Luke 14:1-6

In Luke chapter 14 we see that Jesus had been going through a long discourse giving numerous examples of the wickedness of the human heart and the heart specifically of the pharisees. As we read, I want you to ask yourself the “why” questions.Questions like, what is Jesus' aim? What is his point? Why is he asking that? Why did he say that? Hopefully Christ will take this time open our hearts to Him as we grow in His Word.

Luke 14:1 One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?" 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?" 6 And they could not reply to these things.

Verse 14 starts with Jesus at the house of one of the chief pharisees for dinner and it then says that they were watching him intently.  Why so intently? I believe they were trying to find something to use against him.  Jesus had healed on the Sabbath before and they knew it.  Yet here they were, watching his every move. They listened to him.  And Jesus knowing what was in their hearts did what they were hoping for.  Only their hope was misplaced. They were hoping for a reason to criticize him, to accuse him. They didn't care that a man that had dealt with such a serious sickness was healed.  After all, he was a sinner. In fact, according to their Pharisaical customs, he shouldn't even have been invited. He was unclean and there was a chance of his uncleanness rubbing off on them making the pharisees unclean too.  Yet here he was, with his dropsy or edema on full display (it was a condition that caused swelling in parts of the body). This was a very visible illness.  Often times, the Hebrews believed that it was divine punishment for sin- even sexual sin.  So they knew for sure that he was a base creature, that he was unclean. But they invited him anyhow- even if it was just for bait to catch Jesus with.

Yet Christ wasn't fooled. He had healed the man- on the Sabbath no less. The very same day they were so adamant about protecting. Yet no sooner than he had healed the man, he addressed the Pharisees in their own sinfulness. Jesus began to question them.  But the Pharisees remained quiet.  They knew that either answer that they could give would make them look like fools.  Fools for not wanting their kinsman to be healed or fools for blatantly ignoring the facts facing them, i.e. that they were guilty before God.  This is especially true as the questions he asked them seared their hearts.  Which of you who have a son, cow or donkey fall, sits back as they fall into a ditch? What did you do when something that belonged to you, something that was dear and precious to you, had fallen into the earth? Furthermore, what did you do when it happened on the Sabbath? Did you leave them there and wait till the following day? Or did you stage a rescue?  Did you work on the Sabbath to get back the very thing that you lost? Jesus candidly pointed out the wickedness in their hearts.

In this story, Jesus also points out the wickedness in our own hearts. In our own hearts where our wicked desires live, we create our own hypocrisies.  We often set rules for others that we easily break because we have our own "reasons." We often do so void of instruction from the Lord. Like the folk in Mark 10:48, And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me... We try to act like holy club bouncers, refusing to let people in because they don't "look the part." We create bars and tell people that they have to live to this standard or that standard and condemn them when they fall short. We do this at the same time as we plead to God for mercy. Often we easily portray ourselves as the pharisee looking down on the sinner.  Both prayed to God, but only one left justified (and it wasn't the pharisee).  

The point is this, we are called to have mercy, even as we beg for mercy.  It is hypocrisy to do otherwise.  It is a slap in the face to our consciences and we grieve the Holy Spirit in our actions.  That's why Jesus told his followers to hear the pharisees, but to not do, act or behave like them or else they (and you) would be found wanting.  

Mercy is a gift. One that is easily bestowed on others, yet so easily withheld. But as Christians we are called to mercy. Even when dealing with egregious sins.  This does not mean that sin does not have consequences.  But it does mean that our outward dealings with others must be done under the banner of Christ and in the mind of the Spirit.  If we belong to him, then we must recognize that a weak brother or sister is our own family and we are called to pull them out of the ditch as if it were ourselves. 

