last days | Grace and Truth

October 13, 2015
by GraceandTruth 4 Comments

You May Not Like it, But I’m Gonna Say it

We seem to have forgotten that

It’s all about Jesus.

All of it.

He is the centre of it all.

It breaks my heart that I can now visit a church and not hear His Name even mentioned.

Bono is mentioned.

A new Christian super-star leader is mentioned

Mother Theresa and even Buddha may be quoted

(How very relevant and emergent of you)

But where is Jesus?

He who is the Door, is now outside the door.

Jesus is unfashionable in His own church:

Truly the Father’s heart is grieved

The worst part?

Nobody even notices

They’re so busy laughing at the Pastor’s jokes

Busy building up their Christian reputations,

Their earthly kingdoms

Busy gettin’ known in Churchianity

Nobody cares

That the Body is dead if there is no Head

Oh yes,

There is a Body,

An eternal, living, breathing, organic, victorious Body

Of which Christ is Head!

But it is not there

Not where Jesus is forgotten

Dismissed, cast out

Not where people are ashamed of His Name

And His Word

(Funnily enough, there is no shame in distorting and abusing it

In order to compel the flock to “tithe”

There is a business to run after-all)

Where are you Jesus?

My Lord and My God

You are not there.

He who has eyes of fire

Would vomit that out of His mouth

There He is!

He is outside the camp

Always

I wonder who is willing to go to Him there?

Who is willing to let go of Christianized kingdoms?

Christians being crucified by ISIS

Who is willing to forgo Christian-fame?

Who is willing to lose friends for Him?

Who is willing to be considered a crack-pot for Him?

Who is willing to go outside the camp

To bear with Him His reproach?

This will be the test of the Christian in these the last days.

What is it you are after?

What do you really want?

Is it Christ Jesus Himself?

Not a ministry, not a creed, not an organisation,

Not structure, not even Christianity

But Him, the Person

At the end of it all,

That’s what it comes down to.

There is nothing else

But Him

holyforchrist777.blogspot.com

September 19, 2015
by GraceandTruth 6 Comments

The Night is About to Get Colder

“Crystal meth is the devil’s drug,” Jacob said.

“You mean ice?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he answered, “It is the devil’s drug. I was on it. It ruined my life. I lost my family and my friends.

“Everyone’s on it,” he went on, “it’s taking over this city.”

I was talking to Jacob last night on the street. A young guy who looked like he had done some heavy stuff in his young life.

“One time, ” Jacob told me, “I went straight up through the clouds to heaven (on a trip). But when I got there the gates were locked and they wouldn’t let me in. I have had a bad past. So they sent me to hell to work as a slave. It was so hot there I could feel the flames. I knew I wasn’t fit enough or strong enough to stay in hell forever though and I didn’t know how to get out.”

Ice is crystal methamphetamine, a synthetic drug, in its purest form. Ice is now endemic in Australia. The government and law enforcement are powerless against this demonic drug, but so far are unwilling to admit that they have lost control and have no idea what to do about it.

I believe that we are entering a new season my brothers and sisters. And ice is only a small part of what is coming. God is going to all0w everything that can be shaken to be shaken. Everything we have trusted in – money, global economics, security, the things Western culture was built on, even Christianity – everything that can be shaken will be shaken.

“Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.” Haggai 2:21, 22

The birth pangs have already begun : earthquakes in diverse places, mass deception, wars, rumours of wars, men are now lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (see Matthew 24 and 2 Timothy 3)

All this was prophesied 2000 years ago, and it is happening right NOW. There’s not time left now. God is permitting a huge shaking to come and it is going to begin in the church.

Why would He do that?

“”I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it…” Ezekiel 21:27

Because He needs to sort the wheat from the chaff.

The only way to separate precious wheat kernels from the inedible husk (or chaff) is to shake, shake, shake it with a winnowing fork till

farmer winnowing on his threshing floor

the chaff breaks off. The wind then catches the useless chaff and blows it away, leaving only the lovely kernel of wheat.

“He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” Luke 3:17 (John Baptist speaking of Christ)

Jesus is now looking to see who will stand. Who will stand when the shaking comes? When all we have put our trust in topples and falls… will we be blown away as chaff? Where will we put our trust… Will it be in Christ alone?

