Is the Church AFRAID of Sin?........or afraid of GRACE

I have had the benefit of some wonderful fellowship in discussions over the Grace message ( ohh no not grace....). I was raised in a church that taught me the Grace message from the writings of the apostle Paul ( MY HERO..which i will explain later). I was shown how FREE we truly are in Grace as is clearly demonstrated over and over again in the Bible by Paul. Unfortunately, over the past 20 plus years, i have had not one subject cause as much controversy as the Grace message. It seems that when you discuss God's Free Grace, the church wans to put limits on that grace. I will attempt to explain where i stand on this issue and hope and pray that all who read this can come to the undersatnding of how no message is more important that this message. I believe with my whole heart that the devil does NOT want this message to get out.
I was first exposed to the Grace message by Charles Swindoll over 20 years ago and it blew my mind and changed my life course permanently. Mr. Swindoll showed me a side of God i did not think could exist. That this loving God did not just send his son to pay the price for my sins , but to TOTALLY eliminate them from my life or the payment needed for them. This message touched me in such away that i was determined to LIVE for this GOD. however as a young teenager i encountered many preachers and christians who would always seem to want to put limits on God's grace saying things like " well Grace is good, but you need obedience too" , this was very frustrating as it was not in line from what my findings were in the Bible. I saw a Jesus who preached the "Good News" that had come to set the captives free, yet i was running into bondage and causing myself to struggle with this for years. As i grew older in my twenties i rediscovered the fire for the Grace message as i encountered a false preacher of sorts who questioned my theology on the all encomapssing Liberating Grace message. I must have went through a hundred scriptures that showed how we were set FREE from sin. " Christ died to sin ONCE for all" and also Romans 5:17 "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" and many , many more. Even at my worst times in my mid twenties, when i was not living as i should , i never once felt distant from God. I knew that the way i was living was wrong, but knew that it did not seperate me from God's Love or Grace towards me. God loved me enough to let me find my path to my destiny!.
Even when i was living out my own personal ecclesiastes i did not stop preaching God's grace to the lost , in fact even in those times i led many people to the Lord , showing them a all forgiving and grace filled Lord. If i had not been raised in Grace , i am sure i would not have been preaching to those formerly lost souls, instead i would have been preoccupied with my lack of "law keeping" lifestyle. I would have been so filled with guilt and condemnation over my lack of "living good" i would have never mentioned God or even worse never preached him to anyone. But i did and remember one party i led two girls to the lord who were blown away by a God who would not be a "sourpuss" and loved them unconditionally and just wanted a relationship with them, even with a few drinks in them. Do i reccomend this way of lifestyle absolutely not and in fact my (poor)choices delayed my now current blessed overabundant prosperity for some years. I do beleive that God turns everything into a blessing and i have been able to reach even more people for the lord than if i had not gone through that.
Jesus talked about the parable of the person who was forgiven much, that who would appreciate the forgiveness more, even back then they knew that ther one who has been forgiven more would appreciate it more. regardless if we have lived an immoral life or a so called "good" life we all have fallen short in God's eyes without Jesus. But i still do beleive it is easier for a person who has been forgiven much to appreciate and have the FULL revelation of God's Grace.
So what does all this mean? i believe unfortunatley the church is scared of SIN.. i believe that many preachers and christians believe that if they fully preach Grace as it is discssed in the Bible the church will go out and live a licentious lifestyle or have a "licesne" to sin!. I totally disagree, let me make it Crystal Clear , i HATE sin, it destroys lives, marriages, families and many other things BUT i believe that in order for the Church to reach it potential and its full understanding of who we TRULY ARE IN JESUS, and change the world!!.. grace needs to be taught!
If you remember the movie "lean on me " with morgan freeman. Freemans character changed a school from one of the worst to a success. in one scene he sees the cafeteria with cages around everything and he says "if you want people to stop acting like animals..stop treating them like animals". This is a great point echoed by a therapy model i use in psychotherapy called the "strengths based model" it is used in a number of situations where it takes the focus off of the patient from what they CAN'T do to what they CAN do!. This is i believe the message that the Grace message is trying to show us. That when we focus on ourselves and what WE are doing right or wrong it takes the focus off of Jesus and what he HAS done for us!. The strngths based model of therapy is very , very succesful and has worked for years in prisons and in substabnce abuse to marriage counseling.
So what does the Bible have to say about our RIGHT STANDING : Romans 3:24 (Amplified Bible)
[All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus
Romans 6:11 (Amplified Bible)
Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God [living in unbroken fellowship with Him] in Christ Jesus
1 Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified Bible)
But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin].
1 Corinthians 1:2 (Amplified Bible)
Interesting note addressed to a church who was disobedient in so many ways ! He praised!!!!!them and called them HOLY!!
