Don't Make Me Come Over There Mark Driscoll!!!

I don't know why, I don't know why we do it. Why were we watching youtube clips of Mark Driscoll last night? It's Aaron's fault. Ok, so not all of his stuff is bad, in fact, he's actually pretty good if you can block your mind (or in my case mouth) from screaming "hypocrite"! Hypocrite because in one segment he preaches grace and the gospel, in the next he's busy telling people what is allowed or not, even in the bedroom. Don't get me wrong, I very much appreciate his willingness to be real and talk about sex so openly, just don't necessarily agree with the reason why he's doing it. He's preaching from the wrong tree, and it's not his job or any other pastor's job to teach us from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Right?

Anyway, as angry as this man can make me (and you'll see what I mean in a minute) I still can't help hoping and praying he'll wake up one day and the veil that covers his face because of sitting under and perpetuating the false doctrine that we are as believers still under Law, will fall away and he will see Jesus clearly in all his New Covenant glory! And worse than angry, what follows makes me extremely sad.

If you still struggle with condemnation and especially in the area of sexual sin then I don't recommend you watch this at all. Aaron and I both felt the sickening evil spell of condemnation as we watched even though the 'rebuke' had nothing to do with either of us! One thing I truly appreciate about Mark is there is no subtlety, he is what he is. I much prefer this to the forked tongued flattery that often clouds the ministry of death and condemnation other preachers are peddling...

So here goes, (and Mark D., if you should ever happen to stumble across this post, I sincerely want you to know that my purpose is not to offend or insult you personally, but you (in this clip at least) have crossed the line when you speak to the Bride of Christ in such a terrible and accusatory manner. This is exactly the kind of teaching that puts people in bondage to sin. In fact, if what you say is true and there are many men in your church who have been there for years and are still entangled in such sin, then maybe you should examine the doctrines that are producing such bad fruit. MAYBE the message matters! MAYBE we should be careful what we preach! You can never never guilt, shame, scare people into becoming righteous, because righteousness is a gift from God by faith. Shame on YOU, for shaming those who don't live up to your self-righteous standards. Shame on YOU for misrepresenting our Father who has promised to never ever be angry or rebuke us again. If he is not angry, he is not rebuking us, what gives YOU the right? Please feel free to contact me with your answers in the unlikely event you ever read this.)

Ahem.






If anyone reading this sits or has sat under this kind of teaching then I am very sorry. I have been there, though Mark is an extreme version. These kinds of lies about who God is and how he sees you cut to your heart and fill you with despair. But there is good news! God is not angry with you, he's not counting your sins against you, there is freedom and joy in the Spirit when you believe in Jesus and his work on the cross! ALL your sin has been dealt with and whether you succumb to temptation in this world or not God will not put you to shame, there is no condemnation for you ever! So come and let Jesus give you rest, his burden is easy, his yoke is light.

The Ten Commandments and the New Covenant Believer...

Exodus 20


And God spoke all these words, saying,
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

"You shall have no other gods before me.

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

"You shall not murder.

"You shall not commit adultery.

"You shall not steal.

"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

"You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s."

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die." Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin." The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

2 Corinthians 3

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Now for those who claim that the Holy Spirit was given to help us obey the Law, to empower us to keep the Old Covenant, they must be crazy. It is so clear that the ministry of the Spirit is something separate and completely different from the Old Covenant, perhaps that's why God chose to call this the NEW Covenant. It is a whole new system, built on different and better promises, in that these promises depend on Christ's work and not on our obedience to any commands or standards. It is such an all-encompassing and vastly superior system that the old crumbles away to nothing as the temporary prop it was meant to be. You see, Jesus disarmed evil, that is, Satan and his principalities, by cancelling the written code that stood opposed to us. When our record of debt was cancelled on the cross, God no longer opposed us because our sin was completely removed.

If you try to incorporate any part of the old system, the law, that is the knowledge of good (morality), you will be blind to the truth of who Jesus really is and what he has done. You will nullify faith, because the law is not of faith. The Law KILLS faith,and faith, my friend, is your only hope. No amount of earnestness or zeal or striving will help you draw any nearer to our God who is perfect and holy, not able to bear any amount of sin in his presence. And no amount of fear or grovelling on your part will change that, only simple trust in the loving kindness of Jesus whose sacrifice has been examined and accepted by the Father. So if you will not accept the sacrifice God has called perfect, there is no hope for you. If you truly accept the sacrifice, you will not feel the need to add anything AT ALL to it yourself. You will not feel compelled to pay him back by your love or gratitude, by your songs of worship, by making hard choices, by tithing or going to church, by being in relationships with people you don't like, to clean your house or submit to your husband or love your wife, etc,etc,etc...

So what will be your motivation to live righteously and shun sin? You won't need motivation to behave yourself anymore! Because you will be free.

ARE YOU SURE?

I want to begin by saying thank you. Thank you to my wife for letting me contribute on this blog. I also want to thank you for reading. This blog has been a great source of encouragement for Julie and I over the years. Your feedback has been key for us getting even more revelation of the Grace of God.

Today I want to ask you a few questions and hopefully encourage you in the process. On what do you place your certainty? What is your true north by which you set your internal compass? When all around you looks shaky and uncertain what is the one thing that is certain in your life? When scandals happen around you in the world what keeps you from giving up hope? Scripture points us to faith in the Gospel as our source of certainty.

Philippians 1:6 in the ESV says, “6And I am sure of this, that he who began(H) a good work in you(I) will bring it to completion at(J) the day of Jesus Christ.

Paul has confidence in the good work that God has started. He said, “I am sure of this…” He had no doubt about it. God has started something that He will carry out to completion “at the day of Jesus Christ”.

James 5:7-8 in the ESV says, “7Be patient, therefore, brothers,[a] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives(N) the early and the late rains. 8You also, be patient.(O) Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord(P) is at hand.

