Blog 12-31-2010

Friday

PRaP 12-31-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 110

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Predicts His Death The First Time”

Matthew 16:21-28

Mark 8:31-9:1

Luke 9:21-27

 

Matthew:

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.  

 ²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

 ²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

 ²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

   ²⁸ “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

 This is written in 3 of the Gospels and almost word for word the same.  I find it interesting that Peter, the one Jesus said is the rock upon which He was going to build the church (See Matthew 16:13-20) was a stumbling block.    See any irony in those words?  There are many churches and many stumbling blocks among those churches today that only have concerns of this world and not the concerns of God.  One day those stumbling blocks will be removed or they will be straightened so that they will no longer make Him stumble. 

Pick up your cross and follow Him daily as not to be a stumbling block but to be a disciple of the Most High God.  Do not be ashamed to speak of Him who gives life everlasting.  Do not fear people but fear God.  He lived He died and He lives again for us.  The price of sin has been paid for us all and all we need to do is ask forgiveness and believe in Him.  Pick up your cross and join me as we walk through this life together as disciples of Christ unashamed to speak the Gospel Truth about the Living Water, the Bread of Life, Messiah, in the name of He who is Holy, in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 12-30-2010

Thursday

PRaP 12-30-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 109

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Peter Says Jesus Is the Messiah”

Matthew 16:13-20

Mark 8:27-30

Luke 9:18-20

 

Matthew:

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

 ¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

   ¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

 ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

 ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter,^[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^[b] will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[d] loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

 

Peter the rock that Christ built His Church.  When you build a building it is important to build upon a firm foundation and because Peter believed as he did Jesus found a firm foundation to build His church.  Are you a firm foundation to build a church for Christ?  Even in the turbulence of a storm will you still stand firm for Christ?  Jesus is our Rock and our foundation for life.  Can you carry that Rock and be a foundation for Him to use to build upon?  A building made of stone is made by piling rocks upon rocks and if those rocks are prepared properly they lay perfectly upon one another making the walls stronger and stronger and as long as the capstone is Christ the building will stand through all generations until the Capstone decides the building needs to be moved.  Each of us are a stone in life building a wall in the Kingdom of Heaven and Jesus Christ the Capstone is the foundation we need to build our life upon and He will mold us and shape us that we fit perfectly in the wall.  Each of us have the responsibility to build this wall and continue to share Jesus with everyone we can so that in building our wall in the Kingdom it will be strong and stand the test of time and trial.  Will you stand with me as a part of the Kingdom of Heaven?  Will you be a part of a great wall for Christ?  As my friend Tye would say, “LET’S DO IT!!!!!!”

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 12-29-2010

Wednesday

PRaP 12-29-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 108

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Restores Sight To A Bind Man”

Mark 8:22-26

 

²² They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

 ²⁴ He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

 ²⁵ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into^[a] the village.”

 

This is the first time that I have read where Jesus healed someone and He didn’t tell them that it was by their faith that they were healed.  Also this man that was healed was not healed instantaneously like others who were healed by Jesus.  He had to touch this mans eyes twice before he was completely healed and then Jesus told the man not to go back into the village.  This makes me wonder the circumstances of why this healing was so different than the others.  Did Jesus know that this mans faith was lacking and that is why Jesus took him away from the village to perform the healing?  Was it maybe crowd control?  Was there a bigger plan that we can’t see right now?  Anyway those are some things to PRaP today.  Stay tuned God has a message for you.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 12-28-2010

Tuesday

PRaP 12-28-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 107

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Warns Against Wrong Teaching”

Matthew 16:5-12

Mark 8:14-21

           

Matthew:

⁵ When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. ⁶ “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

 ⁷ They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

 ⁸ Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹ Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? ¹¹ How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

 

Be careful what you believe and what teachers you put yourself in front of.  There is a lot of misinformation going on around us.  Do not accept one verse of scripture as Gospel.  Be wise in your education of God’s Word do not let anyone tell you something that cannot be backed with Scripture.  One of the most misunderstood and misquoted scriptures of our time is spare the rod spoil the child.  There is no scripture in the Bible that says that.  This is taken out of context from Proverbs 13:24 and here is what is says: Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.  Here it is for you King James readers: He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.  I one time corrected a preacher mid-sermon on that.  He was going on and on and was doing a great job until he said, “The Bible says to spare the rod is to spoil the child” and I asked him to show me in the Bible where it says that.  He ignored me and went on but in the background I could hear pages frantically being turned in Bibles all over the church.  I hung out after the service and was asked to leave when I requested audience with the preacher.  Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  Stay tuned God has a message for you.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 12-23-2010

Thursday

PRaP 12-23-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 106

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Religious Leaders Ask For A Sign In The Sky”

 

Matthew 16:1-4

Mark 8:11-13

 

Matthew:

¹ The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven.