2To the church (assembly) of God which is in Corinth, to those consecrated and purified and made holy in Christ Jesus, [who are] selected and called to be saints (God's people), together with all those who in any place call upon and give honor to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
Galatians 2:16 (Amplified Bible)
16Yet we know that a man is justified or reckoned righteous and in right standing with God not by works of the Law, but [only] through faith and [absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals and by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put in right standing with God).
Those are just a few of the many, many , many scriptures that talk about our RIGHT STANDING with God, so how did the church get to the point where we seem to be afraid of our status with GOD?
I beleive the biggest culprit is two areas 1, is the 1 John 1:9 scripture. this scripture i beleive is the most misunderstood scripture in the Bible. the letter was writing to the Gnostics who were basically saying they didnt need any forgiveness of sins because they didnt have sin. this was NOT written to the church it was describing how PRE JESUS we had all sinned and we had an advocate the father to forgive us. you might be shocked let me explain this further. lets use our brains here for a minute . I was taught by many that when we sinned we had to just repent and we would be forgiven sounds good right?...wrong. NO ONE can repent for every single sin they do all the time. We sin many times and do not even remember those? the Bible describes sin as anyhting that lacks faith, so in essence if i doubt that God will come through in a situation thats sin..According to that logic we would spend ALL our days repenting and getting NOTHING doen for the Lord. lets thing about it in an even deeper situation, lets take it to the extreme. Lets say i am a devoted Christian who has led many people to the Lord and served diligently and by some awful temptation i cheated on my wife and in the midst of fornicating i died of a heart attack ( which happens...i worked in a hospital and have heard it all), but i didnt get chance to repent for that ATROCIOUS sin...am i going to Hell because i didnt repent???????. That is NOT biblical. so why is it taught? i beleive that ishow the devil works takes one scripture and makes a doctrine out of it and makes the church forget all the hundreds of other scriptures that say we are forgiven...ITS MADNESS!!!!!!!!.
I propose a different theology ( thats biblical) that RIGHT LIVING AND DOING is a FRUIT! when we know we are forgiven...we are so grateful that we want to live right and Gods GRACE empowers us to Live right. because PAUL stated this when he said "the things i know i should do, i dont...etc" even paul couldnt do it in his flesh. The flesh is powerless against sin and to say we can abstain in the power of our flesh is to lessen what JESUS did on the cross!!!. I believe that when the church truly realizes the freedom they have been given we will no longer see people skipping out on church after a saturday night out on the town, or hanging their heads on sunday after a fight with their spouse on the way to church. No they will no that they HAVE been forgiven and will move forward and will be changed from the inside out by GOD, not by our flesh. example how many times have you and i tried to STOP doing something, seems like i can resist for a little while, but then i always fall back into it, however when i say JESUS i CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT YOUR POWER, he is right there to eliminate it out of our lives. When we make Jesus thr center of our life and give up our control and will , he changes us from the inside and makes achange that STICKS!!!.
But what about the LAW and all the laws that describe bad stuff. good point however the Bible describes the LAW as being fullfilled and also Paul states that The strength of sin is the law." 1 Cor. 15:56. The law was given to bring us to the end of ourselves, to show us WE CANT'T and JESUS can!!!!.
What about Abraham he was under a covenat of GRACE and lived a far from perfect walk, yet he was accounted to righteousness and God called him a friend? in fact that covenant of grace extended up until mt sinai, notice how the jews complained and grumbled and not one person died up until mt sinai before the law was given. God constantly blessed them , because of GRACE!!!!!!. no one died until the LAW was asked for and given.
My friends we have been given the most precious gift God has ever known his UNMERITED FAVOR!. we are free, free, free, free, free to follow after God with our full desire , free from guolt of our mistakes. We are not on a system of Meritocracy, where we get what we earn , no we are given ALL because of WHAT was given for US. We LOVE, because he loved us , when we were not worthy of anything. Do not get caught up in the fear that christians will go crazy with a "license to sin" notice as J osteen says " they sin even without a license".
Enjoy God's Grace and do not put limits and rules on it, i urge you to do a comprehensive study on God's Grace. God is not a double minded man, he cannot say in one scripture we are free from sin and then in another say we have to "work" for it in another. we need to use our brains here. again i will state this I HATE SIN!!! it has caused NO benefits in my life and live my life depending og God's grace to carry the yoke of sin in my life. Because i have this FREEDOM, when i do miss the mark i do not hide from GOD, instead i THANK him i AM forgiven and seek him , like i never missed a step. I will give you a personal glimpse into my life. I recently "missed the mark" and thanked God for his Grace and my Righteousness based on Jesus's work and not my own and was able to minister to a sick child at my work and Lay hands on him and preach to his family. If i had been "caught" up in my "sin", and been focused on how bad i was by doing that "sin" this young man and family would have missed an opprtunity for GOD"S LOVING KINDNESS in their lives. I do NOT say this for a pat on my back , but rather to show you the importance of GRACE and how it empowers us to WALK after GOD FREELY and with BOLDNESS!!! GOD Bless!!

