Is It ME or Is It I? The weakest link in God's chain.

If you, unlike ME (or I?), are a grammar expert, you know the answer. The correct answer in both cases is: I! Two days ago, i had a very hard time, after being called, a "liar" twice from two different people (God knows i was telling the truth), i hit rock bottom. Well, yesterday early morning, i realized that the bottom of the "pit" i felt in, wasn't a rock, but a sinking sand, the more i moved the more i sank. In the process i had a break down, cried my heart out to God asking why this was happening, why things have to be so hard. In the afternoon, i caught myself lying, literally. So, today, after the storm, i can see things clearly, like, apart from Jesus i cannot do anything, much less resist the devil. Given the right circumstances, if i'm not fully depending on God, i will sin. That was a hard lesson, so, dependency matters. I believe, whenever we think that we are strong enough to resist sin, God will allow temptations to come just to prove to us that we are sinners, and falling into temptation we will be put where we belong: dust. Many of God's servants had hardships and struggles, like Paul for example: 2 Corinthians 12:9. Or Elijah after having a tremendous victory, he felt so weak that he asked God to take his life: 1 Kings 19:2-4. Or Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane: Luke 22:39-46. In no way, shape or form i'm comparing my hardship with those examples, there's no comparison, i'm just trying to show, to myself first, and hopefully to you, that there are good and bad days, there is victory and defeat, there are mountain top and rock bottom times in our lives, the only One who never lost was Jesus Christ. If we think about it, Jesus' greatest victory was His death, it sounds crazy, but it is true. Death was the last enemy He had to defeat, and He did it, and because He did it, we can have life. 1 Corinthians 15:25-26; 1 Corinthians 15:54-55. Here Paul is saying that one day death will cease to exist, once and for all, because Jesus already defeated it. Jesus also said that we will have tribulation, but, as He defeated the world, so can we. I believe that times like this come so i will not feel strong enough to do things my way, relying in my own strength, depending on myself. After the "storm", i'm again trusting in God's promises, realizing the truth in God's Word: Deuteronomy 31:6. If you are facing many battles and tribulations, don't give up, believe in Jesus, even if it looks like He is "sleeping" in your boat, He is aware of you trials, even if your boat sinks, He will take care of you. Acts 27:21-24. No matter how fierce the battle is, He will lead you to victory.
Conclusion: We are in the battle to fight, if we believe in God, He will help us to defeat the "giants" and enter in the "promise land". If we look the size and amount of "giants", we are already taking the first step to be defeated. 1 John 4:4.

Mega Complex: The Mega Mind Preacher and his Mega Church.

Once upon a time, in a not so far land, called MEGAlopolis, there was a little boy who dreamed MEGAdreams: "When i grow up i will be biggest, most powerful man on earth, the MEGAman". After many years, he started his own business: A construction business. One day he decided: "I will build the biggest hydro electric dam in the world, it will generate 20 billion MEGAwatts, i will call it the MEGAdam". He tried and tried and tried... but he wasn't an hydraulic engineer, so, he failed. Then he started another business: A warfare business. One day he decided: "I will build the biggest atomic bomb in the world, it will have 20 billion MEGAtons of power, i will call it the MEGAbomb". He tried and tried and tried... but he wasn't a nuclear engineer, so, he failed. Then he started another business: A computer business. One day he decided: "I will build the biggest computer in the world, it will have a 20 billion MEGAbytes hard drive, i will call it the MEGAcomputer". He tried and tried and tried... but he wasn't a computer engineer, so, he failed. Then he had a period of depression, suicide came to his mind, but, one day he decided to pay a visit to the neighboring church. The preacher was on fire, shouting: "You cannot outgive God. If you give $10 He will give you $100 back; if you give $100 He will give you $1,000 back...". Then he started another business: A church business. One day he decided: "I will build the biggest church in the world, it will make MEGAmillions of dollars, i will call it MEGAchurch". He started preaching the prosperity theory and the "broadway" gospel, selling t-shirts, holy water, handkerchiefs, coffee mugs, etc. One day he woke up and realized that his dream came true. He became The Mega Mind Preacher. My point is: Along the way, the church embraced the cultural "american dream", which means: Bigger, better, more, in a way that it is doing whatever it takes to have a bigger temple (building), a better environment (grace only gospel) and attract more people (size matters more than righteousness). In itself, the bigger, better, more, is not wrong, the problem is, in order to achieve that, preachers lowered Jesus' "standard" to a "human standard", as Jesus said, Matthew 15:7-9. From Jesus being "the narrow Way", preachers are "broadening" the way to allow more people to walk through it, just forgetting that Jesus said that the "broad way" leads to eternal condemnation. So, holiness, truthfulness, righteousness, faithfulness matter. Again, we must go back to the beginning (early church) and learn with the apostles of Jesus Christ, how to be faithful to Christ's Gospel. By the way, a time is coming, Jesus spoke about it in Matthew 15:13, that the "business oriented churches" will close their doors (file for bankruptcy), because Jesus Christ's church is a "body", not a "business", an "organism", not an "organization". Even if this sounds "crazy" right now, time will tell if i am lying or speaking the truth. Again, i'm not against Mega Churches, maybe there's one out there that is a "body", not a "business" oriented church, i just don't know anyone. Still, i prefer a "David" like church (full of the Holy Spirit) than a "goliath" one. For the ones who think that size matters, i wish you could ask goliath about it.

Was Jesus a law breaker?

