Captain Hook

Bill Mathis had been fighting in the boxing arena since he could first remember. His father had passed away from lung cancer while working for a coal plant in his early childhood. He was taken in by his uncle Tom, who’s idea of a perfect end to a long day was to strap on a pair of boxing gloves and loose some aggression. His uncle had taught him, that in the ring, everyone respected you, especially the man looking up to you from his back on the canvas. Bill had done very well for himself in the junior circuit, and managed to land himself a scholarship to the local college to box. He soon was deemed by the college paper, Captain Hook. Bill had developed a left hook that would snap a neck of a large grizzly if given the chance. He proceeded to take title after title during his collegiate courier. During his senior year of college however, things changed. It was in the second round, the bell rang, and he was off, no sooner than he had thrown his first punch, his head was snapped back by a precisely placed jab. It was almost as if his opponent knew his move, before even Bill did. He quickly snapped to, and picked up his hands once again. He went in for the kill, yet once again, a staggering blow to his abdomen rendered him a snapping pain. He would later find it had fractured his rib. The remainder of the fight, carried this same pace. His attempt, quickly overcome by precision placement of his opponents glove. Bill had officially lost, by decision his first fight.

Following later that night while talking to his coach and his uncle Tom, he asked what had happened. Uncle Tom’s response was quick, “looks like you met someone who likes respect even more than you”. Bill scowled at his uncle and winced as he pretended to punch him in the gut. His coaches response was a tad more insightful though, “Bill, he knew you, before even fighting you”. Bill just stared in confusion at his coach. He had never met his opponent before, what in the world was he talking about? His coach went on to explain that every match, had been video recorded, his past four years. This was done so that he could review his performance, and work on weaknesses. Using these tapes to refine his skills. However it appears either someone else was recording as well or, they have gained access to the tapes. They countered every strength, and took advantage of every weakness. They really did know, his moves, prior to even he. As Bill took this in, his pain dissipated, and he began to feel a sense of violation. This was not right, however, he in some way respected it. After all it was a fight, and what better way to win, than to know your opponent. Even more so, what better way to win, than to know your opponent, even better than he knows himself.

I am hear brothers and sisters to let you know that there is one, who knows you, before even fighting you. One who knows you, better than you even know yourself. This one, is our true enemy. He is Satan. From the Hebrew word for Adversary. He seeks, to kill and destroy. To wipe your seed from this earth, to rob your soul from the one whom created you.

In Job, Chapter One verse Seven, we read of a conversation between God, and Satan. When God ask Satan “Whence comest thou?” Satan’s answer to the Lord, is “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it”. One would be a fool to not take heed to this. Satan has been here since the beginning of this earth, walking to and fro, seeking whom he might destroy. He by planned meditation has carefully noted every fault of man. He has first hand knowledge collected about you from the beginning of time. We must understand we are all, sons and daughters of Adam. Sons and Daughters of Adam, all carry strengths as do we do weakness. There is not a Saint one, that I am aware of in reading the word of God that has not fallen to the snare of the enemy. In doing so, our fore fathers, as we for the generations to come, have given our Adversary “tape”. Tape of our strengths, and cases upon cases of our weaknesses. He knows exactly what to do, to cause you defeat. He knows the flesh of all whom where before you, and all whom will be after you. He knows you.

Howbeit, there is a plan. It contains two parts, to each, you must adhere to with vigor. You must see the vision, for as the word of God states, people with out a vision will perish. We as our opponent, must review the tapes. We are to know our strengths, and our weaknesses, not just ours per say, but ours as in the creature of man. In doing so, we will know the contrivance of our enemy. We will know his next move, even as he derives upon it.

Last but by no means least, Second Corinthians, Chapter Five verse Seventeen, states, “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The Greek word Kainos, denotes new, of that which is unaccustomed or unused, not new in time, recent, but new as to form or quality, or of different nature from that which is contrasted as old. (ref. Vines Dictionary) We are of a different nature, we are new, yet only so in Christ. Christ is the only man, who has fought the fight, and finished un-defeated. We are to walk in the Spirit of Christ. Walk in the Spirit, and in doing so we will be ready, for the attacks of our Adversary. One can not do so without dying to ones flesh daily, or in my case every second of everyday. This is our only hope to come through victorious. We must clothe yourself with the Righteousness of Christ by faith in His promise to us. That in Him all things are to become new.

Repent, be Baptized in the name of Jesus, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Walk in it, in newness, and you will taste the victory. All Glory to God.

