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Gone Fishin'

~ …“Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men!”

Gone Fishin'

Daily Archives: January 8, 2009

Which Ship Of Zion Are You?

08 Thursday Jan 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Devotional

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captain, counselor, crew, faint, leaders, ship, soul, Spiritual, tsunamis, Uncategorized, weary, worn out, zion

The “meat” in today’s devotion is best understood if you know what kind of Old Ship of Zion you either have boarded or have become. Only the Old Ships of Zion are the ones that successfully have weathered the storms of life. Aboard these ships, the people who have been troubled or nearly drowned by the Tsunamis that swept over their souls will receive priceless wisdom. For this reason, weary from doing well individuals most definitely should seek out these Old Ships of Zion.

For sure, weary, overwhelmed believers purposely should be on the lookout for these ships, and, when they find one, they should yell for Her lifelines. Once these individuals are safe aboard their ship that rescued them, they should soak up everything their spiritual captain and crew (their Holy Spirit led spiritual teachers/counselors) can teach/counsel them about how to stay afloat should life’s colossal ocean waves come crashing down over their weary heads again.

The Old Ships of Zion that not only can rescue, teach, and counsel you but also can help you go the last mile of the Way are as follows:

1. Older ships will teach you reverence.
2. Battered vessels are a practicum in compassion.
3. Fast clippers, leading the fleet under Christ, instill obedience.
4. Slow barges instruct you in patience and kindness, for they often bear the heaviest burdens.
5. Frontline battleships evoke respect and humility.
6. Broken boats will enlarge your heart for meeting needs.
7. And even a collision with another freighter will alert each member to stay on course and faithfully follow love. (WEB)

What kind of Old Ship of Zion are you seeking? How weary, worn and heartbroken are you from doing the Perfect Will of the Father—from giving assistance to whomever it is who is in need? AMEN.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9, KJV).

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Being “Called” into God’s Ministry Is a Theocratic Selection and Not a Democratic Election

08 Thursday Jan 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Faith and Wisdom

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

anointing, applicants, appointing, audio/video clips, calling, credentials of God, credentials of men, democratic, Holy Spirit, letter of recommendation, proof, references, resume, theocratic

But when He, Who had chosen and set me apart [even] before I was born and had called me by His grace (His undeserved favor and blessing), saw fit and was pleased To reveal (unveil, disclose) His Son within me so that I might proclaim Him among the Gentiles (the non-Jewish world) as the glad tidings (Gospel), immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood [did not consult or counsel with any frail human being or communicate with anyone]. Nor did I [even] go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles (special messengers of Christ) before I was, but I went away and retired into Arabia, and afterward I came back again to Damascus. ~ Galatians 1:15-17, AMP

The secular world is not the only place where “job” applicants face mind-boggling pressures and intense scrutiny. Oddly enough, globally speaking, Christian ministries and churches also have been requiring well-written résumés and cover letters; plus proof of credentials, which includes work experiences, letters of recommendation or references, and/or a spoken “good” word from past or current employee(s). Moreover, expecting written proof of God’s “calling” on someone’s life (proof that ministry and/or church administrators or church officials, who are masquerading as human resources specialists, deem legitimate and adequate) follows the way of the world more so than the way of Christ Jesus’ genuine ekklesia.

As with secular employers, usually written proof for Christian ministries and churches will include the following MUST have documents: original raised-seal copies of degree(s) from a theological seminary, divinity school, or Bible college where a person was trained (“earned” at least a bachelor, but preferably a masters degree); years of experience “working” in a specialty field or skill (a well-written résumé that shows how long a person was a senior pastor, youth pastor, teaching pastor; or a praise and worship leader, or team member; or a prayer ministry participant, Bible teacher, Christian writer, missionary; and so forth); and letter(s) of recommendation from past pastor(s) and/or other ministry and church official(s). Some ministry and church “employers” might also require a spoken “good” word from people within the sought-after ministry or church (or from the ministry or church organization the person is leaving).