Well, it all depends on what law we are talking about, God's law or Men's law. This is another of those highly controversial subjects, that everyone has his (her) own opinion, and very few are willing to subject (submit) their opinion to Jesus' opinion (will). Let's choose, probably the most controversial one: The Sabbath. There are few branches of the Christian Church that even named themselves accordingly, like: Seventh-Day Baptist Church, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, etc. Again, first we need the definition of Sabbath: Sabbath is the day of rest. The first time we see it in the Bible, is in Genesis 2:2-3. From that point on, the Bible talks a lot about the Sabbath. in Moses' law it was very strict, Exodus 20:8-11. In Jesus' time, it became so rigorous (of course because the religious people added so much to it), that they even persecuted Jesus because of it. Luke 6:1-11; Luke 13:14. So, by healing on the Sabbath day, was Jesus "breaking" the fourth commandment? Just because He was the "Lord of the Sabbath", was He guiltless? Why He broke His own law? The truth is: He never broke any of God's Laws! So, how to make sense of it all? First of all, we must define what rest means in the Biblical context. If you take the dictionary, there are tons of definitions for rest, from "a state of inaction" to "the repose of death" (RIP). If you consider the Biblical rest as the "absence of motion", than you will remember that, at least once in your lifetime, after sleeping 8 hours or more, you woke up very tired, like if you didn't sleep at all. So, just because your body came to a "motionless state", can you say that you rested? If not, why not? Ok, read this first: Jeremiah 6:16; Matthew 11:29. Jeremiah is talking about Jesus, the Good Way; John 14:6. So, answering the question, why didn't you rest? Because your soul couldn't rest and it affected you body, that’s why you woke up so tired. The problem with the “view” that “Sabbath rest” means physical rest only, is that your conclusion will be that Jesus Christ broke the fourth commandment when “working” (doing the will of His Father) during the Sabbath. Besides, Paul the Apostle writes this: Romans 14:5-6; Psalm 118:24. So, what’s the Lord’s Day (Sabbath) for you? Saturday? Sunday? Everyday? To me, everyday is the Lord’s Day (Sabbath), and I will choose to rest in Jesus Christ who is my Prince of Peace! Again, was Jesus who said: Luke 20:25. So, answering the question about Jesus being a law breaker, the conclusion is: If the law of men did not violate the law of God, He obeyed it. If it did, He didn't obey it. The same way it works for us. If the law of men doesn't violate the law (commandment) of God, we must obey it. If it does, than we must choose what law (commandment) we will obey: God's or men's. Acts 5:29.

Childlikeness: The Practicality of Jesus' Gospel.

Luke 18:16; Mark 10:15. Since Childlikeness means to exhibit childlike simplicity and credulity, we can see why Jesus said that we must receive the kingdom of God as a little child. Of course, in Jesus' time children were taught to obey their parents, unlike today. When i tell Camilla, my baby girl (she is 20 months old) to jump to my arms, she doesn't theorize, like: Maybe dad is not strong enough to catch me; i shouldn't jump because i'm 23lbs heavier than the air and the law of gravity states that i will fall; i don't feel confident enough to jump right now, etc. Unlike us, grown-ups, little children just do it without any reservation. In that sense Jesus told us to become like a little child, to obey without questioning, to follow without arguing, to believe without reservations. Since practicality means to be concerned with actual use rather than theoretical possibilities, our problem as grown-ups, is trying to understand Jesus commandments before obeying, we usually forget that He is not Savior of the one He is not lord, we cannot divide Jesus, therefore salvation and lordship are indivisible. Of course the actuality, obedience, is way harder than theorizing about the matter. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-30. Do the birds of the air or the lilies of the field worry about anything? Of course, if you think about the birds, they don't spend the whole day in their nests chirping or singing; they don't expect that the worm will crawl all the way to their nest, etc. They leave their nest seeking for food and come back to feed their chicks. So, having faith has nothing to do with laziness or idleness, absolutely, we must work but at the same time acknowledge that all comes from God, that God is our provider. See what Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 3:10. Working is not an option, neither faith is. Little children are not worried about clothing or food, they just live. We must become like a little child, knowing God as our giver and provider. James 1:17; Matthew 7:7-12.

Have you been with Jesus today?

Acts 4:13. There are many sayings that i believe, are partially correct, like: Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are; you are what you eat; i think, therefore i am, etc. When i say i believe they are partially correct, it's because you can be a godly person and have ungodly friends; eat bitter melon and never be a bitter person (bitter melon is known as the most bitter vegetable in the world) or even if you are not a thinker, you still are (exist). Examples: Matthew 11:19 Jesus was called "friend of sinners" because He loved the sinners and yet He never sinned; Mark 1:6 John the Baptist ate locust and was never able to fly; Acts 12:21-23 after the crowd called Herod "god", he died because he really thought he was a "god" (of course he wasn't). The point is: What you think, eat or who you associate with will only influence you to become what you will be, but you still have the freedom to decide what you will be. You can change your "environment", be changed by it or be in constant fight against it. I know it still sounds kinda confusing, so, let's use the disciples as an example: Judas Iscariot walked with Jesus as much as Peter did. Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter denied Him. Nevertheless, Peter repented and lived and Judas had remorse and killed himself. Peter became so much "like" Jesus (likeness is not equality) that the religious leaders realized that, as in Acts 4:13, Peter had been with Jesus. Many times we try to lead people to Jesus by "saying the correct words", "quoting the correct Bible verses", "showing ourselves to be morally correct", etc. In this case, Peter and John went to jail because they reflected the "Light" (Jesus Christ) so much that even the "blind people" (the religious leaders who Jesus called blind), could see the Light in them. Let's compare Jesus with the Sun and Peter with the Moon. We all know that the moon doesn't have light in itself, it only "reflects" the sun's light, so: We have "night" because "at night" the earth have rotated (the other side of the earth, let's say Japan, they have day), and we suppose to have the sun's light being reflected by the moon. Of course the moon has its phases: New, quarter, full. The moon is at its best when is full, it fully illuminates the night (darkness). The same way we suppose to live (operate): The more we align ourselves to reflect Jesus (the bigger Jesus is in us) the brighter the Light (Jesus) will be reflected through our lives. When we are born again we are like the "new moon" (partially reflecting the sun's light), then we should grow to "quarter moon" and then to "full moon". Of course, the more the "earth" gets between the sun and the moon, the less the moon will shine. The same way it works in the spiritual life: The more attached to the earthly (worldly) living we are, the less of Jesus we will have in our lives, therefore, the less Jesus Christ will shine in and through our lives. 1 John 2:15.
Conclusion: The more Jesus grows in us, the more His light will shine in us, the more His light shines in and through us, the more people will see His character in us (we'll be more like Him). Matthew 5:16.

