Archives February 2018

2018 February 25th Streaming

Identity reveals and tells us who we are to ourselves and to others.  It is our “True” self-expression which flows out of a fixed and complete and absolute foundation.  For us to know and understand who we are in Christ we must know and understand the “Great Exchange”!  There are many cases of an “illusion of explanatory depth” when it comes to our identity in Christ.  Why is that?  Because many believers today are caught in the illusion of mistaken identity by receiving and placing their identity in husbands, wives, children, churches, (such as denominations, institutions, organizations, and buildings with many deep rooted on-going belief systems) having right-wing or left-wing earth-bound ideology. These are all outer identities according to flesh and blood logical thinking. By living in this type of thinking, we are deceived and held captive, and will never leave our mistaken or false identities.  Sadly, desensitization to the person of Christ and the sensitization to our flesh and blood outer identities leave far too many never knowing and understanding the power of the “Great Exchange”!

2018 Ghana Trip

2018 February 18th Streaming

We continue this week with who the Father is to each of of us who has ears to hear what the Spirit is saying! I often hear believers and avid church goers use the phrase, “I’m so glad I am free of religion”. Maybe you’ve uttered these sincere and meaningful words. It seems religion is something to be avoided! But what is religion? Can anyone be really “FREE” of it? If you listen closely to what many declare about religion, it is something others have and not them. Several years ago I was listening to a preacher of a large denominational church talk about another denomination as being religious. I smiled, because it sounded like the pot and kettle analogy. Why does it appear almost everyone wants nothing to do with religion? Yet they are no further from religion than when they first started. That being said, many who are declaring they are “FREE” of religion are held captive in the “illusion of explanatory depth”. I know that’s a pretty strong and bold statement. Let me ask you a question, as I conclude this email. Do you think, feel or believe everyone who calls themselves “Christian,” really is? Jesus answered this question in the Gospel of Mathew chapter 7. The answer to the question is “no” they are not. If the answer were “yes” then salvation would be subjective. Does everyone declaring to be “FREE” of religion mean they are? No! Their problem is simple – It’s Spiritual! Four factors many have failed to see with their eyes, hear with their ears, or comprehended with their minds. Let’s talk about it…..

2018 February 11th Streaming

This week we will continue in our series The Box – A Tale of Two Identities Part 2: “Your Second Identity – The New Creation – Your Identity As The Son of God”. We live within our box identities, believing that we have accepted Jesus into our hearts to make us better people, and that He has given us His Spirit to ‘help us’ become ‘like’ Him. We might even wear a bracelet to remind ourselves to ‘do what Jesus would do’. Some will agree that Jesus ‘lives’ inside of their ‘heart’ while others will acknowledge that they have become a different person. However, very few understand or can explain the width, the height or the depth of what it means to have become this new creation. I know a few listening today understand the new birth and the resultant union with Christ, but you have never known or understood God’s full intent and purpose for that union. Last week we discussed the box identity – our conforming identity when our soul relates to our flesh. This week I want to discuss the new creation identity – a transforming, spirit/soul identity that is ours the moment that we receive and believe on the person of Christ.

2018 February 4th Streaming