Well, what is the problem with requiring written proof of God’s “calling” on someone’s life? Here’s what is wrong. In place of Christians using their spiritual discernment, which would confirm for them God’s place for His “called,” “empowered,” and “ordained” Kingdom workers, and/or instead of Christians waiting for God to send someone to fill a ministry or church need, most of today’s Christians are following the secular world’s examples. Instead of seeking and relying upon the aid of the Holy Spirit, the men and women in church and ministry leadership roles are advertising on the Internet and in various forms of print media, or they are social networking, or they are hobnobbing with well-known “religious” leaders, all in the name of finding “potential employees” who will fill “their” ministry or church’s “open positions.” Consequently, what once was the secular working world’s motto, “getting one’s foot in the door,” now has become this millennium’s mantra for young, middle-aged, and seasoned Christian ministry seekers who also have come to realize that the competition for “working” in a ministry or church’s leadership position is extremely aggressive.

This aforesaid behavior is a MAJOR sign indicating that Christian leaders and members in today’s ministries and churches have strayed away from the unadulterated Word of God, especially the Word of God that pertains to Christ Jesus’ ekklesia. Indeed, in the majority of today’s Christian ministries and churches, the credentials of men (diplomas, certificates, degrees, recommendation letters or references, job experiences, and a spoken “good” word, which “man” says “applicants” must have) are given more weight than the credentials of God (godly “called,” empowered, and ordained men and women who have been filled with and who are being taught and led by the Holy Spirit). This truth is evident every time truly Holy Spirit anointed, appointed, equipped, and sent by God spiritual men and women are not permitted to minister as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and so forth, unless they have valid degrees from “acceptable and recognizable” seminaries, divinity schools, and Bible colleges or universities, and unless they have documented proof of their spiritual gifts (video clips of sermons they preached, or clips of worship services in which they sang solos or led a worship team, or clips of mission trips they went on, and so forth).

That’s right! To add insult to injury, today’s Christian ministries and churches have established a prerequisite that translates into Christian hopefuls, who want to get the opportunity to minister, first “selling” themselves, over and beyond doing so in their submitted credentials. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that sometimes Christian applicants’ credentials are not enough for many of today’s Christian ministries and churches to consider Christian hopefuls as potential candidates. Before some Christian applicants can become sought-after candidates who end up getting a “foot in the door,” sometimes many Christian ministries and churches will have made sure that these applicants first demonstrated their abilities, talents, skills and experiences, either in person or by submitting the aforementioned video clips.

Concerning the required verifiable hiring credentials, since today’s secular job market is flooded with highly qualified workers, it does not matter whether secular businesses and companies are on the 100 Best Companies to Work For list, or not.  Almost every one of this century’s existing business and company (large or small; long-standing or short-lived) receives a deluge of résumés, cover letters, applications, and letters of recommendation or references. Needless to say, human resources specialists always have to weed out those people who are considered to be “unqualified.”

As unbelievable as it might seem, the same is true of the majority of today’s Christian ministries and churches. A deluge of résumés, cover letters, applications, and so forth, also swamps most Christian ministries and churches (large or small, long-standing or short-lived). Consequently, every Christian ministry and church’s hiring committee also has the task of weeding out those individuals they believe are “unqualified” Christians (an oxymoron, to say the least). Moreover, these Christian ministries and churches’ hiring committees do their initial weeding, just like secular businesses and companies’ human resources specialists do theirs—Christian hiring committees speedily review the information found on the submitted résumés. What they are looking for is any information that indicates the hopeful individuals have enough training, education, and experience that meet their ministry or church’s necessary qualifications and requirements. The applicants whose credentials do not quite fit the preferred qualifications and requirements decisively are dismissed.

Another MAJOR sign that indicates that today’s ministries or churches have strayed away from God’s Truth pertaining to Christ Jesus’ ekklesia (His called out ones whom Father God has “ordained” and sent) is shown when said hiring committees put all, or most of, their trust in the institutions of men. By doing so, they once again have failed to give credence to the power, might, and authority of the Holy Spirit. The reason why they err is because most of these Christian leaders and members no longer believe in or teach about the workings of God’s Holy Spirit.

For this last reason, modern-day ministries or churches’ hiring committees believe that seminary, Bible college, or divinity school academicians holding doctorates in, for example, theological studies, biblical studies, or practical theology are the most qualified individuals to educate the men and women of God who seek to minister in “their” ministries or churches. These Christian hiring committees, and the ministries or churches they represent, truly believe that the faculty members at renown seminaries, Bible colleges, or divinity schools are the very best of all of the individuals who might be able to equip the men and women of God who seek to minister in “their” ministries or churches, even though there are some academicians in said Christian institutions of higher learning who neither are born-again Christians nor believers in many of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith!

