more fire

During the Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus Christ told the gathered crowd, “You are the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13). Jesus was speaking to men and women, rich and poor, Jews and gentiles. He was speaking to a very real cross-section of society. He wasn’t strategically targeting a specific demographic. He was proclaiming the Living Word for all who would hear.

When Jesus said “You are the salt of the earth” he was saying a whole lot. Salt was very expensive in ancient times and was even used as a method of payment. In fact, the term “salary” is derived from the word “salt.” When he called the people salt he was saying they had value, regardless of their social or economic status.

Salt is also used as a preservative. It has been said that when Jesus called his followers salt he was, in effect, saying that those who adhere to His Word are a preservative against moral decay in society. Salt is also used as an essential ingredient in fertilizer. Thus, Christians are called to create a fertile ground where spiritual growth can occur. Salt also makes one thirsty and Christians are to inspire others, believers and non-believers alike, to thirst for the things of God.

Lastly, salt is used to bring out flavor. As you wouldn’t put a light under a basket but on a candlestick, salt is enjoyed when it is put on steak (or veggies) and not when it is stored in the cupboard. Jesus calls his followers the salt of the world. And, like Christ, we are to engage the world in a way that glorifies God. We are not to keep our faith in the cupboard. Rather, we are to bring out the flavor of the world for the glory of God. At the end of Matt. 5:13 Jesus says, “But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” So share the salt, brothers and sisters. Flavor the world with the love of God.

Ah, divine intoxication and whirling into eternity!
Drunk but not stumbling, high but not glossy-eyed.
Bathed in new wine.

Saturated by the presence of the Most High!
Devoted to surrender
and abandoned to the pursuit of infinite intimacy.
Come now, Lord Jesus Christ.

Related poems:

• New Wine
• Christ Within

My wife and I have returned from our honeymoon. It was a beautiful time. We saw an active volcano, walked through lush tropical rain forest, stargazed from the highest point on the Earth, swam in the ocean, attended a luau and even spent Sunday morning worshiping in a wonderful church called Solid Rock. Now, she is readying herself for the day and I’m enjoying a mug of medium roast 100% pure Kona coffee. It’s good. Hopefully later I’ll be able to share more specifics from our trip to the Islands.

Lately I’ve been doing a study of the Talmud, which is a collection of Jewish writings that were compiled after the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. The writings were an effort to preserve Judaism, i.e. its traditions and interpretations of specific texts, in a time when there is no temple. The writings were mostly composed between the late 1st and early 5th centuries and most often draw from two sources: Hillel and Shammai. The Talmud draws from many rabbinic sources including Akiba ben Joseph and Honi the Circle Drawer, but Hillel and Shammai, who lived a generation before Christ, are perhaps the two most prominent leaders of rabbinical thought in the voluminous text. The Talmud includes many parables which are familiar to readers of the Gospels. It also includes parables that are less familiar. One such parable found in the Talmud, which is also found among Aesop’s fables, is called the Fox and the Vineyard.

There was a fox who desperately desired to enter a gated vineyard to consume the fruit within. Eventually the fox found a way under the gate, but he was still to big to fit through the narrow hole. Thus he fasted until he was able to fit under the gate. Once inside he feasted on the succulent fruit. When it was time to go he could not fit under the gate because of all the fruit he had eaten. Thus he had to fast again to fit under the gate.

Many teachings can be drawn from this parable. In later posts I hope to delve into the Talmudic teachings regarding the Messiah. For now, Aloha and blessings in Christ Jesus!

My beautiful new bride and I are taking our honeymoon in tropical Hawaii. Thus “more fire” will be on hiatus from July 8 until July 18. God bless. And more fire!

Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormons, shame mainline Christians when it comes to evangelism. There is a certain zeal and calling upon their life to share the Word with the lost. Unfortunately, their message is muddied with false doctrine and a leaning on man’s interpretation rather than the Spirit’s leading.

When witnessing to a “Witness” you should have a firm understanding of their beliefs. The Kingdom of the Cults is a great starter reference to learn about the history and beliefs of the Watchtower Society, i.e. Jehovah’s Witnesses. My grandparents had (and probably still have) a copy on their bookshelf and I remember as a kid how that book held a certain fascination for me. I read it almost as much as I read the 1977 Guinness Book of World Records which lies right next to it.

It is important to remember that the goal of the Jehovah’s Witness is to convert you, not to be converted. You should be gentle and filled with God’s love when sharing from the Word. When witnessing to a “Witness” it is just as important to plant seeds as it is to uproot the weeds of their false beliefs. Thus, you must be able to ask the Jehovah’s Witness questions about his/her beliefs rather than to simply answer their questions. It is crucial to ask the right questions.

