Simple Truth

If you Hate God with your life don't expect his protection!

Christening

As I was reflecting on the purpose of a father; on our hope to commit before God the desire to raise our children as vessels of Christ. The type and purpose thereof being his choosing. It has become overwhelming to me that I am to deliver our children’s first love and kiss to the marriage altar unmolested. Where they will bestow the gifts of Love, Honor and purity.

I know this is but a small stepping stone in the path of their life but it is one that requires their heart. This is a precious gift entrusted to me by God. While it is satins’ desire to steal it any way he can.

We in fact must be practical and sure, a hollow religious act will only be sufficient to deceive ourselves.

What we are committed to is

1. Diligent Discipline= understanding we are sinners as well.

2. Purposeful Discipleship= always learning with our children.

3. Practical Protection = from ourselves first and then the world.

4. Affectionate Appreciation= loving them daily in many ways.

Mark 6:1-6 – read - Prayer

6:1 and he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.

- Jesus left Capernaum, the home town of Jairus. Where he just raised the girl from the dead and healed the lady from the issue of blood.

-Capernaum is located in the territory of Galilee; it is a sparsely populated farming country. The topography consists of mostly rolling hills.

-Nazareth is 30 miles away from Capernaum - that would take 10 hours to walk without breaks. This would be the second visit to his hometown during his ministry.

I must first visit Luke 4 to lay the ground work for Mark 6. That is his first journey home to Nazareth, Luke 4:14-17. --Read--

A. Jesus left the wilderness 4:14

B. Filled with the spirit went to Galilee. 4:14

C. He taught in the synagogues being glorified by all. 4:15

-up until now he is being well received and his fame was spreading through the land

-upon entering Nazareth he heads to the synagogue to teach on the Sabbath

- Synagogue - is the center of the city

1. Place of education

2. Place of fellowship

3. Place of Prayer 4. Accountability

5. Justice - hand out the judgment

-On that Sabbath they gave him the scroll of Isaiah, Jesus unrolled to Isaiah 61:1-2

Luke 4:18-19 (Isaiah 61:1-2) Greek/order

The spirit of the Lord is upon me, on account of which he anointed me to announce the glad tidings to the poor, he has sent me to heal the broken in heart, to proclaim to captives deliverance and to the blind recovery of sight, to send forth the crushed in deliverance, to proclaim the year of the Lord acceptable.

1. Announce the glad tidings to the poor.

2. Heal the broken in heart.

3. Proclaim to the captives deliverance.

4. Blind recovery of sight.

5. Send forth the crushed in deliverance.

6. To proclaim the year of the Lord acceptable.

A study of the life of Christ and world history would show this is the true work of the Gospel of Christ.

WE must understand that these poor people of Israel where under the judgment of

God. They new it, paying taxes to foreigners who are ruling over them. Troops are stationed in their land eating their substance. They were faced with these harsh realities everyday. When they awoke they knew God is not happy with His People! Their heritage was the mighty work of God on their behalf. This meant everything to them, much like us today.

Luke 4:20-22

And he closed the book and he gave it again to the minister and sat down and eyes of all them in the synagogue were fastened on him and he began to say unto them, this day this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness and wondering at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, is not this Josephs son?

Jesus Christ quoted Isaiah 61 and identifies himself as the fulfillment of this messianic prophecy. The men in the synagogue had two choices.

1. Stone him a heretic

2. Serve him as God

They came up with a third; identify him the son of Joseph the carpenter, a man who does great things. Thinking what will he give us?

Using flattery they would try to receive preferential treatment. Notice they said son of Joseph, giving him honor.

Luke 4: 27 and many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian. 28-30

Jesus there hoped messiah was then not going to obey there desire for signs and wonders but goes so far as to suggest that their only hope for National liberty could be spent on another -even Gentiles.

-Christ being committed to his fathers will would have none of it. He is the savior for the world and not Israel only.

-The men of the synagogue filled with wrath tried to throw him off of the cliff which their town was built near. Passing through the midst of them he left.

Mark 6:1 - 2^nd visit

-It is important to note that his Disciples are with him on this journey home. I think it is important because he had no disciples during his first visit to Nazareth. I believe it is because Jesus wanted to give an object lesson in rejection; family rejection can be the hardest. I am 1 of 8 but since I received my new heart, I have felt some of that.

Mark 6:2

And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, from whence has this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hand?

-They were astonished by his sayings, he being from Nazareth learned and worked with them but he was not one of them.

- He spoke as one with authority because when speaking about the word of God he was not referring to something foreign to him but about himself.

John 1:1 in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

-His works were not earthly but signs from God. Remember he had just showed his authority by calming the storm (Mark 4:39), healing the demon

possessed man (Mark 5:8) and healing

the woman and Jairus’s daughter

(Mark 5: 29, 41).

