.

Therefore one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.

                                                                                            -1st Corinthians 14:13

So now we see the three kinds of tongues. Two of them are man ward, one is God ward. But what does all this have to do with evangelism? The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is given to empower us for evangelism, so why do we need tongues to evangelize? Jesus told us not to worry about what to say because we would be given the right words at the right time. That it would not be us speaking but the Holy Spirit speaking through us. (Luke 12:12,13)

So when we speak in tongues, it is a sign that we are willing to submit our mouths to God in order to be used by Him. As I have said before, God does not want us to share the Gospel by our own might or power, but by His Spirit. He does not want us to win the lost through reason, arguing, strategies, training, etc. He wants us to win the lost through a demonstration of the Spirit's power. We are to evangelize in the power of the Holy Spirit.

When you speak in tongues, that means you are a place in your walk with God, that you will let the Holy Spirit use you and speak through you. So when you do encounter the lost, the idea of God given you the words to say by the power of the Spirit, will not be so new and foreign to you. That is why it is the initial evidence of the Spirit's Baptism. It is a sign! It is a sign that the Spirit Baptized individual speaks not of the own accord, but by the power of the Spirit of God!

What Does Divine Healing Have to do With the Gospel

The ministry of Jesus was a healing ministry. The Gospels mention many times Jesus healing people everywhere He went.

That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

                                             -Mark 1:32-34

And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

                                                     -Mark 6:36

Jesus also performed many miracles, which are a separate gift from healing. These included feeding the five thousand, turning water into wine, walking on water, etc. Interestingly, Jesus operated in the gift of healing a lot more than He did the gift of miracles. Why is that? Why not perform more miracles than healings? Surely events such as the feeding of the five thousand would have convinced more people of His divinity than healings.

We also see more healings than miracles in the life of the early church recorded in the book of Acts. Why not more miracles than healings, or at least an even balance between the two? Indeed when Christ sends the 12 and the 72 ahead of Him, He commands them to, "heal the sick" (Luke 9:1, 10:9). Why was healing so important to the Gospel?

The Bible tells us that when Jesus suffered and died for us, He bore our sicknesses and diseases just as much as He bore our sins.

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

                                         -Matthew 8:17

Healings then, are a demonstration of our redemption found in the cross. They show the world, "This is an example of what Christ has done for us. This shows the effects of redemption." Healings prove and confirm that humanity has a resurrected savior. We tell people that Christ will restore them. That He will remove their sin, and make them new and whole. Healings paints a tangible picture of what that looks like as an example. In addition, it backs up this Gospel that we proclaim.

That's why divine healing is so central to the Gospel. That is also why it must be central to our witness and evangelism. We should heal the sick as Christ commanded us. Not for popularity, not to grow our church, not so we can feel important, but so we can give the world an example of what redemption looks like, and a demonstration of the power of the cross.

The Dark Side of Christ pt 1: Jesus the Heretic

I am really excited about this blog series. It is sure to be one of my favorites. Yes, Christ did have a "dark side", according to the religious establishment anyway. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was all good, all loving, and perfect, had the worst of reputations. This three part blog will take a look at the dark reputation of our blessed Lord. We will start with His reputation of being a "heretic" and "blasphemer".

And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”

                                     -Matthew 9:2-3

Jesus was called a heretic because He claimed authority to forgive sins, and as the story continues, make the paralyzed walk again. It is amazing how many times the religious establishment cries foul when someone starts helping people. at one point, we had people attending our church that typically don't darken the door of a church. Not only does this particular sub culture not go to church, they are normally not welcome at the House of God. Someone once asked me, "So, how are you going to handle this?" I thought to myself, "yeah... Lost people coming to church and hearing the gospel. That's a real problem..."

Church people, hypocrites, pit of vipers. They make it so hard for people to get to God.I also remember the Methodist minister who just recently was booted from that denomination for an act of love and service to his son. He was also labeled a heretic for what he did. Yet, what he did mirrors Christ's act of compassion to the paralyzed man. It also mirrors another incident where Jesus was accused of blasphemy...

He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

                                -Matthew 12:11-14

It's interesting how Jesus was accused of blasphemy on multiple occasions for of all things, helping people.... These were not isolated instances either. After His "Sermon on the Mout" He touched a lepor. He allowed Himself to be touched by an unclean woman. Then He refused to condemn a notorious slut.... Heretic. On top of all this, He claimed to be God's Son, that He would tear down God's temple, then rebuild it, and eternal life is found by eating His flesh and blood as priests would eat the sacrificial lamb... Heretic

Jesus was labeled a heretic because He did what God wanted, not what the religious establishment said God wanted. All too often, people know what God wants, they know what the scriptures really say, but are more inclined to follow their traditions and what they've always been taught the scriptures say. For example, some churches REFUSE to allow certain styles of music or instruments in worship NOT because it would be unbiblical, but because "that's not how we do things around here!".