Moreover, many ministries or churches not only are NOT getting graduates from Christian institutions of higher learning who only were taught by born-again believers in agreement with all of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith but also many ministries or churches are NOT getting graduates from Christian institutions of higher learning who are born-again believers in agreement with all of the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith. This problem exists today because far too many ministries and churches seeking to employ someone as a pastor, worship leader, and so on, rarely insist that “their” “called,” “licensed,” and/or “ordained” applicants be spiritually educated in God’s Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge, as provided by the Holy Spirit!

These deceived and misguided Christian hiring committees also have gone astray, because they encourage human strength and power instead of the might and power of the Holy Spirit. What these Christian leaders and members, who make up these hiring committees, fail to understand about the importance of the Holy Spirit’s workings is that the Holy Spirit is the ONLY One who truly equips every believer with the necessary spiritual gifts, anointing(s), power, and authority that allow each believer to function in Christ Jesus’ ekklesia, according to the Divine “function” God has “called” and “ordained” him or her to carry out. Thus, these Christian leaders and members’ misunderstanding about the importance of their “employees” being full of the Holy Spirit, as well as empowered and equipped by Him, leads them to value secondary or professional “training” of abilities, talents, and skills as being more beneficial and more suitable than the spiritual gifts, anointing(s), power, and authority that the Holy Spirit gives to each believer.

One final point, most of these deceived and misguided Christian leaders and members also have gone astray, because they declare that the times of miracles, healings, signs, and wonders, as well as the times of apostles and prophets, have passed. They make such a declaration either because these Christian leaders and members have NOT witnessed the same kinds of miracles, healings, signs and wonders that were performed by the first-century apostles and prophets, or because they never had or they are not using their own spiritual gifts in miraculous and wondrous ways. As a result, instead of embracing what the Word of God says about God’s “called” into ministry ministers, these aforesaid deceived and misguided Christian leaders and members proceed with making a mockery of His Word, by taking the information they gleaned from their verified, interviewed, and jumped through hoops applicants before “their”  ministry or church for a VOTE.

In a democratic fashion, God’s “called” and appointed workers in His Kingdom are elected as new hirelings (people who are under ministries and/or churches’ contracts). These hirelings not only are elected as individuals who will function in a specific ministry or church position, such as pastor (either senior, or associate, or youth, or worship), or as director or coordinator, or as worship leader, or as caretaker, and so forth, but also they are elected as new members of that specific ministry or church.

The problem with this hiring procedure is that in John 15:16, Jesus the Christ is confirming that the selecting (choosing) of those who will sow the Gospel seeds that He has planted in them is a theocratic selection rather than a democratic election. Taken from the Amplified Bible (AMP), Christ Himself speaks in John 15:16, saying:

You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], He may give it to you.

From Christ Jesus’ words, it is apparent that no human being has the right to make decisions that only a sovereign God can make, unless God Himself, through the leadings and promptings of His Holy Spirit, has shown someone the person who should be chosen. It is God’s prerogative to choose whomever He judges as being fit to receive His favor, and God’s prerogative to choose whomever He will separate (sanctify) from the rest of mankind to be peculiarly His own children who not only are dear to Him but also are, through faith in Jesus the Christ, precious citizens in the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

Thus, as Heaven’s citizens, faithful ministers of the Gospel are not hirelings but rather ambassadors. As Christ Jesus’ ambassadors, they have been chosen and sent by God to witness to all the unsaved individuals, and to disciple those believers who have been influenced about accepting Jesus the Christ as their personal Savior. These faithful ministers of the Gospel are “called” and appointed to do the very same ministry that Jesus the Christ carried out when He was on this Earth, which is doing the Perfect Will of the Father on Earth as it is in Heaven. The apostle Paul confirms this Divine Truth when he writes:

So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20, AMP)

Moreover, as ambassadors, all faithful ministers of the Gospel must put their trust in God through Christ Jesus. When their trust is solely in God, God totally entrusts them with His Holy Spirit’s gifts: anointings, skills, talents, and abilities, which are the credentials of God that are necessary for God’s “called” and “ordained” to do the Perfect Will of the Father. Once again, God’s Perfect Will for every follower in Jesus the Christ is for these chosen ones to spread the Gospel to every nation, and God, alone, makes this Gospel spreading possible through the authority, power, and spiritual gifts that come from the Holy Spirit’s FIRE baptism.

