Category Archives: Christian Axiology

‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

Heal the sick,
raise the dead,
cleanse those who have leprosy,
drive out demons.
Matthew 10:7‭-‬8 NIV

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons,
then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Matthew 12:28 NIV

For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.
I Corinthians 4:20

How can your church be part of God’s Kingdom if it doesn’t do Kingdom activities? How can your church be in the Kingdom if they do not expell the kingdom of darkness by the power of God’s Spirit? If they don’t participate in God’s Kingdom then such churches are part of Satan’s Kingdom, because if you are not with Jesus you scatter against Him. What good is it to preach repentance of sins, if your pastor and leaders do not operate in the Kingdom of God? They are reprobates deceiving other reprobates they are safe from judgment.

Do Not Accept the Circumstances God has Ordain for You

We will first deal with the negative and then the positive.

I saw some trash posted the other say saying,

“Stop wasting time wishing your circumstances were different. It is God who ordained them. Learn how to be faithful in every circumstance.”

Let us see how this works in bible stories.

Hannah, stop wanting your childless circumstance to be different; be childless.

Hezekiah, stop wishing you weren’t going to die, by the prophecy of Isaiah: just die, and let the grave praise God?

Jacob, stop wanting your circumstances to be blessed; stop this crazy insane charismatic wrestling of God and move on, without God’s blessing.

Canaanite woman, Jesus already gave theologically correct arguments that His ministry is not for you, and that it is morally wrong to take from the Jews and give to you; just accept your circumstances and let your daughter foam at the mouth and roll on the floor. Stop being so man centered.

Unnamed people laying in the street for Peter’s shadow, stop this charismatic man-centered embarrassment, just accept your painful circumstances and moan and cry to the glory for God.

You blind men causing all this loud commotion and public annoyance, just shut up already and accept you are blind and beg for money to the glory of God.

Sinner, stop thinking there might be salvation in Jesus, God ordained you to born as a sinner; accept your drug addiction circumstances and be faithful in this.

Sola empiricism,
Sola suffering,
Sola circumstances,
Sola Satan.

I am not being over-the-top. This person’s theology is a doctrine of demons. It uses circumstances (what God caused) to use as an excuse to invalidate the commandments of God. They use circumstances the ways satanists use a Ouija board to divine what they ought to do. They use metaphysics to divine ethics, like witchdoctors.

It is like soldiers in the batter field saying, “there is fierce fighting, thus we need to leave,” when their commanding officer ordered them to enter the fierce fighting and aid the left flank. They use circumstances to invalidate the commands given them. So-called Christians do this all the time. They use circumstances to negate the revealed commands of God. They do not want to obey God, and use circumstances to argue their way out from underneath them. However, they will give an account for such rebellion.

Circumstance are not the revealed commands of God. If you want to know what you ought to do with the circumstances God has given you, then you go the Scripture and find the commands and precepts related to that subject and obey them. We are children of God, and we obey our Father’s command, and not circumstances. As Christians we get knowledge (subject and predicate combination about “oughts”) of ethics from God’s command, and not circumstances.

Luke 18:1-8 NLT

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
“There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”

Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly!

But when the Son of Man returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?”

This is an explicit command. Jesus as our master does not merely give suggestions like some yoga guru. He is our commanding officer, our Master, our God. God is sovereign, and so the circumstance of this lady is caused God ordaining it. Yet, Jesus’ command is to not accept the ordained circumstance that we dislike, but ask God to stop what He ordained and make it go away. Jesus commands us to not stop praying until God gives us what we want, and what we want is the circumstance God ordained to vanish.

The last statement is Jesus asking if He will find faith on earth. This is said in context of a person having a bad circumstance (that God ordained) and praying for God’ to make it go away, and the certainty that God will come quickly and make it go away. This is the kind of faith Jesus was talking about when He said, “Will the son of man find faith on earth?” He was not talking about faith for the forgiveness of sins, but faith to change your circumstances. Faith that changes the material world around you, to be a blessing for you. This is the true test of faith, therefore; this is the true test of orthodoxy.

The command of God is to not accept bad circumstances that He ordained, but to have enough perseverance and faith to make them go away. He commands you to have faith to make circumstances favorable for you.

Romans 5

(12) Because of this, just as sin entered into the world through (Adam), and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned…
(15) by the trespass of the one, the many died…
(19) For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners.”

Acts 17:30

“God now commands all people everywhere to repent.”

God in His absolute and direct sovereignty over all things has ordained all men to be born sinful and dead, and made sinners in their behavior. Therefore, according to some Christians who divine ethics from circumstances, we ought to accept being born sinners and stay that way, not wanting to change what God ordained. LOL!!!

At this point, some who have said such dumb things might realize their teaching contradicts the scripture, at least on this point of forgiveness. They will say Acts 17 says we are commanded to repent and so we “ought” to do this, rather than divine an ethic from our sinful circumstance. But they might not want to do this with things such as healing, for example. However, you cannot turn the commands of God “off and on,” like a light switch. You will be judged by them, even if you give dumb excuses to avoid them. Christian ethics is from God’s command, and there is no other option.

God has commanded that we should not be happy with the sinful circumstance that He has ordained for us. He commands us to repent and cause God to remove the sinful circumstance. He commands us to repent so that we can be blessed with reconciliation and forgiveness so that times of refreshing will flood our lives.

Acts 10:38

And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

James 5:13-15

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray.
Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

Because God is sovereign, then all the sick people in the gospels that Jesus healed were sick by God’s ordained will. Also, it is by God’s ordained will that relative from created object to created object, it was the devil (not God) who made all these victimized people sick, as Act 10:38 indicates.

Thus, according to some, we are to let Satan and sickness stream-role over us and be their victims for enter lifetimes, because “God ordained it.” Those who suggest such things teach a doctrine of demons. Their doctrines increase the kingdom of Satan and his dominion of victimizing human beings.

However, for us with faith in God, we view the world differently. We see the command of God as our foundation for how we behaver, rather than divining it from circumstances. We read the commands to be healed and to heal others. Thus, this is how we behave.

Jesus healed all who came to Him and in Acts whose with faith and filled with the power of the baptism of the Spirit, healed those who came to them. In fact, the Spirit so empowered them that their shadows and handkerchiefs would heal people. This proves the critques of the health and wealth preachers who teach “name it and claim it” are wrong, but wrong for opposite reason. The “name it and claim it,” does not go far enough in being radical. Peter did not even speak, his shadow had enough spiritual physics to heal. Thus, you do not need to even “name it” to “claim it.” All you need is a shadow. All you need is to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus healed all those under the kingdom and torment of Satan. Holy Spirit empowered church, even table bearers, did the same. Jesus commanded them to be filled with power and continue His work. They did this that.

Jesus who understood God’s sovereignty better than any, did not accept His Father’s ordained circumstances of all these sick people. Rather He went against His Father’s ordained circumstance and healed all who asked. In the book of Acts, the entire church, filled with power, did the same. They went on a campaign of war against the ordained circumstance of their Father, by healing all who asked.