These verses are found at the beginning of a section on suffering. Often when we suffer we are most tempted to let our faith unravel. Circumstances distract us and we feel our faith deflate with each distraction that comes. But James says be patient! We are to be like a farmer who knows that because he planted a seed he will reap fruit. The farmer has an established heart because he knows the truth about growing and harvesting. He has faith. We likewise should not allow what is going on around us to rob us of our faith in the Gospel. Verse 8 says to establish our hearts. To establish your heart is to believe the Gospel. Believe that Jesus came in the flesh, obeyed the Father on your behalf, became sin for you, died in your place as your substitute, cancelled the written code that stood opposed to you, freed you from the power of sin and death, and will return just as He left to clothe you with your new immortal body! Wow what good news! It is all based on Him not us or anyone else. That is the power behind the Gospel. It hinges completely on Jesus and Him alone. That is what our hearts should be established on.

So I ask you again, on what do you place your certainty? Do you place your faith in people, your self efforts, or circumstance which can change tomorrow? Or have you established your heart by believing the Gospel? You can be sure of this, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.

Justified By His Faith--Bertie's First Post!

The greatest thing God is concerned about is if you know that He loves you. His love for you is not merely contained in day to day emotions based on your performance. His love has been manifested in one act that is the solid foundation from where we can experience his love for us. That act is simply what Jesus has done on behalf of man. We rest our minds in the fact that He has died the death of the law man, the man that seeks righteousness and justification by His works, and that He was resurrected for our justification. With this truth in place we will never run short of righteousness, holiness or any godly attribute because by this truth God makes his dwelling in man and in such a way we see God live in our lives.



In the following scripture we can see the working of this great love which is that we are justified by His faith. His faith brought the justification and our belief in that gives us access into this wonderful truth.

Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Bertie Brits

Find Your Voice

When I first started blogging the name of my blog was "Looking For My Words". If I go back and read my early posts it's like I'm reading the words of another person, a sad and frightened little girl hiding in a corner. A person who was hyper-sensitive to criticism and condemnation either spoken or insinuated, sometimes just plain imagined. I had voices in my head and I listened to them, but they were not my voice, they were not God's voice. I thought they were my voice and God's voice...I thought my voice was speaking everything dirty and sinful, I thought the voice that then accused and condemned me was God's. I was wrong!

All day long I listened to the voices saying "you should, you shouldn't, you should, you shouldn't, you must, you must not, you will, you will not" followed by "you did, you're a sinner, you didn't, you're a sinner, you should have, you're a failure, you should not have, you failed again...try harder, if you love God you would try harder..." And then the other voices "run away you'll never get it right, you're a terrible wife, a lazy selfish mother, maybe you should end it all and then Aaron would be able to marry a godly woman and mother for his children". I lived in a constant state of confusion, I thought I was my own worst enemy. I thought God's main objective in my life was to convict me of sin every day every day and whip me into shape. I was wrong!

I was a broken and weary soul. I was starving for love, the kind of love that would not shatter and crumble when I made a mistake. I had faith that I would escape the flames of hell, but only just escape. I didn't know Jesus loved me because I couldn't hear him! He was shouting and waving his arms wildly but I had grown deaf and the veil of the law covered my eyes thickly. I was wandering hopelessly, my only hope was in death, heaven, so I could finally see Jesus and be changed. Others thought I was so holy because I longed for heaven so much, but it was not a sign of my 'holiness', it was a sign of my utter desperation, of my utter failure to grasp the Jesus of hope by faith, to live in him HERE and NOW.

Then everything changed. It didn't change all at once but the SON began to dawn and light slowly washed over my face, pale and cold first, then brighter and warmer, then, warmer and brighter! Then I heard a whisper, it was my Father, his voice was so much kinder and more compassionate than I remembered. I felt his strong but gentle hands begin to release me from the veil that covered my eyes, then he began to remove chains and I felt healing power begin to flow into my whole person. I realized he wasn't whispering, his voice was strong and clear now that my ears were open. Suddenly I could hear the other voices much more clearly and I realized that they were ugly, evil, and sinister. They were not my voice, they were not my Father's voice, they were evil demonic voices. And I realized they held no power over me unless I chose to listen and believe.

I looked up to see Jesus seated on the throne and he told me it was TIME. Time to crush Satan under my feet, to claim the victory that Jesus won for me by his resurrection, his triumph over and utter humiliation of the enemy. I began to join in with his church and declare the great battle cry of these last days:

I AM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS, THIS IS NOT OF MYSELF IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD FOR ALL WHO BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The enemy trembles and his resolve begins to melt away. The fear in his eyes is palpable, he is confused about his next step. Oh, there are other people and other places where he feels his power is strong, but what of this growing revolution, this rising of GRACE, this restoration of the GOSPEL??????????? The power of God for salvation, the GOOD NEWS, it is ringing louder and louder all across the earth! Soon everyone will hear, and many many more will believe! And the faith of the sons of God will swell and grow and overcome evil and the kingdom of the Almighty God will conquer darkness, disease, sickness, sin, fear, pain, depression, insanity, and EVERY OTHER WORK OF THE DEVIL WILL BE DESTROYED!!!!! And the sound of murmuring will grow to the sound of loud shouting in joyful unison, "Look up, look to the sky, Jesus is coming back!"

Many of us are finding our voices, aren't we? And we are using them to spread the Good News that dead people can live, that sinful people can be made righteous, that hungry people can be filled, that thirsty people can drink. This is what we were made for! How amazing that we live in God's eternal exhilarating love! How wonderful that by union with the One who made us and saved, by finding ourselves in Him, we finally begin to know who we really are...and we have something to say, something eternally valuable and transforming!

The Serpent in the Church

I know, I know, same old stuff! I just am having a hard time understanding why believers want to cling to the Law. Why is it we have such a difficult time throwing ourselves at the mercy of Jesus? Why do we still think that we are somehow lacking, that we have not really been created in God's image, that we need to become like God by our own effort?

Adam and Eve were perfect, had perfect standing before God and perfect fellowship with God. They were created in God's own image!!! And yet they fell for the lie when the serpent came to them saying "don't you want to be like God?", they decided that God's word pronouncing them to be in his image was not enough and they decided that having the knowledge of good and evil ( MORAL LAW) would be able to make them more godly.