The Cedar Tree

Texas, is full of Cedar tree’s. They are of the cypress family, full of pretty lush green branches,  not to mention they smell ever so fresh. However you can take a hike on most ranches, and see burned cedar stumps all over the place. Asking  any old time rancher what the reasoning is, and the answer will be, they take all the water. Those lush green branches, consume one of a ranchers most prized commodities, water. So they cut the top off, and burn the stump. Simple as that.

Luke Thirteen, talks of a tree to be cut down as well. This however is a fig tree, planted in a vineyard. Seems the owner of the vineyard has been coming to the tree for three years seeking fruit, to his surprise he has found none. So he in all of his wisdom, feeling three years is ample time for a tree to give forth fruit, instructs his hired hand to cut the tree down. In essence all it is doing is taking up water and wasting a spot of useful soil as our Texas Cedar. However the worker of the Vineyard, replies with all respect, to allow the tree another year, he will till the soil around it, fertilize it, and then after he does this, if it does not bear fruit, then he will cut it down.

My friends, we are as the tree’s. God has created us with a purpose. He has planted us where we are in our lives for such a time as this. We are to produce fruit for our Master. As with the Owner of the Vineyard, or our Texas Ranchers, for that matter, the increase is only gained through the multiplication of the asset.  Our Lord seeks souls to be added unto His kingdom. This was His commandment. If this is our Saviours desire, so it must be ours. We must be mindful of the increase to the Kingdom. We must be Kingdom minded. The evidence of our fruit is the increase to His domain, His Kingdom. 

The Holy Spirit is tilling the soil of your heart. Speaking to your inner most place, however He will not continue to repeat Himself. The time is now, we have no promise of tomorrow. Do not allow yourself to become as a Cedar, taking all that is given to you, and giving back nothing in return. For as we read, we are called to love our neighbor as oneself. No son of the Most High God can do this, and allow his brother to perish.

Acts Chapter Two, Verse Thirty Eight, “Repent, and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”

Encourage everyone you know, touch your world. Produce fruit, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Clean Underwear

      Around thirteen years ago I was in a rather serious motor cycle accident. I was sitting on a road awaiting to make a left turn into a convenience store to purchase some gum or something of the sort when I was struck from behind from a car moving at about fifty to sixty miles an hour. I flew through the air, bounced off the roof of the car and came crashing down on the ground behind the car totally in a daze. I laid in the oncoming traffic lane unable to get my body to move, I just remember looking out of my helmet at the car tire, and the asphalt. The next thing I knew someone was dragging me to the side of the road and telling me help was on the way and to quit trying to move. It seemed as only moments and I was hoisted onto a stretcher, rather roughly I might add and being carted into a screaming ambulance. Then this strange feeling came over my leg. I looked down the best I could, being they had my head secured at every possible point, and to my amazement the Paramedic was cutting all the way up my pants leg to get my pants off! My first thought, yep you guessed it ”what underwear do I have on!”. Thankfully, I had some nice boxers on, yes, even clean! My mothers words truly had saved me some added embarrassment after all. You see as a child anytime before we went on the shortest of trips, I was asked what shape where my underwear? I scoffed as a child, but on that day I was ever so thankful.

   Tonight  I heard a sermon by a Dr. Bonnke on Exodus Twenty Eight.  So with all my funny stories aside, let me share with you what the Spirit of God is telling us.  We read in the Old Testament of grand robes, that the priest wore. Yet this was just a outer garment. God required more. God gave instruction for an undergarment. No one except God and the Priest would know of the shape of his undergarment, for the matter of fact, if he even wore any. Yet if he did not attend to the matter as God instructed he would be struck dead. So how does this translate into today’s time. Metaphorically speaking, our outer garment would be our works, church attendance, service, biblical knowledge etc. Our under garment, our spiritual underwear, as the Priest we have learned of, are only seen however by two people. Our Lord, and ourselves.  My question is this now, how many of us are walking around with dirty spiritual underwear? How many of us have placed all our strengths on looking good on the outside, yet our integrity, the undergarment of our spirit is one of filth and riddled with holes.

   The dictionary defines integrity as: adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty; a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition.

   Joshua’s definition of integrity: What one does when not another sole is looking. Your moral character and the code by which you live and die by.

   There must come a time in our lives, where we make the decision to throw away our garments of filth. Through temptation sin has ate, from the stitching of our sole as a vile plague all that which was good. We are not fit to be in the presence of a King. We are called by our Lord to repent, be baptized and sin no more. The Blood of Jesus was shed for the cleansing of our sins. Once clean, we are then justified through the Righteousness of Christ, to be in the presence of the King. I urge you with all sincerity, do not let the day come where you are caught in the presence of the Almighty God with undergarments that are fit for no more than the filth from which they represent. 