James says if you are happy then give a praise to God. This is not a suggestion. If you truly have been blessed by God and are happy, you are commanded to praise God. And why wouldn’t you? As Jesus said, if these did not praise God the stones will cry out. God deserves our praises. However, James does not end his commandments there. He says if you are sick, then the elders are to come together and pray, and then you will be healed. The command is NOT to merely pray for healing, and then see what happens. The command is to pray and be healed. You are to pray and have absolute certainty you are healed, and through this faith, to be healed. The same certainty that you pray for forgiveness and know you are forgiven, you are to pray for healing and be healed. Anything less than receiving the healing is disobedience. God is patience and will sanctify us to have this level of faith, but God’s patience and compassion does not change an act of disobedience into its opposite.

How wonderful is our God. How kind He must be. For His children, what he commands, He also grants. What He has commanded is for us to ask for healing. He will grant both the faith and the fulfillment of this. He truly loves us. One way to consider God’s commands and promises are to see them as a definition. To be healed and victorious over everyday troubles is God’s definition of His children. He truly loves us.

Bread

Joshua 14:9 LSB

“Do not rebel against Yahweh; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection has been removed from them, and Yahweh is with us; do not fear them.”

Mark 7:27

“First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

Jesus, in context of being asked for healing and a demon being cast out, says this “bread” belongs to Jews, and it is “not right” to take this healing that “belongs to the children” and give to non-family members. Jesus is correct.

The point relevant for our discussion is how Jesus refers to healing and casting out demons as bread on His Father’s table, and it is meant to be freely eaten by the children at that table.

Those who use God’s ordained circumstances to deny God’s children their RIGHT to freely eat the bread of healing and casting out devils on their Father’s table, are themselves children of Satan, twice dead, foaming at the mouth and perverted stars. How dare anyone, seeing a child of God reaching for some delicious buttery bread of healing on their Father’s table, slap their hand away. They will receive their just reward.

For us who are seated in the heavenly places with Christ, and seated at God’s table of gospel benefits, see the world differently from those without faith. We see the world as Joshua did. We do not see sickness, political troubles and finances as painful things to bear under our shoulders, but bread for us to eat. God did not ordain the high walls of Jericho to hinder Israel, but an opportunity for faith to turn them into bread. God did ordain the sickness the people whom James was referring in his letter to hinder them, but an opportunity for faith to turn cancer into bread of healing and praise.

John says our faith overcomes the world. Our faith is victorious even over the bad circumstances God ordained in this world. Faith is the answer. It is the answer to all the troubles of the world and even God’s ordain circumstance. Faith in God will turn them into delicious bread. Are you seated at God’s table or not? If you are, reach for the bread. Just one crumb can cast out a demon and heal. What would happen if you had enough faith to take a big bite from it? What would happen if by faith you ate the whole loaf? If you want this, you have free access to grab it. God is the power and salvation for all your troubles. He will deliver. And when He does, do not forget to praise Him, for you are command to do so.

Do not fear. Only reach out in faith and grab that bread of healing that is right in front of your face.

One on One Ministry with Jesus

I have been sick the last week. When I had the mental strength, I would ask for healing and praise God for helping me. However, I did not receive the instant healing I was asking for and didn’t know what was hindering it. Then today I felt well enough to walk and pray in tongues. I was doing so along with praising God and making faith declarations of God’s promises. “God you forgive me all my sins. You heal me all my sickness. You cause my cup to overflow. You are my salvation. You are my righteousness.” However, I did notice a slight hindrance when saying, “You are my righteousness.” I mentally noted to work on this, and then moved on continuing to pray in tongues. I was also asking for an interpretation. At one point the praying in tongues intensified, and then the power of God came upon me. It was a continued pouring of power, wave after wave. Then the Spirit of God said,

“I will make you truly understand how righteous you are. You will become strong and powerful from knowing how righteous I have made you. You will know the powerful effects that come from knowing how righteous you are(James 5:16). The years of the Evil one hindering you from realizing how righteous you are, are over. I have removed them. Rejoice!”

Two important takeaways from this.

One. I need more faith in general, and more faith in the doctrine concerning how righteous I am and the powerful implication of this. Second, is how important it is to have God give you one-on-one personal ministry through the Spirit. If you recall how Acts described Phillip and Steven, it says they were filled with “faith and the Holy Spirit.” There is no greater powerful combination on earth than being filled with both the Spirit and faith.

This is an aspect that faith cannot fulfill. Faith is truly the master key. The charismatics are wrong in overemphasizing the spiritual “gifts” over faith, because faith is both more foundational in making the inner man strong and in how it can constantly (morning, daytime and night) bring in miracle after miracle after miracle. The gifts are God’s sovereign choice and they flow when He chooses. This does not mean we cannot do things to encourage a more constant flow of the gifts and the anointing presence of God. However, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12 these are the sovereign work of God. It is not something we do on instant demand, with a possible exception of tongues. This is where faith is different and has an advantage. Faith is on demand of your believing. You need no feeling or situation. You only need to believe. On the demand of faith, God will always work, heal and supply by giving you a fish for a fish, each and every single time. Moring and midmorning, afternoon, evening and midnight, over and over and over again in the same day. If you have faith, you will have whatever you ask, everything you ask and as much as you ask. The only exception is that God will likely give you more.

This is why when spiritual strength is measured for a person, faith has the largest part to play. It is something we need to think about everyday and consider how to increase it by hearing of the world of Christ. Particularly the Christ found the gospels and Acts.

With that being said, one way the Holy Spirit endows us the power, comes from an aspect some overlook or place too small a value on. It is something faith cannot do. Jesus is your personal minister. Because our faith is not perfect, we can benefit from tailored advice for our specific problem or question.

Imagine if you can go back in time and sit with Jesus for an hour and ask Him to bless and give you personalized instruction? How wonderful would that be, right? It would be amazing, which is why Jesus said it is good that He go away and send the Spirit. It is good because then we all will have direct access to God the way the apostles did with Jesus, but for all believers. Do not be tempted to think this is less powerful than going back in time and having one-on-one ministry from Jesus. The Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ in Romans. When we are baptized in the Spirit for power, we have the power that allows Jesus to minister to us as if we were with Him in person. This is amazing power! This is the greatest Master to student training that ever existed, and all Christian have this available to them if they seek it.

I needed to know I had deficiency in not believing how righteous I truly am. I did recognize this in-part, from reading the word and analyzing my own thoughts. But how good is my analyses of myself? Who am I to ask? Who will give me advice? And how do I remedy this? If it takes real power to solve a problem, then will the person giving advice give me the power to solve it? And in age where it is hard to find a church that is expansionist and believes in God’s sovereignty, who can I ask for personal help?