And so sin entered Adam's race through the seemingly good desire to be more godly
and our perfect standing and perfect fellowship with God was broken. God provided temporary forgiveness through the shedding of the blood of animals so that man could still have some semblance of relationship with his Creator. But the reason the blood of animals had any power was because of the blood of Jesus which would be shed at the right moment in history, once for all. God had a plan to completely destroy the power of Satan, and that plan was to forge a new covenant with man that was completely unbreakable!

This covenant was ratified by God the father and God the Son, Jesus, who became human in order to break the curse of sin and the law (which is the power of sin, not the other way around 1 Cor. 15:55-57) BECAUSE JESUS IS THE MEDIATOR OF THIS NEW COVENANT IT CAN NEVER BE BROKEN BY US. We enter into the new covenant simply by agreeing that Jesus may be our representative, by putting our trust in him. This, my friends, is the simple good news that we call the gospel!

So, Scripture is clear! We are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), we are the righteousness of God ( 2 Corinthians 5:20-21. I hope we can all agree that we've been reconciled back to God and our original position in Adam before the fall has not only been restored but it has been restored permanently without any fear of our breaking the covenant this time...once again...because of Jesus...

Now, though Satan can never ever affect our relationship with God the way he did with Adam, he can still tell us lies which, if we choose to believe them, will produce unbelief in God. This unbelief will drastically undermine the level of freedom and power we walk in. In fact, unbelief will lead us to live according to the flesh under law rather than by the Spirit, and it will cause us to sin.

The saddest thing about this is that most of the church seems to be falling for the same lie Adam did! The serpent has slithered his way into the church and he is still expounding the benefits of the Law! After being restored back to our Creator's original design, we are still tempted to believe that we need the knowledge of good and evil, the moral law (the ten commandments!) to perfect us, faith in Jesus is far too simplistic.

I don't believe that the Law was given to reveal the character of God, for one thing, there is no evil in God. And if that were the case, the law would have been given to Adam and Eve in the very beginning. The law was given to reveal the fallen character of man,to uncover sin, to provoke sin, to make sin spring to life(Romans 7:4-6, Romans 7:9). Jesus was given to reveal the character of God!

"And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known." John 1:16-18

Do you really believe this? We could not intimately know God through the law which came through Moses, in fact, any of the Old Testament people who knew God knew God by faith. Though for hundreds of years the Jews worked to obey the law and thereby know God, Scripture tells us that no one saw God until Jesus. The law was not given to reveal God to us, the law actually separates us from God by producing fear in us (Hebrews 12:18-21), it perpetuates death and curse, it can only uncover our sin and it keeps us in bondage as slaves(Gal. 4:1-7).

Jesus came to reveal God to us for the first time (as fallen man) and he came to do battle with sin and the law (which are the weapons that armed the devil against us Col. 2:13-15), to die through the law to the law (Gal. 2:18-20), to cancel the written code that stood against us, to become the end of the law for all who believe (Romans 10:4), because he did not come to condemn the lost but to save them and the law could not save us! That's why Jesus came with truth and grace, not the law!

So next time the serpent comes to you extolling the beauty and wonder of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, why don't you pass...why don't you take the bread and the cup and feast on the love of Jesus? The serpent doesn't belong in the church anymore.

Doubt, Discouragement...Hunger! (a bit of rambling)

I am a passionate person, I don't know of anyone who knows me who would disagree. I am hot or cold, I am extreme, intense. I'm not saying I can't be relaxed because more and more I'm just peaceful and relaxed. But when I believe something, I really believe it! Funnily enough this can lead me to get discouraged and doubt I mean doubt everything. When I don't see healing, or financial provision, or changes in people/relationships, or whatever, I get angry sometimes. I start thinking that maybe this God stuff is all my imagination, that maybe none of it is real. Like I said, I'm either hot or cold!

But generally my extreme doubts, anger, discouragement, even depression all add up to one thing--hunger. I am starving for intimacy, a fresh experience, a fresh conversation, with Jesus. I just miss him. Do you know what I mean? I think my Christian experience has been pretty broad, non-charismatic and charismatic, arminian and calvinist, etc... But every church I've ever been part of has had legalism as a common denominator.

Some mixed in a little law, some alot. Some were honest about it, some called it 'grace'. But even if the methods or doctrines about getting God to show up or do something were different, they all had methods. Some believed that prayer was the key (yeah, I've read Ravenhill and God knows how many others), some believe if you really want something (revival anyone?) than add fasting to that. Some say confessions of sin and repentance is key, actually, many claim this on both arminian and calvinist sides. We must consecrate the temple, purify it, clean it out or the Holy Spirit will not fill the temple (this leans very heavily on OT imagery obviously). I'm pretty sure there's a bunch of people who believe that faith and the word of faith (speaking things out) is the key to getting whatever it is that you need.

I believe that faith and prayer are great, but they are the fruit of the answer, not the answer. There is no method for receiving any of God's blessings, the greatest of which is his constant presence. I'm tired of begging God for what I need or want, especially begging for him to reveal himself, manifest himself to me.

You see, when I first started listening to Rob Rufus, getting my first real glimpse of the glorious gospel of grace, I would be caught up in a crazy swirl of joy and love, it was euphoric and it would last for hours sometimes. I would wake up in the night and God's presence was so real! His voice was so clear! It was beautiful and wonderful. At any moment in the day I could say "God, you there?" and he would be there in this tangible powerful way. I was so caught up in his love!

But then something really weird happened, which I don't think I've shared with anyone but Aaron. One night after listening to some grace preaching I was lying in bed still caught up in God's glorious presence and I must have drifted off to sleep. I was woken up by such an evil presence that was paralyzing me so that I could not speak without a pronounced effort. Finally I said "Jesus" and the evil presence left.

