Fire may be the most misunderstood...and most "sermonized"...themes of Scripture.

In Pentecostal services...the norm is to present FIRE as some mystical appearance of the Holy Spirit...and the expectant "manifestation" most often leads the people to say:

"Didn't God show up and show out tonight!"

We must first note the portion of Scripture on which this spiritual "House of Cards" is erected.

John the Baptist is now preaching...the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3...being "the voice of one crying in the wilderness"...as John was anointed to "prepare the way of the Lord."

It is then that John addresses the Pharisees and the Sadducees...saying:

Matthew 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Most within the Church today will never continue on to properly contextualize Verse 11 by evaluating its words in light of Verse 12.

What was this "baptism" with "fire?"

John made it CRYSTAL CLEAR in Verse 12...as the FIRE is noted as a CLEANSING:

"...and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor..."

...and "He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

This is a PURGING...a REFINER'S FIRE...not some mystical "anointing" that basks in the glory of manifestational EXPERIENCES.

The fact is...FIRE will do only 1 of two things:

1. Cleanse/Purify

2. Destroy/Purge

In essence...FIRE will either PERFECT...or it will ERADICATE.

Where did the idea of FIRE as some manifestational EXPERIENCE gain its stranglehold on churches and "ministries" everywhere...and what is the DANGER in such doctrinal error?

If we examine Acts 1 and Acts 2...and we find the answer:

Acts 1:4-8 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Jesus never promised "fire"...He promised the Holy Spirit...and the POWER to be "witnesses."

If you truly know Scripture...you fully understand the importance of those words...as the world the Disciples would soon face would be filled with HATRED and ANGER and TRIALS and TRIBULATIONS and PERSECUTIONS...and DEATH.

It would take a POWER unlike any other for men of God to withstand the onslaught of such persecution...and only those ROOTED in Christ...in the Word...would be able to STAND when all those around them WILTED in the HEAT of such OPPOSITION.

Then...we find this account in Acts 2:

(Verses 1-4) 1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

What ACTUALLY happened here?

1. A SOUND filled the "whole house"...where they were "sitting."

No prodding nor pumping...no standing nor shaking...no hype nor hyperventilating...no "glory tunnels" nor "gold dust manifestations."

Just a group of people being OBEDIENT to Christ...waiting...tarrying...not for an EXPERIENCE...but for God...the Holy Spirit.

And...there was no "rushing mighty wind" that filled the room...ONLY the "sound from heaven"..." as of a rushing mighty wind."

No chairs blown over...no curtains messed up...no pictures catapulted off the walls.

Just a "sound from heaven."

Why just the "sound"...and not a "windy manifestation?"

Maybe we need to HEAR God before we can ever wish to EXPERIENCE God.

Sadly...today...we find MOST churches...MOST pulpits...and MOST pews...steeped in an "experience first" mentality...and the Word of God is seldom even heard above the ROAR of EXPERIENTIAL SPIRITUALITY.

Why must we HEAR the WORD before we "experience God?"

Because the Word of God is ESTABLISHED and SURE...yet an EXPERIENCE can be FAKED and HYPED and MISUNDERSTOOD and MISREPRESENTED...and it is from EXPERIENCE...NOT from the Word...that FALSE DOCTRINE is born.

2. "Divided tongues" appeared to them..."as of fire"..."and one sat upon each one of them."

What does the original text...and the above translation...reveal to us here?

"Divided tongues" refers to the fact that each one received a "different tongue"...and the passage clearly defines that truth as it says "and one sat upon each one of them."

As such...we find each one spoke a DIFFERENT language...and...that it was likened to the spreading of FIRE.

What the passage does NOT say is that actual FIRE appeared...nor that actual FIRE "fell" on anyone.

It seems a far cry from the norm today...as prayers of "Fire!" (I cringe as I even note that as some form of "prayer!" are heard in "altar services" around the world.

3. They were all "filled with the Holy Ghost."

Notice a VERY significant aspect here:

The passage does NOT say they were "baptized in the Holy Spirit."

I have written on this aspect before...and I will briefly summarize again the importance of this truth:

Jesus said they would be "baptized with the Holy Spirit." (Read again Acts 1:4-8 above)

In Scripture...Hebrew and Greek...BAPTISM is ALWAYS...ALWAYS...ALWAYS an IMMERSION into something.

Note this as you again read Acts 2:

Verse 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

The HOUSE was FILLED...thus IMMERSING those present in the Holy Spirit.

But...are we commanded by God to be continually IMMERSED...or to be continually FILLED with the Spirit?

Ephesians 5:8 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.

The lesson in all of this?

Note this truth:

An EMPTY vessel cannot remain IMMERSED in water...and neither can an EMPTY vessel remain IMMERSED in the Spirit.

We must remain FILLED with the Spirit if we are to remain IMMERSED in the Spirit.

You see...a vessel...such as a SHIP...that only travels ON TOP of the water will be TOSSED to and fro during the STORM...but a vessel that will stay IMMERSED in the water...like a SUBMARINE...will find SAFETY during the storm.

In truth...the Holy Ghost was not given for the POWER of MANIFESTATION...but He was given as the POWER to OVERCOME the STORMS of LIFE!

The Holy Ghost is LESS about TONGUES than He is about the POWER to be kept SAFE as we face OPPOSITION in this world.

And...TONGUES are about THIS:

4. "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:4)

But what was the PURPOSE of the "tongues?"

Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The POWER was given to make them "witnesses"...and TONGUES allowed them to BE witnesses to those they could not NORMALLY communicate with.

Think about it:

Jesus and the Disciples had been proclaiming TRUTH for the past 3 years...and MANY were unable to even COMPREHEND that message due to a LANGUAGE barrier.

When Jesus went away...He declared that the message of the Gospel would NOW be proclaimed BEYOND Jerusalem...BEYOND Judea...and to the "uttermost" parts of the world...to "the end of the earth."

This would ONLY be possible at that time in history if God performed a MIRACLE...and that MIRACLE occurred in Acts 2.

Men now heard the Gospel in their own language...and MANY began to be added to the Church...daily.

In all of this...we find the FOCUS always becomes the WORD...not the EXPERIENCE.

NEVER does Scrpture place the EMPHASIS on the FIRE...but it places the emphasis on the PURPOSE of the fire.

God ALWAYS...ALWAYS...ALWAYS uses FIRE to CLEANSE...to PURGE the people and the earth of SIN.

