Well, at least my new web site at:

www.TheSaintsInLight.com

I will be moving most of the content of this blog over to the new site.  This domain may disappear over the coming months.  The new site will replace this blog and new posts (still have a number of old posts to move over) should appear in the coming days.  It does seem though that all comments will be lost in the transfer.  The Exporting routine in the SubText version I am using appears to have an error so I have to move the posts manually.

As a tech note, the new site is running the "BlogEngine.net" blogging software instead of SubText I usually use.  I am giving the new blog engine a try as it seems to be easily extensible and has several add-ons that I would like to have.  One is the built in support for Odiogo which makes it automatic with blogEngine.net. The skin on the site is not complete, but close enough.  I should have it finished over the next few days.

See ya all on The Saints in Light soon!

Of course, most people have heard of Todd Bentley and the "Lakeland Outpouring".  I have to admit, I do not feel good about this one.  Yes, a person could have manifested in demon possession, to the point of being on the floor, screaming profanities and then being delivered of 25 demons, but after supposedly being a Spirit filled Christian for some time?  That is the point I could not cross over.  I just cannot see how the Holy Spirit and 25 demons could occupy the same space at the same time.  As I see it, a true Christian cannot be demon possessed, oppressed maybe, but not possessed.  Of course, "oppressed" people are never under the control of demons (the demon cannot take them over and make them do anything), but not "possessed".

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HtSK9TyduR4

Is this God?  Does this sound like something Jesus would do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAgLVFx_yh8&feature=related

It also amazes me that someone would take on all those tattoos and piercing "after" becoming a Christian.  Not sure why, but there is much more disturbing things than appearances though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMEKB2UUmac

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fliqcEqYUX0

Just browsing the net you will find much more than these few, which really do not show forth Jesus in this "movement".  But this post is not really about the truth or lack of with Todd Bentley, it is really about what happens in the "fallout" of these kinds of things.  Here is a post I happened across tonight that is the reason for this post:

http://www.mttu.com/Articles/Coming%20out%20of%20Deception%20-%20Todd%20Bentley.htm

It sounds more like this person is "throwing the baby out with the bath water".  I understand her feelings and there are many, many, many who operate in the flesh and called it "of God" along with all those teaching you can find out there, such as extreme wealth, but we must remember that God has given us "power" over many things in His name.  We should not seek the "power", but the one who is the "power".  Our heart should have the focus of experiencing more of God and His presence and the "Power" is the effect of His presence, that is, where His presence is at there is power.  We should never stop seeking more and more of the fullness of God...

The secondary focus of our life should be bringing in the harvest and living to help others.  The reason I say "secondary" is that we are not able to fully handle this without having the primary focus above.  If God is not our first priority, we will not be equipped to handle the lost.

As Christians we should walk in divine health, we should be "blessed" in our life, we should walk in the anointing of God, but at the same time we should have a heart burning to see the lost come in and those that have fallen to be restored and our love, compassion should clearly be seen.  The point is, this is not it, there is much more after we leave here and we need to keep in mind the fact that this life is but a vapor and when this life if over, most of the things we have placed value upon will no longer matter, only our relationship with God and with others will matter at that point!

If I were to talk with this women in the above story, I would beg her to not give up on the desire for more of God, but that she not put much value on these "movements" unless they promote God, Holiness and Salvation along with the Gifts of the Spirit.  As an example, on of those that was hot a few years ago with the supposed "Holy Laughter" (I do believe in "Holy Laughter" and it can be a great cleansing for some but it does not need to be "worked up" as was popular).  After the minister told many funny stories and got people laughing, there was a person on the stage that fell down and begun to pray.  The minister told him to stop praying, this was not a prayer meeting but it is for laughing.  We need to to stay away from this kind of stuff.

I guess we all greatly in need of discernment, there are many out there trying to pull you into one thing or another.  But always remember, there are supernatural Gifts from God and those Gifts should manifest in meetings, but God will always be magnified in the meetings along with love, holiness and a heart of the lost!

All these people who do not appear to be the genuine article still need our prayers.  We need to pray that they wake up to the fullness of God and that the works are exposed to end the deception which harms people like the above women.  I just wish people would spend a bit more time researching these ministers before flocking to them trying to get something that has already been freely given to them by God if they only seek Him to show them.  Eph 3:20-21 makes it clear that everything we need is already within us when we are Born Again!