My Freedom From Sin and of Letting It Go- A Poem

I had to let you go
Your desires cost me more than I could ever know
Yet you still call to me with a whisper in the ear
Every corner that I turn I feel you oh so near
My mind habitually worked against me when it relished in your touch
Your scent drove me wild, your gaze made me smile; you became to me a crutch
You held me in your bosom and softly spoke of what could be
You gave me the grandest of thoughts, of visions of clarity
My heart raced and it pranced with a joy that seemed unfailing
Blinded to the pain that came with you- the debt that would be trailing
Yet as the sun repelled on the hottest of days
My Lord showed me your intentions and the doom of your ways
You lied to me about pain; you said there’d be none
For a moment I felt alive and in a twinkle it was gone
You made me bitter and tore my heart into pieces
And then you lied again, soft words and the pain releases
I turned from my Lord because you called to my desire
But when I came to your beckoning, I saw you standing with the "Liar"
But my Lord full of mercy followed me to your indwelling
And while you made a mockery of me, and beat me with your yelling
He snatched me from your grasp as you lay the barrage of whips
And took the consign of my penalty as He lay upon the sticks
And so you killed him with a fervor and tenacity meant solely for the hated
You poured out your wickedness on Him, you stood there and you waited
You mused and you glistened at your triumph with delight
You knew He was the King of Glory, You knew He was the light
And all the little words you sang to me oh how it was sublime
Melted away my heart’s contentment for the one you killed was mine
As sorrow replaced my joy, what now of its significance
I see truly what you used me for, exacting out his vengeance
Your father was a liar and that from the beginning
You failed to see my God arise for His desire made the ending
You failed to see His zeal of hatred I know HE has for you
The God of glory, the bright and morning, declared what He would do
And that’s to take what is His, the Father’s shaming you to hell
Where you’ll scream and cry, whilst you beg and wry in the place that you befell
He has saved me now, from sin and death and given life abundantly
The Alpha and Omega, I AM that I AM, the Light of Majesty
Faithful and True, the King of Kings, His name is El Shaddai,
Blessed Redeemer, Jesus the Savior, The Lord God Adonai!

Dear Sin:

I had to let you go


Your desires cost me more than I could ever know

Yet you still call to me with a whisper in the ear

Every corner that I turn I feel you oh so near

My mind habitually worked against me when it relished in your touch

Your scent drove me wild, your gaze made me smile, you became to me a crutch

You held me in your bosom and softly spoke of what could be

You gave me the grandest of thoughts, of visions of clarity

My heart raced and it pranced with a joy that seemed unfailing

Blinded to the pain that came with you- the debt that would be trailing

Yet as the sun repelled on the hottest of days

My Lord showed me your intentions and the doom of your ways

You lied to me about pain, you said there’d be none

For a moment I felt alive and in a twinkle it was gone

You made me bitter and tore my heart into pieces

And then you lied again, soft words and the pain releases

I turned from my Lord because you called to my desire

But when I came to your beckoning, I saw you standing with the liar

But my Lord full of mercy followed me to your indwelling

And while you made a mockery of me, and beat me with your yelling

He snatched me from your grasp as you lay the barrage of whips

And took the consign of my penalty as He lay upon the sticks

And so you killed him with a fervor and tenacity meant solely for the hated

you poured out your wickedness on Him, you stood there and you waited

You mused and you glistened at your triumph with delight

You knew He was the King of Glory, You knew He was the light

And all the little words you sang to me oh how it was sublime

Melted away my heart’s contentment for the one you killed was mine

As sorrow replaced my joy, what now of its significance

I see truly what you used me for, exacting out his vengeance

Your father was a liar and that from the beginning

You failed to see my God arise for His desire made the ending

You failed to see His zeal of hatred I know HE has for you

The God of glory, the bright and morning, declared what He would do

And that’s to take what is His, the Father’s calling to shame you into hell

Where you’ll scream and cry, whilst you beg and wry in the place that you befell

He has saved me now, from sin and death and given life abundantly

The Alpha and Omega, I AM that I AM, the Light of Majesty

Faithful and True, the King of Kings, His name is El Shaddai,

Blessed Redeemer, Jesus the Savior, The Lord God Adonai!