Yet, all this is swept away by the fact God is my personal Minister. He knows His own word, and He knows me perfectly. He knows the problem and cause. God had the power to remove the problem and the knowledge I needed to hear the most. Who cares if it was Satan himself personally hindering me all these years. God just kicked it to the curb and removed the obstacle, so of course I don’t care. I get a tailored-made encouragement and power, that both fixes the mind and fixes the problem. Who can counsel like this, but God? Who can look at a hiding Gideon and say just what was needed and provide the power at the same time? Who can minister like God? Yet, the Spirit gives us the power to have God to be our minister. He can say the perfect word, at the perfect time. He can give the power to remove any hindrance and solve any problem. If God is your minister, then rejoice because the Greatest Master is your personal instructor and helper.

Today, God Rewards Faith with What?

“And it is impossible to please God without faith.
Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists
and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6

Ok, so God rewards us if we have faith. So what types of rewards are we talking about? Since some make a distinction between old testament and new, (even if I do not agree with this, let us consider it for argument sake), then what rewards should we expect in this age? In the age that Jesus sits on His throne in triumph with the church empowered by the Spirit, under the New Contract, what types of rewards are we to anticipate?

It is convenient that our verse in question is addressed to church age. It is directly for us.

Hebrews 11:3-35,

3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

4 It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.

5 It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.”[a] For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God. 6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

7 It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.

8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

11 It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. 12 And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.

13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17 It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, 18 even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” 19 Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.

20 It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.

21 It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.

22 It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.

23 It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.

24 It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. 27 It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. 28 It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.

29 It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.

30 It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.

31 It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.

32 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. 33 By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35 Women received their loved ones back again from death.

But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.

Again, the context is about what we receive now, as a Reward from God, when we sincerely seek Him. Hebrews 11 mentions a long list of miracles in the Old Testament, as examples for the rewards we receive Today, when we have faith in God. The list contains many lists of different types of miracles rewards. There are miracles rewards of protection. Noah was delivered when the entire world was drowned and killed off by God’s anger. In the Passover, the Israelites were protected again from God’s wrath, as it past-over them on its way to destroyed Egypt. In the book of Daniel the 3 Israelite men were protected from the wrath of a human king, when he throw them into a blazing fire. King David was protected, time and time again from all sorts of evil men trying to hurt him. There are miracle rewards of healing and health. Sarah was very beautiful, even as an old woman. Moses was healthy and full of vitality even at 120. Caleb was as strong at 80 as he was at 40. Sarah’s dead womb was healed, or resurrected back to life so that she conceived Isaac. There are miracles of various feats of strength. Gideon, was a man hiding from the enemy when God called him a mighty man of valor. He believed God, and went on to be just that. David had many impossible victories by faith. The wall of Jericho came down by faith and praise. Samson believe God would use him, when everyone else did not. Samson believed God would use him, according to God’s promise, even after he sinned. He was a man of glorious faith, that the world was not worthy to have known. Women also received the dead back. Thus, resurrection is a reward of faith, meant for today.

The passage says they had victory over entire Kingdoms or nations. Thus, part of the REWARD we can receive today by faith, (even one man by himself in faith) is victory over entire political systems and even their armies.

The passage summed these up as “received what God had promised them.” They received victory and triumph over impossible odds, as a reward for their faith. According this this passages v.6, this pleases God.

The other type of rewards is future rewards of a heavenly kingdom, so that, where there is direct persecution for the gospel’s sake (not unbelief’s sake), you can receive great rewards in the next life. Since most seem to accept this without hesitation, we will focus on what most of the passage addresses.

As a summary, God today, rewards faith with things such as, impossible protection, healing, strong life in old age, power and various feats of impossible strength, resurrection and even victory over entire kingdoms.

Verse 6 says, in order to “please God” you must believe God exists. This is good; yet, I am sure even the demons believe this much. However, this second part is something demons cannot do. They cannot believe God will reward them for faith. Only a child of God, to whom the promise of good reward is promised to, is able to do that. Thus, if you want proof you are able to do more than what a demons can to, then you must have faith that is able to expand and receive the things promised in this passage. If you want to “please God,” you cannot do so with believing God will reward you, in THIS LIFE, impossible protection, vitality in old age, impossible healings, strength to tear down gates of a city, to have your child resurrected, and to be victorious over entire kingdoms.

How can your faith be a faith that “pleases God,” if you do not believe and seek God for this? It cannot according to Hebrews 11 infallible definition of faith. You might please men with a weak faith or unbelief, but God will not be impressed. We are to seek God’s approval, not men’s. God will not go by a man made definition of faith. God will judge and reward us based on His definition of faith.

Cessationist do not possess a faith that raises above that of demons. They are a cult of demons and unbelief.

As for the rest. Now that you know the truth, how “rewarded” you will be if you put it into practice! If you admit you are wrong, then remember the prodigal son. If you are sincere in your acknowledgment of wrong, God will receive you. He will put His best robe on you, His sandals and put His ring on your finger.

When there is a promise there is a way. There are many promises to forgive and restore. But there are also many promises to protect, strengthen and empower. They are yours for the taking. Let us not seek the approval of men. Let us seek to please God, by seeking all the promises from the least to the greatest, both for the next life and for this life. When there is faith, every promise, even the greatest impossible promises are low hanging fruit ready to be plucked..

Power is what will Finally Deliver You

I awoke today feeling off and with a headache. Halfway through the day I saw a reminder to seek God in devotion for spiritual strength, and I felt the Spirit prod me to do this. As the day went on the headache got worse and I felt an irrational oppressive pressure on my mind. I even had a difficult time remembering things. Finally it got to a point where it was irrational fears and accusative thoughts coming out of nowhere.

I have been seeking personal inner strength as a priority for about 2 or 3 years now. God has been delivering me from many of my old fears and even sins and etc. I will one day write about this, but even as a young man I experienced a direct demonic attack regarding temptation. It frightened me. I lacked the knowledge and power to know how to deal with such a thing. It caused me years of terrible fear in my heart. Vincent’s materials were helping me, and his essay on Demonic Attacks was a moment of where I began to experience real breakthrough.

Today, I suddenly felt all those old fears suddenly being pressed upon me, like they once did. So, again I did the easy thing and just began to pray in tongues and declares God’s promises over me. When I began this, the oppressive mental attacks ratcheted in up strength. However, after about 15 minutes I felt a sudden power in speaking in tongues. This happens often to me. You will be praying in tongues and suddenly, the power will increase, and you feel power and urgency. The moment this happened I heard the Spirit say to me, “You are a child of God, these things are to be afraid of you, not the other way around!” At this exact moment, all the oppressive thoughts and pressure vanished and even my headache was instantly healed.

In a perfect world of mature faith, a simple word would have stopped this attack earlier on the day. And we are all to seek this level of faith. So, while you work on a strong faith, have compassion on yourself and those around you needing help, by praying in tongues and bringing down the power of God to expand His kingdom.

Vincent Cheung in the essay, “Cure for Psychological Trauma,” says, “Power is what will finally deliver you.” The foundation is first correct theology and promises. But the thing that will deliver from all your troubles is power. Unadulterated power of God. Mature faith will always do this. However, praying in tongues is one of the easiest, (it is so easy it is like having game cheat), ways to move the power of God directly into your soul, body and life. You should eagerly seek this gift. We need less talk and more power! God’s power is able to deliver you, your family, your church and even entire nations.

