God is always Good! I have to post this pic!

So I took this position as a Youth Pastor in Long Island, and God
Just overwhelmed us by all the Blessings and LOVE we have received from this Church we are
truly being spoiled by our Father in Heaven. Check out our package, we get a house, its small but sufficient for our needs, no rent, no
utilities, the Public School systems
out here are like private schools in the hood, they are in comparison to upper middle class private schools, Priscilla gets to go to a Private Nursery School for three days for free. Ahhh, you following me here? The neighborhood is absolutely beautiful, we live across the street from a lake, trail (Bike, Walk or Jog), and everything is just really close by, we have everything here. So last Sunday, October 21, I got to preach and run my first service all by my lonesome, it was awesome, I delivered a challenging message didnt compromise the Gospel, and I also was able to implement the youth into the service, it was awesome, I got great feedback, and the kids were so excited about it, they cant wait to do their next service, Praise God! Anyhow, this picture is the announcement bulletin outside in front of the Church, on a main road, and it's double sided. Boy, I felt a bit of celebrity status for a hot sec, but Lord, humble me, this is for his Glory not mine!! Silly, I actually didnt know it was on there till like Friday of that week. But all this to say that, though my name is what is being promoted, and hilighted, it is by no means about me, Im just a vessel used of God, He knows how short I fall, and daily I struggles I need to deal with, but God, He is faithful when I'm not He is Loves Unconditionally in Spite of my flaws, and this I say with confidence Because I have received Him, I have been atoned for my sins. So when you visit my Blog, remember that sometimes I may come off a bit arrogant, and even a bit cocky, but the reason I am stern with certain matter like Doctrine and Heresy, it's simply because there is alot of garbage out there thats really wolves in sheeps clothing, and all they are really producing is temporary and mystical converts. People searching for the gifts rather than the Giver, People searching for the Miracle rather than the Miracle Worker, People looking for the Sign rather than the Sign-Maker, People looking for salvation rather than the Savior!

Yeah I take this serious, and you will only come accross sound, unquestionable teachings and preachings on this Blog, If I recommend something, its because I have done my research on the matter, therefore you can trust that you won't be mislead! I believe in studying, One and Only One interpretation of the Scriptures ( which means that either you are right and Im wrong, or I am right and you are wrong, or we are both wrong, however the case is never that we are both right if we share different views or have different interpretation of Scripture, I hope that is clear) I believe in Hermeneutics, Exegetical research, and historical content and contextual observation! Hey hit me up I will clarify everything, we can talk, but Im definitely not gonna comprimise, never that, at least when it comes to Doctrine and Bible! HE REIGNS FOREVER AND EVER.

Last note, we dont realize how much our doctrine affects our view of Christ, and worship. Now you might be saying well I dont have a "Doctrine" and my response to that is that everyone has a "Doctrine." Whether you realize it or not! If you believe in tongues, thats doctrine. If you believe in miracles, thats doctrine, everything you know or believe is part of your "Doctrine."

Later now enjoy this vid from one of my favorite Rappers, who is on point doctrinally and Biblically.


Lecrae "Praying For You"

Won, Les

Heresy Hunters International, this is funny yet on point!!

Ya gotta check this out!

Some of ya gonna like it, some of ya not! But hey who really likes the truth? I know I have a hard time with TRUTH, but I gotta deal with it too!



See ya soon!

Les

Mr. Washer

Self Explanatory

Won!

Why then the Law?

Absolutely awesome Sermon, accurate, and on point!
John Piper once again! Dont forget to visit John Pipers site, click on the link on the right, or click the title of this posting!
Enjoy!

Galatians 3:19-22

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained by angels through an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one; but God is one.
Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not; for if a law had been given which could make alive, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

The Life and Death Importance of the Who and Why
Saint Paul's mind is more like Rudyard Kipling's The Elephant's Child than Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade." Tennyson said of his "noble six hundred,"
Theirs not to make reply,Theirs not to reason why,Theirs but to do and die.
Many of us are tempted to live like that. We understand so little and see such a small part of God's purpose in things that we want to give up thinking and say, "Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die." But not the apostle Paul. If I read Galatians and Romans correctly, Paul would have agreed more with Kipling when he wrote,
I keep six honest serving men(They taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and WhenAnd How and Where and Who.

In a universe created by a personal God who does all things according to his purpose, the most important of those two "serving men" are WHO and WHY. There was no question who gave the law to Israel. The question was why. "Why then the law?" (Galatians 3:19).
Not everybody cares. You can imagine someone saying: "What differences does it make, why. It's there. So let's make the most of it. Ours is not to reason why. Ours is but to do and die." Many in Israel did, and died precisely because they did not know the reason why the law was given. You can't make the most of it unless you know what it is there for. If you don't know why the traffic light is red, you may get smashed in the intersection. If you don't know why Mr. Yuk is on the medicine bottle, you may get poisoned. In many areas of life yours is to reason why lest you do and die. And that includes the law of God. If we don't understand why it was given, we can kill ourselves with it. Paul said in Romans 9:32 that the reason Israel stumbled into destruction was not that they didn't pursue the law, but that they pursued it in the wrong way: from works and not from faith; in the effort of the flesh instead of the power of the Spirit. In other words, moral effort can be a mortal sin.

When I wrote in The Standard this month that legalism is a greater menace to the church than alcoholism, it wasn't for shock effect. It was a straightforward theological truth. Alcoholics are in a tragic bondage. And we must do all we can to help. But legalism is more subtle and more pervasive and, in the end, more destructive. Satan clothes himself as an angel of light and makes the very commandments of God his base of operations. And the human heart is so inveterately proud and unsubmissive that it often uses religion and morality to express its rebellion. As Romans 10:3 says, "In seeking to establish their own righteousness, they would not submit to the righteousness of God." The pursuit of righteousness can lead to perdition. So Galatians admonishes us: Know why the law was given and don't be bewitched into pursuing it in a way that leads to death, but only in a way that leads to life.

Why the Law Was Given
Galatians 3:19–22 gives two answers to why the law was given to Israel and became part of our Holy Scripture. Both of these answers are stated twice, once in verse 19 and once in verse 22. The first answer in verse 19 is that the law "was added because of transgressions." I'll try to show in a minute what this means, and that it is virtually the same as the first part of verse 22: "the scripture (or the law) consigned all things to sin." The second answer to the question, "Why then the law?" is the latter half of verse 22, "that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe." And this is the same as the part of verse 19 which says, "till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made." So in summary, the two purposes of the law in this text are first, to shut up the world under sin and increase trespasses; and second, to see to it that the inheritance will come to and through the promised seed, Jesus Christ, and no other way. I'm going to save this second purpose for next week when we finish chapter 3 and talk about the law as a custodian. Today I want us to think mainly about the first purpose: the law was added for the sake of trespasses and for shutting people up in sin.
But first a brief comment about the last half of verse 19 and verse 20. It says, "The law was ordained by angels through an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one; but God is one." I am not going to deal with this because I don't know what it means. I cannot figure out how the two halves of verse 20 relate to each other. I would be happy for anyone to give me insight here.

To Reveal Sin as Sin
So that leaves us with one chief task: to understand and apply to ourselves the first purpose of the law. We'll start with verse 19. When it says, "The law was added because of transgressions," does it mean that the law came in to produce transgressions, or that the transgressions were there and the law came in to punish them? The former is almost certainly the meaning: the law was added to produce transgressions. The key parallel to this verse is in Romans 5:20. There Paul makes his meaning very clear: "Law came in to increase the trespass."
This is true in two senses. The first is clear from Romans 4:15, "For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression." I think what this means is that you may distrust your doctor in your heart, but that distrust doesn't become visible until he gives you a prescription and you toss it in the garbage. The prescription makes a visible transgression out of invisible rebellion. So when Paul says in Galatians 3:19 that the law was added because of transgressions and in Romans 5:20 that it came in to increase the trespass, he means, first of all, that it functions like a doctor's prescription to show who trusts the doctor and who doesn't. By prescribing the obedience of faith, the law turns the hidden sin of distrust and rebellion into the open transgression of disobedience.