Apple iPhone 3GS vs. Palm Pre: In Real Life

Okay so i have been away for awhile sorry. I have been very busy changing jobs and lost track alittle. I just switched carrier and went to sprint to buy the Palm Pre. This phone is AMAZING. I will not buy an Iphone for a few reasons: 1.NO PHYSICAL QWERTY don't listen to the apple fanboys who say it is fine..bologna its not the same. 2 i dont like apple and their pursuit of world domination. I do thank them for raising the bar as the Iphone is a great, great phone. . I however went with Sprint because i was on Verizon and while there service is stellar they SUCK!!!!!. they cripple their phones with there own crappy UI's and make you pay for every little thing. My plan on sprint woud cost me $209 dollars a month on verizon, $129 on sprint for 2 phones with unlimited everything!!!!!. But back to the Pre it amazing the multitasking is reason alone, yyou can have multiple tasks open at once and the spring gps is EXREMELY GOOD and ACCURATE. but never mind me read this great honest review



Apple iPhone 3GS vs. Palm Pre: In Real Life

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New Power Chords

Chords: New Power Chords


We often play power chords on the E-A-D or the A-D-G - the thicker and lower strings. This gives a great bottom-end chunk to the song, and the notes used in power chords (the 1st and the 5th notes) give the chord an open feeling, adding further power to it. For the unfamiliar, we often play the C power chord as such:

---------
---------
-----5---
-10--5---
-10--3---
-8-------

However, to give more textures and colors the song try playing chords on the upper registers, but many of us do not know how to use the thinner strings, the E, B, G, and D strings to play power chords. Here's how, using the C power chord again:

-----8---
-13--8---
-12--5---
-10------
---------
---------

I often use this for the chorus if there are two electric guitars, so that the guitars don't duplicate one another. Even if you're playing alone, you can use this to bring up the dynamics of the song, and this works especially well if you do this with while sweeping (by slowly depressing up and down) your wah.

MY NEXT CAR

Take Authority Over Your Emotions

Taking Authority over Your Emotions

Emotions are an area that many Christians don’t understand. Because of this, Believers often allow their emotions to lead them. As a result, emotionally-led decisions take them on a course that is out of the will of God for their lives. While God gave every human being emotions, it is critical that we get control over negative emotions and subject them to the Word of God. Make these daily confessions so that you can subject your feelings to God’s Word and make the right decisions:

"Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me healthy emotions. I declare that negative emotions will not impact my decisions, neither will they dictate my responses to difficult circumstances. I will submit my feelings to You in every situation that I encounter in life. You have given me authority over the power of the enemy, and I declare that nothing shall by any means hurt me, including people and situations that try to negatively influence my emotions. When I feel overwhelmed by life, or troubled by negative emotions, like Jesus, I will pray and keep moving forward. I bind depression, anxiety, worry, fear, doubt, anger, rejection and any other negative emotion that tries to attack my mind. I possess power, love and a sound mind. I thank You, Father, that I walk in peace, joy and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. I have the mind of Christ and my emotions are controlled by the Word of God. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen."