How To Invent Ethics & Reject God

I saw this heretical garbage the other day.

“(1) I see a different interpretation of scripture. Anxiety is a God given emotion. It is useful. It can keep us physically safe and can drive us to God. (2) Jesus had so much anxiety in the Garden of Gethsemane that he sweat blood. Jesus didn’t try sweep away his anxiety, Jesus didn’t blame his anxiety on the enemy, he accepted it and endured it and went to God in prayer – (3) not to get help with anxiety, but to get help with the cause of the anxiety. (4) The Bible never promises prosperity in this life. (5) It does say that we will have trouble and that we should consider our struggles joy. (6) I think accepting our anxiety and learning to live with it while we walk with God will bring about (7) character development and the deepening of our faith.”

I added the numbers to make this easy to follow.

1. The author says if God gives something, then it is helpful to bring us to God. The unspoken premise here is about ethics. If God cause this “x” type of metaphysics, and x type of metaphysics leads us to God, then we “ought” (ethic) to embrace x type of metaphysics.

This is blasphemy. Ethics is only produced by the commands and precepts of God. Any deviation from this is irrational and human speculation. What God creates or causes is not an ethic. If God causes the prophet to give a false prophecy (Ezekiel 14:9) this causation does not make a false prophecy ethically good. A false prophecy is always wrong because God commands man not to give false prophecy. Ethics is produced by God’s command and nothing else.

Also, to go from metaphysics (God created this or caused this) to metamorphic into an ethic, is no less irrational than saying 5s are blue and 8s are slow. It is a category fallacy. A mind can no less comprehend “5 blues” as they can, “God caused x, therefore ethic.” This is how man invents ethics so that they can reject God. Non-Christians do this for obvious reasons; however, so-called Christians to this so that they can look pious as they throw their middle finger at God.

We are commanded to only fear God. We are to feel anxiety, fear and shame if we rebel against God. It is good feel afraid if you do not fear God. This is the only fear we are allowed by the commands of God to experience. Every other anxiety and fear is breaking God’s command. WE are not to feel anxiety or worry about man, money, our health, relationships and the future (etc.) We are to overcome them in faith, joy and righteousness.

(2) Jesus experienced anxiety leading up to the cross, because He was a condemned man, without hope facing God’s punishment. He should never have known this. He experienced it for our sakes, not His. He is experiencing what it means to face the wrath of God, with no way out. This is what we should have experienced. Jesus experienced this, in our place so that we do NOT experience it. Thus, to use this to say we ought to experience anxiety, is to trample on the suffering of Jesus as a worthless thing, in that even the things Jesus substituted for us, we still must go through them ourselves.

(3) This makes no sense? If you get rid of the thing that is causing anxiety, then you get rid of the anxiety. Thus, you get rid of the anxiety. When a person wants to get rid of anxiety, they will directly seek the cause (to get rid of it), with the goal that it will get rid of the anxiety. Thus, to seek the cause, is (in relation of the person’s goal) seeking to get rid of the anxiety. Why do I need to say this to adults, as if they don’t know this?

(4) This point has no rational connection to the previous 3 points. Also, it is blandly false. There are many such promises, but we will deal with one that is directly tired to the gospel. Paul says in 2 Corinthians that Jesus suffered poverty in our place so that we experience His wealth. It is said to Christians, who Paul was asking for an offering . You cannot spiritualize this away. This statement is mocking the gospel and blood of Jesus Christ.

(5) This statement is true as far as it goes. The bible does make a distinction between common everyday troubles, such as money, health and relationships, and the other category of troubles directly related to persecution for the gospel’s sake. With the first type of troubles we are commanded to be victorious through faith in God’s promise.

(6) The implied connection here, from point 5, is irrational. The author without warrant, manufactured out of nothing that “anxiety” is part of the troubles that God supposedly gives us. After this, the irrational transformation of an ethic from metaphysics comes up again: therefore we ought to embrace anxiety from God as a good thing. Demonic.

(7) Character development is not produced by anxiety. The bible never says this. It comes from inner growth and strength. This is produced by the renewing of the mind. Experience, is the worse teacher there is. God’s word, is however, the only good teacher. Experiences do not give better character, rather is the word of God and faith that gives better character as we seek Him and His promises when we are troubled.

As for faith, the bible explicitly says faith comes by hearing the word of God, and not something else.

Fear of God.

The fear of the lord has been said to only be reverence or worship to God. This is a half-truth, and because it is said as a whole truth, then it is a false claim. Jesus for example, when quoting the Old Testament to the Devil, used the word for “worship” in the place of “fear the Lord.” However, it is not as if this was the only time fear of the lord is mentioned in the entire bible.

This is one fault I find in the faith preachers; they often say fear of God is only reverence, but it is more than that.

We are told to fear God in a similar way we fear a King. If we were part of king Solomon’s’ inner consul, yet we betrayed him and sided with rebels and traitors, then what would Solomon do to us? The conclusion is grammar school level easy. You should fear the wrath of the king if you do that. The same with God. If we were to fear the wrath of king Solomon, then how much more the King of Kings? As Jesus said “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28).

“For evil people have no future;
the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.

My child, fear the Lord and the king.
Don’t associate with rebels,
for disaster will hit them suddenly.
Who knows what punishment will come
from the Lord and the king?”
Prov. 24:20-21

We ought to see how Jesus fulfilled the law for us, forgave us and already made us children of heaven. Thus it is correct to say, out of love to God for these good things, we should seek to purify ourselves in this wicked world and separated ourselves to Him. Peter says we sin because we forget how forgiven, pure and highly loved we are.

However, in this context, we cannot say, it is only out of love but no fear that we strive to mature ourselves in Christ. Jesus is always the King of Kings. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. It is always applicable that if you rebel against God and side with unbelief and traitors, you should fear His wrath. This context never stops being a context for any created being, particularly mankind.

However, the application of seeking God out of love is about an established repeating of thought. We are to fear Almighty God, knowing He alone holds life and condemnation. This is a truth. It will always be part of our thoughts. We can be lazy and numb, and thoughts of God’s wrath are helpful to inspire us to correct ourselves. It is often the fear of God’s judgement that will help divide so-called Christians from false and true, by spurring the true Christian to stop sinning and return to God in repentance. One of the promises of the New Contract (Jeremiah 32:40) is that God will put the fear of God into our hearts, along with the love for Him, by wanting to obey His commandments. It is not an either or, it is both.

The bible is full of God’s dreadful wrath. He drowned the whole world. He kept hardening Pharaoh’s heart (which meant Pharaoh was willing to let the people go), so that God’s full measure of wrath was poured out on Egypt. Even though God forgave David for his sin, He still killed the child and caused him on going troubles for the rest of his life. The things God caused to happen to Jerusalem (out of His wrath on the) by Babylon’s hand is horrific and should inspire repulsion.