The proper response to this is astonishment and fear; just ask the disciples. (Mark 4:41)

It’s obvious they don’t know who Christ is.

Mark 6:3

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses and of Juda, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

-Calling him a carpenter, was a way of suggesting that he was a man of lowly estate and should not espouse to such heights. The works of Christ are true and they attest to them here. If anyone should support him it should be the people of Nazareth. He lived a sinless life before them; instead of support they questioned his birth, while associating him no better than his family.

-To name Jesus the son of Mary and not Joseph was to question the legitimacy of his birth and besmirch his name.

Deuteronomy23:2

A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord. (Normal fellowship)

-The real problem is that the message is broken and the heritage is lost. God demands a godly seed! They are calling Jesus an outcast unable to obey god. A social terrorist as it were. Threatening our national covenant with God by your way of life.

Mark 6:4

But Jesus said unto them, a prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

-Familiarity breads contempt is another way of saying this. What I think we are getting at is that being thus familiar we lose our natural fears to things.

1. Would you like to travel @ 400mph while it is -45 degrees?

For a flight on a 747, this is normal.

2. How about bringing a deadly and explosive gas in your house that you can not see or smell for the purpose of heating?

Millions of people heat their homes with natural gas.

This being God incarnate in flesh.

The creator and sustainer.

The way the truth and the life.

Yet they missed it because of familiarity. They were use to his honest heart and his gentle spirit did not impress them. Jesus being very man and very God had 675 titles before the one true God for us to understand.

On one hand we are comfortable with our knowledge of Jesus Christ and yet on the other we are quite ignorant of whom he is and the reverent glory due his name. For if we were to see him in truth the shame of our own putrid hearts would kill us. We are fearful beggars before a Holy God.

He is the only one who can open the ancient Gates

Psalms 24:7-10 Lift up your head O ye gates and be lifted up ye everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your head O ye gates; even lift them up you everlasting doors; and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory. Selah

-He walked the path of righteousness and sinlessness for his bride the church. The gate that closed behind Adam is opened for us

Mark 6:5 and he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

Is God limited by the actions of man? Is man an apposing force that God can’t overcome? A foolish thought to say the least but upon our first reading that’s the ideas that come to mind. That should cause you to fear, because it reveals a glimpse as to how much you have been influenced by the culture around you.

Proverbs 16:9 a man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

Proverbs 21:1 the kings heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turns it wherever he wishes.

-God is sovereign.

In truth Jesus was judging the sin of the people who were rejecting him.

Mark 6:6 and he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

Unbelief requires no action but allows apathy towards the subject. Ignorance is one thing and that’s why we are to preach, they are ignoring the facts so as not to be held accountable. What we have here is a purposeful denial of truth because the ramifications of it are unacceptable to our egocentric lives. After living a sinless life and the mighty works that were done Jesus simply walks away and leaves them out in the cold.

Belief on the other hand has action associated with it as well. There are expected behaviors that you consider acceptable with the belief of certain facts.

-If you believe a plane is going to crash it would not be unacceptable to weep or pray. While not believing it, a crossword puzzle or a nap may be in order.

-Believing is not magical, belief in belief will not avail you anything. It is simply what you trust to be true so-as to act upon it. In a very real sense it is your perception of reality.

-Why? Presuppositionaly what you think is true controls your actions. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who love god with all their heart mind soul and strength. The resulting actions are found in the B-Attitudes. Blessed are the peace makers …ECT. These are the natural outcomes of your belief in God, in his Holy Spirit empowered sanctification process.

Or you don’t believe and the actions associated with it are self indulgence and idolatry. You live for you, this being the normal state of men it is dreadfully sinful.

When saved you are drafted into the service of the most high God. Immediately you begin boot camp with your new heart and the Holy Spirit.

Be ye saved! It is not the words you can say or actions do. It is God. God gives repentance; pursue it as treasure with faith in his forgiveness. If you are saved no one can tell but only God alone.

His spirit testifies with our spirit that we are his. Romans 8:16

So I exhort you now think on Christ the author and finisher of our faith!