SO when ministry and church leaders, and “their” members, dismiss God’s genuinely “called,” “ordained,” “endowed,” and “empowered” men and women, because of man-made qualifications and requirements, these Christian leaders and members, who make up hiring committees, should know that although they might think that they have a say about who will, or will not, “work” in “their” ministry or church, God has the final say! Sovereign God is the One who will decide either to overturn or to allow to be enforced, for a season, any and every ungodly decision that is made by men and women. Furthermore, every misguided and deceived Christian leader and member will come to know, if he or she doesn’t already know, that God not only is in control, but also He will achieve His desired outcome, no matter how many obstacles are put in His chosen ones’ way.

Finally, some urgent changes are needed. Ministries and churches no longer can proceed like it is “business as usual.” The spreading of the Gospel is NOT a business; it is an act of love. The love of God must fill the Earth, but this filling only can be accomplished when every believer is demonstrating godly love, one to another. This is the most important God-commanded way for believers to show the world what Christ Jesus’ ekklesia really looks like.

Therefore, to reach the goal of spreading the Gospel to the uttermost parts of this world, the institutional CHURCH also no longer can imitate the secular world’s hiring process. Moving from a democratic election procedure to a theocratic selection worldview is the direction the institutional CHURCH must take so that it once again could become Christ Jesus’ ekklesia. Additionally, since spiritual discernment is the gift of God that provides all believers with the necessary information about each other’s God-given credentials, and about where, when, and how each believer should be used in Jesus the Christ’s ministry, every spiritual leader in the Lord’s ekklesia needs to operate (flow) in the gift of spiritual discernment.

Last of all, the institutional CHURCH must allow God to open its spiritual eyes about accepting the Holy Spirit’s move in the lives of its members. All believers in the institutional CHURCH have to understand that they not only should place their trust (faith) solely in Father God who, through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus the Christ, makes His gift of the Holy Spirit and all other spiritual gifts and callings in His believers more than sufficient, but also they must accept the Divine Truth about the present-day workings of His Holy Spirit. Just like all believers must agree that Jesus the “…Christ (the Messiah) is [always] the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages)” (Hebrews 13:8, AMP), all believers also must agree that Father God and His Holy Spirit are the same yesterday, today and forever, as well!

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Our Deepest Fear: The New Age Philosophy/Spiritualism in Coach Carter

08 Thursday Jan 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Review

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

fait accompli, hidden message, me first, New Age Spiritualism, our deepest fear, self-centeredness, shine, spotlight, troubled basketball players

Coach Carter, MovieMovie Review written in Foshan, China on June 23, 2005

 

On or about June 20, 2005, for the fifth time that year, I finished watching the movie, Coach Carter, and, as in the four times before, I felt the Holy Spirit move so intensely within me that I was shaken to my core. At the very moment that the troubled Timo Cruz (played by Rick Gonzalez) stood up and gave Coach Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) the answer to the coach’s repeated question, this was the exact time when I experienced my shocking, recurring epiphany and became troubled, myself.

In the movie, Coach Carter repeatedly asks Cruz: “What is your deepest fear young man?” Prior to the very poignant moment when Cruz gives his answer, neither Cruz nor his teammates has a clue as to why Coach Carter keeps asking Cruz this question. So, the question and the answer, then, both serve to give the storyline a marvelous dramatic effect—the “fait accompli” to Coach Carter’s attempts to get his basketball players to see that the biggest obstacle in their lives is their own fear of trying for more than they already have. Yet, instead of feeling inspired by Coach Carter’s seemingly irreversible accomplishment, the apparent inner change in his players, I am unsettled. I am troubled because, hitherto, I make no effort to address the issue of the deadly impact the movie’s hidden message has on the development of individuals’ spirituality.

Cruz answers:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us….

Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.