What to do when doubt strikes.

I think satan's best weapon is doubt. From the beginning (literally), we see him using that weapon. His first "victim" was Eve: Genesis 3:1. Here is what God said to Adam: Genesis 2:16-17. See how cunning satan was, he changed just a little bit what God said (half-truth) and gave it a whole new meaning: God said that they should not eat only the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they could eat from every other tree of the garden. Along the Bible we see satan using the same tactics over and over again, even when it's not explicit, like with John the Baptist, when asking if Jesus was the Messiah. First, John gives testimony about Jesus being the One: John 1:32-34. Then he doubts and sends his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the One: Matthew 11:2-5. What is beautiful is that Jesus didn't answer yes or no to John's question, He only quoted Isaiah 35. To me it means that Jesus was assuring John that He was the messiah but at the same time saying that John still had to believe what God told him. There are different ways that satan uses the weapon of doubt: Through people, circumstances, etc. How many times you and i were pretty sure about something and someone came and said something else and our faith (assurance) just melted down? I remember (i wrote about this) when waiting for our son (it took five years to see the promise fulfilled) that i was completely sure about the promise, and the promise was a Son (boy), when Fabiana got pregnant, people started saying that it was a girl, i kept saying: "No, it's a boy!". Until one day, when one's the most godly friends i have asked this question: "Are you sure God was specific or generic when He spoke about the child?" Like: Didn't God say it was a child instead of a Son? That question struck me so bad that my faith was shaken. Then i started praying like crazy, asking if what i had was faith or only a "deep desire" to have a Son. Couple days latter the Holy Spirit said: "What I said, I said". After that i was ok, but God taught me a great lesson: Make sure that you are hearing God's voice and whatever He says, that's what you have to believe. So, what to do when doubt strike? Keep believing! Just like Jesus Christ told Martha: John 11:40.

Complacency: A Disgraceful Grace.

As of today, the most common definition of grace I heard is: An unmerited (undeserved) pardon (forgiveness). Well, I always bought it, until today (silly right?). When writing this post, I came across with different definitions and distinctions of grace, making my already shortsighted view of grace even shorter (cuckoo). The problem with this limited view of grace is that it is a half-truth (since Jesus Christ is the Truth, there's no half-Jesus). I say that because this vision of grace has a limited application. We could apply it in the case of our salvation: Ephesians 2:8. But, if you consider grace as an unmerited pardon only, how do you reconcile what the Bible says in John 1:14; John 1:17. Can you say that Jesus was full of unmerited pardon? If so, what did Jesus had to be pardoned (forgiven) of? Was He guilty of something? Yep, I know it is a complex subject, right now my mind is twisting and turning trying to make sense of it (I’m praying right now to have a clear understanding about God’s grace). To make matters worse, read this passages: Psalm 45:2; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 22:11; Zechariah 12:10; Luke 2:40; Acts 4:33; Acts 13:43. Pay attention to what the Bible says in Luke 2:40; Luke 4:17-19. How about this: Acts 13:43; Galatians 3:3; Galatians 5:16. And this: Romans 8:26; 2 Corinthians 12:9; Acts 1:8. Well, then you ask: What all of this have to do with Complacency? I’m glad you asked! Here is what Complacency means: The feeling you have when you are satisfied with yourself. Why is Complacency a Disgraceful Grace? Because it's not the grace of God! Matthew 16:24. Today, this is the church’s motto: I’m leaving my life by the grace of God! Yeah right. If Jesus Christ said that we must loose our lives: Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24; Luke 17:33; John 12:25. The question is: Are you satisfied with yourself?
Conclusion: What is now my understanding about grace? Grace is the Holy Spirit in me, helping me to lose my life, therefore, fulfilling God’s Will for Me. James 4:6. Don't be complacent, be filled with the Holy Spirit!

What's the state of the water you're walking on? If so...

Matthew 14:28-30. Of course you know the three states of water: Solid, liquid and gas. Figuratively speaking, walking on water means walking by faith. So when I'm asking what state of the water you're walking on (if you are), I mean, how deep is your faith, because even if you're walking on water (the vast majority of christians are not), you can still be walking on solid water (ice). I remember, about 9 years ago, me and my wife went to Michigan to our friends house and her boyfriend took us to a "ride on the lake" (his car was not amphibious), of course the lake was frozen. It was amazing to me that the ice was so thick that even a car could ride on it. He had some friends ice-fishing in the middle of the lake, really cool, it was an unforgettable experience. So, comparing our walking by faith to walking on water, I could say that when we're born again, we start walking on a very thick ice (it's already water), but as we progress in our journey, the ice starts to get thinner. So, the thinner the ice the bigger the faith. Of course, as it was for Peter it is for us, the purpose is not to keep walking on thick ice, but to progress to a point that we would be able to walk on liquid water, as Peter did in the beginning (also after the Pentecost). I'm sure that Jesus already knew what was going to happened: The storm, Peter walking on water, Peter sinking, etc., and the purpose was to teach His disciples how to walk by faith, that even when it goes against all odds, against the law of nature, laws of physics, etc., still the Word of God, which is Jesus Himself, (in our text: So He (Jesus) said, “Come”), is above any other law. So, when God tells us to walk on water, if we obey, He will give us enough faith to do it. In the beginning of our walk by faith, we don't have enough faith to walk, but, as we obey, we start seeing the results, then our faith will (should) grow to a point where our faith will lead us to obedience. God only asked Abraham do sacrifice Isaac when Abraham was able (had enough faith) to do it. We should stop giving Cain's excuse (when sacrificing): I'm not Abel (got it?). Of course, even when we are able to walk by faith, sometimes we are not willing to do it. So why did Peter began to sink? Because when he (Peter) saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid! So, fear is probably the biggest giant we have to defeat (it's our personal goliath). Just like Jesus' disciples, We are in the same boat, the difference among Jesus' disciples (ourselves) is the willingness and courage to step out of the boat. Remember what the Bible says in 1 John 4:18.