To Stir Up More Sin
There is a second sense in which the law came in to increase the trespass. The law doesn't just give visibility to present sin; it gives rise to more sin. Romans 5:20 says, "Law came in to increase the trespass," but it goes on to say, "But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." Sin doesn't just become visible in open trespasses; it increases. The rebellion and insubordination and distrust of the human heart intensifies and expands when it meets the law. This is clear from several verses in Romans 7. For example, verse 5, "While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death." The sinful inclinations of the heart are not just exposed by the law; they are aroused by the law. Here's why. Apart from the Holy Spirit our hearts are utterly self-centered, and when such a heart sees that it is being called into question and criticized by the authority of the law, it "seeks all the more furiously to defend itself" (Cranfield). And so the law increases sin by stirring up more self-assertion and by hardening people in their self-satisfaction.
Another example from Romans 7 is verse 8: "But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, wrought in me all kinds of covetousness." Covetousness is the kind of desire you have for something when you are not trusting in the mercy of God to satisfy you with all you need. How, then, did the law produce covetousness in Paul? Perhaps like this: the law held out blessings to Paul which he wanted; but instead of humbling himself to trust in God's mercy to provide them, Paul undertook a rigorous program of law-keeping in reliance on his own moral effort and sought the blessings of the law without trusting the mercy of God. And that is the essence of covetousness: the kind of desire you have for things when you are not trusting in the mercy of God. So the law increases sin even in those who set out to obey it, if they do it in their own strength and not by faith in the power which God supplies.

One last illustration from Romans 7:13, "Did that which is good (the law), then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good (the law), in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure." This verse mentions both senses in which the law increases trespasses. The first is "that sin might be shown to be sin." The second is that sin "might become sinful beyond measure." The law reveals sin, and the law intensifies sin. But Paul insists that the law is not itself sinful or evil. On the contrary, the fact that the human heart could take something as pure and good as the law of God and make it a vehicle of pride and selfish passion and covetousness and death shows how dreadfully corrupt the human heart is.

That gives us some understanding, then, of Galatians 3:19, "Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions." It was added to turn invisible sin into visible transgressions of law. It was added to stir up the insubordination and rebellion of the human heart and make it sinful beyond measure. Now let's look at verses 21 and 22: "Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not, for if a law had been given which could make alive, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe." Verse 21 makes the same point as last week's message on 3:15–18: the law, which came 430 years after the promise to Abraham and his seed, is not an annulment or alteration of God's original covenant relation to Israel. As verse 21 says, it is not at all contrary to the promises. The promise was made in a final sense to the seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ (3:16). But, as verse 21 implies, the law could not make alive. Instead, as verse 22 says, it shut up all people under sin. I think the word "scripture" (v. 22) refers to the written "law." So the text says: the purpose of the law was not to make people alive (and so short-circuit the work of Christ), but to hold them in sin until Christ came.

The Law's Impotence and Our Imprisonment
Now there are two crucial questions to ask, and they have the same answer, I think. So I will ask them together: Why couldn't the law make people alive? And why did it shut up people under sin? The answer is found again in Romans (8:3, 4). "God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh could not do," (cf. Galatians 3:21), "sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Just like Galatians 3:21, Romans 8:3 says there was something the law could not do. It could not do away with sin in people's lives nor could it empower people with the Spirit. And so it could not make alive. So the reason the law could not give life (Galatians 3:21) was not due to its own defect but to a defect in the people. Romans 8:3 says the law was weak through the flesh. The reason the law compounded sin instead of giving life was that the recipients of the law were ruled by the flesh and devoid of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:7 describes the kind of mind which the law met with when it came: "The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed, it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
So the answer to our two crucial questions is the same: Why couldn't the law make people alive? Because they were ruled by the flesh and were without the renewing Spirit of God. Why did the law shut people up under sin? Because they were ruled by the flesh without the renewing Spirit of God. Or to put it another way: the law kept people in sin and did not give them life because it was not accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit to enable people to obey. Wherever the command of God is proclaimed (as it is in the law and in the gospel), but the sovereign, regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is withheld, the natural self-centeredness of the human heart will express its rebellion, either by rejecting the law and living in immorality, or by embracing the law and living in legalistic morality. In either case (whether you are a self-reliant moral person or a self-reliant immoral person), the flesh, or the self-reliant ego, is in charge, and the result is bondage to sin and, finally, eternal death.

Israel, the Law, and God's Glorious Promise
Therefore, Paul's point in Galatians 3:19–22 is that God gave the law without giving the Holy Spirit to most Israelites, so that the deep rebellion of man could be exposed and so that sin would become exceedingly sinful (as it made the holy law a moral means of self-exaltation).
Moses himself had said in Deuteronomy 29:4, after giving Israel the law, "To this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear." And so he knew the law would not give life but only condemn. He said in Deuteronomy 31:26, 27, "Take this book of the law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are." The law increases transgressions and shuts people up under sin, not because it requires imperfect people to merit God's favor, but because it requires proud and independent people to humble themselves and depend on God's transforming mercy. The law is the aroma of death wherever those who smell it are rebellious and stubborn (cf. Hebrews 4:2).

But the story will have a happy ending. Moses sees a day of life coming. In Deuteronomy 30:6 he says: "The Lord your God will circumcise your heart . . . so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." Jeremiah picks up the prophecy in 31:33, "After those days, says the Lord, I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts." And Ezekiel picks it up in 36:26: "A new heart I will give you (says the Lord), and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances." And Paul announces in Romans 8:4 that with Christ the day has arrived. Sins are atoned for, and the Spirit has been poured out, and "the just requirement of the law is fulfilled by those who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (See Galatians 3:5 for how to walk by the Spirit.)

Three Lessons
So what lessons are there for us in this text? I'll mention three in closing. First, God has devoted over a thousand years of history (from Moses to Christ) to help us see ourselves in the failures of Israel. He aims to make visible the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the depth and subtlety of our own pride and insubordination. Therefore, we should look and be appalled in the mirror of God's law. And we should admit that there are yet roots of independence and pride and distrust to be dug out.

Second, we should cherish Christ and adore the grace that opened our hearts to receive him. The lesson of the law is that we are utterly dependent on grace to remove our heart of stone and give us a soft heart of faith and love. Contrition, humility, lowliness, gratitude—let your heart be filled with these as you recall, "Where sin abounded, grace much more abounded" (Romans 5:20).

Finally, if God thought it wise and helpful not to let the sediment of pride and rebellion and distrust lie quietly at the bottom of the human heart, but instead, stirred it up and made it visible by demanding the obedience which comes from faith, then that's what my preaching should aim to do. More than ever I see the need for pastors to preach and Sunday School teachers to teach and members to admonish each other in such a way that the sediment of sin in the lives of so-called "carnal Christians" be stirred up and come to a crisis. Could it be that one of the reasons we see raindrops of blessing at Bethlehem instead of showers is that week after week several dozen people sit in these services with a layer of sinful muck at the bottom of their lives with no intention of doing anything about it? If so, let's pray that God use the Word to stir it up, so it can be seen for what it is, so there can be repentance and forgiveness and cleansing and renewal.

Whew, some more are coming!

The Sale of Joseph and the Son of God

This is an awesome sermon by John Piper, a bit long, and if you prefer click on the title above and go directly to his site and Download the audio or whatever!!

I hope you are blessed by one of the greatest authors and preachers of our day.

Genesis 37:1-36

Astonishing Words to Abram

Before we retell the story of Joseph and the spectacular sin of his brothers and its global purpose in the glory of Jesus Christ, let’s back up to Genesis 12. God has chosen Abram from all the peoples of the world by free grace and owing to nothing in him. In Genesis 12:2-3, God makes him a promise: “I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” This is the beginning of the people of Israel through whom Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God will come into the world to save us from our sins.
Then in chapter 15, God makes a formal covenant with Abram. He uses a remarkable symbolic act and some astonishing words. He says to Abram in Genesis 15:13-16, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. . . . And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Four Hundred Years!