Scriptural references:
·Mark 14:33-35
·Luke 10:19
·2 Timothy 1:7
·Romans 14:17
·1 Corinthians 2:16

U2's new album is truly gospel Bono and his band spreading the good news of God's love and grace

March 6, 2009
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI CHICAGO SUN TIMES

Without a line on the horizon, we may feel like there is no limit to how far we can go. But it also makes the seas difficult to navigate.

That is, in many ways, where we find ourselves today. It's as infinitely terrifying as it is exciting. Where do we go from here and how do we find our way?

U2's 12th studio album, "No Line on the Horizon," gives a few great answers, if you have the ears to hear and the eyes to see them. (I hope you do.)

More than 25 years ago, when I dropped the needle on a U2 album for the first time, I heard the words of a familiar liturgy -- "Gloria in te domine, Gloria exultate!" -- punctuated by the keening sound of The Edge's guitar and followed by Bono's gnarly tenor shout-singing, "O Lord, loosen my lips!"

My soul did a backflip and kept on tumbling. ...

Earlier this week, while listening to "No Line on the Horizon," I felt that familiar movement in my spirit over and over again. First with the sacred anthem, "Magnificent," which tossed me into the air and sent me soaring. Listen to the words:

I was born to sing for you

I didn't have a choice

But to lift you up

And sing whatever song you wanted me to

I give you back my voice

From the womb my first cry

It was a joyful noise ...

Justified until we die

You and I will magnify

Magnificent

Some misled critics have booed Bono for that song, misinterpreting "I was born to sing for you" as a boast to his audience, rather than the prayer to his Maker that it is. (Mind you, this is the same lyricist who later on the album seemingly refers to himself as a "Napoleon" and cautions, "be careful of small men with big ideas.")

There is plenty of rock 'n' roll levity and grandeur on "No Line on the Horizon," but it is eclipsed by the heart and soul of this album -- perhaps the most dynamic gospel music I've ever heard.

With The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. and Adam Clayton, Bono began the odyssey that became "No Line on the Horizon" at a rented riad in Fez, Morocco, in June 2007 during the international festival of sacred music.

"[Bono] thought that our job was to create contemporary gospel music ... that we are essentially soul musicians that look for soul in what we do," Daniel Lanois, one of several producers on the new album, told Rolling Stone magazine recently.

Fez is "a holy city for music and musicians," said Bono, and the band was on a pilgrimage -- to listen and to learn -- to go wherever the music (and the Spirit) took them.

As he has for years, but not as explicitly so since 1991's "Achtung Baby," Bono, the band's chief lyricist, has laced "No Line on the Horizon" with the language and images of his humble Christian faith.

The result, however, is a work of gospel music -- "gospel" in its literal sense as "good news" -- for people of all faiths and none. The ecstatic language and imagery Bono evokes throughout could have been penned by the Hebrew King David or Sufi Muslim poets Rumi or Hafez, as much as by a latter-day Christ-follower from Dublin.

One of the most eloquent examples is "Moment of Surrender," which says in part:

My body's now a begging bowl

That's begging to get back

Begging to get back to my heart

To the rhythm of my soul

To the rhythm of my unconsciousness

To the rhythm that yearns

To be released from control

Faced with a horizon-less journey, isn't that what so many of us want right now -- to have someone else steer the ship? To lose control and surrender?

The Spirit feels like the unnamed fifth member of the band on this album more than any other. Its presence is subtle, but powerful.

Whether it's as an unknown caller (or perhaps the one the unknown caller is dialing), a comforting father who frees us "from the dark dream" and hands us "candy floss" and "ice cream," to the one who challenges us to walk into the frightening world with open arms (and hearts), God's love and grace are present.