Unforgiveness: The Cause, The Symptom and The Cure.

Probably one of the hardest issues to talk about in the christian life is forgiveness. Unfortunately, it's not often preached or taught, and people like myself, live most their lives imprisoned or entangled by a deep feeling of resentment and even hatred, finding no way of escape. If you ever experienced that, you know that unforgiveness drained the life out of you. I remember that the worst thing about unforgiveness was seeing the person I was hating living a happy life, smiling and such, and I was just slowly and painfully dying. Why do we feel so guilty and ashamed when we don't forgive others? Jesus answered this question in extremely simple words: In Matthew 18:21-35 Jesus tells the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, and in verse 35 He says: "So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses". It means that if, from the heart (words are cheap), we don't forgive, we are not been forgive by God. That's why I felt so guilty and ashamed, because God was not forgiving me, of course, because I refused to forgive others. So, for the Cause of Unforgiveness, the guilt feeling is one of the easiest symptoms to detect and of course the Cure is Forgiving. It may sound easy and cheap, but, since there is so much unforgiveness in our world, it is everything but easy and cheap. Of course if you are, like I used to be, in bondage and slave of yourself and the devil, you need deliverance and only Jesus Christ is able to do it, and since there's no magic pill, you have to fight for your freedom. The worst enemy that needs to be put to death is the giant called self, then you must submit yourself to God, then resist the devil, and the devil will flee from you. It's very interesting how satan operates: he cannot touch us, so he will find his way in us through our minds (thoughts), that's why Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5, once satan captures our thoughts, it touches our emotions (soul), then our emotions touch our spirit and our spirit touches our bodies, as it says in Proverbs 17:22. I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but as I used to have depression, I can see clearly the way it works. I was amazed when I started writing this post, because I was listening on the radio a song from Chris August called 7 x 70 (I never heard before), let me borrow some lines from his song: 7 times 70 times. If that’s the cost I’ll pay the price. 7 times 70 times. I’ll do what it takes to make it right. I thought the pain was here to stay, but forgiveness made a way. Forgiveness is not a feeling, is an attitude of the heart. Only after we decide (act) to forgive we will really forgive. As Paul talks in Philippians 2, we must to have the same attitude that was in Christ Jesus, it means that as much as Christ forgave we must forgive. For the children of God, forgiveness is not an option, is a commandment!

Jesus Christ Crucified: The Counter-cultural Preaching.

It didn't take long for false doctrines and acceptable sins to appear among the early believers. Actually, in the very beginning Peter dealt with what we would call today in our churches, "white lie". When confronting Ananias and Sapphira, Peter makes it very clear that before God, there's no "white" (acceptable) lies and if you lie in His presence (Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit) you will die. In the context (early church), Peter didn't allow it to continue because it would be like a "yeast", Galatians 5:9, sinful living would be fine or normal, just as it is in today's church. Unfortunately, since the beginning there are false teachers and prophets spreading false doctrines in the church. Paul calls the false teachers "savage wolves", Acts 20:29-30. Jesus Christ himself dealt with false prophets and false teachers. When writing to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, He says that some people held the doctrine of Balaam; that there were false apostles; some were "synagogue of Satan"; there was the spirit of Jezebel, a woman who called herself prophetess, teaching and seducing people to sin against God. Today it's worse than ever, there are many false doctrines and half-truths being preached, so much that the vast majority of believers can't discern between truth and lie. Be honest, how many times you heard a preaching about "Jesus Christ Crucified"? If never, why did Paul specifically said that they (apostles) preached Jesus Christ Crucified and very few preachers today are preaching this Jesus? There are only two reasons for not preaching Jesus Christ Crucified: Preachers don't know this Jesus therefore can't preach Him; Preachers know that Jesus but they don't preach Him because they love the praises of people more than the praise of God. John 12:42-43. I already wrote about Jesus Christ crucified, that means: Unconditional Obedience to God! It's not popular to preach this kind of message, it's a lot easier and more convenient to preach Jesus the Savior, Jesus the Bread Maker, Jesus the Healer, Jesus the Good Shepherd, etc., but it's hard to preach Jesus the Lord, because the vast majority of people want a Savior, not a Lord (owner), again, as Paul said: Is Christ divided? If your answer is No, than: Jesus is not the savior of the one He is not Lord! If you're asking: How do I know if Jesus is my Lord? It's simple: Since Lordship means ownership, if Jesus Christ asks you to follow Him will you do it? If He asks you to leave everything to follow Him will you do it? I'm not saying that He will do it or He will ask you to abandon your family, I'm only asking you if you are willing to obey Him whatever He tells you to do. I know it's tough, but the cowards will not enter in the Kingdom of God, as the Bible says in Revelation 21:8. So, as God said to Joshua, in Joshua 1:9. So, don't give up, don't loose hope, be strong and courageous, fight the good fight and God will be with you wherever you go. We must think like Paul: Philippians 4:13.