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

Revelation 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

On that day...FIRE will PURGE those who were washed in the Blood of the Lamb...and fire will be forever CONSUMING those who have neglected so great a salvation...found only in Christ Jesus.

How often have we heard "Do not play with fire!"

Yet...today...MOST churches are PLAYING with "Fire!"...and...TRUTH is what is most often getting BURNED.

No matter how many people disagree...this will be TRUE:

God is not interested in providing for the Church an EXPERIENCE...He is interested in providing for the Church TRUTH...and that TRUTH should TRANSFORM us into the LIKENESS of Christ.

It is THEN...and ONLY then...that we will become WITNESSES...taking the Gospel to the world.

Too many churches are now SO busy "experiencing God" that they have become enamored with STAYING for the EXPERIENCE...while never GOING to spread the Gospel.

Too many churches are PLAYING with "Fire!"...and manifestational EXPERIENCES keep them TOO BUSY to really be ANY GOOD to God.

Church...if ever I have heard and spoken a message from God...it is this:

Quit SEEKING the FIRE.

"What, then, DO we seek?" you ask?

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

https://www.facebook.com/ron.smith.bama.fan/posts/10214995073612711

One of the greatest incentives that the Bible offers believers to guard them from being enslaved by money, possessions or riches is that God is incomparably rich. We live in a world where most people believe: “the richer the better.” And there is good reason for this. With more money comes access to healthier food, better health care, higher quality education, increased life expectancy and so on. There is a sense in which “money answers everything” (Eccl. 10:19).

However, those who want to live their lives under the authority of the Bible have to always ask the question, “how can we balance the reality of needing money while guarding ourselves against being mastered by it?” One important biblical answer is that…

God Owns it All
God is incomparably rich, and He is our inheritance. God is so rich that he self identifies as possessor of all the cattle on a thousand hills (Ps. 50:10). The context of this bold claim is important to keep in mind. What God is seeking to drive home to his people who seem to have suffered a fatal moral lapse is this: “I am self-existent.”

We often use this verse in prayers for God’s provision and that is fine. But it must be noted that the thrust of what is being said in the context is that God has no deficiencies. He has no needs. He never suffers any want that his creatures should meet. But why the particular imagery of cattle on hills? When the Psalm was written, livestock was a criterion for measuring wealth and greatness (see for example 1 Sam. 25:2; 1 Kgs 8:63; 2 Kgs 3:4; 1 Chr. 5:21; 2 Chr. 7:5; 15:11).

Today you could argue that wealth is measured in US Dollars, but for the psalmist cattle was currency. The image of “the cattle on a thousand hills” would have aroused wonder in the hearts of the Israelites, showing them the greatness of God.

The imagery suggests that to count the individual cattle possessed by God would be impossible. Thus, the psalmist contrasts the riches of God who is self-existent with the short-lived riches of every mortal man who depends on God for every moment of breath in his nostrils (Ps. 50:10-12).

The whole Bible pulsates with the imponderable truth of God’s incomparable riches: Melchizedek said God is possessor of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:19). David declared that all things come from God and anyone who gives to God only gives what is already God’s (1 Chr. 29:14). According to Paul, God is so self-sufficient He gives to all mankind life and breath and everything (Acts 17:25).

It is, therefore, undeniable that no one has ever given to God that he should be repaid; from God and through God and to God are all things (Rom. 11:35-36).

The Cross Displays God’s Riches
How does the cross of Jesus Christ fit into the breathtaking truth of God’s infinite riches? The fact that God is inestimably rich is not something that has relevance only for the temporary needs we face in this life. It is not simply a weapon to fight anxiety when we are in financial straits or material need (though it indeed is). Most importantly, this truth touches on the very nerve center of our faith.

Our experience of salvation is owing to God’s inexhaustible riches.


Our experience of salvation is owing to God’s inexhaustible riches. It is this kind of redeeming riches that fuel the psalmist’s implorations for hope in God: “O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (Ps. 130:7-8 Paul declares, that our experience of salvation is explicitly rooted in God’s infinite riches when he writes:

“But God, being rich in mercy, raised us up with [Christ] and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-7).

God (in Christ) gave up everything including his very life as Christ himself said: “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:17-18; Eph. 5:2; Phil. 2:6-8; Tit. 2:14). But Christ did not only lay down his life and take it up again. We were raised with him (Eph. 2:6). God raised us with Christ so that in the age to come He would display the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

What God has done for believers in Christ guarantees the fact that when we get into the new heavens and the new earth there will be such and infinitude of exquisite wealth that gold will only be good enough for paving roads (Rev. 21:21). Therefore, even if we are regarded as having nothing, eternity will unfailingly prove that we possess everything (2 Cor. 6:10).

How Then Shall We Live?
How should God’s abundant riches and generosity towards us in Christ shape the way we live? We should live by the kingdom outlook that says, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). These words from our Lord are a gem because they guard us from the lethal error of defining the problem in terms of whether one is rich or poor.

What I have said above can easily be misconstrued to mean that there is inherent moral good in being poor. That will be to misunderstand the Bible’s teaching. We are clearly told that God does give tremendous amounts of material and financial wealth to some of his redeemed people (1 Tim. 6:9). Both the poor and the wealthy can make the fatal mistake of thinking our lives consist of the abundance of our possession.

The hearts of the poor and the rich alike are inclined to serve money. If a poor person thinks their worth is defined by possession they will be full of covetousness and, in many cases, sin to acquire wealth. On the other hand, those who are materially rich can become puffed-up because of what they have. The Christian who has understood Jesus’ words— “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”—will think and live differently.

The Christian who has understood Jesus’ words— “one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”—will think and live differently.


Whether in plenty or hunger, in abundance or in need, the theme song of their hearts will and should be: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26). This we can say with unshakable confidence because by God’s grace alone we have been made coheirs with the one to whom the Father has given and is giving the nations as his heritage, the ends of the earth as his possession (Rev. 2:26-27).

https://africa.thegospelcoalition.org/article/gods-incomparable-riches/

Cornelius’ Theology
Careful study of this passage yields a great deal of information about the centurion.

First, the officer referred to “God,” not gods. As stated above, Cornelius was a monotheist. As a rule, Gentiles subscribed to the notion that there were many “gods” (cf. 1 Cor. 8:5-6). The depravity of Roman religion is vividly portrayed in the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Roman saints (cf. 21ff). Even before he heard the gospel message from Peter’s mouth, Cornelius already had turned from idols to reverence a living God (cf. Acts 14:15; 1 Thes. 1:9).