The Homosexual Attack Against the Church

The Church is in a bitter battle with the world. With the gay marriage debate the homosexuals will use any and everything that they can think of to sway people into their way of thinking. And let's be honest, the homosexual community doesn't really want marriage, it wants:


                             TOTAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE GAY LIFESTYLE


To gain this, the lgbt's are taking the "Snake and Eve" route. A posting @ the ROOT
takes just that stance. The author John McWhorter essentially takes the Bible and says, "you shall not surely die..." Case in point, McWhorter's main argument is that since the Bible was used to promote racism and slavery and that since both have been deemed to be wrong, then the Bible must also be wrong about homosexuality. From what I gather, Mr. Whorter would feel just fine removing the Bible totally from the scene (specifically the Black community) to justify homosexuality. Yet Mr. Whorter is wrong on several fronts (well just about everything he said was plain wrong).

1. True Bible-believing Christians do not endorse Homophobia. Just because we do not agree with homosexuality does not mean we want to see lgbt's beaten down, drug through the streets or hung off of trees. That idea is totally anti-thetical to practicing Christians.

2. Just because the Bible was misused, abused and raped in order to justify other evil men's desires, does not mean that it is wrongly being used to justify opposition to homosexuality. Remember 1 Cor 6:9-10? The Word specifically says that those who practice homosexuality will not see the kingdom of God. What about 1 Timothy 1:8-11? Again homosexuality is condemned (might I also mention slavery is also condemned here too). And while we are at it, there is an entire list of sins that are condemned before and by God. It doesn't mean that Christians are allowed to passover those either. So why should a concession be made for homosexuals? If a murder took your loved one you would cry for justice (any individual in their right mind would). My point being, we cannot take parts of the Bible that make us feel good, keep them and throw the rest away. Homosexuality is no different than other sins mentioned- they all dishonor the God who has given life to His creation.

3. Quoting the desire of a play based on a false religion does not make it Christian-or even an argument for a Christian. Mr. McWhorter tries to use a cultish religion (Mormonism) to argue against the use of the Bible as a defense for Christians. I'm still trying to figure out what part of his rectum he pulled that line out of....smh

4. Just because someone sins doesn't make it acceptable in the sight of God. (see ref. #2). Mr. McWhorter's story about his "assumably" gay pal tries to make the reader feel like it is wrong for people to hold back their feelings. McWhorter tries to make the case that the only option that should be considered is to just cast every care to the side and run after one's own heart's desire. Yet again, he overlooks the Bible where it says, "the heart is desperately wicked." (Jer 17:9) And just so no one tries to cheapen it, this doesn't just apply to homosexuality, but to all things that cause us to chase after our own desires instead of wanting God.

5. The plight for homosexual marriages and acceptance should never be compared to the plight of African Americans in this country. No one could ever look at an infant and automatically declare that a child is gay. But a black baby could be hated from inception because it was known what it would be (color wise). I am sick and tired of homosexuals claiming to be marginalized when most of them have lucrative careers and live lifestyles that are totally pleasing to them. While I won't disagree that many have faced discrimination (and some violently) it has never been at the level of hatred that blacks in America have faced throughout the years. I have never heard of the clan riding the San Francisco shooting people and burning effigies or crosses on their laws. For those that have been brutalized for their sexuality, I empathize with you. That was wrong. We as a society (pushed on by Christian virtues) have condemned acts of harmful discrimination for ages. But the sexual desire of the homosexual community is just that- a desire. It is a desire that is at odds with the Bible, the God of the Bible and the people who worship that great God.

In the end (no pun intended), the homosexual desire for acceptability and marriage are incompatible with Christian mores- just like every other sin out there. The difference here is that there is a group of people who want to make the sin of homosexuality acceptable- take it out of the Bible as a sin if they could. Yet, truth be told, marriage is a gift from God, between one man and one woman. It was created that way from the beginning when God took the rib from Adam and made it into Eve. That is why the Bible says in Gen 2:24,"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and the two shall become one flesh!" They can only become one flesh because they are missing a part of the other- like pieces to a puzzle that "fit" rightly together. Homosexuality cannot and does not fit within the righteousness of the Bible. Man needs woman and woman needs man. Together in Christ they complete each other. There is no other type of marital union acceptable than what is promulgated by the Bible. So no matter how much the lgbt community wants us to back down, we cannot. No matter how much they try to demonize us for hanging on every Word of the Lord, we will not falter.