But the fruit of the Spirit is...

In the beginning of my "new life", God taught me a very important lesson, it was about the fruit of the Spirit, found in Galatians 5:22-23. As a newborn christian, I desperate desired the "pure milk", 1 Peter 2:2, so I dedicated as much time as I could to study the Bible, to pray and meditate about what I was reading. The Holy Spirit started to teaching me many lesson in ways that were easy for me to understand. Regarding the fruit of the Spirit, He showed me two grapes, one had seeds and the other had none. Then He directed me to the passage in Galatians 5 and told me that even if the fruit is ONE, the fruit of the Spirit, still it has the potential to have many seeds, love, joy, peace..., and that's the very purpose of the fruit, not just to be eaten once, but to have seeds to be thrown into the ground again. Then I remembered the passage in Luke 10:5-6. See that Jesus is telling His disciples to sow the seed of peace, if there was a fertile ground (read the parable of the sower), the seed would germinate (sprout) bringing forth fruit. See how clear Jesus is: Your peace, meaning, if the disciples didn't have peace, they wouldn't be able to give peace. Remember what Peter said to the beggar? Acts 3:6. Unfortunately, today we think words are enough (if we don't think, we act like we do), but spiritually speaking, we cannot give what we don't have, that's why we are so inefficient (there are exceptions) in our prayers, that's why we don't see the same results Jesus' Disciples saw.We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and Power Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8. See that the disciples already had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them John 20:22, but they needed the Power to be effective in their preaching, teaching, etc. The truth is: We lack God's Power! We must go back to the beginning, embrace the full teaching of Jesus Christ, then, we'll turn our world "upside down". Acts 17:6.

The Entertainment Syndrome: From Sound Doctrine to Sound Effects.

Titus 2:1-10; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Mark 7:7; John 7:15-18. Those are some texts that show us the importance of teaching and keeping Jesus' doctrine as He and the apostles taught, not adding or taking anything from it. You can see that, from the very beginning, Jesus had a hard time with the religious people, because their doctrines, that He described as "commandments of men". The religious people had the correct doctrine, the Law and the Prophets, but they added so many things that at the end, they themselves were not willing to obey their own commandments. Jesus says how bad it became, in Matthew 23:15. Nowadays, the focus is attracting, entertaining and pleasing people. Of course there are some exceptions to this rule, but in general we see the same pattern: 20 minutes worship, 5 minutes announcements, 30 minutes preaching, 10 minutes fellowship, etc., if it goes over just 1 minute, there's an uproar. I'm not saying that we shouldn't have order, that we should abandon the current "model", i'm just saying that we make rules and tell the Holy Spirit to work according to our rules, that we don't allow Him to move the way He wants to move. No wonder we don't see God's glory as they did in the early church, the difference is just one: In the early church the Holy Spirit was the "leader", the disciples just "followed" Him. Of course if we go back to the beginning, many people will be displeased and will leave the church, because the first change they will see is: Prayer will be a priority, not just another activity. I love music, but we drifted so far from form true worship (music is part of it) that some churches are using secular music instead of worship music, like U2 Eucharist for example (if you think i'm joking, check that out). We make our churches so nice, cozy, pretty, etc., that we attract thousands of people, unfortunately, we repel the first One we suppose to attract: Jesus Christ. He wrote to our churches in Revelation 2-3: To the loveless "Ephesus", to the persecuted "Smyrna", to the compromising "Pergamos", to the corrupt "Thyatira", to the dead "Sardis", to the faithful "Philadelphia" and to the lukewarm "Laodicean". Since there are only seven last-days churches, where does your church fit in? Better, since we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (church), where do we fit in?

The ONE THING!

Luke 18:22. This is a very interesting story. It's about a young man who became rich (the young ruler) and his riches were the very reason for not fulfilling God's calling for his life, meeting Jesus Christ, who being rich (God), made Himself poor and became a servant man (read Philippians 2), in order to save the first one (humanity). Let me ask you a very personal question, so personal that only you and God can answer: Is there ONE THING that is or would be preventing you from fulfilling God's calling (will) for your life? You may not have the answer right now, so, meditate, pray and ask God to search your heart and reveal to it you. Of course, you have to be honest before God and consider the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 10:37-39. Well, maybe you are saying to yourself: "I don't have a calling". If you are saying that, there's only two possibilities: First: You are not part of the Body of Christ (Church); Second: You are believing in satan's lie. Paul, the apostle, compares the Church (Body of Christ) with the human body and says that we are members of the Body. Think about your body: What's your eyes "calling" (purpose, mission, job)? How about your mouth? How about your legs? Stop using your left leg for only a day and see how it goes. Because most believers don't know what "part of the Body" (member) they are (calling, gifts), the whole body is SUFFERING! For example, let's say that "you are the left leg", because you are not working (functioning), your church is a one legged body! Meaning, it is deficient, lacking, wanting, etc. Unfortunately, today's church is struggling really bad, probably for two reason: First: Believers are not taught that they must know their calling and gifts or when they are taught, they ignore it, because it will cost something and it's a lot easier to "warm up" our comfortable seats or pews. My advice to you is this: If you don't know your calling and gifts, start serving in your church (congregation), there's always something you can do, but also, find out what your calling and gifts are. Don't let the one thing prevent you from following Jesus, because, He is the way that will lead you into the Kingdom of God!

Meditation: A Transcendental or a Conscious Practice?