Second, Cornelius believed that God was an observer of human activity and interested therein. He confessed: “we are all here in the sight of God.” The phrase not only suggests that Heaven was aware of this meeting, but approved of it.

Even the Hebrews had a difficult time on occasion conceiving the idea that Jehovah observes everything. When Jacob fled from his home, fearing the wrath of his brother Esau, he came to Bethel. In a thrilling dream God spoke to him, renewing the promise that first had been made to his grandfather, Abraham. When Jacob awoke, he exclaimed, with obvious surprise: “Surely Jehovah is in this place; and I knew it not” (Gen. 28:16).

When Jonah was instructed by the Lord to do mission work in Nineveh, he sought to do otherwise. Rather than heading east to Assyria, he determined to go west, to Tarshish, and so be away “from the presence of Jehovah” (Jon. 1:3). It is, therefore, rather remarkable that Cornelius had such a clear understanding of this aspect of the Creator’s nature.

Third, the Gentile officer was aware that saving truth was embodied in an objective revelation which would issue from a man who had been appointed by God to instruct him. The group therefore was assembled to “hear” the things, i.e., “words,” (cf. 11:14) to be spoken by Peter. Cornelius knew he had received no special message from the angel, detailing the content of what he must do in order to enjoy salvation. He did not surmise that he could capture “spiritual vibes” from the atmosphere in some esoteric fashion. He did not subscribe to the view that he could merely follow the inclinations of his conscience and all would be right (cf. Pr. 14:12; Acts 23:1).

This is a powerful truth that legions today, who are searching for answers in every place but the right one, need to learn.

Fourth, this centurion acknowledged the sovereignty of Almighty God. He confessed that the Lord had “commanded” certain things to which human beings were amenable, and he was anxious to humbly submit. There are several interesting matters here.

“Commanded” translates the Greek term prostasso, literally “to arrange toward,” hence denotes to prescribe, order, or command something (Arndt, 725). In the Greek papyri it is used to depict a decree issued by a sovereign ruler (Moulton & Milligan, 551).

Next, the verb is a passive voice form, suggesting that God is the giver of commands, and we humans are the receivers. We are not allowed in the driver’s seat!

The term is also in the perfect tense—reflecting an action that has occurred already but the results are abiding. The effect is this: God had commanded, and his will was to remain inviolate. There would be no disputing it. This was truly an amazing concept for this Gentile to have perceived. Earlier, even Peter had said: “Not so, Lord” (14).

Fifth, Cornelius recognized that he could not selectively obey the Lord. “All” was the goal. He said they were present to receive “all things” the Lord had commanded Peter to convey. How many there are today who would be so happy if only God allowed them “multiple choice” obedience. They would gladly believe if only they could dispense with baptism (Mk. 16:16), or else they would be immersed if only they did not have to repent (Acts 2:38).

Initially, Naaman the Assyrian was not terribly disturbed about dipping in a river for cleansing from his leprosy, he just faulted the Lord’s location of the ceremony (2 Kgs. 5:12). He needed to learn that deliberate, partial obedience is no obedience!

Sixth, the centurion conceded the authority of Peter, an apostle, as a spokesman for deity. He suggested that he and his family were there to hear from Peter the things that God commanded his apostle to tell them. Peter’s words would carry as much weight as if the Lord had spoken to them personally.

There are those who labor under the illusion that the “words in red,” in some editions of the Gospel accounts, are of greater significance than what Peter or Paul wrote. I actually have heard members of the church state that they did not agree with Paul on some issues. Such a reckless expression of disrespect!

The Savior himself declared that one authorized by Him carried his authority. He said, for example, regarding the seventy—whom he had sent out to preach: “He who hears you hears me; and he who rejects you rejects me; and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Lk. 10:16). Paul also said that the things he wrote represented the “commandment of the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:37).

Cornelius’ understanding and disposition, as reflected in this solitary sentence, is stunning indeed. It truly reveals something of the depth of his soul. Are we willing to listen as he teaches us?

https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/393-six-great-truths-cornelius-can-teach-us

It is a visual age. Cameras are ubiquitous, software is cheap, computers are powerful, and together they give us a video for every occasion. We, as Christians, have a video for every occasion. I love to watch the ones that tell the story of a husband and wife who had been on the verge of divorce but rekindled the flame, the ones about the godly wife who was willing to reconcile with her adulterous husband, the ones telling about the couple who endured the difficulty of a long and complicated adoption but were able to return home triumphant, holding that precious child in their arms, the ones about the dear, elderly man who found joy and contentment in caring for the wife who could no longer recognize or acknowledge him.

These videos provide a glimpse of God’s grace in the lives of his people and they are inspiring in the best sense. They give us hope that if we were to find ourselves in those situations, we would experience the Father’s kindness and blessing.

This world is so broken, so marked by sin, that many of our stories do not end with a kiss

And yet, not every story has a happy ending.This world is so broken, so marked by sin, that many of our stories do not end with a kiss, they do not end with fulfillment, they do not end with a clear purpose. I love these videos just as you do, but they tell only select stories, not every story.

For every powerful story of repentance and forgiveness and reconciliation, there are many husbands who break their vows and never repent, who walk away, never to return. There are wives who are willing to grant forgiveness, willing to save their shattered marriage, except that the husband will not have it. There are husbands who are repentant but wives who cannot or will not forgive. These stories are equally real, but we do not make films for them. We don’t see the soft camera shots and hear the music swell dramatically as she gets served with the divorce papers.

There are the adoptions that fall apart at the last moment, the man and woman who had set their hearts on a child, who had fallen in love with him, who had traveled across the world to pick him up, but who had him snatched away. I have watched a family adopt a child only to find that he was so scarred by his time in brutal Eastern institutions that he returned their love with violence, threats, and sexual deviancy so dark they felt they had to relinquish him. There were no cameras to capture the story and to inspire us with it.

I love to see the film of the elderly husband caring for his dear wife who suffers from Alzheimer’s. It’s powerful and effective and inspiring and I want to be like him should the situation ever befall me. But there is no film for the man whose wife no longer recognizes him and is terrified of him and who, locked into deeper and deeper dementia, must be placed in an institution far from the husband who loves her. There is no narrator to speak words of hope and inspiration.