So at the very beginning of his covenant relationship with his chosen people, God predicts a 400-year stay in Egypt and the return to the promised land. “They will be afflicted 400 years.” He has his strange reasons why they must leave for four centuries (think of it!) and not inherit the land now, namely, verse 15: “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” When the Israelites come back to take the land under Joshua in 400 years, they will destroy these nations. How are we to understand that? Deuteronomy 9:5 gives God’s answer: “Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” The conquest of the promised land is the judgment of God on the fullness of centuries of wickedness.

God’s People Enter Through Many Afflictions

In the meantime, God says that his people will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be afflicted for 400 years, namely, in Egypt. So there is God’s plan for his pilgrim people—a kind of picture of your life on this earth until heaven. If God plans 400 years of affliction for his people (Genesis 15:13) before the promised land, we should not be surprised that he says to us “through many tribulations you must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
Prophecy Fulfilled Through a Spectacular Sin
The question for us today is: How will it come about that God’s people wind up in Egypt? And what does God want to teach about his ways and about his Son in this strange sojourn in Egypt? The answer is that God fulfills this prophecy through a spectacular sin. And through this sin, he preserves alive not only his covenant people of Israel, but also the line from which the Lion of Judah would come to save and rule the peoples. So huge things are at stake in the story of Joseph.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Going back to Abram, let’s bring the story up to Joseph. Abram has a son Isaac. Isaac has a son Jacob (whose other name is Israel), and Jacob has twelve sons who become the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. One of Jacob’s twelve sons, Joseph, has two dreams. In both of them, his eleven brothers and his parents bow down to him. Genesis 37:8 says his brothers hated him for these dreams. And verse 11 says they were jealous.

Destroying the Dreamer

The day came when they could vent their rage against their brother. His father sends him to see if it is well with his brothers (Genesis 37:14). They see him coming and say in verses 19-20, “Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” Reuben tries to save Joseph but his attempt is only partly successful when the brothers sell Joseph as a slave to a caravan of Ishmaelites heading for Egypt (v. 25). They keep his special coat, soak it in animal blood, and his father assumes he was eaten by wild animals. The brothers think that is the end of that.

An Invisible Hand at Work

But they have no idea what is happening. They are utterly oblivious to God’s invisible hand in their action. They do not know that in the very effort to destroy this dreamer, they are fulfilling Joseph’s dreams. Oh, how often God works this way! He takes the very sins of the destroyers and makes them the means of the destroyers’ deliverance.

Potiphar, Prison, and Providence

In Egypt, Joseph is bought by Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard (Genesis 37:36). There Joseph submits to God’s strange providence and serves Potiphar faithfully. He rises with trust and influence over Potiphar’s household. And you would think that the righteous would prosper. But it seems to be otherwise. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce Joseph. He flees adultery. And the spurned woman is vicious and lies about Joseph. And in spite of his righteousness, he is put in prison.
In prison, again, totally unaware of what God is doing in all this misery, he again serves the jailer faithfully and is given trust and responsibility. Through the interpretation of two dreams of Pharaoh’s butler and baker, Joseph is eventually brought out of prison to interpret one of Pharoah’s dreams. His interpretation proves true and his wisdom seems compelling to Pharaoh, and Joseph is made commander in Egypt. “You shall be over my house,” Pharaoh says, “and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you” (Genesis 41:40).

The Dreams Fulfilled

Seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine strike the land, just as Joseph said they would. Joseph preempts starvation in Egypt by gathering huge reserves of grain during the seven good years. Eventually, Joseph’s brothers hear that there is grain in Egypt, and they go for help. They don’t recognize their brother at first, but eventually he reveals himself. He had been seventeen years old when they sold him into slavery (37:2) and now when he tells them who he is he is thirty-nine years old (41:46, 53; 45:6). Twenty-two years had gone by. They are stunned. They tried to get rid of the dreamer, and in getting rid of him, they fulfilled his dreams.

The brothers are bowing down at last to Joseph.

Eventually, he invites them to live in Egypt to save their lives, and the fulfillment of the distant prophecy that Abraham’s seed would sojourn 400 years in Egypt begins. So we ask again, How did it come about that God’s people wind up in Egypt in fulfillment of God’s plan? And what does God want to teach us about his ways and about his Son in this strange sojourn in Egypt?

Two Biblical Descriptions of This Fulfillment

The answer to how the people wound up in Egypt is clear at one level: They got there by means of the spectacular sin of attempted murder, greedy slave-dealing, and the heartless deceit of a broken-hearted old man. But how does the Bible describe this fulfillment of God’s prophecy? In two ways.

1) God Sent Joseph to Preserve Life
First, in Genesis 45:5, Joseph says to his brothers who are very afraid of him, “Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.” The first way the Bible describes this spectacular sin of the brothers is that it was God’s way of sending Joseph to Egypt in order to save the very ones who were trying to kill him.

“God sent me before you.”

And lest we think this was a side comment with little significance, we read the very same thing in Psalm 105:16-17—only there the stakes are raised even higher. Not only was God ruling the actions of these brothers to get Joseph to Egypt, but God was ruling the famine as well: “When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.” So put out of your mind the thought that God foresaw a famine happening on its own or happening by Satan. God summoned the famine. And God prepared the deliverance.

2) What Man Designed for Evil, God Designed for Good
So the first way the Bible describes the fulfillment of God’s prophecy that his people would come to Egypt is by saying God sent Joseph there ahead of them. The second way the Bible describes this prophecy is even more penetrating and sweeping. The brothers come before Joseph again, this time after the death of their father, and they are again afraid he will take vengeance on them. In Genesis 50:19-20, Joseph says, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

The second way the Bible describes the way God fulfilled his prophecy is: The brothers meant the sale of Joseph for evil, but God meant it for good. Notice it does not say that God used their evil for good after they meant it for evil. It says that in the very act of evil, there were two different designs: In the sinful act, they were designing evil, and in the same sinful act, God was designing good.

Pointing, Life-Saving Sin

This is what we have seen and will see over and over: What man designs—or the devil designs—for evil, God designs for some great good. The great good mentioned in Genesis 45:5 is “to preserve life.” And the great good mentioned in Genesis 50:20 is “to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” But in those words, and the whole story of how God saves his people, are pointers to the global purpose of this sin—this life-saving sin—in the glory of Jesus Christ.

Three Pointers to the Glory of Jesus

Let’s look at three things in this story that prepare us to see the glory of Jesus and who he really is.

1) Salvation Comes Through Sin and Suffering
First, we see the general pattern that turns up over and over in the Bible, namely, that God’s saving victory for his people often comes through sin and suffering. Joseph’s brothers sinned against him, and he suffered for it. And in all this, God is at work to save his people—including the very ones who are trying to destroy the savior. The fact that Jesus came this way should not have been as surprising to as many people as it was. That he was sinned against and suffered on the way to save his people is what we would expect from this pattern that turns up again and again.
So in the story of Joseph and the spectacular sin of his brothers, we are being prepared to see the glory of Christ—his patience and humility and servanthood, all the while saving the very ones who were trying to get rid of him.
Died He for me, who caused His pain—for me, who Him to death pursued?Amazing love! how can it bethat Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

2) The Suffering One Is Righteous
Second, the story of Joseph and the spectacular sin of his brothers prepare us to see Jesus not just because of the general pattern that God’s saving victory for his people often comes through suffering and sin, but more specifically, in this case, because the very one who is suffering and being sinned against is so righteous. Joseph stands out in this story for his amazing constancy and faithfulness to every relationship. Even in undeserved exile, he’s faithful to Potiphar and he is faithful to the jailer. Genesis 39:22: “The keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.”
And what was Joseph’s reward? He was lied about by Potiphar’s wife, and the cupbearer of Pharaoh, whose dream Joseph interpreted, thanklessly forgot about him in prison for two years after the dreams. So the point of all this is not just that there is sin and suffering and that God is at work in it to save his people. More specifically, the point is that the righteous one, even though mistreated for so long, is finally vindicated by God. Even though others have rejected this righteous stone, God makes him the cornerstone (Matthew 21:42). His vindication becomes the very means of the salvation of his persecutors.
Jesus Christ is the final and ultimate and perfect righteous one (Acts 7:52). It looked to others as if his life was going so badly that he must be a sinner. But in the end, all the sin against him, and all the suffering he endured in perfect righteousness, led to his vindication and, because of it, to our salvation. If Joseph is amazing in his steadfastness, Jesus is ten thousand times more amazing, because he experienced ten thousand times more suffering and deserved it ten thousand times less, and was perfectly steadfast, faithful, and righteous through it all.