I recently had an opportunity to witness to a “Witness.” I was sitting on a bench waiting for the A train when I noticed the man next to me reading from the Book of Kings. I asked if he was a Christian. He said yes and that he works at the Watchtower building, which is the international headquarters for Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I asked if he was a Jehovah’s Witness and he said yes. He seemed up for a dialogue so I asked if he believes Jesus is the Son of God. He said he did. Then I asked if he believes that Jesus is Michael the Archangel. Again he said yes. His candor surprised me. Most “Witnesses” I’ve encountered usually deny parts of their doctrine or attempt to redirect the conversation when confronted about their unorthodox beliefs. I asked where this is found in Scripture and he said that it is not stated explicitly, rather it is inferred in various passages. The A train arrived and we boarded it together continuing our conversation.

I asked him if he believed the doctrine of hell. He said he did not believe in the existence of hell and then he asked me to show him a verse from Scripture that describes hell as a place of endless torment. He offered me his Bible, but I pulled out my trusty KJV and turned to Revelation 20:10, which reads:

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

He asked how I know that this is hell. I said that the doctrine of hell is explicitly stated throughout Scripture, as proven by this verse and sayings by Jesus. I told him that he is holding fast to a man’s interpretation of Scripture regarding the doctrine that teaches Jesus Christ is the same person as Michael the Archangel, yet he is blatantly disregarding the very Word of God that details the endless suffering of hell. He smiled dubiosly, but said nothing. I asked if he believed that Satan was cast out of heaven in the early 20th century. He said yes. I then asked how it was possible that Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”? Again he had no response.

He asked if I had heard of Judge Rutherford. I said yes. He was a leading proponent of the founding of the Jehovah’s Witness religion. He prophesied Christ’s return as well as the return of Moses and Elijah, but none of his prophesies ever came true. He built a mansion for the prophets of old to live in when they returned, but he took up residence there after the prophets didn’t return on the date he prophesied. I then said that it is written in Deuteronomy that if a prophet prophesies in the name of God and it does not come true that false prophet would be put to death. I explained that we are no longer under the civil laws written in the Books of Moses, yet God’s judgement is everlasting. The train was approaching my stop, but before departing I reminded him what Revelation 20:10 says will happen to the false prophet.

Related posts:

• Opportunities to witness
• Fire in my bones
• 3 go-to verses for JWs (from Alliance Council)

When Jesus received His baptism the Spirit came as a dove upon Him. There was nothing in Him to purify. He comes to us in fire because we need purification. John the Baptizer and Jesus both preached, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”

Today, few evangelists in America are preaching salvation. They are preaching forgiveness. That is not salvation. Jesus came to do more than forgive us our sins. He came to rescue us from hell, He came to rescue us from sin and sinning. Not just our past sin, but to stop this damnable business that makes God so sad.

John the Baptizer had the favor of nobody. He had the Roman army against him. He had the Pharisees and Sadducees against him. He had no money and he didn’t have a miracle ministry. It says very clearly: “John did no miracle.” Nobody ran after him pleading: “Have mercy on my son he is a lunatic.” Nobody cried, “Unclean, unclean, unclean” or “open my eyes,” or “I’m deaf.” He never opened deaf ears nor did he open blind eyes. Neither did he raise a dead man. What he did do is raise a dead nation.

God had John in the school of silence. He’d been talking to God and walking with God and weeping before God. He knew what Isaiah said that one day a man should come in the wilderness crying, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 35 says that highway shall be called the way of holiness, and that a wayfaring man, though fool, need not err therein.

Many people want to confess a life victorious in Christ, but few want to die with Him. And then you have some people who you’d have to whip to get to church. If I went to their church I’d need to be whipped to. It’s a tragedy, almost blasphemy, to go to a church and say, that meeting was cold or that meeting was dead. How can you have the living Christ in a dead meeting? Or put it another way, how can you have a dead meeting if the living Christ is there? It’s when it gets cold that we need to get into the fire.

Malachi says, “When He comes, He is a purifier of Silver?”

The refiner sits there. He puts me in the furnace and He heats it, and stokes it, and He puts in more fire - and it feels like hell sometimes. He throws out what He doesn’t like: my pride, my ambition, my lust, my temper, my unforgiving spirit, my stubbornness. He purifies until He looks in me and sees His reflection. He won’t be satisfied with less. He doesn’t come to make me a great preacher, or a great writer, or a great singer, or a great organizer. He comes because He wants to reflect His beauty in my life.

More fire!

Related post:

• Voice in the wilderness, pt. 1

Living souls rush towards Judgment;
Most are devoted to ego, motivated by worldly advancement.
Suffering and spiritual stagnation endure while souls perish.

Living souls are selling out to Babylon rather than to God Most High.
Volunteering to be slaves to an unjust system,
they heap fiery coals upon their own head.

Widows beg, young men sell sex, leaders lie,
girls are raped by those who should protect them.
Dearth and devastation!
The world is broken and burning.

Sisters are suffering and brothers burn.

Where are the prophets to proclaim the Good News?
Where are the men and women who have passed beyond the veil
and have seen the Mercy Seat?
Where are the faithful desperate for revelation?
Where are the youth who seek God first?

I pray the faithful have an increased hunger for holiness,
that brothers and sisters desire the things of God,
and I pray that the faithful keep low so that God is always on high.

I pray God, let there be a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit.