Become A Fruit Inspector

Become A Fruit Inspector

Psalms 119:105

Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

   When I first heard of computer viruses, I wasn’t really worried.  How could a virus effect a computer badly enough to cause much of a problem?  Then my PC caught one and I learned the true danger from viruses.  Computer viruses are software programs written by malicious people who do this to disrupt the programming on your PC.  They are often downloaded stealthily, without our knowledge.  They suddenly wreak havoc with our computers and cause us to lose data and take a lot of effort to fix the problems that result.  Neither wishing or good intentions help.  You need to actively guard your computer from attack.

   In a similar way, false teaching can come to your church and suddenly spring up and wreak havoc in the congregation and make changes to the way people think and believe.  Sometimes brought in by people who spread the false teaching among you, and sometimes an idea from an outside source that is brought in by someone who has heard it and been deceived and now is spreading the damage to others, false teaching is harmful for many reasons.  The worst danger is that it leads people away from the truth of the Gospel and often denies the Divinity of Christ.  False teaching always keeps people from living full Christian lives pleasing to God.  False witnesses may not be knowingly working for Satan but may just be on a power trip looking for fame and fortune.  The saddest are those who are just deceived themselves.

   The first best defense is to be actively studying God’s Word for yourself and praying earnestly for God’s grace.  I take a “no tolerance” position of false teaching.  I do not allow it in my hearing and do not study it and do not read any writings supporting it and don’t argue those who believe it.  Why allow their garbage into my head?  A person with any knowledge of the dangers of computer viruses would never log onto a hacker’s website and download a virus “just to check it out.”   

   A story I was told in my younger days was about people training to be bank tellers.  They are taught about counterfeit money but are not shown counterfeit bills but shown real currency.  Why?  Because they become familiar with genuine money and when they get a counterfeit bill they know it right away.  My prayer is that Christians become so familiar with the genuine Gospel and the Holy Spirit that when a false message comes to them they realize right away it’s fake. 

   I recently saw a program where the people were showing store owners the danger of counterfeit currency.  One they showed is where real currency, in this case a five dollar bill, was bleached and then reprinted to look like a hundred dollar bill.  This trick works because people feel it and it feels real and because it is real currency it will pass most tests as genuine.  But if you examine it closely you see the watermark shows Abe Lincoln not Ben Franklin.  It is only when you look closely you see that it’s a fake. 

   Most false beliefs are like that.  They are based on the Bible and have the right look and “feel” as genuine teaching.  But when you look more closely you don’t see Jesus in it.  You might see a “watermark” but you won’t see Jesus and if Jesus is not at its center it’s not genuine. 

      2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” In Acts 17:11 we read about the believers at Berea, “They received the Word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”  They studied the Scriptures to be sure that what Paul was telling them was true not counterfeit. 

   In Matthew 7:20 Jesus tells us that we will know them by their fruits.  When you encounter a preacher whose fruit is bad you know their heart is not right with God.  If they are seeking money, power, or fame you know that they are not preaching the true Gospel which puts Jesus first.  John the Baptist set the standard in John 3:30 when he said, (about Jesus,) “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  This is the heart of the true preacher and the test of his ministry. 

   Let the light of God’s Word guide you and never hesitate to inspect the fruit you encounter.  You must guard your hearts from deception and only the true Word will help you.

Stephen Cram                                                        October 27, 2013                     

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.

Your God Will Come and Save You

Your God Will Come and Save You

Isaiah 35:4 (Complete Jewish Bible)

Say to the fainthearted, “Be strong and unafraid!
Here is your God; He will come with vengeance;
with God’s retribution He will come and save you.”

   The news is filled with gloom and doom.  Each piece of bad news follows on the heels the last.  Stock market reports that fluctuate daily, scandals, terrorism, disease, war, riots, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods - the list goes on and on.  There is so little good news being reported it can cause depression and worry in even the strongest Christian.  What the unbeliever does in the face of this onslaught of bad news I cannot imagine. 

   But I say to believers – fear not! 

   We, as believers, don't have to live in fear of what is to happen next.  We don't have to sit around worrying about the world's financial system.  We don’t have to agonize over who will win the next election.  We don't have to allow ourselves to let all the situations going on emotionally drain us to the point of depression.  Just read this verse and focus on two words in it:  “your God.”  Your God is Lord.  Your God has never resigned His position as God Most high, Creator of Heaven and earth.  Heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool. 