"God is love, and love is evolution's very best day," Bono sings in "Stand Up Comedy." "I've found grace inside a sound, I found grace, it's all that I found," he sings on "Breathe."

In a beautifully confessional song (with a tune based on the 16th century hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"), Bono seems to say that even when it feels like we've lost sight of what matters, what's real and enduring, it's right there. "White as Snow," which Bono says was written about a dying soldier's last moments in Afghanistan, says:

Once I knew there was a love divine

Then came a time I thought it knew me not

Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not

Only the lamb as white as snow

U2 intends to release another album by year's end, one tentatively called, "Songs of Ascent." Bono has said it will be "a more meditative album on the theme of pilgrimage."

I'd guess it'll be for a place that has to be believed to be seen.

My bags are packed.

A Preacher with the Most Relevant Message for the 21st Century Church

THIS DUDE ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!

‘The End-Time Generation Of Grace’ In The Benjamin Generation - by Pastor Joseph Prince


THE LAST GENERATION
We are living in prophetic times. In times like these, God is revealing prophetic truths that are going to be a great blessing for His church. You see, prophetic teaching has the ability to pass on what was spoken hundreds, even thousands, of years ago into the “here and now”. What was spoken of back then becomes relevant for us today.

One key prophetic truth that I believe God wants to make known to us is that before Jesus comes again for His people, the last generation will become known as the Benjamin Generation. In fact, the Lord spoke to me and said, “The Benjamin Generation is here.”

Now, I’ve heard about the Joshua Generation, but I’ve never heard of the Benjamin Generation. So when God said that, I immediately remembered that Benjamin was the last son of Jacob. I began to realize what the Lord was saying – that the Benjamin Generation will be the last generation before Jesus comes again!

A GENERATION OF GRACE
When I received this revelation, I began to study the life of Benjamin and I found that the Benjamin Generation is a generation of grace. Today, God wants His people to know that the end-time church is the Benjamin Generation. And what marks this generation is not God’s judgment, but His grace.

Grace is unmerited, unearned and undeserved favour, In these end times, God wants to emphasise to His people that His blessings come by grace alone.

You will find that Benjamin’s life was a life of undeserved favour and blessing. When Joseph and Benjamin were reunited, the first words Joseph spoke to Benjamin were words of grace. When Joseph saw his youngest brother, he said, “God be gracious to you, my son,” (Genesis 43:29)

Another important feature of Benjamin is that the number five is stamped all over his life. The number five speaks of God’s abundant provision through His grace. Though all the brothers ate at Joseph’s table, the Bible says that “Benjamin’s serving was five times as much”. (Genesis 43:34) Later, in Genesis 45:22, we see reference to this number again – “to Benjamin he [Joseph] gave…five changes of garments”.

Whenever the number five appears in the Bible, you will see God’s grace being manifested. The children of Israel offered five offerings. (Leviticus 1-7) David brought five smooth stones with him when he went to face Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:40) And Jesus multiplied five loaves to feed 5,000 people. (Mark 6:37-44)

So we see that Benjamin symbolizes God’s grace. Likewise, the last generation before Jesus returns is a generation of grace. And if grace is God’s unmerited, unearned favour, then we are the generation that will experience His undeserved favour, His grace.

Even the way in which Benjamin received his name shows us a picture of God’s grace. When he was born, his mother Rachel named him Ben-Oni, which means “son of my sorrow”. But his father Jacob intervened and changed his name to Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand”. (Genesis 35:18) We know that the right hand is the hand of favour, the hand which brings His help. The psalmist declared, “Your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:8)

Isn’t that beautiful? When we were born, our destiny was to be Ben-Onis, sons of sorrow. But because of what Jesus did on the cross, we are now Benjamins, sons of His right hand. Jesus took our place at the cross because Isaiah 53:3 tells us that He became a “Man of sorrows”. He did that so that we might become sons of right hand, seated in the place of favour. Ephesians 2:6 declares that God “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. This is what marks us, the end-time church, as the Benjamin Generation.