Now, things like this had happened to me lots of times before, but for some reason this experience had a horrible effect on me. Because I fell asleep in God's presence and woke up in fear, in my mind God's presence just kind of turned on me so to speak. It's really strange, but especially at first I could not experience God's presence anymore the way I had been because every time he came I became afraid, I instinctively withdrew. Very very strange, since in general I'm not afraid of demons (apart from the initial reaction when you're first caught off guard or you're having a dream) Over time the effects have been dulled and of course I've experienced God's presence many times, but it has never been the same.

I know this is a very weird story but I guess I don't care what people think of me so much. I don't really know why I'm sharing it in relation to this post but I think I'll just leave it for whatever it's worth.

Anyway, I don't appreciate worship songs that are begging for God to come or whatever. I think they ignore the fact that he has come, Jesus has come and made a way for us to enter into the holy of holies! There is a new a living way, not a dead ritualistic way that sends in the holiest guy you can find with a rope tied around his leg hoping he can please God enough to get everyone safely through another year.

Now we have a great high priest who has entered the holy place with his own blood. Did God strike him down? Or is the blood of Jesus so superior to the blood of bulls and goats that God had to strike down the whole system? The curtain was torn from top to bottom because for any other sacrifice to be offered after the blood of Jesus had been sprinkled would have been blasphemy. Think about that!

We are not beggars, we are sons! We live in our father's kingdom, we carry out his word, his work, with authority. There is no power on earth that can stop us from victory! There is no power on earth that can keep us from our father and his love.

I'm putting up another song that I love. I love it because it doesn't say "will you come" it says "you will come". Now yes, he is already here, but he also promised to come! He said where two or three were gathered he'd be there, he also said "I will never leave you". So both are true, but in either case, there's no place for begging unless you are under the law and still a slave. But I am not!

Breaking Free From Fear, Control, Spiritual Abuse, Shame, and Guilt Manipulation

I just wanted to post some links to a few resources for those who have come out of, are coming out of, or want to come out of legalistic control situations. The first and greatest resource is the true Gospel, the pure good news that Jesus came to bring. He himself declared that he did not come to condemn but to find and save the lost. He also declared that anyone who was heavy laden and weary could come to him for peace and rest, that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. If you are not living in the glorious freedom of this as a believer, than you have been listening to lies. No matter where the lies are coming from, the answer is to hear truth!

Any of the resources I recommend will be based on the fact that they unashamedly preach the good news. Here are some, which I'm sure I've recommended many times before:

Joseph Prince (New Creation Church Singapore)

Bertie Brits (Dynamic Love Ministries)

Steve McVey (Grace Walk)


I'm sure there are many others preaching the glorious good news as well, seek them out and allow God to restore your hearts and minds back to the truth of his loving goodness.

God is not and never will be angry with you ever again, any preacher who even hints otherwise (if you believe in Jesus for your salvation) is a liar perpetuating the agenda of demons. I don't mind stating things so clearly when I have Scripture that states things so clearly! (Isaiah 54) You will not be judged for any sin that Jesus has been judged for in your place, so stop letting arrogant men bully you into jumping through their hoops of godliness. Righteousness is a gift from God, and any true preaching of the Gospel will highlight that fact, not your sin.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

Romans 1:16-17

Do you see it? In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, from faith for faith....not the sin of man is revealed, not from faith to works or obedience to the law. If anyone starts preaching another gospel then he is under a curse, and so are all who believe him. Basic Galatians here...

God wants to set you free from all curses and pour out his blessing on you, but you must believe that Jesus, Jesus alone, is enough for you and your sin, is enough for you and your righteousness. When we refuse to receive the righteousness of Jesus as a gift, we will be left to beating our flesh into submission and obedience. Our flesh will fail us every single time. If righteousness could be gained through obedience to the law, then Jesus died for nothing (Galatians again!).

So if you are not free, you are not sure of God's love for you, are not sure he's not ever angry with you, do not have an abundance of joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control etc... you can be sure the old serpent has unlawfully (1 Tim.) slithered back into your life to persuade you that you have not been born again into God's own image, that God has not given you every good thing in salvation, that you need to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Yeah, if you just have that knowledge what's right, what's wrong (thanks so much pastor for being willing to continually expound this for us) then we will be more like God, more godly. WAKE UP! THIS IS THE DEVIL'S OLDEST TRICK!!!

So people, come out into the glorious light of Jesus who loves you dearly! Hear the truth and believe it, it's not too good to be true, IT IS SO GOOD BECAUSE IT IS SO TRUE!!!! (thanks Rob! I think I really get it most days!)



( P.S. An easy place to start hearing the truth would be the grace stream channel posted right here on my blog...)

Remembering Old Friends...

I haven't written very much, or at least not plainly, about our years spent in Sovereign Grace Ministries, mostly at Covenant Fellowship. But I guess we spent 7 or 8 years of our lives there, pretty intensely committed years actually. As a result, even though we left SGM behind more than 2 years ago, I still often find myself thinking and praying for many of the people and pastors we know from that time ( I would start listing off names but that would take a long time...). Not often do we actually get to see or talk to any of them though! I think this is in large part due to the fact that we now live in another country! But even before that, there seemed to be a painful separation that happened when we left, and though it was not all unnatural or unexpected it was still painful, difficult, and lonely.

Well, all water under the bridge as they say! The pain has passed and Jesus has brought us into joyful freedom such as we never dared dream could exist this side of heaven. But I still often remember many people very fondly and miss the amazing people we were privileged to get to know and serve beside. And I still pray for them all... So if you happen to be one of those people and you get to read this, then I hope you had a very merry Christmas and that the year 2009 will be a year of great joy, peace, and freedom. And may the unfading glory of the New Covenant light up your world with fresh revelations of who Jesus is! I also wanted to dedicate this song to you all with much love (including my newer SGM friends like you Janelle) because every time I listen to it I think of you all, besides, I just love it myself! Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys it, I think you will...