Will the Son of Man find faith on the earth?

This is it my friends. Now is the time to topple Self off the throne of your life and allow the rightful king back on His throne. It is Jesus Christ only who will provide refuge in the coming storm. It is Him alone who can save you.

Jacob said to me last night on the street after I’d shared the gospel with him that he is the “god of his own life”.

(Is that the case with you?)

My answer to Jacob was : “Well, you are going to hell then.”

He half-gasped/ half-laughed in surprise: “I can’t believe you just said that to me.”

Yeah, because no one says the honest, blatant truth anymore.

The essence of sin is self-love. That is it. The devil had it, he tried to elevate himself to god-hood and he is on his way to the lake of fire to burn with the chaff for eternity.

There’s no time left for seeker-sensitive rubbish and I can’t be bothered with it anymore. For goodness sake, Christ has died for us. He took the punishment for your sin and mine at the cross. He shed His sinless blood to pay for our horrendous crimes against God. What wondrous love is that? What more could He do?

Get right with God now or face Him at the judgment seat of Christ. Your choice.

Jacob took a New Testament last night. He said that he is going to seriously consider what we talked about.

I pray that he will. I pray that you will too.

In the love of Christ,

Belinda

http://tim-shey.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/sword-is-sharpened.html

Friend of God or Friend of the World?

March 30, 2014
by GraceandTruth 5 Comments

Bible Prophecy: Do Not Be Deceived

In Matthew 24:3, when four of Jesus’ disciples asked Him “ . . . what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age”, before listing the events that would occur prior to the end of the age, Jesus warned them in Matthew 24:4 “ . . . Watch out that no one deceives you. . . . ” In Mark 13:3–5 and Luke 21:7-8 we also read about this interaction between Jesus and those disciples.

The first thing to note in the disciples’ question is that they linked Jesus’ coming again and the end of the age together. Jesus, in His answer, did not refute this so we can know that His coming and the end of the age will happen simultaneously. It may seem obvious but is, nevertheless, worth highlighting.

Following up on His warning to those disciples not to be deceived, He immediately warns them to be on the lookout for the appearance of false Christs’ and not to go running after them. Most Christians would automatically assume that, since they are followers of Jesus, know and regularly study God’s Word and regularly fellowship with other believers, such a thing could not happen to them. Clearly, in the way Jesus warned His disciples and ultimately us, that will not necessarily be the case and should be a sobering reminder to us that it is possible to be deceived. However, we surely can also take some comfort from Jesus’ answer when He tells us to “Watch Out”, meaning that if we are alert we can avoid being deceived.

Many Christians believe that we are nearing the end of the age and that many of the signs Jesus and other prophets spoke about are beginning to manifest themselves. That being the case, we are surely nearing the time when Christians could face being deceived. So what are we to do and to watch out for?

If we stop to think about what we are to watch out for, surely some answers are already staring us in the face? The main one, we would suggest, is the falling away from the faith, or apostasy, that is continually taking place today and the deception that goes with it; a situation ripe for false Christs to appear and be followed. In Matthew 24:10 Jesus said it would happen. These are His Words: “At that time many will turn away from the faith . . . . .” In many Christian denominations we constantly see God’s Word being changed and watered down by their leaders and accepted by many in their congregations. In doing so these leaders and congregations have not only moved away from God’s Word but are also setting themselves up to be deceived by false Christs. It seems easier for them to fall into line with secular standards than keeping to God’s standards.

The uncomfortable reality is that you will know you are on the right track not to be deceived when you start being persecuted! In Matthew 24:9 Jesus said: “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” Some Christians around the world are already facing such persecution.

We believe we need not only “Watch Out” but need to warn other Christians not to become complacent or compromise God’s Word, in addition continually asking God to help us keep to His path. Of course, we also need to carry on with our efforts to bring the Gospel to the notice of others who do not yet know or have a relationship with Jesus.

(Note: All quotes are from the NIV Bible.)

Chris, from our fellowship, has an interest in Bible prophecy and from time to time will share his views with us on current events and how they relate to prophecy in this new series “Bible Prophecy”.