3) The Scepter Will Not Depart from Judah
There are other parallels in this story between Joseph and Jesus, but we turn now to the most important thing in this story about Jesus and it is not a parallel with Joseph. It’s a prophecy about the coming of Jesus, which could not have happened if these sinful sons of Jacob had starved in the famine. The spectacular sin of these brothers was God’s way of saving the tribe of Judah from extinction so that the Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ, would be born and die and rise and reign over all the peoples of the world.
We see this most clearly in Genesis 49:8-10. Jacob, the father, is about to die, and before he dies, he pronounces a prophetic blessing over all his sons. Here is what he says about his son Judah:
Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Here is a prophecy of the coming final king of Israel, the Lion of Judah, the Messiah. Notice in verse 10 that the scepter—the ruler’s staff, the sign of the king—will be in the line of Judah until one comes who is no ordinary king, because all the peoples, not just Israel, will obey him. Verse 10b: “To him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

This is fulfilled in Jesus. Listen to the way John describes Jesus’ role in heaven after his crucifixion and resurrection: “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. . . . And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth’” (Revelation 5:5, 9-10).

The Lion of Judah Is the Lamb Who Was Slain

The most magnificent thing about the Lion of the tribe of Judah in his fulfillment of Jacob’s prophecy is that he lays claim on the obedience of all the peoples of the world not by exploiting our guilt and crushing us with it into submission, but by bearing our guilt and freeing us to love him and praise him and obey with joy forever. The Lion of Judah is the Lamb who was slain. He wins our obedience by forgiving our sins and making his own obedience, his own perfection as the righteous one, the basis of our acceptance with God. And in this position of immeasurable safety and joy—all of it owing to his suffering and righteousness and death and resurrection—he wins our free and happy obedience.

The story of Joseph is the story of a righteous one who is sinned against and suffers so that tribe of Judah would be preserved and a Lion would come forth, and would prove to be a Lamb-like Lion, and by his suffering and death, purchase and empower glad obedience from all the nations—even from those who put him to death.
Does he have yours?

Aight ya, c'ya later!~

Juanita Bynum

This is how this post started, and progressed...

Originally posted by The Expositor:
Juanita Bynum
“You’ve got three days to get that into your mailbox. I’m not afraid to say this. I am walking in my authority… if you don’t postmark it by the tenth, we will not accept it. God says you have three days to get your thousand-dollar seed in the mail.” I was watching TBN the night she said this. Of course, I couldn't watch it for long. This is an example of a false prophecy. She claims to speak for God here. She states that God said someone has three days to get a thousand dollar seed in the mail.First of all, I doubt that if it was postmarked after the tenth, they wouldn't accept it. I can't see them turning away from potentially thousands of dollars.Secondly, if the seed-faith teaching is heresy, which it is, then she is absolutely speaking falsely and claiming it to be God. This is totally contradictory to Scripture. In the New Testament, we see God telling believers to give out of the abundance of their hearts, not grudgingly or of necessity, but giving cheerfully. This is just one example, which Links asked for. Also, there is something prophetic happening when a person preaches from a prophetic book. That's why it's so important that those who desire to be teachers, are first life-long students, so that they are rightfully dividing the word of truth.

Rob posted in response:
Can you prove that the "seed, time and harvest" teaching is heresy? I actually see it in the Bible.

Jenn posted:
I watched her when she was on TBN the other night and she, herself, decreed that people would be healed. She has no power to do this; this is false representation. Only God has decreeing power. She is deceitful and she knows she is false, and she is leading thousands of people away from God.I pray that God would grant her repentance...


The Expositor: Last posting on this blog before my comments!
Job 22:28 has been talked about by myself at least a few times here on the board. But, I'll go over it again. First, let's establish the speaker here:Job 22:1 ¶ Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, It was Eliphaz the Temanite who chose to spoke as if he knew God. Firstly, the Temanites were descendants of Ishmael. They would currently be some of your modern day Muslims or other Arabs. Temanites were not believers in the God of Israel. Now, what did he say? Well, he said a lot of stuff, but you, like others, have chosen to take this one scripture verse way out of context and apply it to the believer's "authority".Job 22:28 Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. So, what did God say in response to Eliphaz's declaration?
Quote:
Job 42:7 ¶ And it was [so], that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me [the thing that is] right, as my servant Job [hath]. Job 42:8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you [after your] folly, in that ye have not spoken of me [the thing which is] right, like my servant Job. God's wrath was kindled against Eliphaz and the other two as well. But God directly responded to Eliphaz. If it weren't for the fact that Eliphaz was a friend of Job, God would have dealt with him harshly. But, for Job, God accept the sacrifice.So, that kills any argument about "decreeing a thing". Last time I checked, in the economy of a kingdom, only the king has the power to decree anything. As far as God reaping a harvest of sons? That kind of teaching would necessitate the thought that God had a need, and so He sowed according to His need. But peep this:
Quote:
Psa 50:9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, [nor] he goats out of thy folds. Psa 50:10 For every beast of the forest [is] mine, [and] the cattle upon a thousand hills. Psa 50:11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field [are] mine. Psa 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world [is] mine, and the fulness thereof. God owns everything. He needs nothing from us. Even if He WERE hungry, He'd never tell us. He needs nothing. He has everything and self-sufficient within Himself.
Quote:
Mat 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to [our] father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. God is God. He is not a man having needs. He never lost a thing. He never needed to do anything to reap sons. He could have simply raised up children afresh, unstained with sin. He could have created a new race of people who would ONLY worship Him. The seed faith message is a message of works, not grace. It turns the doctrine of grace into a doctrine of works, and makes man sovereign over God. For if we give, God MUST give in return. The seed faith has a low view of God AND scripture, and a high view of man and his "faith". The seed faith message says that God cannot act or will not act until WE do something. It makes God impotent unless we "allow" Him to bless us. Yet, the God of the Bible, the God I serve, is OMNIPOTENT and completely sovereign.
Quote:
Dan 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth [are] reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and [among] the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? God answers to no one.


My synopsis:
This last posting is a prime example of Biblically true Exposition of the Scriptures, background, audience and historical consistency throughout the text. Man we need more of this from the pulpit, people get consumed with miracles and signs, and neglect the simple yet profound truths of the Scriptures that dont contradict itself!! Them signs and wonders are temporal, never long lasting and rarely truly convert!! The gospel must be preached to convert the soul, an unrepented heart cant proclaim the truth and the Gospel!

Galatians 3:24 (Therefore the Law has become our [1 Cor 4:15] tutor to lead us to Christ, so that [Gal 2:16] we may be justified by faith.

Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

Hey if you offended by this post, I am not apologizing this is the Truth proclaimed, and I aint ashamed 0f the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Young and Unashamed >>Romans 1:16, you got a problem go take it up with YOUR god or bring it to my GOD, and have them scales removed! I say it in this manner because if you proclaim that your god and doctrine allow for such a claim, such as the one discussed in the dialogue concerning Bynum above, then we obviously serve a different god, its not ok for you to feel a certain way about certain scriptures because it suits your character, views and perspective. Im sorry but I am not gonna sit back and accept everything that gets thrown my way, matter of fact this is my Blog and I can express myself here at the least, right? My convictions are based on Biblical principles and I know God honors His WORD! There are no contradictions in my Bible, therefore my argument is backed up by my standards, the Holy Scriptures.
Sola Scriptura - Scriptures Alone!

Won, let me keep chewing! Go check the link this dialogue came from Click on the Yellow Juanita Bynum title in the begining of this post!

Won, Les

This is what Im talking about!! Take that, all ya UnBees!

God is sitting in Heaven when a scientist says to Him, "Lord, we don't need You anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what You did in the 'beginning'!."

"Oh, is that so? Tell me..." replies God.