It is as natural as the sunrise to want to find meaning in our suffering and often we find it, or believe we find it, in a happy ending. It was a grueling time, but I endured it and now I can say it was all worth it because I have the baby in my arms, my marriage has been renewed, my husband is reconciled to me, my prodigal son gave up his rebellion and returned home. But sometimes–oftentimes–the answers are not so readily apparent. So often these films do not represent life as we actually experience it.

But the Bible does. The Bible is full of unhappy endings or unexplained endings. There are Psalms of all praise and all rejoicing, and there are Psalms of pain and bewilderment. There is joy in the Bible, but there is grief too. God saw fit to capture many stories that end without a word of explanation. And these, too, matter to him. These, too, are important and are full of meaning and significance.

There is danger in our dedication to happy endings.

There is danger in our dedication to happy endings. We may come to believe that God extends his goodness and grace only in those situations that end happily. We may believe that a happy ending is what proves God’s presence through it. We may believe that the experiences that do not have a happy ending mean that God is somehow removed from it. We may resent the times that we do not hear the crescendo of the music and see in our own lives a story other people will want to hear.

We all desire happy endings to our suffering. Of course we do. But God does not owe us a happy ending and he does not owe us the answers. At times he chooses to give one or both. At other times he does not. Some day these things will make sense and and in that day we will acknowledge that God has done what is right. But until then, it is faith in his character and in his promises that will sustain us far more than a happy ending.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts (Is. 55:8-9).

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (Hab. 3:17-18)

https://www.challies.com/articles/god-does-not-owe-us-a-happy-ending/?fbclid=IwAR3BJ0NW-kWpcNN0LVsxyXyR1vOCeZazM9V8QQKg8cyt1-nBhkXdTok2EkQ

The Ballad of the Prosperity Preacher (To the tune of "I Surrender All" .Ron Smith

VERSE 1
“All to Jesus I surrender.”
That is what I preach out loud.
My Mercedes and my Jaguar
Parked beside my mansion now.

VERSE 2
Some to Jesus I surrender.
“Give to get!” becomes my theme.
“Sow a seed...financial harvest”:
Twisted message...selfish dreams.

CHORUS 1
I surrender some:
Demanding You to come!
“I bind You, Lord! You must obey me!”
I surrender some.

VERSE 3
Some to Jesus I surrender.
Preaching only “Give to get!”
I will ever seek more riches.
Have no mercy: no regret.

VERSE 4
Some to Jesus I surrender,
Only giving to receive.
I preach “God wants Christians wealthy!”
“Name it! Claim it: and receive!”

CHORUS 2
I surrender some:
Declaring ‘Wealth will come!”
Riches are my Lord and Master!
I surrender some.

VERSE 5
Some to Jesus I surrender:
The rest is used to buy more homes.
Doctrines taught to prompt more giving:
The Gospel barely even shown.

VERSE 6
Some to Jesus I surrender.
Mention Him to get the crowds.
Fame and fortune are my motives,
Never to be said out loud.

CHORUS 3
I surrender some.
To my conference come!
Multi million dollar profits:
Boy...the sheep are dumb!

VERSE 7
Some to Jesus I surrender.
Scripture out of context preached.
Stories told promote the offering.
Greedy crowds...yet no lost reached.

VERSE 8
Some to Jesus I surrender.
Truth is mixed with secret lies.
Poison taken in small doses
Hides the signs the body dies.

CHORUS 4
Surrender…”Why?” I say.
God made me this way!
Seeking wealth is now my passion!
“Sow your seed today!”

VERSE 9
Less and less I now surrender:
Truth becomes a seldom thing.
The voice of God replaced by my word.
Lack of truth deception brings.

VERSE 10
Less and less I now surrender.
I am now almost a god!
Anything I say is gospel!
The Truth now barely gets a nod.

VERSE 11
Barely now do I surrender.
Pride has blinded wisdom now.
Books and CDs quickly selling!
Blinded sheep before me bow!

CHORUS 5
Truth has gone astray!
Greed now rules the day!
“You can live in greed and lust now!”
“Prosperity’s the way!”

VERSE 12
I no longer will surrender.
I've become top dog in Church!
I'm declared "The Nation's Preacher"
I will never leave my perch!

VERSE 13
None to Jesus I surrender.
I preach “Wealth!” and call it “Love!”
I got rich from bilking others,
Claiming it came from above.

VERSE 14
All the sheep to me surrender.
Discernment now does not exist.
Bible knowledge nonexistent.
No one sees something's amiss!

CHORUS 6
Surrender now today!
Bow to what I say!
I’ve become a famous preacher,
So don’t get in my way!

VERSE 15
All my critics should surrender!
My word has become the norm!
No one sees the sand beneath me!
No one sees the coming storm!

VERSE 16
Scriptures taken out of context.
Doctrines taught not truly Word.
Deception reigns...Satanic darkness:
Truth is rarely ever heard!

VERSE 17
None to Jesus...all for me now!
I will live in lavish style.
I claim “Jesus is my Master!”
Missing heaven by a mile!

CHORUS 7
I surrender none!
Satan has now won!
Mention Jesus for effect now:
Transformation done!

VERSE 18
Homes and cars…my private airplane:
All to me I truly give!
No one seems to notice one thing:
I got rich from “To me give!”

VERSE 19
I have all I want and need now.
I have served the god of wealth!
All my riches can’t prevent the
Lack of truth and lack of health!

VERSE 20
All I’ve preached has been one big lie:
Riches did not greed fulfill!
I bought Satan’s lies of riches:
Turned away from God’s true will.

CHORUS 8
I surrendered none
And now my life is done.
"Depart from Me. I never knew you."
I never served the Son!

CHORUS 9
I surrendered none
You think I have won
The lake of fire my destination
God...what have I done!?

CHORUS 10
Eternity is lost!
Much too great a cost!
Greed and gain were not my savior!
Now my soul is lost!

VERSE 21
Why to Satan I surrendered,
Why the lies I lived and preached?
Earthly gain is not the answer!
Now its you I want to reach!

VERSE 22
You cannot serve God and money!
Jesus Christ should be your goal!
Do not bow to gods of mammon,
Sacrificing your own soul!

CHORUS 11
Stop the word of greed:
That's not what you need!
Seek ye first the Lord and Savior!
From deception flee!

CHORUS 12
Jesus is the way!
Read His Word and pray!
Stay away from greed and gain now.
Seek God first today!