Jesus placed Himself in the same predicament. He asked Himself, "What does God say?" not, "What do people say about God?". He knew that rules, rites, and rituals were of no importance. He taught His followers that if they loved God, and loved people, they would have done alright. For that, He was labled a heretic.

Want to be Compared with Christ? Then be a Drunk and Hang Out with Prostitutes

    How cool would it be if someone accused you of being just like Jesus. Think about it. What if people said the same things about you that they said about Jesus? Man, that would boost my ego. Before we get ahead of ourselves and try to start imitating Christ, lets take a look at some of the things people said about Jesus, and see if that's a reputation we all want to strive for.

"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'"

                                                                                                  -Matthew 11:19

    I don't know about you, but being a professing Christian and a minister, I don't want people going around saying that I am a drunkard and a glutton. Here's another question. Would we want to be associated with the people that Jesus associated with? Look at this passage.

"Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples."

                                                                                                 -Matthew 9:10

    Okay, in the cultural context, who are these "tax collectors" and "sinners"? Given that these titles were given by the religious elite of the day, we can assume that they mean anyone that didn't fit into their little "holier than thou" click. It goes deeper than that however. "Tax collector" referred to a Jew who betrayed his own people and worked for the Romans. This type of person would often take more than they required and take advantage of his own kind. "Sinners" referred to three different groups of people. First, the irreligious Jew, corrupt people and money launderers, and finally the "riff raff" of the town; drunkards, thieves, prostitutes, etc. 

    Like before, I am not sure I want people going around saying that I associate with these people. I don't think many Christians would want the reputation Jesus had. Today He is revered, but during His time on the earth, He had a reputation of being a drunk, running with the wrong crowd, some even called Him demon possessed. I mean, how popular could He be if the people called for His execution? Which begs the question, why in the world would the Son of God bring such an embarrassing reputation on Himself? It all goes with His mission; To seek and save that which was lost

"When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, 'Why is your teacher eating with tax collectors and sinners?' But when Jesus heard this, He said, 'It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire compassion, and not sacrifice', for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'"

                                                                                            -Matthew 9:11-13

    Jesus did not come to minister to those who had already made themselves right with God. He came for those who were and are, far away from Him. He associated with those who needed Him the most. They were His mission. They were the reason He came to earth. Here is the heart piercing truth; His mission is our mission. Those of us who are Christians have some soul searching to do. Knowing where He went, do we really want to follow Christ? Knowing the reputation He acquired, do we really want to be like Christ?

    At the end of the day, can we expect anything less? They called Him a drunkard and a glutton. They accused Him of hanging out with the scum of society. Then Jesus says this the night before His death;

"If the world hates, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master'. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also."

                                                                                                    -John 15:18-20

I leave you with a thought provoking question: What are you doing to bring people to Christ that could cost you your reputation?

    

What REAL Social Justice Looks Like

    While social justice may be the evidence and purpose of our salvation, we must be careful with how we live out this particular aspect of our faith. Understandably, many Christians are turned off by social justice because it implies giving people a hand out. With the original intent of humanity in mind we must realize that true social justice is not just meeting the needs of the poor, but engaging the community and fixing the systems that create an environment where people can become poor.

    Throughout the course of our lives we will encounter people that are in immediate need. We see the unemployment numbers. There is some hope as this number has dropped slightly but we wonder if that is simply because of people pulling out of unemployment. We see hunger growing in our cities. The homeless are increasing in number. Human trafficking has become a problem in this country especially in major cities. Our natural Christian reaction is to help these people and immediately meet their needs, and rightfully we should. If we are not careful however, we will merely be be treating a cough when the REAL problem is the virus creating this symptom. There is a system that is creating this environment that we must address.

    These "systems" lie in the different spheres of influence in the community. There indeed are many systems that need to be addressed in order to create an environment where people flourish and prosper instead of live in destitution. Two that are of significance are the education system and the family. We have allowed these systems to essentially break down. When the education system is built on the principle of how can being educated makes me look better, or gives me a higher status in society, there is no practical relevant skills acquired and the community suffers. When the priorities of schools is extra curricular activities and "national ranking", students lack the resources to be sufficiently prepared. Whatever happened to ensuring that students are on the appropriate reading level, computer literate, or possessing essential life skills in order be productive in society? I guess standardized testing to ensure that the school and its teachers scores go up took it's place.