"Well, " says the scientist, "we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of You and breathe life into it, thus creating man."

"Well, that's interesting! Show Me."

So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil.

"Oh no, no, no..." interrupts God, "Get your own dirt!"

What ya think!!?

WON!

SEE Ya Soon!

Try this addictive Game!

http://youtubetalk.com/maze.htm

Bet you cant finish it!!

One, Les

Check this out!!

This is whats up!! This is what Im talking about!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa6xadR6fkU&eurl=

Im not gonna say nothing the Man of God said it all!! Thats is for today!

One, Les!

It's been a minute...

but here it goes:

1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you. " - Amy Scott(i think..?)

Makes ya think right??
See ya soon!

One, Les!

Just continuing my posting of random excerpts! Something I found interesting...

Concerning alot of the popular practices of the modern Church we are so familiar with! This in particular pertains to famous and popular charismatic preachers and company. Hey you decipher the rest! I just do the posting to provoke thought!


Prostrate in a form of worship. Not what we see today in "slayings".

Worship:
All these "falling down'' experiences described in the Bible occur facedown. Bowing down in a facedown manner is an act of worship. The Psalmist says: "Come, let us bow down in worship'' (Psalm 95:6a NIV).
An example: Ezekiel falls facedown when he saw the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 1:28) [author's emphasis].

Other examples of falling facedown: Abram (Genesis 17:3), Moses (Exodus 34:8), Aaron and Moses (Numbers 16:22,45 and 20:6), Balaam (Numbers 22:31), Joshua (Joshua 5:14), Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20:18), the people of Israel (Leviticus 9:24, 2 Chronicles 7:3, Nehemiah 8:6), David (1 Chronicles 21:16), Ezekiel (3:23, 9:8, 11:13, 43:3, 44:4), Daniel (8:17,18, 10:9,15), Peter, James and John (Matthew 17:6), women at the tomb (Luke 24:5), angels, the twenty-four elders and four living creatures (Revelation 7:11, 11:16).

Judgement:
"When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died (1 Samuel 4:18a NIV).
"So then, the word of the Lord to them will become: ... so that they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured (Isaiah 28:13 NIV).
"When Jesus said, `I am he,' they drew back and fell to the ground'' (John 18:6 NIV).

If the first instance was part of judgment on the house of Eli, the second instance is God's judgment on the people of Israel who refused to listen to His instructions. The third instance is the falling of soldiers when they came to arrest Jesus. It is very clear from the words used that they did NOT fall forward.

So, in the Bible falling backward is pictured as a sign of God's judgement rather than an act of worship.


I got this from this website:
http://www.lovesark.net/biblenyou/sl...thespirit.html

You decide what's proper.


You know I will be back!

One, Les!

Continuation to yesterday's post!

Jonathan Edwards Was a Slave Owner

We hear a lot of good things about Edwards and these are no doubt encouraging and helpful to our faith as Christians. But rarely do we hear the negative things about Edwards, and if we do they are typically secondary issues. Certainly however, there is a more serious concern with the life of Edwards. Unfortunately, history reveals to us this whole issue of Edwards and slavery.[1] The truth is - Edwards owned slaves until the day he died. What’s more is that he was not ambivalent about this idea/practice of owning slaves because he owned them his whole life and seemed to be quite happy in that position.

God in his sovereignty always plans for events to occur. How we understand these events and their implications is a question that must be dealt with from the overarching reality of God’s complete sovereign hand. God is in control of men, events, the forces of evil that take place in this world – even slavery. Nevertheless, evil is not justified because God is sovereign.

Therefore there is this mysterious working of God in the midst of evil. God sovereignly decrees that an event take place through the agency of wicked men. What is perplexing is how God can will/desire for an even to take place in his will of decree and at the same time justly punish and condemn man for participating in an act that is contrary to his will of command, namely, what is outlined in the scriptures about how we should live and conduct ourselves. The prime example of this is the crucifixion of the Son of God. We know from Acts 4 that is was “according to the definite plan of God” that Christ was crucified. But in the same context it is stated that “lawless men” crucified the son of God.

If we really want to know Edwards the whole man, the whole person we must live with him, and see him not only in all of his glories but also in all of his faults. It may be that in some ways we have not come to truly know Edwards the man because we have not gotten to know Edwards in the context of his weaknesses and deficiencies, not least of which was his owning of slaves. Edwards was a slave owner.

Before we can speak of Edwards and slavery we must not follow our tendency which is to remove Edwards from his context and put him in our context and immediately condemn him as a wicked slave owner. We must try to understand the issue of Edwards owning slaves in the midst of his own historical context. Doing this is not an attempt to absolve Edwards of sin, but rather charitable approach to understanding just how Edwards, given his culture and context, could have been involved with slavery.

What exactly did Edwards believe about slavery? In short: He not only condoned slavery, but condemned slave trading. The only published document we have on Edwards and slavery is a letter he wrote in defense of a pastor named Benjamin Doolittle defending his owning of slaves. What George Marsden points out in his biography on Edwards is that it is unbelievable that Edwards in his vehemence against Arminianism and the Anti-Awakening movement, he nevertheless came to the defense and aid of both an Arminian and a pastor who openly opposed the awakening. Why? Benjamin Doolittle was on the verge of being removed from his office as minister of the gospel because he owned slaves. His church, and those surrounding him felt that he had forfeited the right to be a minister of the gospel in part because he owned slaves. Edwards was asked to come to his defense. Therefore, Edwards wrote a letter defending Doolittle. In this letter he attempts to provide a justification for the owning of slaves.

For Edwards this was a theological compromise. In other contexts Benjamin Doolittle would have been a staunch foe of Edwards for his erroneous theology and unorthodoxy. Thus, it is striking that Edwards comes to the defense (of all people) this man.

Obviously much more can and should be said about this issue. The goal of this blog, however, is simply to introduce some of us to another side of Edwards. While I appreciate Edwards so much I also know that he was a fallen individual who had some serious inconsistencies in his life. In some ways, I can understand both historically and contextually how Edwards could have owned slaves. Nevertheless, he is not to be commended or defended in this practice. I thank God for what we can learn from the life of Edwards, both the good and the bad.

---

[1] Historical information gathered from the work of Sherard Burns in his essay, Trusting the Theology of a Slave Owner in A God Entranced Vision of All Things: John Piper & Justin Taylor, Crossway Books: 2004.

Just a series of composition (from various sources) Im putting together to provoke thought and challenge our walk with Christ!

One, c'ya!

Interesting Figures in Church History!

I just thought that I'd post these interesting excerpts, just goes to show that we are called to live lives of impact and not mideocrity, sometimes we join the masses in what they are doing just because we think that we cant affect change! I want to be a worldchanger, even if it's the world immediately around me!

Be encouraged!

John Wesley (a contemporary of Mr Edwards) and Charles Spurgeon were both known for their outspoken opposition to the Atlantic Slave Trade. Spurgeon is said to have spoken out so storngly against it that his semrons stopped being published in the 'states! Check out these powerful words:


John Wesley Thoughts On Slavery, published in 1774:
"[To the captains employed in this trade] may I speak plainly to you? I must. Love constrains me; love to you, as well as to those you are concerned with. Is there a God? You know there is. Is he a just God? Then there must be a state of retribution; a state wherein the just God will reward every man according to his works. Then what reward will he render to you? O think betimes! Before you drop into eternity! Think now, "He shall have judgment without mercy that showed no mercy."

Are you a man? Then you should have an human heart. But have you indeed? What is your heart made of? Is there no such principle as compassion there? Do you never feel another's pain? Have you no sympathy, no sense of human woe, no pity for the miserable? When you saw the flowing eyes, the heaving breasts, or the bleeding sides and tortured limbs of your fellow-creatures, was you a stone, or a brute? Did you look upon them with the eyes of a tiger? When you squeezed the agonizing creatures down in the ship, or when you threw their poor mangled remains into the sea, had you no relenting? Did not one tear drop from your eye, one sigh escape from your breast? Do you feel no relenting now? If you do not, you must go on, till the measure of your iniquities is full. Then will the great God deal with you as you have dealt with them, and require all their blood at your hands. And at "that day it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for you!" But if your heart does relent, though in a small degree, know it is a call from the God of love. And "to-day, if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart." To-day resolve, God being your helper, to escape for your life. Regard not money! All that a man hath will he give for his life! Whatever you lose, lose not your soul: Nothing can countervail that loss. Immediately quit the horrid trade: At all events, be an honest man."