I remember, in the 80's, that the church was fighting fiercely against a movement called "new age". If you never heard of it, here's a basic definition: "New Age thinking has its roots in Eastern mysticism which bypasses the mind. There is a new organ of perception, "the third eye", which gives spiritual light. One needs to get to the "psychic self" by training one’s self to ignore the messages from the mind. Really it is throwing the mind in neutral". After that, meditation was associated with new age. In the Bible we can find many places that tell us to meditate in the Law of God. Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2; Psalm 119:15. So, what is the biblical definition for meditation? Well, while writing, I came across with the best definition of meditation I ever heard (very biblical), it's from J. I. Packer: "Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God... It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God". As J. I. Packer states, there's nothing to do with emptying our mind, reaching the "psychic self" and entering into another realm, where the imaginary is the new reality. That's more like "Avatar" the movie, where James Cameron created something I would call "imagiality", where the imaginary becomes the "new reality", he mixes fantasy and spiritism in very subtle way. Unfortunately, because of our busy life, it's very hard to find time to meditate in the Word of God. Maybe this will sound kinda disgusting to you, but, in simple words, let me compare Meditation with Rumination. Cows are ruminant animals, which mean they regurgitate, re-chew and re-swallow their food as part of the digestive process. That should be the process of meditation: We hear the Word of God, we think about It, after that It goes to our unconscious mind (subconscious), then we remember that Word, we think again... After that It becomes part of our being, It goes to our hearts. Jeremiah 31:33. We must learn the importance of Meditating in the Word of God, like the food we eat, some teachings are harder to "swallow" (absorb) than others, but those are equally necessary to our spiritual growth. We cannot meditate in the Word of God if we don't hear fo read it!

Spiritual Growth: From "milk" to "solid food".

1 Corinthians 3:1-2. Today, I see a huge gap, spiritually speaking, between the leaders (pastors, teachers, preachers, etc.) and the regular believer. There are three probable causes: The regular believers are receiving milk only; they are not absorbing the solid food or they are rejecting the solid food. If you pay attention to what's being preached lately, the vast majority of the preachings, are milk only, as the writer of Hebrews calls: "The first principles of the oracles of God". Then there are a few preachers who try to preach, as Paul says in Acts 20:27, but, even among those few, there are even fewer who preach, what Paul calls, Jesus Christ crucified, Galatians 3:1 (read Post "What Jesus: The Narrow Way or the Broadway?). Ok, we all know that there's different factors that contribute to our physical growth, like, genetic, nutrition, environmental conditions, among others. If we compare the physical and the spiritual growth, we can say that: Genetic: Only the ones who are born of the Spirit will grow spiritually, John 3:6; nutrition: When babies, we need milk, but after that we need solid food, Hebrews 5:12-13; environmental conditions: If we only associate with evil people and are not part of the church (body of Christ), we won't grow spiritually. God didn't call us to be a hermit, but to be a part of His church, Hebrews 10:25. So, in order to grow spiritually, first we need to be born of the Spirit; when babies, we need the pure milk, 1 Peter 2:2; then we need solid food, we need to study and meditate in the Word of God, Psalm 1:1-3.

The Purpose, the Time and the Way.

Ecclesiastes 8:6 For there is a time and a way for every purpose. A couple years ago, a friend of mine gave me a copy of the very popular book called "the purpose driven life". I confess that I'm not a good reader, but, I read this book very fast. It soon became a "must read" among Christians (at that time already sold over 10 million copies). A lot of churches did that 40 days of purpose study. Of course, just like the other "fix me quickly" kind of books, didn't last longer. Why? If it was so nicely written, so easy to apply, so broaden that any and every church could use as their "new bible"? BECAUSE IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE THERE IS NO QUICK FIX! We are, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:9 ...You are God’s field. God is "cultivating" us! He prepares our field (heart), sows the good seed (His word), waters and gives the growth. But along the way comes the enemy (devil) and throws the bad seed, Matthew 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. For about "forever", I had this question in my mind: Why does the "bad seed" grows along with the "good one"? The answer we find in Jesus' parable of the sower: When the ground is ready to receive the seed (good ground), whatever is sowed will grow! Do you realize how many times the enemy sows "bad thoughts" in our minds? I'll give you an example. I used to hate people for no reason at all or any reason was a good reason to hate someone, and it used to work like this: I met someone, there was something I didn't like about that person (behavior, appearance, etc.), then I started thinking about it, as I ALLOWED that feeling to grow, in no time I was hating that person, why? Because the enemy sowed that "bad seed" and I ALLOWED it to grow. In Matthew 5:21-23 Jesus puts Murder and Anger without a cause in the same level, so, from Jesus' perspective, I was killing people! Do you remember that old Chinese saying: You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair? It's kinda like that! Bad thoughts (bad seed) will always come; the devil will always throw the bad seed. Our job is to prevent them to grow in our hearts. Going back to the purpose (literally speaking), if we read the story of Joseph, for example, he says to his brothers in Genesis 45:4-5 And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come near to me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life". If we read carefully, we see that the Purpose (to preserve life), the Time (from the "pit" to becoming governor of Egypt) and the Way (trials and tribulation) worked perfectly to accomplish God's will. Until Joseph's meeting with Pharaoh, God was working IN his life, after that God worked THROUGH his life. If we study the life of other God's servants, we see the same pattern. Even in Jesus Christ's life we see that pattern, for example: Purpose: Our salvation; Time: About 2000 years ago; Way: Cross. Do you remember Jesus' prayer in the garden? Matthew 26:42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done". Since Jesus died on the Cross that was the Way the Father chose to save us. Remember when Jesus turned water into wine, what He said to His mother? John 2:4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come". Jesus knew the exact Time He would do it. Unfortunately for us, we're living in a time that everything is for "yesterday", we're always behind, we don't have enough time to do what we suppose to, if we had 48 hours in our day, it wouldn't be enough. We must learn how to discern the Purpose, Time and Way as Jesus did; after all, we are His disciples. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 8:5 Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. We need to pray for wisdom to be able to discern the Purpose, Time and Way. James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Ps.: The only thing I disagree with Mr. Warren is on pg. 10 where he says: The spies were transformed by 40 days in the Promised Land. If you really believe the Bible, you'll see that the spies didn't change a bit, Joshua and Caleb believed, as always, that God delivered the people, including the giants, in their hands. The other 10 were the reason why the people didn't enter in the Promised Land. Besides he assures the on pg. 10 that: The next 40 days will transform your life. My suggestion to you is: Never set a timeline for God to transform you or your loved ones, but always allow God's perfect will to transform you in His Time, by His Way to accomplish His Purpose.