    The family is such an essential sphere of influence in the community. In fact, the family is a community, society, and civilization in its most simplest basic form. This has huge implications. Whatever the health and stability of the average family in the community, so will be the health and stability of the community as a whole. The family will be a microcosm of what the community looks like.

    If the family is divided, so will the community. If the family is a place of favoritism of one and the shunning of the other, the community will be that way too. If the family is a haven for abuse, violence, and neglect, the community will certainly not be a safe place. If the average family in the community doesn't know how to responsibly handle their finances.... get the picture yet?

    We must engage these two systems and fix them. Its our job! God has entrusted us with the responsibility of governing this planet and bringing His dominion of peace, equality, and justice to earth. We lost that leadership ability at the fall, granted. But Jesus restored us back to that position by His death and resurrection. We are entrusted with building a society on God's behalf. What are we doing to engage and restore the education system in our community? How are we healing and restoring families that are broken?

    Lets build up homeless shelters for those with no roof, set up food pantries for those with no food, and establish a safe house for those trapped in human trafficking, but we absolutely can not stop there. We must engage the community and fix the systems that created an environment that allowed these atrocities to occur in the first place. That is REAL Social Justice.

Social Justice is the Fruit of Salvation

    Of all the things to be divided over, somehow Christians have become divided over whether or not we should put a strong emphasis on helping people.... Yeah, I know. Yet, we will go to small group this week, the worship service this Sunday and wonder why people don't like to associate with us.With such a politically charged culture around us, you would figure that we could find something else to be divided over than helping those in need.

    The dispute is in the emphasis. Some Christians focus on social justice and only social justice. To them, the Bible, morality, living a spiritual life, and especially sharing the Gospel are at most a low priority and at least trivial and not relevant at all. The priority is in the here and now, the tangible things of life which is of course, the plight of humanity. On the other side, there are Christians that acknowledge the importance of social justice, but that is about the extent of their involvement. To them, humanities eternal plight and needs far outways any physical needs. What good is it to feed a man who is hungry if he still is going to die and go to Hell one day? Then there are those who claim to be in the middle just so they won't be labeled as either or so they won't offend anyone. And in the midst of it all is Christianity's reputation and ultimately the reputation of Jesus Christ Himself. Way to go brethren...

    Our debates about the importance of social justice not withstanding, Jesus made an interesting connection between social justice and the Day of Judgment.

"Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from me you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' They will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick and in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for the least of these, you did not do for me.'"
                                    -Matthew 25:41-45
   
    It is significant that one the most severe warnings about Hell from Jesus is made in the context of social justice. This is because social justice does indeed have much to do with the Gospel, the death and resurrection of Christ, and our salvation. As I have said in previous blogs, the real tragedy of "The Fall" is that mankind lost its ability to represent God and govern on His behalf, and that the goal of the Gospel is to restore humanity back to the position of rulers and priests so that we may in turn bring God's dominion of peace, equality, and justice to earth. On a personal level it means that Jesus Christ died on the cross to to remove everything that holds you back from your dreams, and rose from the dead to restore you back to a position of positive influence in your community.

    So the purpose of our salvation is restoration of first, our own lives, and secondly the restoration of our community through our own influence. So then social justice is the purpose and evidence of our salvation. This is why Jesus uses it in connection with such a dire warning of Hell. Jesus said every "tree" that does not produce fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. That fruit is described in scripture as "acts of righteousness". Another word for righteousness in scripture is, justice. The fruit our Lord is looking for is social justice.

    Lets be clear. This does not negate the Biblical truth that those who are saved are saved by Grace ALONE through faith in Christ. There is nothing we can do to earn, rate, or merit salvation. There is nothing we can do or not do to make us right with God. There is no amount of good deeds that can cover or make up for our sins. Righteousness and good standing with God is a gift that He deposits into our account, not a wage earned or a loan to be paid back. It has already been paid for with the blood of Christ. Social justice however is the evidence or "fruit" of the transformation that has taken place within us. So go out there and show the world that your life has been restored, or at very least, go argue about something else.

Who Should be Allowed to Come to Our Church?