About a month ago, I had my eyes opened to this passage in Mark, where the man brought his child who was demon possessed to be delivered, but the disciples could not seem to cast the devil out.  The man asked Jesus to help and when asked if he believed, he said:

Mark 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Originally, that sounded like a contradiction, he said he had faith but asked for help with his lack of faith.  My eyes were opened to the truth behind this when was listening to another translation that said something like:

... Lord, I believe but help my doubts.

At this point I realized that you can believe and still have doubts, it is not only one-way, since you can believe but still have some doubts.

Well, today, I was browsing around and came across Andrew Wommack's site where he has a some MP3's on healing and faith.  The one I listed to today was "Why Isn't Everyone Healed" expecting to here about faith and not excuses (and was not let down):

http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/1036

I already TiVo all of Wommack's shows when they come on, but this was the first time I visited his site.

He opened my eyes to two other points in this area.  This same story I was referring to above also made me wonder why the disciples could not cast the demon out.  I had chalked that up to possibly different strengths of demons due to the passage:

Mark 9:28-29  And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

The two points are, what stopped the disciples from casting out the demon and what does prayer and fasting have to do with it?  I contributed semi-correctly, the prayer and fasting as a closer faith walk with God and figured the the disciples just did not believe enough.

It was the words "this kind" that threw me off.  In Matthew it says:

Mat 17:19-21 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

It seems clear that it was their unbelief that was the problem.  It was not that they did not believe as they had cast out demons before, but with this one they had too many doubts.  Wommack, points out a possible scenario where the demon might have manifested before the disciples as it did before the Christ and that may have give them enough reason to doubt.

Now, since we no longer look at different demons being stronger or of different types, just different in how they manifest or not, what does the "only through prayer and fasting mean"?  I like Wommack's take on this, that it is to give us a strong faith by casting down our doubts.  If the disciples would have had less doubts their belief would have pulled them through and that doubts only go away with time with God's Word and taking the power of our flesh away.

Mustard Seed Faith

One other point to this that I learned over the last two months is the "grain of mustard seed" remark.  I have head it taught that this means we have a "type of faith" that even though it is small in the beginning, we must grow our faith such as a mustard seed that grows from a small seed to a mighty bush.  There are a few problems with this view however, the first being that in Romans 12:3 it says we have all been given the measure of faith.   One passage I heard to support the view was:

Luk 17:6  And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

They would say that you had to have that "type" of faith that would grow.  Once fully grown you could move mountains and as in this passage, move the tree by your mighty faith.  That may sound good, but it only works if you take this passage out of context.  In Luke 17:6, the disciples asked Jesus to "increase their faith" which makes 17:6 appear more of slam against them saying if they had even the smallest amount of faith, the tree would obey them.

Another passage is:

1Co 13:2  And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 

Some say that we need "all faith" to be able to move mountains.  Wow, who will ever have "all faith"?  Sounds a lot harder that Jesus said in Mark 11:22-24 and Mat 21:21-22.  But is that "all faith" or is it just "faith and doubt not"?  Yep, the passage is stating that we have faith without doubts.

James also supports having "faith without doubts" in:

Jas 1:6-8  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

We do not need "more" faith, we just need to remove our doubts!

If you happen to be a 'er, there is a touching story that you can watch online which is only 13 minutes long.  It is called "In The Arms of Angels" and is true story from pioneer account of a 8-year old girl and her brother who were almost killed.

  



Very much worth the time to watch!

Here is an interesting news article that they may have found the oldest Christian church dating back to between years 0033 and 0070:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=5045242&page=1

While browsing around today, I ran into this article and thought I would share:

http://www.rbc.org/bible-study/been-thinking-about/2004/02/01/column.aspx

  When was the last time you read the story of Jonah?  We see that he ran from the work God gave him to do because he was afraid.  Then the storm came and caused all on the ship to fear, to the point they finally threw Jonah over into the sea.  Then came God's provision!

The big fish that God had prepared for this job, swallowed Jonah and he stayed in it's belly for three days.  What must have gone through his mind for three entire days?  While we never will know, it is amazing the revelation that hit him on the third day.

The prayer of chapter 2 is amazing.  Some might ask "what is so amazing?"  Three days prior he was running from God, thinking he could hide from him.  Now after spending three days in that belly, he realized why he was there and then declares the Lord will hear his prayer and he will sacrifice unto the God with a voice of thanksgiving, that he will do as God as asked and his Salvation was of God.