CHORUS 13
Narrow is the way:
Take that path today.
Do not preach a greedy gospel!
Oh…the price you’ll pay!

https://www.facebook.com/ron.smith.bama.fan/posts/10215172898018210

It is quite unfortunate that churches like The Reedemed Christaian Church of God, Winners Chapel and many others too numerous to mention here have abandoned the ideals of the gospel. We learnt that many of these churches started well and it was only later that their messages became diluted and practices that are far off from what is recorded in the bible is practised amongst them. Many today are run like a commercial venture and are less concerned about the spiritual maturity of their audience

"Ministers fear that if they emphasise sin, people will leave. So in order to keep the people, the offensive truth of humanity before God is omitted (Ephesians 2:1-3). But people don’t get saved by nice messages. They must be confronted with their sin and comforted by the Saviour. If people in our churches are not being changed by the message preached, then we should ask probing questions about what exactly we are preaching. The points below are in many ways symptoms of this vital point".

The early church’s preaching turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). The first generation of Christian’s obeyed Jesus Christ’s great commission (Matthew 28:19-20), and by the power of the Holy Spirit and because of God’s grace they saw staggering change, from individuals to societies. Sometimes we romanticise this period and forget that we have the same gospel and Spirit. Therefore Christians in Africa must be committed to evangelism, as well as being aware of the many challenges to evangelism in Africa.

1. Abandoning the gospel
It is increasingly uncommon to preach the centrality and supremacy of the gospel today. The gospel is seen as the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16). God’s gospel cuts to the heart and evokes faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:37). The purpose of the gospel is not to excite or entertain but to provoke a reaction that leads to the confession of sin and turning to Christ.

Ministers fear that if they emphasise sin, people will leave. So in order to keep the people, the offensive truth of humanity before God is omitted (Ephesians 2:1-3). But people don’t get saved by nice messages. They must be confronted with their sin and comforted by the Saviour. If people in our churches are not being changed by the message preached, then we should ask probing questions about what exactly we are preaching. The points below are in many ways symptoms of this vital point.

2. Departure from evangelicalism
The African church is weak because there has been a departure from evangelicalism. We have lost our biblical and spiritual mooring. In order to be effective in evangelism, we need to uphold the fundamentals of evangelicalism:

The authority the Bible
The necessity of the gospel and its power to save
Personal salvation through evangelism or proclamation
The centrality of the cross of Christ for forgiveness of sin
If these things are not the backbone of our ministry it signals much more than denominational preference or the mere swapping out of an outdated title. Evangelicalism is an identity, rooted in God’s revelation and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

3. The prosperity gospel
Many ‘men and women of God’ are absorbed with materialism: stylish fashion, extravagant lifestyles, lavish spending, fancy cars and mansion-sized homes. These worldly treasures are often treated as the measure of a minister’s spirituality or success; the Lord’s favour.

Because their ambitions are worldly wealth over winning souls their preaching rarely mentions sin or demand repentance. The true gospel has been replaced by sermons tailored to being liked, esteemed and considered greatly blessed by God.

4. Numericalism
Many churches have substituted Christ’s emphasis on discipleship with an undue attention to attendance numbers. Preachers are more interested in numbers in seats rather than conversions, followed by discipleship. Similarly to the above point, a commitment to numbers can reshape the message. Where numbers are emphasised, the preaching will often seek to make people comfortable rather than asking what they must do to be saved.

Preachers have become like politicians who see people as votes; businessmen who view people as inventory stocks for their balance sheets. Preachers cherish numbers more than the fact these numbers have a personal relationship with God. This is because it has become fashionable to talk about numbers and to associate them with a ‘preacher’s anointing’.

5. Credentialism
Following from the previous point, many clergy have become “title driven preachers.” It has become both fashionable and desirable to string titles together before your name: Apostle, Prophet, Psalmist, Bishop and even Doctor. It has become old fashioned to just be ‘pastor.’ It is no longer appealing to be called an evangelist or pastor – under-shepherds of God’s flock. We want impressive titles rather than the desire to impress on our hearers God’s glory.

Doctrine is no longer popular, having been supplanted by ‘prophetic ministry.’ A friend told me how one bishop challenged him over his emphasis on doctrine in his teaching, “Are you going to eat doctrine?”. Nature abhors a vacuum. In the absence of faithful and true biblical teaching, preachers have been disseminating error instead.

6. Commercialism
The modern pulpit has become a place to sell anointing oils, holy water, holy soils, prayer shawls, anointed soaps, seed sowing for breakthrough prayers, etc. False preachers are one of the greatest obstacles to effective evangelism. They emphasise that individuals with needs should give away a seed for their prayers to be answered. “There is a seed for every need.” They even preach that people should give a seed for the salvation of loved ones. This is not a far step from the Roman Catholic indulgences, viscerally opposed by the Reformers. The office of minister should never be treated as an opportunity to make money.

In some cases, because pastors want to retain wealthier new visitors to church, they tend to fast track them into membership and baptism, even leadership. This is little more than securing future financial benefits through the kind of partiality God abhors (James 2:1-13). The results of this have been disastrous in churches where lay leaders are appointed according to size of their wallets rather than their Christian maturity.

Conclusion
Paul was no stranger to churches that wandered from the truth. We need only read Galatians, 1 Corinthians or the Pastoral Epistles to see that many challenges in the 1stcentury arose from within the church. Thus it is no wonder that nearly all of his epistles are introduced by prayer (Philippians 1:3-11; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4), or that he asked, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:16). A few verses on he wrote, “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” (2 Corinthians 3:4-5). If the gospel is going to thrive on our continent then we must be men and women committed to the only gospel that saves, confident in the sovereign God who hears our prayers.

This article is adapted from a talk given at the Global Evangelists Forum, hosted by the RZIM Africa Trust earlier this year.

https://africa.thegospelcoalition.org/article/6-threats-evangelism-african-church/

Piper went on to outline four lessons to take away from the Bible regarding the topic of quarrelsome wives, the first being “find the right woman.”

“The first implication is for young men who are not married: Don’t marry a quarrelsome woman,” he said. “Live in a desert if you have to. Live in a tiny room on your roof with your parents if you have to before you do that.”

Well-known theologian John Piper has shared advice for husbands dealing with a quarrelsome wife and offered the reminder that “God is able to make out of a quarrelsome wife a helpful and prudent wife.”