Grace vs. Law

This is a very cool video I found on youtube. It's so amazing to me that so many people worldwide are understanding the gospel like possibly no one has since Paul. The Spirit is truly doing an incredible work on the earth in our days! So exciting! This can only mean a huge gathering in of souls is about to take place, revivals of the past will look small compared to the deluge of glorious salvation God is pouring out right now on the whole world. As this message, the undiluted unashamed proclamation of the good news, goes out, we will see the power of God like never before. Many of us have already had a little taste...but there is much much more on the way, more of Jesus!

East to West....and Mixed Messages...

I love love love this song. I first heard it on a Christian radio station, I very rarely even listen to Christian radio because I hate to hear all the mixed messages. Gods loves you, so do better, try harder, worship more you ungrateful worm! Of course there are wonderful exceptions to this. And this song, I cry every time I hear it.

I think it just sings out what so many Christians feel like, tossed about in a confusing storm, feeling that their lives are a sham. Feeling that they aren't who they say they are, or else where is the peace and joy they know Jesus promised? They don't realize that though they know the truth about Jesus' sacrifice, his love, his finished work, and the free gift of righteousness, they've been fed so many contradicting lies through so many 'christian' sources that believing these truths seems like a never-ending uphill battle.

They think the problem is inside of themselves, something to be ashamed of and they feel guilty. I'm saying 'they', but I can so easily remember living like this. It was a terrible way to live. If only God's children could stop accepting mixed messages from the church world at large! If only we would become militant about rejecting books, music, teaching, preaching...anything that reeks of the lies our enemy has devised to keeps us bound up in sin, fear, guilt, condemnation, confusion, and powerlessness. It's time to demand the TRUTH!

Newsies Prophetic?

I was sitting down to the piano to pick out some Newsies songs from a Disney musical I've always loved. I recently came across my old piano book for the soundtrack while unpacking another box. Call me crazy, but I started to get emotional as my spirit resonated with the themes of warring for freedom, of never giving up, of uniting together to stand for justice. God has been preaching the good news to us by every means possible since the dawn of creation and before. Throughout history, the story of redemption is repeated over and over in the course of natural events, clearly pointing to the truths of the kingdom of heaven!

If you've never seen Newsies, try tracking it down. It's a classic the whole family will love.

Do Not Yield

"Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me...

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?"

Galatians 2:4-6, 11-14

I think there must be many secret societies going on behind closed doors of the church world. I can't understand why whole christian organizations get away with murder, while the people in other similar organizations smile and say "I think they're real nice". Preaching law is akin to spiritual murder. (*2 Cor. 3:6-8

Paul did not privately address a few false teachers (Galatians, he even publicly rebuked Peter! ch.2) with his concerns, he wrote very public letters, showing his anger very publicly, in fact, one might say he ranted and raved when it came to wolves trying to put God's children back under bondage and slavery. He actually pronounced a double curse on anyone who preached any other gospel but the one he preached (*Galatians 1:8-9). This should stop many preachers in their tracks, they should be trembling in fear, but instead they are swaggering drunk with conceit.

I'm tired of the so-called leaders of the church (I'm talking church universal) patting each other on the back, telling each other jokes, and writing up impressive intoductions to each others books all the while one or the other is teaching demonic lies that are destroying the people who follow them. These men are worse than dogs and mutilators of the flesh (*Phil. 3:2-4), they are mutilating souls.

I'm not one of those people who likes to be a watch dog, you know, going around barking about this person in error or that one. I don't think I'm nitpicky, but come on, can't we examine the fruits (or more accurately works) of a ministry and be honest? This peace at any cost idea, love means never telling the truth about the 'important' men of the church, this butter-my-bread-and-I'll-butter-yours doctrine is ridiculous. It's a ring of fear, each man fearing for his own name and reputation, not caring what God thinks of it all but choosing to be ashamed of the Gospel for the sake of his standing among the respectable religious of the 'church'. This makes me sick, really. And angry, angry for the souls of all those who pour out their lives, their families' lives, their wallets, and their hearts to these cowards, thinking that they are God's ambassadors on this earth. They are not. (And I can honestly tell you and I'm not thinking of any particualar ministry here, but more of a jumbled mess of things I've seen everywhere over my life growing up in the church world in general.)

But we are! Every one of us who put our faith in Jesus and his good news. We are not ambassadors who never make a mistake, but we are ambassadors who are not ashamed of the gospel once we have received revelation from heaven of who Jesus really is! And some of the men I'm talking about will live to receive the same revelation, just as Paul did. He was a persecuter of those who in the eyes of the law and religion were crazy fools, but in the moment of the thunderous voice of God and a flash of brilliant light everything changed! So it was for all of us who have received grace and mercy and know we are dearly loved of our Father.

I don't know why, but I feel very compelled lately to speak, or should I say write, very strongly against legalism in the church. At the bottom of it is the violent love of God for his people! I feel his love as I write, I read Galatians and my heart is breaking, tears are welling up in my eyes! God's people have turned away from his glorious grace, from the unsurpassed sacrifice of his only beautiful Son, and gone back to law as a dog returns to it's vomit. It's time to cast out the maid servant's son and stop allowing the legalists to bully the children of freedom!

Let's grow up in grace and stand strong and proud of Jesus! We must never yeild or submit in the face of even the most vicious attacks from those who have fallen from grace, but it is imperative that we preserve the truth of the gospel in these last days. It is not love to watch a brother veer from the truth of the gospel without speaking out, it is hate.

Even as I write this, I'm unsure of what it means for me. I have been careful to avoid publicly criticising people or ministries by name (on this blog, but have sometimes been more specific elsewhere) because of their serious and destructive false doctrines . At this point, I will continue to address the false doctrines without 'naming names'(on here), but perhaps the fear of naming names is not coming from the Holy Spirit. There are names that are named in Scripture, recorded for all time as falling prey to error! I think we have lost boldness and power, not because we love so much, though we like to think of this as the reason, but because we care very much what men think of us or how they might try to slander or persecute us in retaliation! I'm just not sure we can stand for grace without also standing against legalism...it's time to let our "yes" be "YES" and our "no" be "NO"!!!



