Smallest Seed

Sometimes it's the in thing to say--calling Jesus friend. Everybody wants to be friends with him, not understanding what it really means. To most people, it's like having a selfie taken with their favorite showbiz star. "Hey look! I'm with Jesus!" [Picture above from Remi Walle, Unsplash]. Preachers call non-believers to the altar with the promise that Jesus would be their friend. That sounds reassuring and will get crowds going to the altar call. People feel like Jesus just moved into the neighborhood and became one of them. Who wouldn't go to the altar to have that privilege? Sometimes we use terms people don't understand just to lure them to the altar or membership. But who does Jesus see as friend? 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. [John 15] First, Jesus said you'd be his friend

The Word of God is rich in insights. Single passages can reveal thousands of meanings. Nothing's confined or limited to one interpretation--although all its finality is on Jesus alone. In this sense, I see how the rich, young, ruler passage in Matthew 19 has a vital end-times principle to teach us.  Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash . When Peter asked the Master what was there for them since they had left everything to follow Jesus, he told them that at the "renewal" of things, when the Son of Man sits on His throne, the 12 would judge all Israel, and those who had left (this is where we come in) fields, homes, families, etc., for Jesus' sake would get 100 times what was given up, plus eternal life as a major bonus. See? Definitely, this talks about last days scenarios. GOD's Flesh e-book. Read about it here.   You've read about the rich, young, ruler, I'm sure, and the characteristics are obviously of today's church generation. Well, at least to

Power prayer is quitting prayer. But no-one wants that--they'll crucify you if you even think of introducing that idea in their prayer meetings. In fact, they love long prayers and prayer sessions. They think, the longer the better, the more spiritual. They want it long, poetic, dramatic, carefully worded and modulated. They still do it today--babbling words, making it long, and opting for high-sounding content. Often, it's a contest of whose prayer sounds more sublime and spiritual. This, no matter if my Jesus has tipped us about what prayer is not. That's the problem with this generation--it knows Jesus' words but adamant about doing things to the contrary--doing it their way, their standard--and calling that Christianity.  Photo above by  Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash . In the Lord's prayer, my Jesus taught us an ultra simple and very generalized prayer. Yet some smart Alecks insist that we keep prayers specific. Jesus just put a short generalized sentence abou

The article immediately prior to this, titled "Genuine Godly Stewardship," got this query: "What do you mean by money expense to beautify our lives? Do you mean the temple of the Holy Spirit?" The answer is a big YES. But it's not about church buildings or altar renovations. Church buildings are not God's temple. Picture above by Saad Chaudhry, Unsplash. Building and beautifying the temple of the Holy Spirit takes lots of spiritual caring by the Word, prayer, worship, genuine spirit fellowship (spirit-to-spirit connection), and discipleship--plus lots of real money expense. For one, you have to buy bibles in various versions. Another is buying quality books on Jesus and having your own Greek and Hebrew bibles and things like that. And don't forget books with unusual or radical contents that help you believe outside the (religious) box. Jesus said, "Leave them (the Pharisees). They're blind guides." But these are not musts. Th