…It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we  unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.                                                            

Here, Cruz is quoting Marianne Williamson from her book, A Return to Love:  Reflections on the Principles of A COURSE IN MIRACLES (1992, pp. 190-191). Her full quotation goes like this:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.  As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Even though from the “We ask…” sentence through the “You are a child…” sentence, plus the “We were born…” sentence of this quotation have been omitted from Cruz’s answer, both the full quotation and Cruz’s speech, on the surface, ring true—they sound a truthful note. On the surface, both the full quotation and Cruz’s speech SOUND affirming, positive, and uplifting, in as much as they both suggest that everybody is capable of being the captain of one’s own ship—that everybody is capable of taking control of one’s own destiny.

On the surface, both the full quotation and Cruz’s speech also SOUND “spiritual.” Yet, a closer examination shows that both Williamson’s language and Cruz’s interpretation of that language promote nothing more than the New Age ideas of self-actualization, self-assurance, self-belief, self-confidence, self-empowerment, self-esteem, self-healing, self-help, self-improvement, self-love, self-realization, self-reliance, self-respect, and self-satisfaction, with or without making any references to God or the Godhead. Thus, the deeper, subliminal message that the full quotation and Cruz’s speech make is that everybody is meant to evolve into the “god” that he or she has within; specifically, he and she ARE individual “gods,” too. Indeed, the New Age spiritualism language in Williamson’s words and Cruz’s use of her words endorse nothing more than self-centeredness.

In our world today, it is unlikely that people never will meet or never will have any encounters with selfish people. Inevitably, these happenings will take place because many of the people today are self-centered; they are “me first” folks who focus so much on themselves that their own needs, wishes and wants become the center of their world; to them their lives have no other purpose than finding that which satisfies them; this focus on “me” leaves them with little or no room for allowing Jesus to be the center of their lives, and little or no room for the Holy Spirit to fill and direct them.

Contrary to popular opinion, humbling oneself so that others might have the spotlight is enlightening and exactly what Jesus’ life teaches. Christ humbles Himself and suffers cruel abuse and the shame of the cross so that EVERY born-in-sin person could feel secure about one’s own redemption—about one’s own Christian identity—and, as a result, he or she would not be afraid to shine in this world. However, the “catch” is that there are very few people today who are genuinely humble individuals who will let others shine in their place, because in most instances the seemingly humble persons’ perception, or inner knowing, is saying: “you are the one who really has it going on” (are equal to or more powerful, intelligent, and confident than your siblings, relatives, fellow classmates, co-workers, friends, acquaintances, or any other individuals). Consequently, these wanna be humble individuals listen to their own perception or inner knowing and end up taking the spotlight that really was meant for the truly humble people.

Not only do most people lack sincere humility, but also many people lack authentic timidity. This phoniness (hypocrisy) in humans is also why it is unlikely that anybody will be able to find many people in today’s world who fear showing their own ‘brightness.’ By design, today’s masses want others to see how intelligent, beautiful, innovative, creative, superior, and worthy they are (even if they are not), and they might do anything and everything to accomplish this goal.

Case in point, in the film, Coach Carter, regardless of the personal struggles that the young basketball players face every day, these ballplayers still have delusions of grandeur. Therefore, they do not “play it small.” They, instead, want others to ‘see’ them as being ‘da bomb,’ as being the best that there is in high school basketball, and, in the movie, they stop just short of doing everything that they could do to get people to acknowledge their superior “skills,” as well as who they are—Richmond, California high school “stars.”

They are credit seekers—the “I” did this; “I” made this; and “I” got what “I” said “I” wanted for my life, individuals. In fact, it is precisely this self-centered attitude that gets the haven’t-got-a-clue Cruz kicked off the team in the opening scenes, and, later on, after being allowed to return, it is his repeated “me” first behavior that is the reason why he opts to leave the team for a second time.

In reality, most people don’t fear their own “light,” but rather they fear that others either will not see, understand, appreciate, or, more importantly, accept them for who they are–accept their light as well as their darkness; in short, accept them with warts and all. So, if people “play it small” these days, it is because these individuals fear their darkness (their ignorant, barren, or wicked natures) within them more than they fear their inner light; consequently, their “darkness” fear causes them to shrink away from trying to let their lights shine. They fear being found out; they fear not being either the person many people believe they are, or the person many people want them to be. Thus, Cruz’s shrinking from his ‘light’ represents what Christ means when He says, “…men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19, KJV).