   This verse speaks to those who are the faithful.  This message is for the blood-bought of God.  What this promises you is that no matter what happens, He is on your side and He has your back.

   I’m not promising you that hard times will never come your way.  I’m not saying that you will never find yourself in difficult times and be confused about why things are happening to you the way they are happening.  We live daily in this evil world and evil things happen all around us.  But if you walk through this world with your hand in God’s hand, you will find a way through all the troubles ahead. 

   When Judah finally fell into captivity by Babylon, Daniel was taken prisoner and sent to live in exile in Babylon.  But he was faithful to God and lived a holy life and he survived and prospered.  He received grace every day.  Ezekiel, likewise, was taken to Babylon as a prisoner.  He, too, remained faithful to God and lived a holy life and God prospered him and he received grace.  Whatever happens to America when God judges our nation, we have to be faithful to God and live holy lives and God will be with us and hold us in His hand and we will receive grace in abundance.

   In Acts we see the apostles beaten and some were killed.  Yet they lived holy lives and remained faithful to God and they turned their world upside down.  (Or, rather, right-side up.)  Daniel ended up second to his sovereign and later was one of three governors of the next kingdom.  Joseph was sold into slavery and ended up second to Pharaoh.  Just imagine where you can end up if you live a holy life dedicated to God. 

   You may, and probably will, go through storms.  The world is getting more and more wicked and you will see things that will shock you until your shock-center burns out.  But remain faithful and keep yourself holy.  God will give you much grace. 

   Fear is our enemy in these troubled times.  Fear is one of the devil's greatest weapons.  If he can get us to fear, it can bring doubt into our hearts and minds.  If we doubt what God has done, is doing and will do, the devil has a foothold in our lives.  Don't accept fear into your heart.  God is only a prayer away and He will comfort you and calm your fears and give your mind rest. 

Again I say to you:  “Fear not!

Your God will come and He will save you.

Stephen Cram                                                     October 20, 2013                    

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.

Scared Smart

Scared Smart

Proverbs 1:7 (New Living Translation)

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

   People who think they’ve figured out God scare me.  When then go around telling others that they’ve figured out God scares me more.  When they do this and are not themselves scared scares me even more.  And the thought that I’ve done this in my past scares me the most.  God only gives only small parts of Himself for us to know because we would burn up under the light of His Glory if we saw too much.  When Moses wanted to see God, God put him in a rock cave and covered the entrance and passed by and let Moses peek at a little spot on God’s back.  Moses’ face glowed with inner light for days after.  I believe he would have died if God had showed him more. 

   I occasionally listen to videos of “famous and popular ” preachers and some I relate to and some scare me.  They come into God’s Presence so casually with so little reverence.  One of my weaknesses praying is I am hesitant to ask God for things that are, on a global scale, trivial.  And I need to practice a little more boldness and do as the Bible teaches me and come to Him as my Father God and ask what I need.  But the way some pray is downright rude.  I would never, in my craziest moments, presume to tell God that He owes me and He’d better give me what He owes me or I’ll – I’ll – get really mad at Him.  Or something.  I’m really not sure what they think the consequences are to God if He fails to answer your prayer and give you everything you ask.  But He better give them to you anyway!  I am amazed at some of the prayers I’ve heard.  I am even more amazed that lightning bolts haven’t fallen after they were spoken.     

   What ever happened to Holy fear?  That dread that should come over you when you approach the Infinite, All-Knowing, Omnipotent God, Creator of Heaven and Earth?  Do you feel gratitude that this Magnificent God would draw you to Himself and tell you to call Him Father?  We recognize Christ’s sacrifice every year on Easter, but do we think of a God Who would make that sacrifice - giving His Son to die for an ungrateful world?  Approaching to that kind of love should make you shudder in fear a least a little bit.  Yet many barge into God’s Presence like an obnoxious drunk at a party.  Again:  What ever happened to Holy fear?

   One of the purposes of church is to help people draw closer to God, but maybe we forget to teach proper reverence anymore.  There is a mystery about God that our minds will never figure out.  We may think we have an understanding of God but it is not really there.  We think it’s there, but we really don’t grasp Him in any way.  We need to trust Him and have faith in Him and accept that we don’t really know Him and never will.  We need to bask in His light and be grateful He draws us to Himself.  We benefit from His Mercy and His Grace but will never understand the love that provides them.   We are the beneficiaries of a Being Who is beyond our ability to know.