To fear God is a glorious and noble thing, because God is the ultimate judge of man. No one can cause more harm to man, than a wrathful God. The fear of God’s dreadful wrath and the ultimate cumulation of this in hell, is supposed to lead to wisdom. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. That is, it should cause you to “run from evil.” This is good. Yet, it is only the beginning of wisdom. The maturity of wisdom “runs to God” to find forgiveness, and then greater wisdom “runs to God” to freely receive all good things from Him. Because we are to always run from evil, this fear of God’s judgement never stops from being in play. The person who does not fear God’s wrath, is a walking corpse, they just don’t know it yet.

However, when Jesus and the disciples often talked about not being mindful of worry (repeated thinking) and fear, it is contrasted with being constantly mindful of your heart established on grace, the law already fulfilled in you through Christ, on no condemnation for those in Christ, on God’s supply, on God’s nearness to help, that you have already passed from death to life and sit with Christ in the heavenly places.

We are instructed to set our minds in heaven with Christ, because our life is hidden with Him there. John says we should know we are truly born-from-God, and if so, then all fear of condemnation is gone, because God’s love dives it complete away. We are commanded to constantly look to Jesus for help in our fight against sin, who is the author and finisher of our faith. He wants to help and promises to do so. We are never told to do this in regards to fearing God. God’s fear is part of thinking about God’s truth as a whole, such as Psalm 1, in the sense we are always to run from evil. Also, if a particular group or persons were in willful sin, they need to again meditate on the fear of God. Those in sin, have forgotten the beginning of wisdom and need to remember where wisdom begins. How can they move on to greater wisdom, if they have forgotten the starting of wisdom?

If one is in greater levels of sin, whether an unbeliever or church goer, you need to fear God’s wrath and hell. If you are truly saved, it will help you. If you are confident of your standing in God, remember He disciplines (Heb. 12) (not condemn) his beloved children. It might be painful for a moment but turn to God and you will be healed, forgiven and restored. Remember, for God’s children Jesus is ministry is only of the good things He mediated for you. He does not give sickness; He takes it away. He does no give pain: He takes it away. In the indirect sense of relationship (not ultimate level), He might hand someone over to Satan (temporarily) to experience bad things, to wake them up and lead them to repentance. Yet, regarding your direct relationship to Jesus Christ, He is not a minister of pain, sickness or hardship; rather, He only ministers salvation and help and joy. He is the Christian’s best friend, so much so, He gave up His life for you. He is on your side.

Hebrews says it is good for the heart to be established on God’s unmerited favor, not about how the King’s wrath is kindled if you betray Him. Jesus tells us to forgive others, because if we do not, God will not forgive you. That is, if you cannot forgive, it means you are a reprobate, and were never forgiven by God and filled with His Spirit in the first place. However, we are told to forgive others, by thinking about much God loves us, and has forgiven us.

The fear of the Lord is like putting off the old man. Wisdom tells us we “start” by taking off the old. You flee sexual temptation. Out of the fear of the Lord, you put off the old man. This is the negative part, in the since it is about pulling away (or running from) from something, or pushing off. However, the positive part of putting on the new man, is having the love of God fill your soul with His Spirit and truth. All obedience is part of the broad category of fearing the Lord, but the Scripture often emphasizes obeying God out of favor or love to Him. It is positive in the since you are drawing closer to it.

The one repeated ordinance of Christianity is directly about remembering God’s love for us in the atonement. The atonement does have God’s condemnation, but it is a past judgment of our sin upon Jesus Christ. Paul, John and Jesus all refer to His atonement as remembering His love for us. In Jesus’ ministry and command there is a repeated focus on healing, healing and healing. Jesus could have spent more time talking about hell, but He kept healing. We are to know all biblical truths and affirm them without doubt or hesitation. We are to think about and meditate on all aspects of doctrine. However, there is a focus for us to repeat (daily, over and over) and mediate on the good promises of God toward us in Christ, more than other truths. In our constant daily or hourly prayers, our need and God’s constant unmerited supply naturally puts the truths of His love and promises before us. We are to be in repeated thankfulness for His goodness to us in Christ, know He has saved us and will continue to do so in both spiritual and material aspects.

In this context it is appropriate to say, “out of love we strive to grow in maturity in Christ.”

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
5 So put to death the sinful…”
Colossian 3:1-5 NLT.

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”
1 John 3:1-3 NIV.

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law,
but under grace.”
Romans 6:14 NIV.

“The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.”
Peter 1:8-9 NLT.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is FREEDOM. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
1 Corinthian 3:71-18 NIV.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim FREEDOM for the prisoners
    and [freedom from] blindness,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” [Isaiah 61:1-2]

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.””
Luke 4:18-20 NIV.[1]

A few big takeaways from this is simple. Those who have a clear and continual memory that God has completely forgiven and purified them, are those who walk in Christian obedience and good character. Those who have a constant focus on their superior identity in Christ, which is now with Christ in heaven, are those who purify their behavior on earth. The more spiritual minded you are the more holy you become. Also, those who have clear and constant faith in knowing they are children of the most high God, and the hope of what this means, are those who purify themselves on earth. Also, those who are constantly aware of the abundant supply of God’s unmerited favor, are those who experience freedom from the power of sin. That is, not conscience of their sin, or issues of forgiveness, but repeatedly conscience of their righteousness in Christ and God’s unmerited favor, are those who experience freedom.

Lastly, those filled with the Spirit, and particularly the baptism of the Spirit, are freed from besetting sins, trials, health conditions and many more. Jesus was Baptized with the Spirit and by this made a point to emphasis this meant freeing people, particularly from health conditions. The Spirit brings freedom to the whole condition of man, from spiritual to material. The Spirit is power to set free. Jesus commands us to have the same baptism of the Spirit (Acts 1:1-8). By this we are endowed with power to experience supernatural freedom, and to help bring freedom to others. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is indeed great power for freedom.

When Jesus predicted Peter’s betrayal, Jesus said He prayed for his faith to not fail and encouraged him that he has prepared a place for Him in His Father’s house. It is not that Jesus forgot about the fear of the Lord, but it is presupposed here as a foundation. Jesus’ focus for Peter is the forward call of God through Him and the good things available to Peter in this irrevocable call.

Oddly, even if the faith teachers do not understand what they are doing, they are in essence fearing the lord, by obeying His commands to receive all His good promises. All these good promises are commands. To turn from unbelief (siding with traitors) and seeking to obtain these in faith, is to obey and fear the King. This is not to say their “fear of the Lord” is perfect, but they are pragmatically doing a big part of it. Thus, they are better at fearing the Lord, than those who talk often of fearing the Lord, but suppress faith, healing on demand, miracles and baptism of the Spirit.

Lastly, I think it is important to make that distinction of the emotional, fleshly, slavery of fear and attacks of Satan, in contrast to fearing God. One of the most repeated commands in the bible is not to fear. This is referring to putting fear in things that are not God, and this would include man, trials, demons or emotions.