Cruz evidently was more comfortable being in the darkness of the drug world than he was comfortable with being in the “light” of the worlds of academia and sports, because in his darkness he was able to say that his evil was “good,” because the evil in him had condemned that which was of the Light. Although he knew that being a dope runner was less glamorous than being a star basketball player, he ran to the dark world of drugs every time someone’s “light” seemed to reject him and his street-life bravado. Thus, in Coach Carter, it was only after Cruz experienced the death of his cousin (a dope dealer) did he realize that being back on the team that really accepted him for who he was would be better for him than being a dope runner in the streets of Richmond, California.

Once again, Cruz is reinstated as a team member, and shortly thereafter he makes his “Our Deepest Fear” speech. While the now enlightened Cruz seems humble and seems willing to give someone other than himself credit for saving his life, in this case, his Coach, the words of Cruz’s speech still promote a self-centered focus on his own inner “light.” Why? Because at no time does Cruz ever acknowledge God’s mercy and grace operating in his life. He completely misses the Divine Truth about who is the “real” source that supplies his inner light.

You may ask: “Doesn’t Christ, Himself, in telling people to let their lights shine, indicate that people should be self-confident, self-aware, self-reliant, self-affirming, etcetera?” No, He doesn’t. Yes, Christ tells believers to let their individual lights shine before mankind so that people will ‘see’ the good works in them (cf. Matthew 5:16). But the “LIGHT” that Christ is talking about is a giving, forgiving, humble, holy and righteous (Perfect) “LIGHT” rather than a selfish, vengeful, arrogant, self-righteous, and self-sufficient one (cf. Matthew 5:44-48). These latter kinds of lights are the New Age philosophy’s unholy, self-righteous, and self-centered lights that flood this world.

The “LIGHT” that Christ refers to, metaphorically speaking, is Creator God. Creator God is LIGHT because He not only is pure, (meaning, utterly holy and righteous), but also He is absolute Truth, Wisdom and Knowledge. Creator God also is LIGHT because He is the giver of all moral and spiritual enlightenments. Since God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are ONE–the Trinity/Godhead–through Christ, believers learn that Creator God’s LIGHT is that which Christ’s life fulfills as the Son, that which the Holy Spirit’s anointing and power authenticate as coming from the Truth bearer and mysteries revelator, and that by which Creator God’s Sovereignty decides with whom to entrust His power, authority and LIGHT, as He is the Father and Supreme Ruler of every living creation, all by Himself.

Accordingly, Creator God’s LIGHT, being also Jesus and the Holy Spirit in us, becomes the “greatness” that manifests through us. To this end, Creator God’s LIGHT should be evident in every believer, producing the kind of great works he or she should do that will glorify God. Like the great works that illumine through Christ’s life, shining in the face of adversities and calamities, as well as in times of favor and good fortune, believers’ “lights,” with the aid of the Holy Spirit, should reflect not only the same kind of great works but also greater works.

Christ, Himself, even tells us that we (together as One Body) will do greater works than He did (cf. John 14:12), but Christ clearly emphasizes that we should do these great works not so that we will get the honor and glory, but so that Creator God will. Therefore, we are cautioned against taking ANY credit for anything that we personally do and say, and cautioned against glorifying mankind by giving people God’s credit—especially when what any of us does and says glimmers with importance or radiates in perfection.

The ‘light’ in us should shine, but not so that it reflects our becoming all that we can be, in and of ourselves. Nor should it shine so that others can receive permission from us to let their “lights” shine. First off, both the commandment and permission to shine come from Christ who gets His instructions from Father God, the ONE who created every form of ‘light’ in this world and who engenders humans with portions of His eternal, spiritual LIGHT. Mankind, then, is neither the designer of ‘light’ nor the giver of ‘light.’ Secondly, to become all that Father God has purposed and created us to be–which is the image of Christ–can be achieved only if His Holy Spirit transforms us from our worldly souls to spiritual creations.

Contrary to popular beliefs, well-meaning and good-hearted men, women, boys and girls do not have all the power and all the wisdom, nor are they all-knowing beings. Therefore, the “light” in them, which they did not and cannot create, also in no way can compare with the Shekinah Glory that glows around and from the throne of the eternal, all-powerful, all-wise, and all-knowing Creator God. So how can any person take credit for anything that happens for the better in their lives or for the good of this entire world?