* 2 Cor. 3:6-8 "He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?"

* Galatians 1:8-9 "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

*Philippians 3:2-4 "Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence."

Spiritual Bulimia

There are those who, as they listen to the good news of Jesus, nod their heads and smilingly agree with everything. They say they love grace! They might even get tears in their eyes when telling of God's amazing mercies, of his salvation available to anyone who believes in his Son and his finished work on the cross. Yep, they might even be able to powerfully preach the whole truth of the Gospel, passionately expounding on the wonders of justification through grace alone, by faith alone. They will tell you that salvation is a free gift from God, that no man should boast.

And at the end of this feast of truth, this love feast of the body and blood of Jesus, they will stick their pointy finger of law down your throat and you will lose every benefit of what you just ate.

For health reasons, I recommend you avoid such teaching...


"For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose."
Galatians 2:18-21


Please do not receive anything that nullifies the grace of God, no matter how much you may love and respect the person serving up law, and no matter how much 'grace' they may mix in with it. It can only make a mockery of Jesus' sacrifice and make you very sick.

God, God, lift the veils from our faces! We choose Jesus, and forever forsake the folly of self-righteousness! Open our eyes to you! We want nothing to do anymore with the lies of religion, lies that say we can accomplish anything for you, but we receive all that you have accomplished for us. We rise up into our new life, our new marriage, with our new Husband and we rejoice in your love! The old is gone and the new has come! Forgetting what is behind, we press on toward the goal, finding strength keeps coming to us when we know we should be tired. We have the high of all runners' highs, because we run with your everlasting everfilling power gushing into us and out of us. When our minds and bodies get tired, we rest with no fear of falling behind or missing a blessing, and you refresh us with your love. You, you are our greatest blessing and you promised to never leave us, never be angry with us, never fail us or stop loving us. In you I have everything I ever dreamed of, in me I have everything my heart desires; YOU.

Does Grace Come Through Anything We Do?

Now, since I framed my question in such a way to make answering the question easy (I think), I'll put a few twists in to show you why I asked it. In case you're feeling a little slow today, the answer is "NO, grace does not come through anything we do".

Sometimes I'll be innocently, ok, not innocently, reading through a blog and something small will jump out at me and I have to respond. In this case, I was reading a post about having family worship, certainly an idea I'm not opposed to at all. But this little sentence came out:

"I've enjoyed seeing the grace that God has poured out on my own family through doing this and I know He desires to pour that same grace on other families."

{incidently, can anyone tell me if I need to source this quote? I didn't want to draw negative attention to that blog if it wasn't necessary...}


Right away, I knew it was wrong. Of course, I've heard lots of teaching on 'means of grace' or similar ideas. The general idea is that through reading the Bible, through prayer, through fellowship, through church, through meditation, through fasting, or through any other conceivable discipline or action on our part, God gives us grace. One small problem: this concept doesn't exist in the New Covenant (hint: the new covenant is the better covenant).

This kind of 'grace', the kind that God pours out in response to something we do, is not unmerited, and therefore, is not grace at all. It is wages, it is something we earn at least in part. It is similar to the Old Covenant formula of 'obey = blessing'.

Don't believe me? Check out Bible Gateway and see what a search on "grace through" brings up.

And from his fullness we have all received,grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
John 1:16-17

Grace comes only ever through Jesus and his work.




But didn't we already know that?

Grace Changes, Life Inventory

Lately I've been noticing some changes in my life, in me. These changes have been taking place gradually over time since I've begun understanding the real gospel, and I've been largely unaware that it was even happening (read: I wasn't working to change these things myself). That's right, I haven't been part of any accountability groups, have not sat under any 'convicting' or 'challenging' preaching (at least not of my own free will haha),have not tried to tackle any particular sin in my life, have not signed up for any special classes or studies, and haven't even had any plan for 'spiritual disciplines'. Clearly I can't point to anything I've done that explains any change in my life, I've been just living free and enjoying God and our relationship.

So here are some of the changes Jesus has made in me, solely by the power of his gospel (purely good news!) of grace (completely unmerited and everlasting favor) that I want to boast about:

1. I am not as often angry, or so my children tell me.

2. I'm more fun, also according to my kids.

3. I laugh more, have more peace, joy, gentleness, and patience.

4. I am not aware of any unforgiveness or bitterness against anyone, just the other day a memory of a formerly very hurtful and personal sin against me (that used to affected me every time I thought about it) came into my mind and I felt nothing but love for the one who had sinned against me, I had not one negative emotion regarding the whole thing.

5. I very rarely if ever feel guilty. Even if my house is a mess or I just did something 'bad'. (I think this is why I'm in general more peaceful and happy, and less angry!)

6. I love people much more, and rarely see them as burdens or ministry 'projects'.

7. I am more productive than I was when I felt there were things I MUST do. I still do things I don't like to do, but I don't do them out of guilt.

8. I am much freer in the bedroom. I don't care if that makes you feel uncomfortable, christians should be free to acknowledge that sex exists, God knows the world doesn't shut up about it, it's time to let the world know they've got the short end of the stick on sex by a long shot.

9. I am able to be honest with my husband and others, even bringing up things that need to be confronted without using guilt manipulation, control, or condemnation the way I once did. (Not that I have this mastered yet, but I think I've learned a lot in this area.)

10. It is almost too easy for me to consider whether I might be wrong about something and admit when I clearly am wrong, or apologize. I think it took 5 years of marriage before I ever admitted I was wrong about anything, this is NOT a trait that was naturally part of my personality! I think this might be something in the line of true humility.

11. I do not struggle with fear like I once did. At one time I was afraid to talk or even laugh out loud, but now I probably talk too much! I do not fear rejection anymore, I am so secure in God's love for me.


I think I could list even more things, but that should do it for now. I want to stress very clearly that all these things are a testimony to God and his love to me. As Paul said of his life, '...not I but the grace of God in me..." I don't want to hear a laundry list of all your sins and shortcomings, I want to hear what God is doing in your life! Do you really think it glorifies the one who shed his blood for you if you dwell on the imperfection of your flesh under the law, or should we all think about not considering people (including ourselves!) according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit at work in them? I love to be able to look people in the eye, the most screwed up people like I was, and speak words of faith and destiny to them!