 ² He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ ³ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.^{[a] 4} A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.

 

Mark:

¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. ¹² He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” ¹³ Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.

 

I hear this even today.  People wont believe unless they see with their eyes or feel with their hands or hear with their ears.  Christ is who He says He is and we should not doubt or question it.  The only place in the Bible God says to test Him in something is in Malachi 3:6-12 and that is related to tithes and offerings.  Which is a whole other subject that I will save for another day.  An unbelieving world seeks a sign from Jesus Christ.  I tell you the truth there will come a time of which I know not of that our Lord Jesus Christ will give a sign and this world will not see it and those who see will not believe and those who believe will be spared its wrath.  Stay tuned God has a message for you.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 12-22-2010

Wednesday

PRaP 12-22-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 105

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Feeds 4,000”

Matthew 15:32-39

Mark 8:1-10

 

Matthew:

 ³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

 ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

   ³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

   “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

 ³⁵ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ³⁸ The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹ After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

 

Again it mentions that there were 4,000 men and if you add the women and children that were likely present as well there were likely about 8,000 or more people present.  Ever wonder how come Jesus has two accounts of feeding a great number of people with small quantities of food and having leftovers in the end that were greater than what they begin with?  Here let me help you out.  Christ can multiply something small into something huge.  He can take something that we see as impossible and make it possible.  Everyone in this scenario believed in Him and put their faith in Him so He was able to do abundantly more than if they had little or no faith.  We read recently that Jesus was not able to do many miracles in His hometown because they saw Jesus the carpenter’s son and not Jesus the Messiah who came into the world as the Savior of the world.  Therefore I believe that all in attendance believed in Him.  Begs the question.  Does your group have the faith in Jesus that He will provide even when they are in a remote place?  Can you step out on that faith and know that you know that He is there and has prepared a meal for you?  Be careful with this and don’t turn it into something it isn’t.  Look through your spiritual eyes here and see what He is saying to you.  He has compassion on us in our time of need and will not allow us to go hungry.  Stay tuned God has a message for you.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

 

Blog 12-21-2010

Tuesday

PRaP 12-21-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 104

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“The Crowd Marvels At Jesus’ Healings”

Matthew 15:29-31

Mark 7:31-37

 

Matthew:

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

 ²⁹ Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. ³⁰ Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. ³¹ The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

 

Mark:

Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man

 ³¹ Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.^{[a] 32} There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.

 ³³ After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). ³⁵ At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

 ³⁶ Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. ³⁷ People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

 

I can imagine these were marvelous times indeed, to have our Lord walking the earth healing people.  Amazed would be the least of adjectives that I would use. (Boy I hope that’s an adjective)  I am afraid with the technology we have today it would become a media circus and the paparazzi would be all over Jesus constantly without rest.  Looking for anything they could to make Him look bad in the eyes of the public.  I imagine that there wouldn’t be a single place big enough to hold all the people that would flock into the place that He is.  The thing is that we believers shouldn’t need to see these things with our own eyes.  We are supposed to have the faith in knowing already that He does the things He says He does.  I have a question for you.  Would you be one of the ones flocking to get a glimpse of the miracles?  If your answer is yes, is it because you need healing?  Jesus said that it is by your faith you are healed.  Would it be because you want audience with the Most High?  Well we have audience with Him all the time.  He never leaves our side.  I am not sure how to feel about this myself.  I am almost in tears thinking about it.  Would I go so I could see.  It makes me feel as though I am truly weak in my faith.  Would I flock to the place He is.  Maybe I am hearing my Shepherd’s voice to come to Him as He says in His word that He is the Good Shepherd and we are His sheep and only those who belong to Him will recognize His voice.  John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—  This is definitely something to pray about today.  Stay tuned God has a message for you.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 12-17-2010