Yet, from the first time that Coach Carter asks Cruz about his deepest fear until the moment that Cruz gives Williamson’s “take” on self-awareness and self-help, the audience sees Coach Carter as the ballplayers’ own guru. The Coach even admits that he took the job thinking that he could bring about a “change” in these student/athletes, hoping to awaken them to a sense of the person they truly are and what they can achieve, if they are not afraid to try. However, even though this “change” and awareness that the Coach seeks, without a doubt, are “spiritual” ones, as their guru he is not leading them to the “true” LIGHT. Moreover, as with Cruz, even Coach Carter doesn’t give any credit to the Godhead’s influence in the lives of these basketball players. Coach Carter never acknowledges God as being the ONE who not only makes it possible for every person to let the “light” in him or her shine, but also he fails to teach that God is the reason why any person has any “light” within him or her, at all.

It is obvious that neither self-help gurus nor any of their books, tapes, CDs, motivational speeches/lectures, and so forth, can affect this kind of lasting inner or spiritual change in EVERY person. The proof of ‘this’ pudding, then, is in the eating. What hundreds of thousands of people find out after following the alleged ‘divine’ advice of their “gurus” is that they, even though obedient disciples, consistently continue to remain spiritually lost or disconnected, or they are bona fide twilight zone frequent visitors—they are WAY out there—(often seen as the people who are, at times, too heavenly minded that they’re no earthly good). The reason why these masses temporarily (or NEVER really) experience that mystical transcendence from old beliefs and traditions to a higher level of inner peace, authority and power is that this supernatural inner change cannot be accomplished through mere positive thinking methods/formulae, no matter whether these methods/formulae are subliminal, hypnotic or conscious.

While it is true that we should find out who we are–to know ourselves–or that we should learn what our deepest fears are, every bit of this ‘knowing’ is SPIRITUAL in nature, because this ‘knowing’ surpasses mankind’s collective knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. This kind of for certain ‘knowing’ only comes from Father God, the One who created each one of us and made us similar yet so uniquely different that He alone knows us 100%, inside and out. Thus, we find out who we are by going directly to Creator God, for He both commands us and gives us permission to seek Him for answers to our every problem or situation. By the by, this reachable level of irreversible spirituality only can be accessed through Father God’s Holy Spirit to whom Creator God gives permission to reveal everyone’s veritable inner self (and the mysteries of His Oneness), but ONLY if the seekers are believers who genuinely have accepted Christ as their personal Savior.

The conclusion of this whole matter is: God wants His children to recognize the enemy’s subtle ways he plots against mankind (like, placing ungodly messages in songs, movies, television programs, books, sermons, lectures, etcetera). God wants His children to realize that Satan’s primary aim is to get people, Christians especially, to take their focus off of Christ and place it elsewhere, like on New Age spiritualism. Specifically, then, God wants His children to become acutely aware of how easily the simple, sound-good, feel-good messages from people who claim to teach His ’spiritual principles’ can pique Christians’ interest and even enslave them. For the Christian believers these are not only harmful messages, but also deadly ones. If entangled by them, those Christians could become the biblical apostate end-time believers who have chosen to walk away from their trust (faith) in and reliance upon the ONE,TRUE and only Living Father God.

Since Christians are often very much like the ones who have not accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, in that, like non-Christians, believers also seek information that could possibly help them to overcome their struggles and/or problem areas, then Christians must take care to exercise a great deal of spiritual discernment (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1). They must take care not to endorse anyone who, or anything that, offers solutions to life’s struggles or problems that God’s Word does not approve of or sanctify (cf. Proverbs 14:12; Matthew 7:15; 2 Corinthians 11:13-14).

Finally, Christians must remember that the proof of the pudding is in the eating (that is to say that Christians who have tried, used, or experienced something, in this case the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit and the Gospel of Christ, usually are the ones who effectively can evaluate the quality of something deemed ‘spiritual’). So, if people write, speak, and do deeds that cannot pass the biblical Scripture or the Will of God tests, as revealed and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, then, because of the worldly spin on their actions and messages, what they do, speak, and write will be of no profit to Christians. Therefore, born-again believers should take care to guard their eyes, ears and mouth gates against the ungodly influences of worldly people and their doctrines and/or philosophies found within their books, movies, music, seminars, conferences, schools, institutions of higher learning, churches, and so forth. Indeed, born-again believers should avoid fellowshipping with any people who demonstrate the aforesaid worldly influences (cf. Isaiah 52:11-12; 2 Corinthians 6:17).