   I find myself yearning to run away from His face and hide, but am driven to draw closer to Him and lose myself in His fire.  I fear being close to Him but fear being separated from Him.  I can understand Isaiah’s cry, “Woe is me for I am undone!  I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.”  Why did he feel so unworthy?  “For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”

Stephen Cram                                                          October 13, 2013                     

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.

Learning Nothing From History

Learning Nothing From History

Jeremiah 32: 33-34

33 And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 

34 But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 

   In a nutshell, after the death of Solomon the Kingdom of Israel divided into two kingdoms, the Northern kingdom called Israel, and the Southern kingdom called Judah.  The Northern kingdom quickly fell into idol worship.  They created sacred groves on the hills where people went to engage in idolatrous practices, many of which involved having sex with harlots in the belief that it would bring fertility to families and to farms.  In about 722 B.C. God allowed the Assyrian army to conquer the capitol city of Samaria and ended the existence of the Northern kingdom. 

   Jeremiah began preaching around 626 B.C. and he preached until the Southern kingdom was taken into captivity to Babylon in 587 B.C.  He said many things to try to convince the people that the Southern kingdom would be punished by God just as the Northern kingdom had been.  They knew the story of the sins of the people and the final defeat of the capitol of Samaria.  They knew why God had allowed them to be conquered - they were worshipping idols and not God and practicing evil and not following the Law given to Moses.  The Northern kingdom had been warned by many prophets, and now the Southern kingdom was following the same steps and were worshipping idols and going to the sacred groves and lying with the harlots just as the people of the Northern kingdom had. 

   In this passage Jeremiah was telling them one point that God found especially offensive.  The people were not only worshipping idols but were bringing their evil practices right into the Holy Temple!  God mentions Shiloh to them and told them to go there and see what happened.  Shiloh was where the Tabernacle had been set up after Joshua led the conquest of the land and was where the people came to offer sacrifices and worship God before the Temple was built in Jerusalem.  But at this time Shiloh was a desolate ruin.  God had allowed it to be overrun by the enemy because the sins of people were practiced even there in that holy place.  He is warning them that if He would allow Shiloh to be torn down because of sin, He would allow the Temple to be torn down because of sin.

   So by now some are saying, “So what, Steve!  What has this old story to do with me today?”  Because I see our churches today, places dedicated to the worship of Almighty God, not just allowing sin to rise up in our society with barely a protest or comment but in many cases actually allowing the evil right into the church itself.  And why?  To help those who are living in sin?  In many cases the sin issue is never brought up.  The church feels good that the pews are full and there are many programs on the schedule and people are happy.  So why tell them about the sin they practice?  We just lead them in the sinner’s prayer then send them back to their lives and never tell them they are still sinning. 

   No harsh sermons fall from these pulpits.  No uncomfortable meetings with the pastor warning them to change their lives and begin to live for Christ.  No sir!  We don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  And besides, we might get in trouble with the government.  We won’t be the ones to be on the evening news branded as reactionaries and old-fashioned Bible-thumpers.  We want people to see us as the loving church where everyone is welcome.

   So what you saying, Steve?  “Sinners not welcome here?”  No, I’m not.  Sinners need Jesus and the best place for them to go is to church, as long as the church you go to teaches the whole Bible and teaches you to grow in grace and become more like Christ.  But if you go to a church that has invited evil in and allows it to stay and be comfortable there then you will never be taught to live a holy life. 

   Our churches should be beacons of light for a dark world, not a quiet club that entertains you and sends you home with warm-fuzzy feelings.  We need to proclaim Christ and obey His commands.  He instructed us to go out into the world and proclaim the Gospel.  He told us to minister to the sick and to care for widows and orphans. 

   I wonder what some pastors will say on that day when they appear before Christ and He asks them what they did with their congregations.  “Well, Lord, we entertained hundreds every week with a full band and our worship leader was world-class!  Then I preached, sometimes for as long as fifteen minutes.  Then we kept them busy with many programs.”  And Jesus asks them, “What about the sick and the homeless and the lost?  Did you bring the Gospel out into the streets?  Did you tell them I love them and wanted them to come to Me?  Or did you allow sin into your churches but didn’t invite Me in?

   Dear God, please forgive me for every time I failed to share the Gospel.

Stephen Cram                                                                            October 6, 2013                     

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Visit the blog at http://stephencram.blogspot.com/ and leave a comment.

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.