And believe it or not, this truly is an attack against the Lord of Hosts Himself. Acceptance of gay marriage will make any biblical stance against it a crime. Just look at Canada , where preachers are fined and put in jail for speaking against homosexuality as a sin.  The Christian community is under attack from those on the outside as well as those fakers on the inside. Most of their words come off trying to make the church feel guilty for her stance. It will change. They will become more violent in time. If they lgbt can succeed in silencing the church on this issue, then the outward church itself will become a thing of the past. There will be no room to argue because our voices will not even be allowed in the room. They will try to indoctrinate our children through public school teachings and will set child against parent. They have already started all of this. All the church needs to do is open her eyes, focus on Christ and pray to our Lord that His will be done.

Homeland Security vs the Church

I read this article from FoxNews and I was truly angered. As a right leaning conservative, with a view that the majority of right leaning conservatives are Christian, I ask, "Could this be a step in the direction of bringing biblical Christianity to a place of persecution in America?" Think about it. The government labels anyone with right-leaning, conservative values as a potential terrorist. So they mean to tell me that if we disagree with abortion, we are considered to have terroristic traits. What kind of mess is that? Here's a kicker for you, if we (an Airman, Soldier, Marine or Seaman) have been to Iraq or Afghanistan, according to Napolitano we are susceptible to being overcome by those would want to harm the very country we fought to protect!Crazy! Really it sucks because the moral ground that I will not be moved from according to Homeland Security automatically infers that I am now to be considered anti-American. Wow. Yet if this is case, there is still more to be concerned about. Just think, after awhile they begin to crackdown on churches who preach against sin, abortion and homosexuality because they beleive it infringes on their “rights” as Americans (never mind the fact that I am entitled to my opinion). They then lock up those who speak against an immoral lifestyle because they are recognized as instigators. The way I see it, right now the seeds are being planted that will allow the persecution of the Christian Church to begin. In fact, in some places it has already begun. Homosexuals invaded a church in Minnesota last year, harrassed the congregants (who were worshipping that morning) by yelling out blasphemies (in front of the children mind you), began performing sexual acts (again in front of the children) and hung a banner that read "BASH BACK!" And as far as I know, no one was arrested even though the police came out. Yet through all this, we must draw closer to Christ-not out of fear of the enemy-but out of love and admiration for HIM, knowing that this world will pass away, but Christ abides forever!

Even the World Can See Its Sin...

The young man in this video (Piper from the Alternative pop group Flipsyde) makes some very poignant remarks concerning the loss of a child. However, this isn't the type of loss seen when a man loses a child he has held in his arms. It doesn't stem from the losing of a child to a terrible accident or incurable sickness. Simply put, this is the view not heard from often. A young man pays for his girlfriend's abortion and regrets it years later. There is remorse and contrition from an unsaved individual over his own wickedness- a partaker of abortion. Too many pro-abortion supporters disregard and fail to consider how many people are affected by an abortion. Now for many of the "feminist" persuasion, caring about a man's feelings concerning an abortion would be akin to Hitler caring about the feelings of the Jews he was gassing, i.e. it isn't there. I know it's a bit harsh, but truthful nonetheless. Yet the underlying truth is that this young man does hurt from the abortion. He agonizes over the child that "could have been, but won't" because of his own selfishness.

I will always say that abortion is more than a woman's personal choice. There is more than just HER body that is at stake. Nevertheless, I believe things will only get worse on this issue. Yet regardless of what errors sinful man (and woman) try to make "appear" right, I will speak from the Gospel of Christ and continue to show the lies of abortion. WE must continue to advocate on behalf of the children whom abortion would kill-they don't have a voice of their own and it is our responsibility to do so as Christians.

Evolution vs Romans Chp.1

Those who would encourage the belief of evolution do so in order to undermine the premise of creation through Christ Jesus. Let's jump right into scripture.