Hebrews 12:2

Reality? 2

Secondarily if we were not raised in a Christian home. Where our hearts were given to Christ and then in response to His love we pursue hard after His truth in every area, we have a problem. If He is not the beginning and the end of every subject of our pursuit, then we are in danger of Godlessness. Since nature abhors a vacuum we will be filled with the most subtle forms of evil, rotting our soul. For me, being raised in a non Christian home and totally brainwashed by the state educational system I loved, pursued and defended the false god of secularism (Mr. Cool). I was totally unable to understand and perceive the truths of Christ. Never mind fight the culture war in me. All of my presuppositions were emphatically anti-Christ. After Christ’s saving work a lot of shifts were made in my affections from secular idols to Christ instead. Then after coming a long way I became proud. Pride being a stumbling block, I then set myself up as judge of truth in my world. I neglected the fact that my savoir is truth. It is only from Him that I am able to see and participate in what is real and true. Of course the world hates this; it is the antithesis to Satan’s lies. Worldly men are emphatic and fanatical about what they believe is true. Just living for Christ shines the light on their lust for what is putrid. Make hard decisions to purify your mind and life. Christ gave His all, what have you given? Don’t consider that giving up a few affections for worldly lusts a place to stop and rest. This is a race; we will rest in eternity from these battles within.

B.A.Worel

1/15/08

Reality War?

Yes, if you are alive in the 21’st century than this battle is raging all around you. For the lost there are no problems except which brand or flavor of reality do you wish to subscribe to. Like a pair of shoes you choose what feels good to you and make decisions off of that. Easy enough to change and compensate for your changing preferences and desires. Sadly enough most Christians have adopted this form of self deception and subjugation. Not realizing that the Lord Jesus Christ died for their liberty. When you ask Him to be your savior and king, you just might want to bow your knee. By this I mean admit that He alone has the keys to truth and righteousness. If you are walking through life as a servant of Christ than His will must be paramount. In any given subject you have got to visit the throne of grace and ask the King of kings for His ruling. Scripture comes first, fallowed by the laws of nature and proven through all of history. If we have questions there are answers aplenty if our eyes would just open. This is particularly why modern entertainment is so dangerous, there is no in-between. Either something is glorifying to Christ or is against Him. We are sheep, so easily discouraged or deceived. In general today’s entertainment offers false realities where the laws of God do not apply. Nice people with good hearts suffer needlessly and the audience is upset and wants to defend them. In reality these people are practicing all matter of lewdness and rebellion against God. They need to suffer in order to see the need for a savior. If we want to defend sinners from God then what have we become? Worse than this, today’s entertainment also portrays people in rebellion against the institutions of God, then are blessed for it. All the while there is never any repentance or need for it. When you go deeper than this, some of the things that are most dangerous are the presuppositions and ascetics. They are the most deceptive also. We can rail against bad characters or plots. While missing the fact that the false presuppositions and ascetics have crept into our hearts and made themselves a home. The only way to clean these things out is through scripture and to separate yourself from them. You can not play with the plague without getting you and your household getting sick. If you have ungodly entertainment that defies the laws of God around you, don’t be surprised if your poisoned. That after all is their very purpose for being. If these scoundrels have to remove profanity and perversion from their craft in order to keep feeding this deception to us, they will. It’s more about placating a false sense of reality in us than anything else. Remember satan comes as an angle of light and the best lies sound like the truth. God have mercy on us for being so lazy minded.

B.A.Worel

1/14/08

Luke 2:8-20

We come upon these scriptures and say wow nice sign, where’s mine or excellent experience can I have one? But signs and wonders will be useless on that final day. In two ways this is a picture of God’s salvation work.

1.There is a sense in witch God’s blessing is upon the unworthy, because there are none who are acceptable before God.

2.There is another sense in witch this is not

the real blessing but just the introduction. I say so

humbly for all God does is majestic and true.

The real blessing is the Birth of a King who will shatter the darkness of a false and slavish reality that covers the world. It is He who gives the most precious gift ever given, an eternal life sealed with His Spirit.

Dear Friend

"Know you not that friendship with the world is enmity with God?"

Dear Friends, are we such heathen hearted buffoons that these words don't shatter our pride and cause our inmost being to shudder. Taking our religion for granted and walking in our secure stupor. If you are saved then the Spirit of God should shoot through you like a lightening bolt, dispelling the darkness and getting our full attention. We can not afford to be titillating our senses on the rooftop like David. The war is ragging. We are called to fight and fight we must.
I don't believe the issue at hand is kindness to the heathen. Scripture and history display this fully, but rather entering into a relationship or close association to worldly things. Christ is primary and nothing else should come close. As soldiers in the fight we must be serious, sober minded, relying heavily on the word for sure direction.
The stark warning is very fearful, its not that God has moved, but it is that you have acted the traitor. The God who called you and has given his orders -you have betrayed. He paid an awful price for you, what have you paid for him ?
The immense love of God is not a small thing, you can not afford to live as though it is. Your cheerful obedience as a soldier of Christ is the issue. How else should you walk with your God ! We are not called to a slumbering passivity, but to destroy gates and towers of the evil one. Load your mind with what is good and true. Do not shrink back, take the fight to them and never relent.
The crown rights of Christ is your banner, you can serve no other.