I think some who have a history of Satan attacking them with fear and dread, might think we when say we need to fear God, irrationally equate the two. Indeed, some know the truth about fearing God and are willfully rejecting it. These need to be rebuke harshly. But there are others, usually through bad teaching, and abuse from demonic attacks might have confusion how demons use fear and what it means to fear God. The fleshly fear is emotional and feeling. From this foundation of emotion and blindness of heart, demons irrationally lead people to conclude dreaded outcomes. It makes the flesh and emotions a first principle of truth over the Scripture. Demonic attacks of fear is defined by emotions of dread, then using emotions to make conclusions that say there is no hope, no mercy from God and no way out. This is a lie against scripture. Do not endure this. You have the authority to rebuke Satan and make him flee from you. Caste out the kingdom of darkness in the authority of Jesus’ name. Sometime Satan’s attack is more than lies against the truth, but emotional and irrational. You have the authority to command such harassment to leave. This is not demonic possession, but Satan will still attack Christians with lies against the truth and even spiritual force attacks of irrational emotions. In both cases, the Christian has the truth and has the power to rebuff and destroy all such attacks. The kingdom of God is more than just truth, it is also power. Pure unfettered power!

Godly fear is foundationally intellectual and spiritual. It is an intellectual understanding of God’s authority of King and His power over life and condemnation. Remember Solomon’s proverb? He says this as a father who instructs their child. “Remember to fear both God and the king, their wrath is real. Therefore, do not go down the evil path. I will show you a better way.” It is not emotional dread, with no way out. There is many, many repeated exhortations in scripture to turn from sin and find mercy and help. The story of the prodigal son is a great picture of this. Thus, God’s fear tells you to fear the King who has the power of life and death, but Scripture also tells you there is a way out even if you have transgressed. We are pointed to the finished work of Jesus Christ. Mercy triumphs over judgment for all those who fear God, by putting their trust in His unfailing mercy.[2]

To repent and be reconciled to God is a command. Thus, confession of sins and trusting God to full His promises of love and unmerited favor is to fear God by obeying Him. He wants this. By His own will and desire, He wanted your faith in Him to forgive and lavish you with unmerited favor to be part of what it means to “fear the Lord.” Healing is also a command for those who are sick, Jams 5:13-15. To reject this is disobedient and not fearing God. By God’s own good pleasure, He wanted your faith to be healed and lavish you with finial help to part of what it means to “fear the Lord.” Thus, to doubt God’s good promises for forgiveness, imputed righteousness, sonship, healing, prosperity and miracles is life spent not fearing God.

The doctrine of the fear of the Lord always applies. It applied to Adam before the fall, to mankind after the fall, to us now and forever. However in Christ our new identity is our special focus. Our new man is renewed by seeing our glorious image in the glorious image of Jesus. As the Father loves the Son, He loves us. As the Father receives the Son, He receives us. As all things are under Jesus feet, they are under our feet. As Jesus is healthy, so are we in this world. As Jesus is righteous before the Father, so are we.

“For it is good that the heart be established by [unmerited favor].”
Hebrews 13:9

People might sometimes attribute laws as just being negative. Don’t do this, don’t touch this. However, this is wrong. Many commands and laws are also wrapped up in precious and gracious promises. Take for example forgiveness of sins and being saved. The promise is that for all who call upon the lord will be saved; they will not be put to shame. Yet this is also a command, for Paul says in Acts17 to the Greeks that God has commanded all to repent and thus be saved. The same for healing. It is not optional to keep your mouth shut if God has done something good for you. James says in chapter 5 to give a praise report. This is not a self-help tip. It is a command. The same with healing. The command is not to merely pray with the elders for healing, but to be healed in faith. Healing is not merely a precious promise, it is a command.

Not all laws are negative. For example, a country can say you have the “freedom” to say ‘x,’ or do ‘y.’ This what the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus means. It is a law declaring our freedom, both “from” something and “to” do something. The usually Scriptural emphasis is what we are “free to do” in the law of life. We are free “from” the power of sin, but we are also free “to” approach God’s throne to ask and receive.

This is one difference between the Law of the Old Testament and New. It is not that one exclusively says “do not,” and the other “you are free to do this.” Yet there is a difference in emphasis. The law is more focused on what you must do or not do, in order to be righteousness and stay righteous. The Law of the Spirit of Life, emphasizes all the good things you get to do, because you are already righteous in Christ. The law of the Spirit transfers you to a place of victory, and from this place of victory you fight, because joy has overwhelmed you knowing you cannot lose the good reward promised you in Christ. The Apostles had no issue reminding us in their letters that we are not to do this or that(morals of the Old Law do not stop from being in play); however, the emphasis of the Apostles is the freedom to receive all the good things given to us and freedom to do good things, because we are already righteous in Christ.

Benny Hinn, “The privilage of justification, is no longer living under the threat of punishment.”[3] The law of the Spirit of life, with the impute righteousness of Jesus as the foundation, frees us from the fear that we need be reconciled to God or the fear of losing our special insider status with God. This freedom and peace is foundational to a growth in sanctification. The New testament writers referred to some in their letters as knowing their election of God. Therefore when there is laziness and willful sin, we are told to check and make sure our election is sure. Having this confidence helps us in sanctification, because it removes both fear, and or delusion about oneself. One of Satan’s tactics involves fear, which hinders sanctification. The bible mentions a slavery to fear, because it is a real danger and weapon of the evil one. We have been freed from the slavery of fear, and now have the Spirit of sonship bursting in our souls. The kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, or fear or worry, but joy, power, a sound mind and righteousness.

Recall this section is about salvation as a subcategory of reality and causality, which is by God’s absolute sovereignty. We then moved into sanctification as a continuation of this. Thus, we did not get into all the specifics of what we do, but how God causes us to be sanctified. The Contract says God will write His laws in our souls, so that we obey Him and will never depart from obeying Him. God promised by His Son’s blood and death, that He will do this in us. It is certain. It is reality. It is already accomplished by the finished work of Jesus Christ. You are free! You are already under the power of the Spirit crying out in you, I am a child of God. You are already transferred from being under sin, to being under the dominating force of God’s unmerited favor.

The Spirit in conversion is endless power for intelligence and the subcategory of ethics.[4] But the Spirit of God is more that. We just learned the Spirit is endless Power of freedom for the whole man, both spiritual and material. In addition to all this endless power for so many categories, the Spirit is also endless power for missional aspects and expanding the Kingdom of God.

[1] [] and emphasis by Author

[2] The exception is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But those who commit this sin, are often too blind to be convinced they committed it.

[3] Benny Hinn, “Special Message -Romans 8,” from Youtube Aug 24^th 2022.

[4] “Man’s moral nature distinguishes him from the animals, and so it seems that it is a part of the image of God. But what is the basis of this moral nature, and how does it operate? Even animals “obey” God’s commands, but instead of doing so on the basis of understanding and volition, they are compelled by instinct. On the other hand, man receives and understands a divine command, and then decides to obey it or defy it. He can comprehend the concepts of good and evil, and he can discuss them by the use of language. This means that man is moral precisely because he is rational. Morality is a function of intelligence or rationality. Therefore, although to have a moral nature is part of what it means to be a human person, it is not necessary to include it as part of the basic definition for the image of God.”