After the prayer, Jonah was ready and God talked to the fish and it vomited him up onto dry land.  But did Jonah learn everything he was to learn?  No, Jonah still had issues.  He traveled to Nineveh and proclaimed the message and then expected to see their destruction.  The people heard the message and repented then God forgave and had mercy on them. 

Jonah was not happy, he thought God was going to destroy them, he did not understand God was warning them to turn from their evil, God did not want to destroy them.  Even after being in that fish for three days and understanding God's mercy on him, he could not see the mercy of God on others.

It is interesting to see how Jonah used faith to get him out of the fish.  For three days he was in that fish and finally on the third day he proclaimed that God would deliver him, even though he could not see any hope in the natural.  When Jonah came to the revelation that God would forgive and deliver him and spoke from his heart knowing he had a job to do, God did just that and delivered him from the fish.

Compassion for others should be a major focus of our lives!

I received an comment on one of the posts by a person who said "if God were to reveal Himself I'd follow but .." and "God on the other hand blesses who He blesses and curses who he curses - I fall into the latter group"..  It is sad to be in such a situation, but often when a person feels like this they are just a step or two away from truly finding God.  The person is at the point of denying God, but more than likely only because he feels condemned and does not see a solution out of it.

Oh, that all the people would know the Good News, that God is not made at them, that He has provided a solution to remove their burdens and to bring them into piece with God, and that it is free for the asking.  God waits for us to turn to Him to receive forgiveness, washing away ALL sin, regardless of what we have done and will then place a new heart within us so that we desire to follow after Him and to walk in ways that are pleasing in His sight.

There is the other point too, that if God would "reveal Himself", then the person would follow.  He already has revealed Himself in the evidence of Jesus and beyond that, in creation which God says means no one has an excuse for unbelief.  When people do not want to live (what we think as a sinner is a good life) or perhaps have sins we feel are so large that God would not forgive, people tend to deny God even exists and makes up their own methods to comfort themselves.  The sad part is that they will never receive any lasting comfort until they are right with God.

There is an article on how we can clearly see logically that God does exist and some of His attributes:

http://www.theawakening.com/articles/I_AM_An_Explanation_of_Existence.aspx

People often have no clue that everyone is a sinner in God's eyes and that there is not one of us righteous to God, except through the blood sacrifice of Jesus.  They do not have to life this life with the pain of their sins now face God with those sins if they just accept God's gift to them.  Some just do not understand what God said in:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.   For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

One of the most important things a person who has not made a commitment to God or wants to deny God, it does not matter who or what they perceive to be God, there is still one God, who they will bow their knee to and admit He is God.  When that time comes it is too late to change your mind and they will have to place themselves in the hands of a God of justice and every single sin they have every committed, they will be judged for and then placed into everlasting punishment.

We can clearly see there is a God and that means we need to take the time to search for that God and find out what He wants out of us in this life before it is too late.

Just a few days ago, my wife and I were watching a documentary about Noah and I was checking on the timeline around the flood.  I noticed something I had not seen before, Methuselah died in the year of the flood, possibly "in" the flood.  I wondered if perhaps I was missing something else so I built out a table giving the life span and dates of the generations from Adam to Abram. 

After I built the chart below, I found a a few other interesting facts:

• Adam died just 126 years before the birth of Noah
• There are only nine generations from Adam unto Noah
• Noah's father Lamech who lived 777 years died just five years before the flood
• Abraham was born only approximately 252 years after the flood
• Noah died approximately when Abraham was 58 years old
• Noah and Shem lived through he tower of Babel where God scattered the people over the earth.
• All of Abraham's grand fathers from Noah unto Terah, Abraham's father, was alive when Abraham was born
• Noah's son Shem, Salah and Eber outlived Abraham, would be something to have your great, great, great, great, great, great, great grand Father outlive you!

Some people think that right after the flood, people started living short lives of just a hundred years or so, but that did not really happen until after Abraham's time.  Some prior to him lived several hundred years.

While the dates below might not be perfectly accurate as each generation can vary up to a year depending on the time of the year they are born and we do not know for sure the exact date that the sons of Noah nor Abram was born since it only says that in a given year he begat his sons but some take that to mean that in that given year they started to have their sons.  Even with those exceptions  you are only taking a 100 years or so difference in the dates from the time of creation until now.  Not a lot to worry about ;)

It really puts a different view on things when you see how Adam lived almost unto the flood and Noah was around when Abraham was being called of God.  Imagine being Abraham and possibly talking with Noah all about the flood...

* Flood Dates in bold print