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Spiritually Fraudulent Body Of Christ Members

08 Thursday Jan 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Devotional

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

ambassadors, anemic, corrupt, criminals, epistle, fraudulent, living, powerful, powerless, ruthless

Unsaved people all over the world are watching Christian believers, and most of the unsaved people don’t like what they see when they look at us. As Christ’s Body, we should be a powerful spiritual force, both in the CHURCH and in the world. Instead, because Christ’s Body has too many spiritually fraudulent Body of Christ members, His power and authority in the CHURCH and in the world appear to be either anemic or corrupt. With regard to our corrupt impression, to our shame, there are far too many of us who often behave more ruthlessly and malevolently than career criminals.

Indisputably, too many of us so-called believers lack the God kind of love that produces in us the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The unflattering truth about the way some Christians’ behaviors come across to the CHURCH and to the world is captured very well in “If We Are the Body” by Casting Crowns. In this group’s lyrics are the following five “why” questions: “If we are the Body, why aren’t His arms reaching? Why aren’t His hands healing? Why aren’t His Words teaching? If we are the Body, why aren’t His feet going? Why is His love not showing them there is a Way? Jesus is the Way!” Notice that Casting Crowns declares that “Jesus is the Way”—that ONLY our Lord’s atoning sacrifice and His parabolic teachings will be able to put an end to the false images spiritually fraudulent Body of Christ members portray!

For sure, if Jesus is the Way, then His true believers will not fail to show the CHURCH and the world that they are Christ’s real ambassadors. Ambassadors for Christ are the believers who consistently and unselfishly take care of, exhort, and encourage others. Ambassadors for Christ are God’s sons and daughters who work together to build up the CHURCH, who equip others to disciple and evangelize, and who live lives that reflect their individual “living epistle” holiness. So, during every Season of Giving, let the REAL Body of Christ—His Ambassadors, Saints—use their arms, hands, feet, mouths, hearts, and minds to display the kind of agape love that will make this lost world sit up and take notice. AMEN.

“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God…” (Ephesians 4:12-13a, KJV; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:27-28; 2 Corinthians 3:2 and 5:20).

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Love Is ACTION

08 Thursday Jan 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Devotional

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Tags

cursing, deficient, demonstrated, disciples, genuine, grumbling, love, neighbor, procrastinating, quarrelling, sensitive, sermonizing, yelling

People in general do not feel like they need anyone to tell them, or show them, how to love their neighbors, because they believe they already have mastered the principle of loving others. However, most of these same people believe that showing love to their neighbors is based on how “sensitive” they are to others’ sufferings more so than derived from how often they practice giving genuine love.

The truth is that even if we were extremely sensitive to all the hurts others endure, our deepest sensitivity still wouldn’t be a mark of real love. While being sympathetic about others’ pain, hunger, misery, sickness, and so forth, can communicate some degree of love, TRUE love is one hundred percent ACTION. Thus, love without action really doesn’t exist, because love needs to be demonstrated. If we just say we love people but don’t do anything for them that supports our claim, then we aren’t showing TRUE love!

How, then, will we know when our “love” is deficient and actually out of touch with reality? We will know that our love isn’t a bona fide, right-now love when we are unable to love our enemies, or incapable of loving someone labeled as “unlovable,” or unwilling to do what we “can do” for anyone we know and/or see is in need. If we sincerely wish to keep the command to “love our neighbor,” then we have to practice the following principle: What we can do, we should do.

Moreover, we should do what we can for others without grumbling, quarrelling, sermonizing, yelling, cursing, or procrastinating. These kinds of behaviors cancel out any good that we might do. So today, by the loving Grace and perfect Will of God, let us receive and obey God’s command to love our neighbors by showing them Christ-like love. AMEN.

“…thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself:…” (Leviticus 19:18b, KJV; cf. Matthew 5:43; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27).

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Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen

Sanctified Child

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