I have absolutely no trouble believing the the power of God for salvation, THE GOSPEL OF GRACE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, CAN CHANGE ANYONE ANYWHERE. And it's simple, they just need to hear the good news and believe!!!

Guilt-free Breaking of Bread Song

Ok, so this probably won't end up being the real title of the song...but I think that the breaking of bread (or communion, the Lord's supper) has been dominated by a seriously fearful and ashamed atmosphere for too long. If we come to the Lord's table still hanging our heads with thoughts of sin swirling around in our heads, then we are in danger of eating unworthily. We would not be accepting the body that was broken for us, we would be equating his precious blood with that of a lamb or bull which had only partial or temporary power to allow us entrance into God's presence without absolute confidence of his mercy.

Recently I wrote this song, it's one of those songs that came with minimal work and head scratching. The recording is bad but who cares? I think you can get the general idea from it. I didn't set out to write a guilt-free breaking of bread song, but as I sang it I was struck with how perfect it would be for that and I felt like getting a bunch of people together to have a feast in God's awesome presence, enjoying food, each other, and celebrating God's infinite mercy and goodness to us. How amazingly he demonstrated his love in humbly coming to earth in human form, living in this sinful world as we do yet not sinning, taking up the cause of the poor, sick, abandoned, and despised, and ultimately sacrificing everything to save us and restore us back to the Father and then conquering our every enemy in his resurrection to make us sons representing him here and doing the exciting work of ushering in his kingdom on earth.

I can't believe I used to be afraid to take communion! I thought I had to be righteous enough by my obedience to God and a variety of Christian rules and regulations. Now I'm free to celebrate Jesus when the bread and cup come my way! I'm not righteous because of my actions and if ever ever I break bread based on feeling in any way worthy based on my performance, then I'm eating and drinking in an unworthy manner. The bread and wine IS my righteousness, if I refuse the body and blood of Christ, then I'll never be worthy but eternally condemned. So here's the song, let me know what you think (had to put it in video format to upload to blogger.)
Here are the words:

Be quiet now
Rest your soul
Lay your head down
Let go of control

Nothing you've done
Or ever could do
Can make you right
Or disqualify you

Jesus
You've done everything that we could not do
Jesus
We believe in you

Remember his death
His body and blood
We have been cleansed
Redeemed by his blood

We remember we're free
From guilt, fear, and shame
Risen with him
Up from the grave

I'm Blaming Jesus for My Sin

I was just reading a blog and my eye caught the title of another post entitled "Blaming Others for Our Sins" and immediately the thought went through my head 'that's it, I'm to blame my sins on Jesus'. I only glanced through the article a little, it was linking to another article which I thought was not so good, or at least it completely misses the point.

It's not that I think we should blame other people for our sin, the article (I think rightly) says that this is a way of trying to justify ourselves. But I don't think blaming ourselves will help, then we end up feeling condemned, guilty, and ashamed. We feel the need for atonement and justification if we start 'taking the blame' for our sin, which, if we are already believers, will only highlight the fact that we really don't have faith in the finished work of Jesus, why else would we be running back to the cross expecting to find a suffering Saviour still hanging there, newly nailed up by our most recent failure?

When we blame Jesus for our sin we realize we are free and clear. He's taken ALL our blame, he was made to be sin for us. The answer to our finger-pointing problem is to come out from under the law and receive mercy from our father in heaven, mercy triumphs over judgement. Believe that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, a righteousness from God apart from works of the law and you'll stop worrying why you sinned and start thanking him he's is not counting your sins against you. You have a righteousness that is by faith from first to last and cannot be tarnished by your mistakes, no matter how terrible they may be. When you realize Jesus has been blamed for all your sin and God is not pointing the finger at you, you begin to relax and stop pointing the finger at anyone else.

So I'm blaming somebody else for my sin, after all, that's what he wants! Next time you feel condemned for something you did wrong or didn't do right, point your finger to Jesus and say "He took it and he's already been punished for it... IT IS FINSHED!!!!!"


You are free.

Is Our Sin Gone, or Will it Only Be Completely Removed at the Return of Jesus???

Hebrews 9:27-28:

"And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."

It is only our physical bodies that are not yet completely redeemed, including our mind, which is being constantly renewed and conformed to the mind of Christ. Our sin has been dealt with once for all, and it is wrong for us to teach people that our sin will not be removed until we get to heaven.


I have been spending some time looking up sin on Bible Gateway, as well as battle, and fight. I can't find even one single reference to fighting against sin. What about the fight against sin? There is call for fleeing sin (1), throwing it off(2), exhorting and encouraging our brothers not to sin (i.e. lose faith)(3). There are calls to fight for faith, fight against our enemy the devil but I can't find anything about fighting sin. I have a sneaky suspicion why....

I bet some of you are afraid I'm going to claim that no fight against sin is needed! Well, you can sit back and relax. Take a deep breath and try not to jump to any conclusions! Not only is a fight against sin absolutely necessary, but a victory over sin is crucial if any of us want to escape hell! And that is why Jesus came, yes, it's the good news! Jesus came and fought sin and defeated sin on our behalf. It's a done deal as a matter of fact. That's why Scripture constantly refers to us as being dead to sin (4), having put it off (5), free from the slavery of sin(6) etc... That's why we're never told to fight sin, it's been removed from us as an entity, we're no longer in old Adam but in second Adam, Jesus, and I think we can all agree that in him there is no sin!

I'm not saying we never sin, but that we are to view sin as something we're in too big a hurry to pay much attention to. We're busy running a race, when sin gets in our way we throw it off while we're running, we don't stop and fight a long battle against it, because we don't have to! Sin is no longer our master, righteousness is.

"I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

"Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Cor.15:50-57

)

1Cor. 15:26 says that the last enemy to be destroyed is death, not sin.