   Exodus Twenty Eight, verse Forty Two through Forty Three: “And thou shall make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness;from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach. And they shall be upon Aaron and upon his sons, when they come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity and die:it shall be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him”.

The Gardner

I have been fortunate over the past few weeks, due to the kindness of my wife, to hear some really anointed speakers on a variety of subjects. When I say I have been fortunate do to the kindness of my wife, I jest not. As you can see we have had a new addition to our family. After many tears and a many a prayer, we where blessed with Caleb. He is about two and a half months now, so she has her work cut out for her caring for both our boys as I go to study. I am a blessed man, in every sense. Lord bless my wife please.

Tonight I attended a class held by a guest speaker by the name of Janice Johnson. She shed a good deal of light on a many subjects that I have been wondering about for some time. She had an analogy tonight that I will be chewing on for some time. I wanted to share it. Please forgive me as I try and recollect in my own words. They are not nearly as graced as hers.

As we are very well aware, we serve and love an Eternal God.  He is the One Who was, Who is, and Who is to come. He is the great I am. He is our Lord, an Immortal Spirit. This Creator, has planted within in us a seed. A seed that is in itself is also eternal as He. This seed was, before time was ever birthed, this seed will be, far after time will cease. The seed that is within all of us is lying in wait. It is waiting to come to fruition. It is waiting to be cultivated,and brought to life. This same seed, can either lay dormant for eternity, never rising to what it was sowed to do, or it can grow, by the cultivation and care of our Lord and Gardner Jesus Christ. Through the manifestation of this seed will God’s power and Lordship be known to all.

You see we have gifts and talents, that are plainly evident to all.  We can read self help books, take all the classes, run succesful businesses, all with great ease. These gifts and talents say a person is merely capable. It however is only by the anointing of the Holy Spirit that makes one able to truly accomplish what our Creator intended for this seed, or gifting. 

We must understand our commission from God. We must understand and recognize the seed He has planted within us. We must not let our seed lay dormant. Open your heart, ask God to cultivate the soils of your spirit.

Ephesians Four, verses seven through eight: But unto everyone of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore He saith, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.

“Dumb As Dirt”

   I am not proud to say, that on more than one occasion in my life I have heard the phrase, “you are dumber than dirt”. In ignorance upon each occasion I remember thinking what a comical comment it was.  After all, what do I really have in common with dirt? As if you did not know, dirt is not even an organism, that being said it does not even think! So deliberating on it now, under a humorous outlook, that is a really a insightful accusation.    

   I am not sure whom originally coined the phrase, however I am sure it was some great theologian. Last week I read the verse I have read hum-tine-billion times and something jumped out to me. Matthew Thirteen, verse, Ten:

 ”Why do you speak to us in parables?” He replied, “The knowledge of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables. “Though seeing they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”

This my friends is assuredly spiritually”dumber than dirt”. Though we have been given sight, we do not see, though we have been given hearing, we do not hear. Through our spiritual ignorance, we are content in believing Christianity is nothing more than the acceptance of Christ as our Lord in verbiage alone. In doing so, submitting ourselves to the idealism, rather than to His reign and evidence there so of, in every aspect of our life. 

   I am not one to “bash” nor to cast stones, however there are certain things that must be noted, if only for the edification of the body. If a child is reaching for danger, we call out to him to halt, so must it be for the body of Christ. This teaching of idealism has flooded our modern day churches, in my ever so feeble opinion. We spend vast amounts of time and energy to lure people in to church to hear the “good news” and to “surrender” their lives, enabling them to see and hear, yet we do not proceed to take it any farther. What benefit is eye sight to a child if depth perception is not taught? Furthermore, what is hearing, if one does not know how to assimilate what is heard? The answer is clear, none what so ever, but only to bring confusion and failure. We are laying shallow spiritual foundations that gleam with splendor, everyone is happy and times are good, yet once the elements and test of time arise, they have nothing to assure them of survival. They have no covering, no surrounding, no mass, they are doomed to crumble, crack, and wash away with the river of toils this world will certainly bring. Christ gives us an example of this in  Matthew Thirteen, verse Six:

 ”Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.”

  So my encouragement to you today, in Christ, you are not dirt! Set out to become all you are called to be in Him. Rest not in the surety of your salvation through your verbal profession of faith. But force your mind into submission unto your Lord and Saviour. Press on to achieve what we have been called to do, exploring and learning every aspect of what it means, to truly follow Christ, and in doing so then only will we walk as Christians through the power and boldness of His Spirit.

First Corinthians Nine, Twenty-Four through Twenty-Seven:

“Do you know know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who  competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”