See also, John Wesley's last letter before he died, sent to anti-slavery campagner, and fellow saint, William Wilberforce.


Charles Spurgeon, sermon entitled Separating the Precious From the Vile preached in March 1860:
"But now I have a very sad thing to say—I wish that I could withhold it, but I cannot. Unless, brothers and sisters, you make it your daily business to see that there is a difference between you and the world, you will do more hurt than you can possibly do good. The Church of Christ is at this day accountable for many fearful sins. Let me mention one which is but the type of others. By what means think you were the fetters rivetted on the wrist of our friend who sits there, a man like ourselves, though of a black skin? It is the Church of Christ that keeps his brethren under bondage; if it were not for that Church, the system of slavery would go back to the hell from which it sprung. If there were no slave floggers but men who are fit for so degrading an office; if there were not found Christian ministers who can apologise for slavery from the pulpit, and church members who sell the children of nobler beings than themselves—if it were not for this, Africa would be free. Albert Barnes spoke right truly when he said slavery could not exist for an hour if it were not for the countenance of the Christian Church.

But what does the slaveholder say when you tell him that to hold our fellow-creatures in bondage is a sin, and a damnable one, inconsistent with grace? He replies “I do not believe your slanders; look at the Bishop of So-and-so, or the minister of such-and-such a place, is not he a good man, and does not he whine out ‘Cursed be Canaan?’ Does not he quote Philemon and Onesimus? Does he not go and talk Bible, and tell his slaves that they ought to feel very grateful for being his slaves, for God Almighty made them on purpose that they might enjoy the rare privilege of being cowhided by a Christian master. Don’t tell me,” he says, “if the thing were wrong, it would not have the Church on its side.”
And so Christ’s free Church bought with his blood, must bear the shame of cursing Africa, and keeping her sons in bondage. From this evil, good Lord deliver us. If Manchester merchants and Liverpool traders have a share in this guilt, at least let the Church be free of this hell-filling crime. Men have tried hard to make the Bible support this sum of all villanies, but slavery, the thing which defiles the Great Republic such slavery is quite unknown to the Word of God, and by the laws of the Jew; it was impossible that it ever could exist. I have known men quote texts as excuses for being damned, and I do not wonder that men can find Scripture to justify them in buying and selling the souls of men."


No doubt when Jesus met messrs. Welsey and Spurgeon, He said to each of them, "Well done good and faithful servant." They had the opportunity to stand up and speak out against evil, and they did so with gusto.

__________________




Consider these when testing the Scripures:

Sound principles to identify sound doctrine:
1. Absolute Authority of Scripture
2. Consistent (not "wooden") Grammatical - Historical Interpretation of Scripture
3. Sound Logic
4. Historical Precedent in the Early Church

One, Les!

Share my heart and share my burden!
To Him who is able to keep us!

It's the message, not the messenger!

It's the message, not the messenger!

'...HE THAT RECEIVETH WHOMSOEVER I SEND RECEIVETH ME...' JOHN 13:20

If you're wise you'll focus on the message, not the messenger. 'But shouldn't leaders set a good example; shouldn't they be called to a higher standard?' Yes, those entrusted with great responsibility experience greater correction. But God does that not; you. Though King Saul repeatedly tried to kill David, David realised God had chosen Saul. When he'd a golden opportunity to take Saul's life, David said, 'The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed...' (1 Samuel 26:11 KJV). This may come as a shock; God has no perfect messengers. So He uses what He's got. And many of them are still struggling in certain areas. They're being developed even while they're delivering the message God wants you to hear. A perfect word from imperfect lips; that's how God does it. Samuel led Israel for 40 years. He even anointed David to be King, yet his own sons went astray. David, whom God called a man after His own heart, committed adultery and covered his tracks with murder. Yet the Bible says, '...he...served the purpose of God in his own generation...' (See Acts 13:36 NAS). Peter's dark chapter of denial didn't prevent him from winning multitudes to Christ. So, when a leader proves to be imperfect what should you do? a) learn from his or her mistakes b) pray for them. After all, if you can't find mercy in the House of God where are you going to find it? c) keep listening to their message, for Jesus said, '...He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth Me...' (John 13:20 KJV).

Callin a Spade a Spade

This was taken from a Message Board over at HolyCultureradio.com/forum

I found this very informative and simple in essense! See ya soon!

---

The problem we have been having here lately is NOT with doctrine or theology, it's how some perceive OTHERS to present it.

Look, let's just call names-people get mad at Kerry (Black Calvinist) because they feel he presents his knowledge of the scriptures in a prideful way...he makes people feel bad by coming at them-and at times CRUSHING-the way they think and feel and NOBODY wants for their way of belief to be attacked. That's understood and well noted (trust me, Kerry knows this)

-HOWEVER-

Let's not be fooled into thinking we're all supposed to be good little Christians who never correct anybody. Plain and simple, the way that some of us think here is WRONG and it's backed up by a book GOD left us. It's called the bible. If you chose to IGNORE and not FOLLOW this book and come up with a way of thinking that goes AGAINST it, we not only have a RIGHT, but we have a DUTY to correct.

Now, how should we correct?

In love.

Does it always happen?

No.

But that doesn't mean we just do away with doctrine and Theology and say "well...I like so and so and because so and so believes this way-even though it BLATANTLY goes against Scripture and what the 1st century saints believed-I can accept him and his faulty theology for the sake of unity and non division" becuz that is actually more dangerous than confronting the brother or sister.

Why you ask?

Because if a brother believes wrong, that means when others come and ask him about his own beliefs, he will instruct another WRONG, which can cause someone to stumble.

Yes, it's just that serious yall. Let's not just turn into people who accept whoever, whatever, whenever just so we can say we're all united. This unity CAN be achieved, but it probably won't be until Jesus gets here. Get used to it.

Until then, STUDY TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED.

May God be glorified...
CM

A Baptist Dog

Hey I found this joke funny! Hey Im Baptist too! LOL!

---

A Baptist preacher and his wife decided to get a new dog. Ever mindful of the congregation, they knew the dog must also be a Baptist. They visited kennel after kennel and explained their needs. Finally, they found a kennel whose owner assured them he had just the dog they wanted.

The owner brought the dog to meet the pastor and his wife. "Fetch the Bible," he commanded.

The dog bounded to the bookshelf, scrutinized the books, located the Bible, and brought it to the owner.

"Now find Psalm 23," he commanded.

The dog dropped the Bible to the floor, and showing marvelous dexterity with his paws, leafed through and finding the correct passage, pointed to it with his paw.

The pastor and his wife were very impressed and purchased the dog.

That evening, a group of church members came to visit. The pastor and his wife began to show off the dog, having him locate several Bible verses. The visitors were very impressed.

One man asked, "Can he do regular dog tricks, too?"

"I haven't tried yet," the pastor replied.

He pointed his finger at the dog. "HEEL!" the pastor commanded. The dog immediately jumped on a chair, placed one paw on the pastor's forehead and began to howl.

The pastor looked at his wife in shock and said, "Good Lord! He's Pentecostal!"





See Ya
One, Les!

Interesting Quote, more to come...

Only once did God choose a completely sinless preacher. ... Alexander Whyte


Free Sermon in Audio:

http://www.sermonaudio.com

Check:
Paul Washer
Tim Conway
C.H. Spurgeon
Andrew Murray
A.W. Tozer

Just to name a few!

See Ya Soon!

One, Les!

Dancing without Music?

Hey I thought I would post this interesting excerpt, I found it very amuzing!

Check it out, and be on the lookout for the return of my Blog!

"Hearing God’s Music
by Max Lucado

Let's imagine that you want to learn to dance. Being the rational,cerebral person you are, you go to a bookstore and buy a book on dancing.You take the book home and get to work.