Vincent Cheung. Systematic Theology. 2010. Pg 120.

Do Not Manipulate God Like This

There is much bad teaching about the “will of God,” regarding prayer and faith, and so I do not fault you for being confused and looking for direction.

Due to the large volume of bad teaching on this I could write a book about it. However, for brevity I will say a few generalized things, and then address your specific question about Jesus’ prayer.

1. The term “will of God,” can either mean, “God’s sovereign decree or control (etc),” or it can refer to God’s commandments and precepts. These are vastly different subjects. The context will determine this. Thus, make sure that you do not have confusion about this because you are making a category fallacy by mixing this up with specific passages. Even seasoned theologians make this mistake.

2. When it comes to healing and faith in prayer, the bible, almost never, and referring Jesus, NEVER refers to the “will of God.” Instead, the reference is to the “will of man.” This is the main hilltop the bible address. Jesus never said, “according to the will of God,” you are healed, or saved from sins. Jesus kept saying things like, “your faith has saved or healed you.” Your faith to be healed is about your “will” to be relieved from this pain and to feel better. Jesus says it is your faith (your will) that heals you, not God’s.

3. When we address God specifically in prayer to ask for things, we relate to Him on the issue of the “will of man,”[1] because this is how God has relationship to us. Of course, we are never to forget the sovereignty of God and His decrees, but we do not directly talk to Him and receive from Him on this level. Jesus said, if “you” seek, the “you” will find. If “you” ask, then “you” will receive. Jesus said if His words abide in you and you in Him, “you” will ask whatever you want and “you” will get it. This “will of man,” or the human level, is how God has “direct” relationship or fellowship with “you.” The super prophet Isaiah told king Hezekiah that he was going to die. This was obviously God’s will because God said it, or is God a liar? Even if God is testing, God does not lie. King Hezekiah, did not have direct relationship with God by saying, “This is your “will,” so I accept this.” No, he asked God to have mercy on him and heal him. Hezekiah had relationship with God on the foundation of “the will of man.” God accepted both his relationship and faith, and God added 15 years back to him.

About your specific question when Jesus prays, “not my will, but your will be done.”

Two things.

One is the context. Jesus is already in a formal contract and agreement with the Father for ministry. Most of us are NOT in this context. Let that sink in. The apostle Paul, was in this context. The Holy Spirit said he would go to specific cites to preach and would suffer. Paul accepted this ministry call from God. After Paul accepts this ministry, he is not “free” to leave. He gave God his word or vow, and so he must fulfill it. Thus, you read Paul in end of Romans saying, he wants to go to Spain, if “the Lord wills.” In context of his specific ministry call and the things he has promised to do for God in ministry, this makes sense. If going to Spain was not part of the original call and agreement, then Paul can only ask if God would make an amendment to the original agreement. In this type of “context,” God might or might not. The same for Jesus. Jesus has already agreed to do the “will of God,” (sovereign plan of redemption). In this context it makes sense to say, “if there is a way to change the contract so that I do not have to go through this, then do so, but since I have already agreed to this, I will do it no matter what.” In essence, Jesus ends this prayer in a prayer of dedication, so that the prayer as a whole, is based on “dedication,” with a particular point, “if there can be an amendment to the contract.” The next point will show the significance of this. Most of us, and even many in ministry are not in these types of binding agreements with God. And thus, in this alone, Jesus’ prayer is not applicable to the vast majority of all types of prayer. The fallacy people make here is to take a particular type of prayer and context and apply it in a general way.

This is obviously not applicable to normal everyday troubles, where God explicitly gives many promises that He wants to answer the prayers of the “will of man,” to be helped, healed and blessed.

Second. Prayer has 2 basic mode types. One is a prayer of dedication and other is petition. (Even praise could be categorized as dedication). If you do one type, you cannot do the other. They exclude the other. You either do one or the other.

Dedication is asking God for His plans and will to be done.

Petitions is asking God to do you plans and will.

It is true that sometimes we have overlapping desires. In our human relationships, even if there is mutual desires, if we want to be “sincere,” for example in buying a gift for a family member, we will do all we can to buy the gift we know “they” want, and not us. Therefore, if you are to be “sincere” with God in prayer, you must either do a dedication prayer or petition type prayer, and not mix them up. People will mix them up and play the part of a hypocritical Pharisee. They asked God to bless their will, but, in order to appear more humble than they are, will reverse their petition prayer into a dedication prayer by saying, “if it is your will.” Logically, such a prayer is not even a prayer, because the contradictory prayers cancel each other out. Its like saying this to your husband, “I bought this dress for me, but not my will, but yours be done, therefore, this dress is for you.” Not only does it not make since, it comes across as false humility.

You do not need to manipulate God like this. Pray with clarity and to the point. If you dedicate something like praise, or time, money or hard work to God’s will and desires, then let it be just that. If you are asking for God to bless your will and desire, then let it be just that.

God’s will and plan is to bless your will and plan, when they are asked in sincere faith, in accordance with God’s promise. Because God gave promises to bless us, we know that God has already convinced Himself to bless our will and plans. He wanted this. If you have faith, the Father will give you what you ask. He wants to bless you. He likes faith. God does not like convoluted, contradictory, manipulated and false humanity prayers.

Asks and receive. It really is that simple. God likes this.

[1] This phrase and focus of the “Will of man,” by Vincent Cheung, from his essay, “Healing: the Will of Man.”

Nazism, Communism and Christianity

Hitler used the emotional pull of nationalism (appealing to nationalism is something almost all governments in all times have done—in some form– from its people since the dawn of time), as a slip of hand, to enforce his Darwinian Eugenics.

When the Japanese government wants to protect the Japanese way of life and its borders through rallying the people, (thus engage in nationalism) it is not as though they are now Nazis. When Israel says it ought to protect their way of life and its borders from those around them (i.e. nationalism), it is not as if they are Nazis. Or does nationalism make Jews Nazis? That would be a logical fallacy in more than one way.

Nationalism is a tool to be used. It is a sub, sub category of other philosophy questions: it is not an ultimate question about First Principles of knowledge, Logic or of Metaphysics or Ontology or Ethics.

In America, biblical principles were used to form the government, although it was only partial, for there were other philosophies used as well. For example, I do not believe the bible supports a democracy. This is where things get a little convoluted. To “conserve” (i.e. conservatives, or conservatism) means to stay with your initial or original starting point, or standard or epistemology. This is often called the “right.” To be liberal means to liberate from this original starting point because you believe all or part of it is false. This is often called the “left.”

Therefore when referring to the scripture, it is always wrong to be liberal, and always right to be a conservative. However, with governments, this get complicated because their starting points are often mixed and or unclear. Since the Western world was so heavily influenced by Christianity, and the much modern liberal movement (for the last 100 years) is about liberating Christianity from the government, homes and culture, we will broadly define the terms from this point, although there is more to it.