In a recent podcast, Piper responded to a reader who asked the pastor to bring “wisdom and clarity” to Bible verses about quarrelsome wives — as the theme is brought up five times throughout Scripture.

Piper first emphasized that if a man reads verses like Proverbs 21:9 — “It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife” and concludes that divorce and remarriage are being commended, “he is in the power of a hardened heart, which God disapproves of.”

“There are pointers in Proverbs that leaving this woman for another is not what God approves of,” the pastor said, adding: “Now, this cuts both ways, for the man and the woman, because a covenant obliges both partners in the covenant. ...The man with a quarrelsome wife is not free to abandon her. He has a covenant. He’s made a covenant with her.”

Piper went on to outline four lessons to take away from the Bible regarding the topic of quarrelsome wives, the first being “find the right woman.”

“The first implication is for young men who are not married: Don’t marry a quarrelsome woman,” he said. “Live in a desert if you have to. Live in a tiny room on your roof with your parents if you have to before you do that.”

“So beware, young men: he who finds a wife finds a good thing (Proverbs 18:22). Wait for her,” he added.

Second, Piper advised readers to “seek to be agreeable” and listen to the counsel of Proverbs.

“I think it’s assumed that over time, women are going to hear the book of Proverbs — will take them to heart and seek not to be a quarrelsome or contentious wife,” he said. “Of course, she will take the hint that she too might want to be content to live on the roof or in the desert than to marry a quarrelsome husband. It cuts both ways. It’s a lesson: Don’t marry quarrelsome people. And if you’re married, women, do your best not to be quarrelsome and contentious.”

Third, Piper assured readers that God changes hearts — and He’s “able to make out of a quarrelsome wife a helpful and prudent wife.”

Finally, the pastor encouraged husbands to loves their wives “better than she deserves, not worse than she deserves.”

“When Proverbs says, ‘It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife,’ it means that this greater ease, greater comfort, greater peace of the housetop over going downstairs and loving this woman is true. It’s true,” he explained.

“It’s easier, it’s more comfortable, it’s more peaceful to just go up on the roof and get away from this nagging and quarreling wife, from this contention,” Piper continued. “It’s true. It’s better in many ways, but it’s not to be chosen over the path of love. There’s a covenant, and there’s a command: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”

Previously, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California, said that emotional health is one of the most important factors to take into consideration when thinking about marriage as “eight out of 10 marriage breakdowns occur because "one or both of the partners are emotionally unhealthy.”

"Everybody's broken, but some people are a lot more broken than others. And you need to avoid them no matter how good-looking, rich, or nice they are. You have to figure out the emotional health of your potential partner before you enter into a long-term relationship."

An emotionally healthy partner, Warren contended, isn’t “nursing uncontrolled anger” or “harboring bitterness.”

"Don't date until your own emotional hurts are healed or at least until you're in the healing process,” he advised. “We've got to get rid of any bitterness in our lives. Get rid of any anger in our lives. In other words, we've got to deal with our own baggage. How do I do that? Get with God. Learn from Jesus."

https://www.christianpost.com/news/john-piper-offers-advice-husbands-quarrelsome-wives.html?fbclid=IwAR22uc617TDEyT-FE6XaPhM_biUrVrW75ohUjd4jmfHrlAU7lI8y5DD7mXM

sinebaba:
Who can do eBay cart out

How much is what you are buying?

[quote author=fashrola post=56213537][/quote]

how do I buy?

One doesn't fight corruption by encouraging it.

Policy Somersault.

Why should we throw rationality to the winds and live on myopia. Many Nigerian students would achieve this feat if the enabling environment is in place.

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by Matt Slick

Chrislam is the attempt to combine the teachings and practices of Christianity and Islam. As a movement, it began in Nigeria in the 1980s with Shamsuddin Sada, a religious leader who was born a Muslim but became a Christian. He sought to teach the common themes between the two religions. Unfortunately, the movement has been spreading. In Chrislam, both the Bible and the Quran are recognized as inspired holy texts, and during worship services readings from both books are given. One of the premises of Chrislam is the God of Christianity and the God of Islam are the same with different manifestations.

Chrislam is a dangerous theological blending of both Christianity and Islam. It is not logically possible to combine them because they are mutually exclusive. For example, the Bible says that Jesus is the only way, truth, and life (John 14:6), where Islam denies that. The Bible says that Jesus is God in flesh (John 1:1, 14; Colossians 2:9), which is denied by Islam. Christianity says that Jesus was crucified on the cross and rose from the dead three days later, and Islam denies this. Christianity says that salvation is by grace through faith without works (Romans 3:28; 4:1-5; 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-9). Islam denies this. Christianity teaches that God is a Trinity where Islam denies it.

There is no reconciling the differences between Christianity and Islam. Though it's possible for both groups to live in peace (peace which is taught by Christianity), Islam unfortunately is not a religion of peace but of dominance. Since it openly denies the essentials of the Christian faith, and since it also declares that it is the one true religion that must dominate the planet, we as Christians must be very wary of any combination of Christianity and Islam. This is, unfortunately, another deception.

http://carm.org/what-is-chrislam

by Matt Slick

Many atheists and scientists assert that morality is derived from our genetic make up. In other words, morality is a product of genetic encoding. They sometimes reason that individuals who behave in a way that aids survival will pass on their genes. For example, if a person were to kill another person, the natural reaction by others is to punish the killer, possibly by killing him. This would mean that his genetic information would not be passed down to further generations (unless he had offspring before the killing). Likewise, thieves would incur the wrath of other people and their survivability would be reduced, further lessening the chance of genetic information being passed on. As a result, a morality is developed that is based on survivability. This way, those people who behave in a more "moral" way than others would have a better chance of surviving and passing their genes on to offspring. Morality, then, would be woven into the genetic structure by producing individuals who behave in a manner consistent with the morals of a society and end up with better survivability.

If this is how morality is defined, then the preceding paragraph proves morality is genetically based. But, this "proof" is achieved by defining morality in a such a way that it is true by definition. In actuality, this is not how an idea is proved.

If genetics is what determines morality, then we must conclude that nothing is inherently morally right or wrong. There is only survivability and non-survivability, and morality is whatever aids in surviving. But this has problems. Rape, for example, which is considered morally reprehensible by societies, would potentially result in an increase in offspring. So if that which is moral assists in survivability, then rape would necessarily be moral by the genetic-survivability definition given above. Also, what about theft where a person has higher intelligence and is more capable of stealing without getting caught and punished? This would result in an increase in "morality" by his theft, aiding his survivability and passing on his genes to offspring.