    Who is our church for, the churched or the unchurched? Perhaps this is a silly question. Most churches will atleast on the surface, claim that everyone is welcome. "Whosoever will, may come". The real question should be, what will we require of those who want to be a part of our church? Are we going to ask them to abandon a few behaviors, and adopt some others before participating? Will we ask them to dress differently before attending, go through a class, remove any "eccentric" piercings, or cover up their tattoos?

    To answer that question I would like to defer you to Acts 15; the first business meeting of Christianity. First of all, it is very important to understand the setting and context of the Christian faith during the first couple decades after Jesus' death and resurrection. During this time Christianity was confined to Jerusalem and the surrounding cities. In fact, Christianity wasn't even called "Christianity" yet. It was still considered a sect of Judaism. When you decided to follow Christ, it was understood that you were converting to the Jewish faith.

    The events that led to this meeting in Acts 15 were quite controversial. The Gentiles were anyone who wasn't a Jew. They were considered "outsiders" by the Jews. Now these Gentiles all over the known world were coming to Christ. There was only one MAJOR problem... They weren't converting to Judaism! Their men weren't getting circumcised, they weren't giving up pork, they didn't meet in the synagogue, or keeping any of the Jewish regulations.

    During this tense meeting many believers made the assertion that these Gentiles could not be Christians until they converted to Judaism. This caused a major debate among the Christian leaders. That was until Peter reminded them that they are saved not by religion, rites and rituals, rules and regulations, works or performance, but by God's grace alone through faith. Then James made the ultimate decision that "we should not make if difficult for those who are turning to God".

    Then they sent a letter to all the Gentile congregations informing them of their decision. Remember, Christianity was still considered a part of Judaism back then and hadn't become a separate religion. Judaism had over 600 rules and regulations to keep daily, dozens of rights and rituals, not to mention circumcision.

    The apostles decision was for Gentiles to be courteous about eating food sacraficed to idols in front of Jews, blood, eating the meat of animals that had been strangled, and to abstain from sexual immortality ..... That's it... No other rules, regulations, "do's and don'ts". If they did all this, they were part of the faith, then still being Judaism.... wow! That was a HUGE leap of acceptance.

    I believe we have answered our question. It is not right for us to place extra burdens on people who want to be part of the church. Especially when the burdens we seek to place on them are are mere traditions of men. Given the rigorous nature of the Jewish faith, the apostles made radical efforts to make the Gentiles feel accepted into the fold. We should follow their example. We shouldn't make it difficult for those who are coming to God.

The REAL Tragedy of "The Fall"

    To some, it's a familiar story. God created Adam and Eve innocent and without fault. Then He placed them in a paradise that the Bible calls, "The Garden of Eden". God gave Adam and Eve absolute freedom except for one rule. They must not eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge or they will die. One day, Eve was tempted by the serpent and her and her husband broke that one rule. With that one act of disobedience sin, suffering, and spiritual death entered the world. Our relationship with God was severed. This was indeed a tragedy.

    Was this the worst of it though? Lets look at the bigger picture. Why did God create Adam and Eve in the first place? What was the original purpose for the human race?

    The Bible says in Genesis 1:26-30 that God made mankind after His own pattern and put His own identity in the human race. He goes on to give humanity dominion and authority over the whole earth. He commands mankind to fill the earth and rule it. So we can infer from the scriptures that the original purpose of the human race was to be placed in charge of God's creation. So then the real tragedy of "The Fall" was that humanity lost its ability to represent God and govern on His behalf.

    This in ability to govern is self evident in our society today, especially in our own government here in the United States. Ours is a house divided. We lack the simple unity needed to govern the nation entrusted into our care. Our lack of leadership is evident in our environment. Daily our planet is negatively effected through the release of pollutants and neglect. God delegated the responsibility of caring for the earth to us. We are failing that mandate.

    Then there is our fellow man that are suffering. We let crime, violence, and injustice thrive in our societies. We leave the education system broken and inadequate thus neglecting our inheritance and our future. The poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick and the dying. We either leave these to fend for themselves, or not do enough to fix the broken systems that facilitated the environment which caused their suffering. This is the tragedy of the sin of Adam and Eve. We have lost our ability to lead as God's representatives. This is what is meant by the statement, "we live in a fallen world". Its not so much a fallen world as it is a fallen race leading the world.

   There is hope however. There truly is a Gospel given for man's redemption. God sent another man created in His own image. This man, unlike Adam the first man restored humanity to our original calling by His life, death, and ressurection. He died to recover what was lost and to restore what was. This man was Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

This is the goal of the gospel. To restore human beings to the position of rulers and priests so that we may in turn bring God's utopia of peace, equality, and justice to earth.