Thus any philosophy of government that liberates from biblical principles is “liberal,” “left,” and any attempts (as imperfect as they are) to stay with biblical ones are conservative or right. Thus, Nazism and Communism are both far left or liberal governments, for both heavily liberate from Biblical ultimate questions.

Totalitarianism is ruling a people, with all power given to one or a few. King David as a king ruled by totalitarianism. Jesus does as well. But either King David or Jesus are Nazis or Karl Marx. Just because a star is round and an apple is round, does not make them the same thing. Since the bible is the starting point for all knowledge, then any correct aspect of government was first stolen from the bible, and then corrupted with additional speculations of men.

Let us go over the basics of these government’s ultimate questions.

**Nazism: is Darwinism plus Eugenics with the ethic that they ought to force natural selection and survival of the fittest with totalitarianism.

Nazi Epistemology – Empiricism (knowledge through sensation).
Nazi Metaphysis – naturalism and natural selection
Nazi Ethics – People OUGHT to enforce a natural selection for the good of man by totalitarianism.

**Communism: is Darwinism plus the theological idea that man is inherently good, plus the ethic that man ought to have this goodness in man ensured by the force of totalitarianism.

As a side note I must say as irrational as Hitler was in making a “ought” from descriptive premises of metaphysics, at least I understand his invalid, inductive direction. He sees survival of the fittest (thinks he does), and then metamorphoses (invalidly) this into an ethic. Marx was beyond stupid and irrational. He believed in evolution and Darwinism, but instead of embracing survival of the fittest as an ethic as Hitler did, he decided to neutralize the metaphysics he affirmed as an ethic. LOL? So he both invalidly denies what he affirms as a metaphysics, and then metamorphoses this into an ethic. Its like saying, “humans are organic. This is a human. Therefore, we will use government to replace their bodies with non-organic material, because it is morally good to not have an organic body.” Beyond stupid. There are so many category fallacies its hard to keep up.

Communism Epistemology – Empiricism (knowledge through sensation)
Communism Metaphysics – is naturalism and Darwinism.
Communism Ethics – it is morally good to oppose survival of the fittest observed in Darwinism and use government to force (people who are born inherently good -whatever that means) to be economic and social equals.

**Christianity: The scripture is the only starting point. Metaphysics is God’s absolute and direct control over all things. And ethics is God’s command.

Christian Epistemology – Contradicts Empiricism.
Christian Metaphysics – Contradicts Naturalism, national section and contradicts that man is inherently good.
Christian Ethics – contradicts government “ought” to use force to ensure natural section, and contradicts that government “ought” to enforce the inherent goodness of man by equalizing economic and social levels.

Thus, Christianity has no contact with Nazism or Communism in any important aspect of ultimate question. To conserve to Christianity would be to liberate from both Nazism and Communism. Also to conserve to either Nazism or Communism would to be liberate from Christianity.

The question is who does have contact with the important philosophy topics of these two systems? American liberals. Liberal theologians.

Who has empiricism for their Epistemology?
Who has naturalism or Darwinism for their metaphysics?

Those who do, have foundational contact with Nazism and communism in most important ultimate questions. These are liberal, left government philosophies, for they liberate from the ultimate questions given by scripture and conserve to anti-biblical epistemologies and metaphysics.

To Reject Christianity is to Reject Thinking

It is always intellectually defective to say anything against the scripture, but recently I heard a comment that was particularly irrational.

Their argument went like this. “Because I have homosexuals in my family, therefore if someone says something against homosexuals, then they are morally wrong, and need public governmental (or an authority) punishment and or to be silenced.”

First. This is a type of ethical dogmatic zealotry, that would make the catholic church portrayed in anime, blush in envy.

Second, the reasoning is so illogical, that it is barely comprehensible.

If I have a family member who is a murderer, then an ethic is produced. It is now morally wrong for any person to say in public that murder is wrong. ??? LoL.

The other ethic they used was “they felt offended.” However I felt offended that they felt offended at their irrational opposition at a biblical ethic. I feel offended at all persons who disrespect my Lord Jesus. If Hitler was offended at the Jews or if I’m offended at a particular skin color, then it produces a dogmatic ethic that the authority or governments use their power to suppress and silence these people?

If all offenses were used to silence other parties who offended, and since there is somebody who is offended at every known worldview, then it would mean the government would have to silence and suppress everyone, including itself. Such an ethic is implausible with reality.

But beyond the implausibility with reality, the knowledge of such an ethic doesn’t exist, except in delusional fantasy.

Ethics is not the same category as metaphysics or reality (any created reality). Ethics is God’s command. God’s command and what He causes is not the same category. Any anti-Christian definition of ethics is intellectual nonsense and even to understand the nonsense of anti-Christian ethics, these must use biblical intelligibility to do so. However, the Bible they presupposes to make up their ethical nonsense, is necessarily true, and says all anti-Christian thinking is false. Thus all anti-Christian systems are false by logical exclusion.[1]

However, a simpler example might be helpful. If I say, “(A) All humans have sinned. (2) Oshea is a human. (3) Therefore mockingbirds are trees,” it is easy to see that I made a category fallacy. My first two premises have nothing to do with the category of mockingbirds or trees. You cannot have different categories in your conclusion and still be rational or intelligible. To have premises about your feelings (being offended), or metaphysical statements about your family, to then conclude in a different category of ethics (something is righteous or unrighteous), is to be intellectually broken. Yet, this is always the history of anti-Christian thinking. To reject Scripture is to reject truth, reject reality and to reject logic.

To boil it down even further, to have “is” statements about reality in your premises (this is that) and conclude with an “ought,” is always invalid and insane. To go from an “is” to an “ought” is unintelligible. To go from descriptive premises of reality to a different category of ethics in the conclusion is not comprehensible. It does not exist in the mind or in reality. It has no being.

It is no less delusional to say, “all cat blues 15 mist happys are houses, and so all people cloud 5s are super 9 flying backward dog 2s,” than saying, “this offends me, it hurts me, therefore it is wrong.”[2] Do you think the latter is more understandable than the first? Really? If you think the second argument is any less delusional than the first, then you are intellectually broken and deceived in an abyss of delusions. This is the bible’s definition of people like you, therefore it is a true definition of you. Obviously, to reject Christianity is to reject ethics, but is much more foundational than that. To reject Christianity is to reject thinking itself.

EndNotes

[1] This understanding of apologetics I got from Vincent Cheung. See Systematic Theology and Ultimate Questions. For a specific reference of the above argument see Captive to Reason, 2009 page 44.

[2] Some might confuse a piece of innate knowledge (Romans 2:15) in them with that is being said in second argument, and by this think it is understandable. Other than presupposing the Scripture to do this, this presupposing of innate knowledge is separate from the argument. The argument as it is, is unintelligible.

Oshea Davis

Jesus Christ. Scripture. Systematic Philosophy. Logic. Faith. Love. Glory. Immortality. Power.