I also wanted to mention that the promise of peace to those who believe in Jesus stills stands. We are not to be at war with ourselves, or any enemy within, we are to live with the inner peace of the Spirit of Christ. It isn't possible to to live by the flesh and by the Spirit at the same time, that's why Romans 8 and Galatians 5 (among others passages) remind us over and over and over that being preoccupied in any way with our flesh will hinder us from living by the Spirit.

Stop fighting against the flesh that Christ has circumcised already and start abiding in the the vine that is Jesus! Am I saying don't flee sin, don't throw it off? NO!!!! I'm saying, embrace the Spirit, believe in Christ and his finished work, and stop trying to remove your own sin. If you could remove your own sin you didn't need a sacrifice. REST in his finished work. TRUST that your father is satisfied. Take your eyes of yourself and your perceived imperfections and fix your eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of your faith. Stop trying to perfect yourself!

I freely acknowledge to be a bit of babbling on and on, and I also encourage any of you to share Scripture with me that I may have missed. This process of discovering that things I've been taught all my life are not actually in the Bible is pretty weird but exciting!






some of the Scripture passages alluded to:

(1) 1Cor. 6:18, 10:14, 1Tim.6:11, 2Tim.2:22

(2)Heb.12:1

(3)Heb.3:12-14

(4)Rom.6:11

(5)Col. 2:11-12, 3:9, Eph.4:20-24

(6)Rom.6:15-22

The Hybrid 'Gospel'

A hybrid is the combination of two or more different things, aimed at achieving a particular objective or goal.

I was recently listening to Rob preach the gospel...again...and as I was thinking about the differences between the Old and New Covenant, it struck me that much of the church is teaching (and I was taught some variation of this in many different churches) neither Old or New Covenant but a different 'covenant' altogether, a mongrel hybrid. This is more than just mixing a little Old with New, it's almost a permanent breed of religion that is stripped of even the fading glory the Old Covenant had (see 2 Corinthians 3:7-18). I would venture so far to say that it is a false and heretical religion, based on doctrines of demons.

What am I saying? Well, if we taught only Old Covenant, at least there are still some blessings available...right? I mean, as someone once commented to me, mercy was built into the law, there were sacrifices and provisions made for sin so that some blessing was still attainable, albeit in order to obtain them a person still had to have faith in God and his love. If we teach the New Covenant, it is only a million times better, since there is a permanent provision made for us to receive one blessing after another with no chance at all for receiving any curse since the foundation of everything in the New is the perfect righteousness of Jesus. He fully fulfulled the law--that is, he both rightfully earned every single blessing, as well as received every single curse and punishment,even death!

But men have not been satified with either covenants God has offered us, so they have taken it upon them selves to draw up a new contract thinking God will be impressed. Because the gospel is foolishness in their eyes, they have mixed the old and new together and produced a monster, a weapon that all the hordes of hell have taken up with joy and are using to maim and slaughter millions of people, believers and unbelievers alike.

This covenant says we must obey some of the laws of the Old, especially the 10 commandments, but they make it harder, adding in Jesus' sermon on the mount, so now we must not even hate our brother in our hearts or it is murder, we must not look at someone with lust or it is adultery...and they go on to apply this logic to the rest of the 10 commandments. If we fail, of course God will forgive us! IF we repent, show appropriate godly sorrow, feeling appropriate guilt and shame (to be differentiated somehow from the condemnation of Romans 8...), confess our sin sincerely, crawl to the throne of grace where Jesus reminds us of the nails that we personally drove into his hands and feet and beg mercy, which of course he will not deny us--that's the good news!!! We are forever and eternally indebted to him for his sacrifice, his 'free gift' comes with eternal strings attached and we are his pitiful puppets. Now worship him you dirty rotten worms!!! Where's your joy??? What's wrong with you people??? Aren't you thankful?

Can you see the twistedness of mixing the two covenants in this way, taking both the new and old testament out of context? This kind of teaching is neither Old or New Covenant, but 'another gospel', a gospel that is no gospel at all! (Galatians 1:6-7) I'm amazed at how often proponents of this legalistic religion want to turn this verse and point it at the ones preaching a new covenant grace message! How sadly ironic! The whole book of Galatians is aimed at man centered legalistic perversion of the true Gospel. When Paul says "this gospel is no gospel at all" he's saying plainly, "your 'good news' is not good news at all!".

There is a simple litmus test to know if you're hearing the true gospel. Is it simply and clearly the best news you've ever heard? If it is and you receive it ,it will naturally begin to produce all the glorious fruits of the Spirit in your life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self control. Those fruits of the Spirit are listed in GALATIANS, that is no coincidence! They are FRUITS of the Spirit, NOT WORKS OF THE FLESH, which are also evident: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (Galatians 5:16-26)

This hybrid 'gospel' is no gospel at all, it is mostly bad news with a little bit of patronizing 'good news' mixed in to confuse the people who've bought into it. This 'good news' is used to make people feel guilty so that they're easier to manipulate and control. Their gospel is that you are terribly dirty all the time, but Jesus still condescends to love you and give you the occasional blessing, but if you suffer from disease and poverty and your marriage falls apart and your children die, it is no less than you deserve, being the lowly worm that you are, and Jesus has no obligation whatsoever to bless you so be thankful for the few he has given you and stop whining. IT'S A LIE. It sounds very humble and spiritual, but it is not humble to not boldly come to the throne of grace and receive everything we need, choosing to suffer instead, IT IS UNBELIEF.

The Father is obligated to bless us, to save us, to heal us, to love us, to comfort us, to provide everything we need, because he has obligated himself, HE HAS PROMISED. What is the requirement on our part to receive all this? It is believing in Jesus and asking in faith. NOW THAT'S GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will not be ashamed of the Good News! I will joyfully preach it anytime I get a chance, and it is so refreshing to my soul when I do. I haven't written anything like this for a long time it seems, but it feels really really good...and I know it will stir some people up a bit. Trust me, I hope it does stir some of you up...to faith!