Friday

PRaP 12-17-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 103

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Sends A Demon Out Of A Girl”

Matthew 15:21-28

Mark 7:24-30

 

Matthew:

²¹ Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

 ²³ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

 ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

 ²⁵ The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

 ²⁶ He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

 ²⁷ “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

 ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

 

Mark:

²⁴ Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.^[a] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. ²⁵ In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

   ²⁷ “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

 ²⁸ “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

 ²⁹ Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

 ³⁰ She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

 

It wasn’t time for the Gentiles to know Jesus yet this Gentile woman had faith and knew that only Jesus could save her daughter.  Jesus granted her request based upon her faith in Him and the child was healed at that very moment.  I am amazed at how Jesus says because of you faith it will be done.  Lord allow me access to the crumbs at Your feet that healing will take place in my life and the lives of my family.  Lord allow my faith to grow that I too can eat.  Father may You be glorified this Holiday season in Jesus Mighty Name Amen

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 12-16-2010

Thursday

PRaP 12-16-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 102

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Jesus Teaches About Inner Purity”

Matthew 15:1-20

Mark 7:1-23

 

¹ Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

 ³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^{[b] 5} But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

   ⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me.
⁹ They worship me in vain;
   their teachings are merely human rules.’^[c]”

 ¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

 ¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

 ¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides.^[d] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

 ¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

   ¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

 

Inner purity is guided by what we say not by what we eat.  It is the words that we allow our tongue to articulate to hurt someone or to love someone that determine what out heart has in it be it pure or not.  Be careful what you allow through your mouth in the form of words because they come from the heart.  If your words are hurtful and ugly therefore goes the heart.  You have contaminated what is made clean through Christ.  But when something is contaminated what do we do with it?  We clean it up.  We sanitize it.  The only way to sanitize a heart is through repentance and seeking forgiveness through CHRIST ALONE!  Through Christ alone can we be made clean again, we get a purified heart from the One who gave Himself up for our sin.  In this Christmas season seek purification of your heart.  Seek repentance of the words that hurt.  Reach out to your brother or sister in Christ that those words went towards and let them know that you are sorry for the words you allowed out of your mouth that hurt them.  Then go to Christ and ask Him to take a coal from the alter and touch your lips that you may be purified and made clean that you may sit at His feet and listen as He speaks through you in healing.

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve

Blog 12-14-2010

Tuesday

PRaP 12-14-10

 

250 Events In The Life Of Christ/ A Harmony Of The Gospels Part 101

Section 2: Message And Ministry Of Jesus

“Many Disciples Desert Jesus”

John 6:60-71

 

⁶⁰ On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

 ⁶¹ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit^[a] and life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

 ⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

   ⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

 ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

 ⁷⁰ Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” ⁷¹ (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

 

This is a scripture that holds true even today.  When you have a man or woman of God that speaks Truth into people’s lives and the teachings get hard most of who were there will leave because they aren’t true believers.  Spiritual Truths of Christ are not easy for everyone to understand or to hold on to and even when you think you have their attention it is lost on a hard teaching. This is why churches fail and this is why many churches still preach the easy lessons of milk and not meat.  Their bottom line depends upon people staying in those pews so they will teach all the happy things of Christ and not the things that make them think and grow spiritually.  We have to have a balanced diet of milk and meat not just all milk and not just all meat.  You even sometimes have to throw a little honey in the mix to give it a different flavor to keep people nutritionally sound spiritually.  I have seen this time and again over the last ten years of ministry and I am guilty of slamming down the slab of meat without adding milk or honey and have lost many.  If you are a pastor and you only feed your members meat they will grow fat and lazy with no desire to hear more nor will they even be able to reach for the goal because they can’t climb the mountain.  It will be the same way with feeding them all milk they will never mature enough to learn to walk in faith up that hill and they too will become fat and lazy.  But if you give them a regular diet of milk meat and an occasional dessert of honey you will have a lean mean spiritual machine and they will be out there kicking the devils assets into the ground and there will be plenty to go around and many will come to walk in Christ and know Him like no other before them.  The church needs to come together as one body with many parts spread out all over the world to efficiently and completely finish the work that has been laid before us.  Go out into the world and make disciples of everyone to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Oh wait I’ve heard this before!  It is the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) set fourth before us by Jesus Christ.

Stay tuned God has a message for you!

 

Peace and Agape Love,

Pastor Steve