On This "Rock" I Will Build My Church...

Matthew 16:13-20. From my childhood I've been hearing different opinions about what Jesus meant with this statement, some plausible, others fictitious. To me, the "Rock" Jesus is talking about, is the Father's revelation of Jesus, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Jesus is saying that His church will be built in this revelation. This means that the Father wants to reveal (to impart) His Son to us and our objective as God's children is to know His Son. That's probably the reason Jesus made it very clear in Matthew 7:22-23. This passage confirms what God declared in Hosea 6:6. See that Jesus says they will come and tell Him what they did: They prophesied, they cast out demons and done many wonders, all in the Name of Jesus. We need to answer these questions: Can we expel demons, even in the name of Jesus without His power? The answer is no! Acts 19:13-16. Is it really possible to cast out demons (prophesy, etc) in the Name of Jesus and yet do not know Him? I did cast out demons and prophesied in Jesus' name, and I can assure you that is possible. Why? First and foremost: There is Power in the Name of Jesus; second: If you have the gift you can do it! Then you ask: Did this people really had gifts? The answer if found in Romans 11:29. Many pastors and preachers don't believe that is possible to have the calling and gifts and yet don't know Jesus Christ, i believe it is possible! The best examples I can give you, both in the Old and New Testaments, are Saul the king and Judas Iscariot the apostle. Saul prophesied and was anointed as king. Judas was the only apostle who had a "visible" ministry among Jesus' disciples, he had charge of the money. I personally don't believe that gifts and calling are the "evidence" or "assurance" of salvation, I mean, once receiving them one is automatically saved. I believe they only reveal God's character. Think about this: Couple times the Holy Spirit came upon Saul. 1 Samuel 10:9-12; 1 Samuel 19:24. The Holy Spirit left him. If after all of this you still have any doubt that it is possible to have gifts and calling and be rejected by God, I'll give another passage to think about. Hebrews 6:4-6. See that there's the "enlightenment", the "tasting" of the Holy Spirit, the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and yet there's the "fall away", it means that all of this are not the assurance for salvation! The other question is: Do I lose salvation? I believe we don't lose our salvation, otherwise, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ wouldn't be sufficient, but, we must to pay attention in Jesus' words, as in Matthew 7:20; John 17:3.
Conclusion: We can gain the whole world, even for Jesus Christ and yet lose our soul, if we don't make the knowledge of God our way of living.

Submission: To Be Under Christ's Mission.

Submission comes from the latin Submittere and means: sub=under + mittere=let go. It is defined as: To yield or surrender oneself to the will and authority of another, to obey. This is a very controversial issue that has divided the church and led many Christians to abandon their faith, because we are rebellious by nature. Jesus Christ lived a life of perfect submission, and we Christians are called to follow His example. In the Bible we are commanded to submit to God: James 4:7; to submit to our parents: Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20; to submit to the government: Romans 13:1; Titus 3:1; to submit to one another: Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 5:5; wife to her husband: Ephesians 5:24; 1 Peter 3:1. As we see in Jesus’ life, submission is a voluntary act, God never forced Him to do it, Philippians 2:6-8; Matthew 26:39. Jesus Christ fulfilled His mission, the same way we are called to submit ourselves to Christ or to be under Christ’s mission. Probably the most controversial submission is the wife to her husband, since feminism is as strong in the church as it is in the world, women don’t think they have to submit themselves to their husbands. Even if submission is a voluntary act, before God it is a commandment, and just like any other commandment we must choose to obey. The problem we have when dealing with submission is that we don’t see it the way God sees it, submission is beneficial, it’s for our own good, there’s no salvation, eternal life, etc, without submission. When the wife submits herself to her husband, she is fulfilling God’s call for her life. Genesis 2:18. Here we see that God considers husbands and wives to be similar, equivalent, but yet the wife is the helper, the husband is the leader. Jesus Christ is the authority over the husband; the husband is the authority over the wife. Unfortunately, there are a lot of husbands (I’m talking about christianity) abusing their authority, they’re nothing but dictators in their houses, leading their family with an “iron fist”. Another way is the wife being the authority of the house, as they say: “for every Ahab there is a Jezebel”, meaning, if the husband doesn't take his place as a leader, the wife will do it. Another way is when nobody is the leader; the house becomes a total mess. Another one is when both husband and wife fight to be the authority, then the house becomes a battlefield, they end up divorcing or killing each other. Then there’s God’s way, Jesus Christ being the authority over the husband and the husband being the authority over the wife. If we analyze Jesus’ leadership over His disciples, we will see God’s concept of Servant Leadership (Robert K. Greenleaf stole God's idea and started a movement in 1970) the best scripture to explain it is John 13, where Jesus washes His disciples’ feet and tells them that He was giving them an example, the same way, we are called to wash one another’s feet, meaning, to serve one another. We husbands must learn how to serve our wives and be willing to give our lives for them. Because Christians, both husbands and wives don’t understand God’s way for marriage, the divorce rate is higher in the church than it is in the world. In December of 1999, George Barna published the results of a survey which found that 34 percent adult members of non-denominational Christian churches have experienced divorce in their lifetime, in contrast with 21 percent for atheists, agnostics and Roman Catholics. Baptists had the highest rate for born-again denominational Christians at 29 percent. The Mormon divorce rate was 24 percent. Overall, 27 percent of born-again Christians have experienced divorce compared to 24 percent for the rest of Americans. Nearly four thousand interviews were conducted, leaving a very small margin of error. Submission is not an option, is a commandment! Of course when dealing with marriage, there’s no place in the Bible where God calls the wife to be a doormat, a punching bag, an object to be used and abused by the husband, absolutely, the husband must honor and love his wife. 1 Peter 3:7. The same way Peter talks about Sarah who obeyed Abraham, calling him “lord”: 1 Peter 3:6. I know this is a very controversial subject, but, just like any other commandment, we have to believe and obey, there’s no other way. If we read the story of Abraham and Sarah, we don’t see Abraham mistreating or abusing his wife, absolutely, he loved her so much that he cared, honored and respected her. We husbands must follow Abraham’s example. I’m married for about 10 years, it may sound amazing for some people, but we never fought, we have our differences, disagreements, but, from the beginning, one of us always gave up for the sake of our marriage and what is really incredible is that my wife always followed me, even if she disagreed with me. I remember that every time we left one church to go to another, she was very sad and didn't like it at all, but she always decided to follow me. I’m not claiming perfection, but we are trying very hard to follow God’s commandment: I’m submitting myself to Jesus Christ and Fabiana is submitting herself to me. I believe that every problem can be resolved when we deny ourselves, take our cross and follow Jesus, by doing that, God Himself will make a way where there seems to be no way, if we do what is possible, God will do the impossible! So, what was Jesus Christ’s mission? John 6:38. His mission was to do the will of His Father!