Romans 1:18-23 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but
they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Putting the scientific data that presents the cons of evolution (and there are plenty) to the side, I want to soley focus on the spiritual aspect of this particular belief. We begin with Romans 1:18:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Here we see that the Lord's wrath is against those who suppress the truth. What truth would the scripture be referring too? Why the Gospel of Salvation, the revealed righteousness of God Himself. Most evolutionists are Atheistic in their belief, knowing full and well that if they gave in to the remote plausibility of the fact that God created the universe as stated in Genesis, there would be no way that they could believe both evolution and creationism. So, the Lord is against the truth suppressors (of any kind).

Rom 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them,
because God has shown it to them.

Here we see that man can plainly see what God has done on the earth, yet they ignore it. Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort have an awesome way of pointing out this little truth nugget. When speaking to evolutionists, they begin by asking who made the building they're currently standing in front of. Most folk tend to respond with mason, construction worker or builder. They then ask who would be responsible for making a painting. Well of course the answer is a painter. They continue with similar questions, but for right now, you get the idea. Everything that gets created has a creator. Everything that was ever made has a maker. The universe is the same way. There is a maker and a creator- His NAME is YAHWEH. He created everything that we see, the sun, the clouds, the star, the trees, the land, the ocean. He spoke it into existence and it was. Everything that we now see is proof that God made it, because no matter how you dice it, everything has to be created someway.

Rom 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and
divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

This verse goes hand-in-hand with vs 19 and 18. Being able to see that something exists means that it has to come from someone and somewhere. And if it were not for evolution, a lot more people would be believing that some type of "force" or "god" was behind the creation of the unvierse as it is. Nevertheless, there is no excuse for not believing there is a GOD because the proof is in the pudding so to speak.




Rom 1:21-22 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Because everyone knows that someone had to create the universe, those who refuse HIM automatically hate and despise HIM. They don't want to honor HIM so badly that they try to think HIM out of their hearts and minds, shutting out the very light that would illuminate them.They then turn and boast in what they have created with their mind, foolishly believing a lie rather than the truth- the whole time thinking they are the "intelligent ones."

Rom 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images
resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Hummmm???? Let's see, they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man...

Ladies and gents step right up and meet Nebraska Man. Yessirrreeee!! In 1917 a tooth was discovered and some years later sent to other scientists. His body was an artist's rendering from information given from paleontologists who thought that it might perhaps be an ape or even ape-man (gasp!!!!). Eventually it was found out to be a pig's tooth. (No missing link here).

Next on our non-scientific display is (drum-roll please) Lucy!!! The ape (oops I meant chimp- oops again- long lost ancestor) was found in Ethiopia back in 1973. She... it, was heralded as the missing link between man and ape. However, even one the top Paleantoligists in the states (along with others) have concluded that Lucy (and others like her) were so different that they are not close enough to even resemble a humaoid (not to mention that her head is 60% plaster of paris from an "artisitic" rendering along with half her hip and a few dozens and dozens of missing bones). Kind of makes you wonder that with all of this "artistic" rendering going on, where's the real scientific research. Oh my bad, it is null and void because they would rather believe what they hope in (i.e. their mental capacity to find something on their own) than believe in the God who gave them life.






Quite honestly, this goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. Because they thought they could be like GOD,

"they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen."

Rom 1:25

So many men and women would rather deny the evidence of GOD before them. They would rather believe a lie with all of their heart just so that they can serve their own creation, their own desires- all so that they can be "god" in their own eyes. Unfortunately, the LORD will avenge Himself and He will pour out His wrath against the ungodly. And one of the saddest things about it is that they will continue to curse Him and will pray that the rocks would grind them.





So what do we do people? You know the answer, "Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Be instant- in season, out of season. Don't preach the seeker sensitive model, the health and wellness gospel, or the name it and claim gospel. Preach the truth- Jesus Christ crucified as the atonement for YOUR and MY SINS! Don't waiver from the Word which is able to save your souls! Don't allow fear or shortcuts to rob God of His glory. Preach the Gospel- the whole Bible from beginning to end!!!








May God's grace be upon you,









your brother and fellow slave in Christ!!