Finally, you think you’ve got it, and you invite your wife to come in and watch. You hold the book open and follow the instructions step by step. You even read the words aloud so she’ll know that you’ve done your homework. “Lean with your right shoulder,” and so you lean. “Now step with your right foot,” and so you step. “Turn slowly to the left,” and
so you do.

You continue to read, then dance, read, then dance, until the dance is completed. You plop exhausted on the couch, look at your wife, and proclaim, “I executed it perfectly.”

“You executed it, all right,” she sighs. “You killed it.”

“What?”

“You forgot the most important part. Where is the music?”

Music?

You never thought about music. You remembered the book. You learned the rules. You laid out the pattern. But you forgot the music.

“Do it again,” she says, putting in a CD. “This time don’t worry about the steps; just follow the music.”

She extends her hand and the music begins. The next thing you know, you
are dancing—and you don’t even have the book.

We Christians are prone to follow the book while ignoring the music. We
master the doctrine, outline the chapters, memorize the dispensations, debate the rules, and stiffly step down the dance floor of life with no music in our hearts. We measure each step, calibrate each turn, and flop into bed each night exhausted from another day of dancing by the book.

Dancing with no music is tough stuff. "

One, Les

See ya soon!

one of my favorite songs right now!

<http://h1.ripway.com/lesterdiaz1/They.mp3

Hey click above to listen to one of my fav songs!

One, Les!

Just a short one, and Link!

Whats going Family!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDBShcAZQDM

Check that out, it's kinda crazy! Yet somewhat admirable? As crazy as it may sound!

See ya lays!

Hey how is everything?

I am enjoying the benefits of being a stay at home dad! It isn't the easiest job, but it sure has it's rewards, and the fruits of my labor will show in their future, thats for sure!

We are pretty much all settled in, only a few things that need to be stored, a frame or two here and there! I enjoy the neighborhood we are living in, it's chill enough to roll incoqnito, and its also live enough to get rolling! Nah'mean?

Anyhow, we got a dog, a puppy, he's very cute and we got for a couple weeks now, what is it, 2 weeks I think? I will post pictures of the pup, it's a American Staffordshire Bull Terrier and his name is Spirit, after an old family pet who also was a dog.

This picture was taken day after he came home on May 5th, isnt Spirit a looker? LOL! He is 5 Months old in this picture!

Making his Bed!

Thats his Mug!

This is a recent picture, he has grown since we got him! Thats his uncle the one with the red Shirt! He is (Spirit) between 7-8 weeks old in this pic!

Well thats whats going on in my life, I hope you guys the best and I hope to talk, holla or link up with you guys soon! Luv ya, see ya soon!

Remeber Jesus is still Lord and Nothing has changed, he is risen, and the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever More!! God Bless ya, and Im praying for ya! Pray For a bunch of Projects that I will be hopefully getting started! Layz!

One, L! to the O, V, E!

Im moved in, settling and we are excited!

How are ya Fam?

I wanted to post a brief blog about the success of our move, well let me tell you that it was a complete success, if you have been following my prior posting you know that this past weekned was a busy weekend for us all! The drive into NY on Friday was successful, I droped the kids off and picked up my Sister, Brother in Law, Uncles, and cousin. We got back to RI around midnight, and I went to sleep around 4:30am, last minute details you know! During this time My sister in Law Teresa was already in RI helping my Wife with last minute packing, and they did a great job, this had to be one of the most successful moves we have done in 5 yrs, and we have moved quite a few times already!

Anyways, we had a friend, Jerry from RI come out to help, he was such a blessing, he took his day off, away from his kids and wife to help us, we are grateful to him, and we ask God to bless him and his family abundantly, actually that is our desire and request for all those who helped us out that day!

We started by 9am or so, we fully completed everything, and were on our way by 1pm. Arrived at NY by 4pm and were done by 5:30-6pm. We had another uncle come out to help us, when we arrived. My boy Tom came by with his wife Fann, and they were soooo helpful too! We truly thank God for them, and eveybody that came to gives us a helping hand! My Brother in law, Eddie, and My other Boy Chin came by, we were overwhelmed by the Love and help we received that day! We know thatwe are blessed and God gets all the glory for that!!
I want to acknowledge eveyone that helped by name! Teresa, thank you for taking time off to help us out, you were a crucial help in our preps! We hope God blesses your ministry, continue the good work and seek! My sister Alicia and her husband John, You guys are soooo awesome, we ask for an overwhelming outpour on your future and STEP OUT, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!! My Uncle Will and Carlos, and my Cousin Sergio you guys were definitely heaven sent and we love you guys and ask God to bless you all abundantly, we had a great time, laughing, ordering and hauling each other around!! Thank you, we couldn't have done it without you guys!! Alicia, John we are here to help you when you guys move to Mia!! Jerry, we love you and your family, keep in touch and we hope to see ya soon!

Tom, Fanny I honestly didn't expect ya, you know fanny I thought Tom was pulling my leg when he said he was going to be there!! Tom, Lets win them souls for Christ, we in here and we cant be stopped, All for the Glory and magnification of the Kingdom of CHRIST our Rock! Lets get them ideas rollling!

Eddie, Thanks for coming by, and Hey the effort is worth far more than a No Show! Thank you, may God bless you and your Family! Thank you Glenys for letting your hubby step away and help us out!!

Chin, Thank you for putting the bed together along with Eddie, It doesn't Sqeak guys, Hmm!! Yo, Jesus is gonna bless you and yours, lets fellowship fam!

Lastly and not least, for sure! Mom thank you for cleaning our apartment we could not have done it without you and we are so grateful for that. You did a great job, and we pray for you daily! Thank you for the home cooked meal that Iwas so against you preparing! It was the best!! We all loved it, hey everybody My mom is the best cook in the world!

Lala Y Lolo gracias por cuidar nuestro hijos, ellos no podian estar en mejores manos!! Muchas Gracias!! Q'Dios los bendigan!


Lydia, I know you were working, we missed you, but thanks for the help on Sunday!


Junior, Thank you, and dont forget what I said, I mean it, and take advantage of me, Im here for your support!

Lynnette, Thank you we love and you were so helpful, we thank Jesus for you, we Hope you have a great Birthday, and a blessed life!

Sadid, yo se q'usted no estaba en condiciones para alludar, pero si fue alluda, y Gracias!

Lastly, and surely not the least for real, for real.
To my wife, Carmen, we did it, and I have to acknowledge all the hard work you put in, Babe you were awesome, and diligent. God has a huge reward for, which in turn blesses me too! Babe, keep the faith and know that God is faithful, graceful and merciful. He is our strength intimes of need, and He is our sustainer, without him we are NOTHING! Remember in heaven we have crowns that are fitted!! Fitted with Gems, precious stones and jewels on them! Babe you are a diamond in the making!!!

If I missed anyone, sorry, I meant to put you right here in this section.

I just wanted to say that

WE LOVE YOU ALL!!

WE are here for you all!

Hey lets win them souls for ya who know what I mean, the rest of ya keep grinding but remember He rules!!

Jesus Loves ya all!

One Les, and fam!!

An Update for me Familia!

How is everyone doing?

How you doing Chin? You good today, nice to hear that! How's the Family!!?
How you doing Mark? Well Brother we're praying for you, and God is faithful!!
Hey, how are you Serge? I hope you are well, and God is bringing you closer to him daily!!
Hey Teresa, I hear you may be coming out early tomorrow, thats great!! See ya then.

Sorry, I cant greet everyone, but Im saying hello to all, we'll talk later!

Anyways, enough of the intros, I have good news, great news and extraordinary news, you decypher them, k!?

Ok, remember I was telling you guys about the Job situation for Carmen, well she got the Job she wanted, Congratulations baby!! She got a real good Job, she is going to be working with Albert Einstein Mental Health Department, Yay!! Good pay, good position, good timing, God is soooooo Good!

Secondly, we are almost done with all of our packing, we are actually doing real good as far as packing, Carmen has been working overtime, being that I have been at work during the day, and she was done at her job last Friday!

Everything so far is going too smoothly to be true? Well, I know that the fun has yet to come. Anyhow, I have a long weekend ahead, and it starts Friday at 1pm.

