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Showing posts from January, 2012

Why God Hides Answers

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"It's God's glory to hide matters; and to seek them out is kings' glory." Proverbs 25 God wants kings. That's the main reason why God hides answers. Some people ask me why God often does not answer prayers pronto. Or, why does he hide answers so that even when they're so obvious most people still do not see them and thus err. One guy asked me why people who are fanatics of  feng shui and Chinese New Year traditions still get rich? Doesn't God curse those who believe in  superstitions? He did so in the bible and he judged them immediately. Why not today? In short, it's a why-God-hides-answers issue. So instantly I asked God about it and got an instant answer. It's for hardening their hearts. God hides obvious answers to people to harden their hearts, because anyway, they are hopelessly resigned to wrong and even evil paths. So God allows them to be further misled by making it look like they get more blessed. He Wants Kings Onl

Impotent Gospel Sharing

Almost everyone today can share and is sharing the Gospel. It's both good and bad news. Good news because, as Paul said, whether from right or wrong motive, the main thing is that Christ is preached. Bad news because, Gospel sharing from a wrong life and heart is nothing but trash. Impotent Gospel sharing is rampant today. They share God's Word and yet live opposite to what it is. That does not amount to anything in the Kingdom; perhaps in terms of information dissemination in the physical realms, yes. But bible information dissemination that affects only the physical realm merely fills up the head--head knowledge that only makes men more stubborn--head knowledge that only wants to escape from hell's fire and eternal damnation. Head knowledge can never make you fall deeply in love with Jesus and be amazed at Kingdom Come. It only scares you about hell, so you go to church each Sunday and clap and wave your hands "in praise" and do other religious stuff that

The Only Way..Out

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Jesus is the only Way..out. The idea has always been to get out. Abraham was called to get out of Mesopotamia. Jacob had to get away from Esau and then later Laban. Moses was called to lead Israel out. And that became the main story, the whole point--getting out of Egypt. It was to be the foundation of God's covenant with Israel--they became his people because God chose to rescue them out of their land of slavery. And that is the foundation of our covenant with God--God took us out of our Egypt, which symbolizes worldliness. Egypt in the physical--the geographical country in the Middle East--is a good country with good people. What we're talking of here is how spiritual Egypt was symbolized in the bible as worldliness . So, the main idea is to get out. And the only way out is God's Way. Therefore, Jesus is the only way out. You can't stay. If you stay you die. All Lot's wife did was to look back, and she died. The Israelites who didn't want to get out

"Abneric" People

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Have you met what I call "Abneric" people? You know Abner, of course? He was King Saul's army general and bodyguard. If he were your army commander and bodyguard, having all that power and authority, you should beware of him. And yet, in some ways, you can also count on him. He is the type of guy who'd often prioritize personal interest to loyalty and the general good and yet appear trustworthy. Sometimes, there are Abneric church people. And pastors should be wise dealing with them. Doubtful Loyalty When Saul died Abner made it his duty to install Ishbosheth (Saul's son) to power, even if Saul was no longer around. He could have wrestled power from Ishbosheth, but Abner opted to stay loyal to his master's family. But it probably felt terrible having someone like Abner place you in position. Scripture says Ishbosheth feared Abner that he sometimes just played along with Abner's plans [2Sam.3.11]. It probably felt like Judas Iscariot kissed and e

Power of a New Creation

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Awesome Power! Amazing--this power of a new creation! A new creation in Christ is powerful! Unfortunately, very few Christians realize this. They zero in on grace giving them a chance to sin without the punishment. But if you really look hard at it, a new creation is powerful. It's more powerful than 10 nuclear warheads going off together. And anyway, God's true grace makes you want to be like him in true holiness, Paul tells Titus [2.11-12]. So, if you think grace makes you safe to sin, it's probably the devil's grace , if there's such a thing. New Years are celebrated with powerful firecrackers and displays, especially in our part of the world. Last New Year's Eve, the smoke from the firecrackers accumulated into one of the deadliest smogs in Philippine history, causing countless respiratory ailments after. Why do they do that? Because they want to make New Year's look powerful. They believe there's power in a new year, so they also lin