See the problem?

But if we are to say that murder, rape, and theft are morally wrong, then we are saying that there's something inherently wrong to actions. Such an assertion cannot be based in genetics because actions, genetically speaking, are neither good nor bad. They are just actions. For an action to be wrong by nature, there must be a standard by which we judge such actions. Since it cannot be that morality is genetically based, there must be something other than genetics that provides moral objectivity.

Of course, as a Christian I would assert that God is the ultimate objective standard by which morality is measured.

http://carm.org/can-morality-be-genetically-based

Creflo Dollar had the audacity to tell his followers that they would receive a “Facebook curse” for listening to materials that expose corrupt leaders on the internet. This so-called “Facebook curse” is pure superstition and fear-based control. Other false shepherds have issued similar empty curses for those who listen to Christians and information online about their ‘ministry’ and lifestyle.

This ungodly paranoid behavior demonstrates just how unspiritual, carnal, immature, prideful and deceptive false shepherds are. If your ‘pastor’ behaves this way, you should take note and withdraw all support.

Your pastor may be guilty of this IF:

-he deletes comments from Christians who say that he twisted Scripture.

-he deletes comments from Christians who put Scripture back in context.

-he deletes comments from Christians who ask him to prove his teachings from Scripture.

-he deletes comments from Christians who challenge his teachings and practices.

-he deletes comments from Christians who call out his false prophecies and fake ‘miracles’.

-ALL of the comments on his page agree with him (this is a sign that someone moderates his comments to create an “amen section” by deleting any disagreement, reproof, or warnings)

-he tries to control the flow of information and micromanage your activity online by telling you who you can and can’t be friends with.

-Anyone who openly challenges him online is accused of “attacking” or “bashing” him and blocked.

-he invokes the wrath of God and posts superstitious threats and curses on people who disprove his errors from Scripture.

-he forbids members from going to certain websites and Christian blogs that warn against false teachers (especially him).

I encourage all Christian watchmen online to continue vlogging, blogging, tweeting, and sharing on Facebook regarding wolves and hirelings in the church world. Continue spreading the Good News message and warning God’s people against those who pervert it and mislead them.

If false shepherds can use the internet and social media to promote works of the devil, then surely we can use the internet and social media to do the work of Christ.

Some people say that you can’t change anyone’s mind over the internet, but if that were true there wouldn’t be any politicians, religious leaders, entertainers, and activists on the internet trying to influence minds. The true issue is that many people (including false shepherds) do not want Christians using the internet to influence and inform people with the word of God.

Many many Christians all over the world have been blessed, comforted, and liberated through sound teaching online. The Holy Spirit is delivering and healing many from the religious bondage and spiritual abuse of false teachers and apostate churches.

Some Christians have no idea what their leaders are into or who they really are. It is not until they get online and see something on a social network that they finally find out and see the truth. Other Christians are troubled and disturbed by things that their leaders are doing. They can see that something is seriously wrong, but they know that they are not allowed to talk about it in ‘church’ without retribution. The internet and social media can provide a safe environment for them to reach out to other Christians in confidence and ask questions, study the Bible together, and discuss topics that they are normally not allowed to talk about.

I know that the internet and social media are temporary, and there may not always be freedom of speech for Christians. But in the mean time, for now, I am very thankful for this technological advance which empowers God’s people to connect with others and speak the truth in love.

“I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom:Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.They will reject the truth and chase after myths.But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.” (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

http://exitchurchianity.com/2014/07/13/false-shepherds-on-social-media/

"You don’t realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have."
~Tim Keller

“…we want to get away from this terrible, haunting preoccupation with ourselves where we love our love of God rather than God Himself.”
~Art Katz

“If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men.”
~Oswald Chambers


"People have a defective Christianity because they are seeking their own interests in it, not God’s. So they accept Christianity only to the extent that they think it serves their interests. By contrast, a person who accepts it for its own excellent and lovely nature, accepts everything which has that nature."~Jonathan Edwards

"The love of the Bible does not consist in never disapproving anybody's conduct. Here is another very common delusion! Thousands pride themselves on never condemning others, or saying they are wrong, whatever they may do. They convert the precept of our Lord, "Do not judge," into an excuse for having no unfavorable opinion at all of anybody. They pervert His prohibition of rash and censorious judgments into a prohibition of all judgment whatsoever. Your neighbor may be a drunkard, a liar, a violent man. Never mind! "It is not love," they tell you, "to pronounce him, wrong." You are to believe that he has a good heart at the bottom! This idea of love is, unhappily, a very common one. It is full of mischief. To throw a veil over sin, and to refuse to call things by their right names--to talk of "hearts" being good, when "lives" are flatly wrong--to shut our eyes against wickedness, and excuse their immorality--this is not Scriptural love."~JC Ryle

"Now then my friends, I preach the gospel to sinners, not because I believe the sinner has any power at all in himself to respond to it: I do not believe that any sinner has any capacity in himself whatever. But Christ said, “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life”, and by God’s grace I go forth preaching this Word because it is a word of power, a word of spirit, a word of life.The power is not in the sinner, it is the Word when God the Holy Spirit is pleased to use it."~Arthur Pink, "Gospel Preaching Commanded"

"Everybody is going to heaven, and nobody is going to hell!
Such love is a monstrous caricature. To say that all are equally right in their opinions, though their opinions flatly contradict one another--to say that all are equally on their way to heaven, though their doctrinal sentiments are as opposite as black and right--this is not Scriptural love. Love like this pours contempt on the Bible, and talks as if God had not given it as a written test of truth. Love like this confuses all our notions of heaven and would fill it with a discordant inharmonious rabble. True love does not think everybody is right in their doctrines. True love cries--"Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."--"If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him" (2 John 1:10).~JC Ryle

The 5th century Church Father Ammonius of Alexandria, preaching on this text noted:

“In order to draw away the disciples after them.” Heretics strive to make the people their own instead of the Lord’s, so that they might boast in themselves...Paul himself checked this beforehand when he silenced and censured those who were saying, “I’m Paul’s; I’m Apollos’s; I’m Cephas’s,” since he did not want their faith to be explained by the name of a person but by Christ’s name; he wanted them all to be called Christians, even though they had been taught by different teachers. Accordingly, whenever all the teachers strive for the same goal of proclaiming the true faith, of profiting the students while suppressing their own names, they are called, by the same name, Christians.1

The fruit of false teachers, prophets and ravenous wolves is easy to spot. If they preach themselves, not Christ, then they’re wolves.