Spirit vs. Flesh: The Invisible Battle.

Most people think, that once they're born again, sin is a thing of the past. That's a huge mistake! Because as soon as they wake up the next day, they're confronted with a terrible, but truthful reality: They still sin! I remember, long time ago, in a far far land, in a youth retreat, hearing this terrible lie: “Believers don’t sin!” That hurt my soul really bad, so much so that I had no option but confronting that lie. At that time, I was a young sinner in desperate need of a deliverer and savior, now I’m a lot older, but still a sinner running after the savior Jesus Christ, the more I know myself, the more I realize how much I need Him. Why I’m saying what that pastor said was a lie? 1 John 1:8-10. At that time I had no clue about this passage, I just knew it was a lie. I used King David as an example and the pastor had no answer, of course because there was no answer. Since God anointed me, He gave me a spiritual gift called discernment; I confess to you that sometimes it’s painful “seeing” things others don’t see, because usually people don’t believe what you say. The one thing that bothered me a lot when that happened, was that none of the pastors and leaders stood up to confront that lie, only myself and my sister, may the only self-aware sinners there. I know the other pastors confront that man in private later, probably they didn't do in public because a thing called friendship. James 4:4. Speaking about Spirit and flesh, after we’re born again, we’re spiritually alive, the Holy Spirit lives in us, but we still carry the “old sap” called sinful desires, God taught me that whatever we feed the most, spirit or flesh, that’s the one who will control our lives. After being born again, a battle starts: Galatians 5:17. If we keep feeding our flesh, we cannot expect to have victory against our sinful desires. Galatians 5:16. Remember: A war is made of many battles! That’s the reason Jesus Christ told us to deny ourselves and take our cross daily: Luke 9:23. Yesterday’s battle is past: Philippians 3:13; tomorrow will worry about it’s own: Matthew 6:34. Our focus must be today’s battle against sin and we must do whatever is necessary to win: Hebrews 12:4.
Conclusion: We must remember this: 1 Corinthians 10:13. To win the battle against sin and the enemy (devil), we need the full armor of God: Ephesians 6:14-17.
Belt of Truth: John 17:17.
Shoes of Peace: Romans 10:15.
Shield of Faith: Romans 1:17; Hebrews 10:38.
Helmet of Salvation: 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10; Hebrews 9:28.
Sword of the Spirit: Hebrews 4:12.

Grace and Truth: Complacency or Self-Righteousness?

It’s amazing how far we got, generally speaking, from the Real Jesus Christ. Nowadays, it’s hard to find a church that has the balance between Grace and Truth. Along the way, we got Complacent (grace-only) or Self-Righteous (Truth-only) with some exceptions. Whenever we see Jesus Christ in action, we see a perfect balance between Grace and Truth. When He met a “sinner”, someone who didn’t know God and His Law, Grace came first followed by Truth, when He met a religious person, who knew about God and His Law, Truth came first followed by grace, if they accepted Jesus or not, that was another issue. If you don’t see God’s grace in the Old Testament and you think (like many believers) that the people who lived before Jesus Christ were saved by observing the God’s Law, John 1:17, how about Abel, Abraham, Joseph, etc, who lived before Moses? How were they saved? Through the Grace and Truth called Jesus Christ, they and everyone after Moses, as we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:9. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17. Paul also wrote in Romans 10:4. If we are Grace oriented people or church, we will transform God’s Grace in personal “disgrace” (condemnation), because we will never abandon our own sin or confront people’s sin and will be just like the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 5). Likewise, if we are a Truth oriented people or church, we will transform the Truth in self-righteousness or half-truth. We will be an angry preacher telling every sinner they are going straight to hell or a complacent preacher allowing iniquity (perpetual sin) to flourish in our lives or churches. Jesus and His Apostles revealed Grace and Truth to the “sinners”, John 5:5-14; John 8:10-11 and Truth and Grace to the ones who knew about God and His Law, 2 Corinthians 7:10; Acts 2:38.
Conclusion: We must learn how to Condemn the Sin (Truth) without Condemning the Sinner (Grace). We must have the balance between Grace and Truth, otherwise we will be sitting in the “judgment seat”, replacing Jesus Christ: Romans 14:10; Psalm 98:9; Acts 17:31.