Anything else, let me see, all I have to say is that I am truly grateful to God, for all His Provisions, Grace and Mercy!

I want to share this poem, it was written by an unknown sister in the Lord, I take no credit for this remarkable work of creativity and expression:

PRAYER

In that beautiful moment,

When Song Birds fill the air,

I seek the quietness of my room,

To be with you in prayer.

Away from the busy world,

I can to you convey,

My thoughts; my hopes and dreams,

When I kneel to pray.

Gentle glowing embers,

Warm my inner being,

Though darkness fills my eyes,

It’s you I’m clearly seeing.

Beyond the far horizon,

More deeply I’m aware,

That my gentle loving Jesus,

Is alive with me in prayer.

Please read this song!! Please!!

Now I have been listening to this song by Da T.R.U.T.H. they name of it is "They" it is so awesome, I love the lyrics, and to me it is such a deep and realistic song here are the lyrics:

Artist: Da T.R.U.T.H

Song: They

Album: The Faith

Chorus

What is this about?/

I'm tempted to fold my arms, poke my lips and pout/

They say you only live once. Am I missing out?/

Cuz they do what they wanna do, play how they wanna play/

move how they wanna move, say what they wanna say.

So what is this about?/

I'm tempted to fold my arms, poke my lips and pout/

They say you only live once. Am I missing out?/

Cuz they go where they wanna go, glance where they wanna glance/

smoke what they wanna smoke, dance how they wanna dance.

Verse 1:

Wait, wait say no more/

I'm a saint I know the feelin, it's the same or the Lord

temptation it don't change-it's either say no or/

just yield to flesh and be/

filled up on sex and weed/

go at excessive speeds/

ridin through life or just/

just grit your teeth/

and suffer with the people of God for the rest of the week/

I wouldn't hold you live you holy.

You won't miss a beat/

and just trust your reward is great/

Bust down the doors of faith/

trust that the Lord that saved you can touch you and all your state.

He can keep you real firm/

Ask my wife she graduated a virgin/

22 years old, old. Now I know that's unheard of/

especially when it's a cultural norm/

to get caught in the dorm/

fornicate and man i know that she had to talk to the Lord.

Chorus

Chorus: What is this about?/

I'm tempted to fold my arms, poke my lips and pout/

They say you only live once. Am I missing out?/

Cuz they do what they wanna do,

play how they wanna play/

move how they wanna move,

say what they wanna say.

So what is this about?/

I'm tempted to fold my arms, poke my lips and pout/

They say you only live once. Am I missing out?/

Cuz they go where they wanna go,

glance where they wanna glance/

smoke what they wanna smoke,

dance how they wanna dance.

Verse 2:

Question: "Is the grass really green on the other side of that plasma screen/

Where the fashion queen--walks the carpet and rappers seem---to be/

free from the cares of this life?"/

At least compared to the likes of the people sharing in Christ's suffering and I'm like, like/

Lord that's not fair/

but you know that in this culture man it's not rare-/

to catch the same people that are at fault/

get caught and charged with assault and battery walk/

with a slap on the wrist though it's not solved to the person for whom justice was sought/

But wait, that's not all/

the same rappers that are braggin about breakin the law, /

are the same rappers whose smarts got em climbin the charts/

and I'm like the Clarks, "Is my living in vain?"/

They got women and fame/

but is what they get really worth the soul that they give in exchange?

Chorus

Chorus: What is this about?/

I'm tempted to fold my arms, poke my lips and pout/

They say you only live once. Am I missing out?/

Cuz they do what they wanna do,

play how they wanna play/

move how they wanna move,

say what they wanna say.

So what is this about?/

I'm tempted to fold my arms, poke my lips and pout/

They say you only live once. Am I missing out?/

Cuz they go where they wanna go,

glance where they wanna glance/

smoke what they wanna smoke,

dance how they wanna dance.

Verse 3:

Listen, Man I can't front/

It's kinda hard watching the wicked go wild in the club/

Grown-ups roll blunts, sisters out in their pumps/

and I'm like, "but that's a lie and up front" /

They alive and they crunk, high and they drunk/

but they don't show when the sun rise and they slump-/

over the toilet seat/

with a migrane from alcoholic drinks/

Hence, all we see, are the wicked growin tallest trees/

I.E. I did 4 thou in a week/

I was geeked/

but 50 sold 1.6 million more than me? /

But how? He's a godless man/

with a mouth like a garbage can and I'm faithful like David /

Yep, Jay did the Garden and/

I know that it's just a cover up but/

I get discouraged--undercover I covet/

I can't have it, I want it until/

till I go to that place/

Psalm 73... that's why I know that their fate-- Is like that of a fish that takes the bait/

If only he could forsee that his fate/

is a hook and a cook-- in the south, flake, bake and fried up on that plate/

Okay so now I get it/

Prior to reading that, man I was bitter/

Well we aint suffering for nothing-- we got crowns that are fitted/

So what if don't fit in we get in/

in that heaven. They get it/

They catch his wrath in a minute/

We gonna bask in his presence /

Plus we got peace and joy/

We've been delivered like pizza boys--from the wrath the come.

It's gonna be war like scenes from Troy/

but most people don't think that He cares/

or that destruction is near/

but look in the mirror and objects are closer than what they appear.

So what is this about?/

Well now I get it. It's the wicked that are missing out/

And not us, Christ is enough. In every christian vow we say, /

"Help me to be content Lord"/

"Help me to see the end"/

"I'm frail and I need your strength /

or my heart will fail me again" /

Ok, It's time to go back to work. Everyone have a great day and if you in NY remember April 29, mark that date, I drop! Holla at ya Bruh! Hit me up! Come see me!

You get the the drift!

One, Luv ya and God Bless!

Les

I have been a Bad Host!!

I have been the most terrible Host ever, I invite you into my home and forget all about you, and tell you nothing at all!!

I just abandon you in my home, I start a conversation and rudely walk away and neglect all of yous!!

Im such a bad host, bad Host Lester!

Im sorry guys, alot has happened since we last spoke, we have been very busy and preparing for our move on the 29th of April!

Like I mentioned before we found an apartment in Yonkers, and Carmen has almost secured a job, she has had 3, I believe 3 Job offers but she is waiting on a particular Agency affiliated with Albert Einstein Hospital, thats the job she really wants, and we know and trust that it will all work out! So far every Interview she has gone to has offered her the job, but when you are a hot commodity like my wife, you get to choose where and how much you want, now all this in retrospect to what God wants for us, of course!!

So now it's a week before we move and we need help packing, we just dont know where to start? We put our books away in boxes, but everything else is like stuff that we need until we move?? Man we are experts at this moving stuff by now, but we cant get packing!! Im scheduled to work till the day before we move and I have to wear a suit to work everyday, boy I aint gonna miss that!! So I have to leave the suits out right?? We have kids, they need their toys, otherwise they will be bored to death!! We need to eat so the food cant be packed away yet!

We need help! We are tired, exhausted, Carmen has had to make last minute trips to New York for interviews and things like that, and its tough keeping the house stright with the kids around, so we have a mess, and we need to pack!! Feel me! Ahh, Im just venting family, I just need to let this out, we will be ok, and we will be fine, we will be ready for next Saturday, and Everything will turn out just fine, God is on our side! He will give us strength!

I forgot to mention that I will heading into NY on Friday right after work, and drop off the kids with their Grandparents, Pick up my moms, uncle, cousin, sister and brother in law that same evening and head back to RI, so they can be at my house in the morning to help us move! Sounds like a nice smooth day, but Im soooo grateful to all of them for their willingness to come out the prior night to help us move, I thank Jesus for them all!!

Ok, im signing off guys, there is more but let me procrastinate! Just kidding, there is more but I dont want to bore you, and let you hear me complain and rant about MY LiFE!

See ya! Luv yA, Smell ya soon!

Les

Hey I added a link to my site lists of friends and cool links, (on the bottom right scroll down to links):
Hey visit my friends links too!!

I added "Free Christian Mixtape Downloads" Check it out, great music, and its free downloads!! Smell ya!