Wolves preach about their lives, their victories, their dreams, their visions, their ideas, the tips and tricks they’ve discovered to achieve success. Jesus, if He’s mentioned at all by them, is merely held up as an example to be followed. The goal of their preaching is to convince you to apply the pastor’s insights and life tips so that you can be successful, just like the pastor is successful.

Faithful teachers of the one true faith, on the other hand, are not like wolves but are like the apostle Paul who said:

“But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God….For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:2, 5)

If you ever find yourself in a church where the pastor is preaching himself, not Christ, run! As a baptized sheep in Christ’s flock you must always remember that wolves are not harmless, they eat sheep! The pastor who preaches himself rather than Christ is working for the devil and is preaching himself and his congregation into the fires of hell rather than into Christ’s eternal kingdom. And when you hear the faithful preaching of Christ crucified and raised for sinners, then rejoice and give thanks for that faithful pastor through whom Jesus delivers His forgiveness and life and makes you a member of His own flock of dearly bought sheep.

http://higherthings.org/myht/articles/catechesis/markofafalseteacher

The Tithing Laws & New Covenant Giving
Fiction: "The tithe is the firstfruits, off the top before you do anything (including pay your bills)— the gross, not the net."

Fact: The Bible does not teach that the tithe is the firstfruits or that the firstfruits were the "first tenth" or one-tenth at all.

The Bible does not use the words "tithe" and "firstfruits" interchangeably or synonymously as if they have the same meaning. In fact, these two terms have two different meanings. The word "tithe" simply means the tenth part -- not the "FIRST" tenth part as some religious leaders falsely teach. The word "tithe" does not mean the "FIRST" of anything. It is a mathematical term which simply means the tenth part. The word "firstfruit" on the other hand DOES mean the "FIRST" part -- it is the FIRST agricultural portion of a harvest.

Scripture shows that the tithe and the firstfruits were two separate distinct ordinances (for example in Nehemiah 10:35-37 and 2 Chronicles 31:5). These two ordinances were carried out very differently. They were not one-in-the-same. The children of Israel understood that the tithe was different and distinct from the firstfruits. Yet many Christians are not aware of this and false shepherds take advantage of their ignorance.

Here are some differences between the tithe and the firstfruits:

-The tithe was one-tenth. Firstfruits were not one-tenth (they were a small amount of food that could fit in a handheld basket).

-The tithe was not the "FIRST" of anything. Firstfruits *were* the FIRST (they were a small portion of the FIRST of one's harvest).

-Tithers did not bring their tithe directly to the Old Covenant temple. Firstfruits *were* taken directly to the Old Covenant temple.

Things you ought to know about firstfruits:

-Firstfruits were always food, NEVER money or income.

-Firstfruits had to come from the holy land of Israel ONLY. Not pagan lands.

-Firstfruits had to be blessed by a Levitical priest on the altar in the Old Covenant temple. Yet there are no Levitical priests today, because Jesus did away with the Levitical priesthood and made the entire body of Christ a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5, 9). And the Old Covenant temple with its altar don't exist anymore. It was destroyed around 70 A.D. Religious leaders are not modern-day "Levitical priests," church-buildings are not the temple of God, and altars in church-buildings are not the modern-day equivalent of the altar in the Old Covenant temple.

-After the firstfruits were blessed on the altar in the Old Covenant temple, they were shared between the giver, the Levitical priests and strangers in Israel and eaten in celebration.

Are we commanded to give firstfruits offerings in the New Covenant?

No. It is impossible to keep the firstfruits ordinance today. The firstfruits ordinance required the Levitical priesthood, the Old Covenant temple, and food from the holy land of Israel. Both the Levitical priesthood and the Old Covenant temple have been done away with. Neither exists anymore. Today, we (the body of Christ) are the priesthood and God's temple. And most of us do not live in the holy land of Israel, so we are not able to give the first portion of a harvest from the holy land. Man-made monopoly money with pagan images on it does not qualify as a holy firstfruit.

Jesus nor the apostles spoke of money as a firstfruits offering. The apostles spoke of Jesus as the "firstfruits" of the resurrection, because He is the first person to be resurrected from the dead in glorified body never to die again (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

The apostles also spoke of the first Christians as being the "firstfruits" of God, because they were among the first in their region to come to Christ and experience salvation (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:15).

Revelations 14:4 says that the 144,000 Jews were purchased as "firstfruits" to God and to the Lamb.

Romans 8:23 says that all Christians have "the firstfruits of the Spirit", meaning that the Holy Spirit is the first blessing or benefit of our salvation. He gives us a foretaste of future glories to come -- namely the redemption of our mortal bodies.

So we see that in the New Covenant, Jesus is the firstfruit of the resurrection, all Christians are a kind of firstfruit or special offering to God, and we all have the "firstfruits of the Spirit." But there is no mention of money being a firstfruit offering.

The bottom line is that the firstfruits were the FIRST crops of a harvest in the holy land of Israel, not MONEY or income -- ever. The firstfruits were DISTINCT from the tithe -- there was no such thing as a "firstfruits tithe" in Scripture. Furthermore, both the tithe and the firstfruits offering came from the NET, not the GROSS. The teaching that "the tithe is the firstfruits, off the top before you do anything (including pay your bills)— the gross, not the net" is a FALSE unbiblical man-made teaching. Sounds like someone is pretty desperate for the hard-earned money of Christians.

The New Covenant teaches proportional giving from a cheerful heart, not tithing, not firstfruits offerings. Come out of the old and into the New.

Scripture references for firstfruits: Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Leviticus 23:17; Deuteronomy 18:1-5; Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Numbers 18:12-17.

FACEBOOK PAGE: Exit Churchianity,
The Tithing Laws & New Covenant Giving

Who we fellowship with is who we will soon be like. Irvin Baxter

We've 'd this form of build-for-God Christianity for so long that it becomes hard for so-called Christians to think differently. Moreover, God expects us to compare our selves by scriptures and not by the standards of men

"'Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?'

"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ~Acts 7:49-51

Lagos,Ibadan,Osogbo,Akure buyers

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Just checked it out with my secured PC. It isn't. I guess it is on your computer