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Why I am not a Jesus Follower…
…as opposed to the term “Christian.”
“and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:26)
Yes the term was given to us by a contemptuous world. Adopting a new name will never escape that derision. Further, we should not try. Peter said,
“However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” (1 Peter 4:16)
Do not be ashamed of the name.
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Further Reading
Joel Osteen talked about Jesus how many times?
In a recent blog essay I’d mused,
“I used to wonder why it is that so many of the false teachers tend to speak freely of God but not so much of Jesus. They rarely say the name of Jesus when they are teaching but instead they often say “God.“
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| Joel Osteen |
You’ve seen it too, I’m sure. So many pastors, teachers, lay-people will freely say God but not Jesus. Well, someone else was wondering that too, and he quantified it. Here are his results:
Joel Osteen Likes God…He just doesn’t like Jesus [A Twitter Survey of @JoelOsteen]
I often talk about the Christ-less Gospel of Joel Osteen. Whenever people ask me what I mean by that, I always tell them this; Joel Osteen does not talk about the Christian Gospel.
That being said, there is something very important to understand about Joel Osteen: He does talk about God. A lot. You cannot accuse the man of not mentioning him because he’s all over that. Here’s the thing though- Its never really in a personal sense. Joel talk about God, but its always in a vague amorphous sense. There is certainly nothing distinctly Christian or Biblical about it. There’s nothing doctrinal or theological about the way he talks about God. Rather is an ethereal, shapeless, formless, customizable, singular being thing that is out there called God that functions like a cosmic vending machine whose sole purpose is seemingly to bless you and make your life better. Even when he mentions God, it’s not ABOUT God, but it’s about what God can do for YOU.
Why do I say “singular being”? Simple. While mention of a “God” may be plastered all over his twitter feed, Jesus is Not. Joel Osteen rarely, if ever, mentioned Jesus. He rarely, if ever, mentions Christ. This is true when you listen to his sermons, read his tweets, and listen to him on whatever talk show he’s touring. Let me give you some basic numbers
Just for kicks I did a quick survey of all Joel Osteen tweets in the last year. I can’t go further back, so we’ll stick with going back to July 8, 2013, which is a little more than a year ago. Out of Joel Osteens 806 tweets, not including any of his replies to other people, he mentions “God”…
Go to the link to read the numerical results. In my essay, I’d proposed a reason why so many of the false teachers speak of God but not of Jesus when they are teaching,
“Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3)
If they don’t have the Holy Spirit they can’t teach Jesus is Lord because they can’t say it. Like when Jesus said at the Last Supper that one of them will betray Him, all 11 of the Disciples said Is it I, Lord? but Judas could not say that because he was apostate and he said “Is it I, Rabbi?” (Matthew 26:21-25)”
Here is John MacArthur explaining part b in the 1 Corinthians 12:3 verse I’d put above,
Now let’s go to the positive in verse 3. I was going to get through verse 11. Can you believe that? Verse 3… yes, you can believe that. Verse 3, And the other side…here’s the positive test…”That no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.” This is the positive. When somebody comes into your midst with all of his faculties, and with all of his mind, and with all of his heart, and with all of his being, says, “Jesus is Lord,” you know that’s of the Holy Spirit. Now it isn’t simply the words, it’s the commitment. No man can say…and the word say here doesn’t just mean to pair. A skeptic can say, “Jesus is Lord.” You can pay a guy ten dollars and say, “Would you say Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Lord. Here’s your ten dollars.” That isn’t the point. It’s not quite that simplistic. No man can truly say, no man can truly confess, no man can truly acknowledge, “Jesus is the Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. When that deep conviction of genuine understanding about who He is comes forth it is of the Spirit. … So the Spirit prompted confession is distinguished from the counterfeit, by the acknowledgement that Jesus, the Man, is, in fact, God.
Just food for thought. As a person who loves to quantify things I appreciated the Twitter survey! In discernment it is not only what a person says, but what he doesn’t say. And noticing an absence takes time and skill. Listen for what a person fails to speak of as much as you’re listening to what they do say.
Scripture in photo: Psalm 104
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Scripture in photo: Hebrews
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Israel begins ground invasion of Gaza’ "imminent amphibious landing"; Missile shoots passenger plane down over Ukraine
It is a big, big news day. Any time Israel becomes involved in a ground war it puts me on prophetically high alert.
Israel Defense Force twitter stream:
BREAKING NEWS: A large IDF force has just launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip. A new phase of Operation Protective Edge has begun. The new phase follows 10 days of Hamas attacks on Israel by land, air & sea – and repeated rejections of offers to deescalate the situation.
Twitter, Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Channel 4 News Jonathan Miller: “All we are evacuating our hotel as are all #gaza beach hotels. Warned of imminent amphibious landing. #c4news”
Jerusalem Post:
Netanyahu’s office says purpose of mission is to destroy terror tunnels and seriously harm the infrastructure of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in Gaza. Prior to the commencement of the ground invasion, the IDF launched a massive wave of combined air and artillery strikes on Thursday night. The IDF said that the operation will involve infantry, engineering corps, and tank units combined with air force and naval support and intelligence.
Analysis from a week ago, which turned out to be accurate.
“…the longer Hamas fails to stop firing rockets, the greater the likelihood for a ground incursion becomes, perhaps even as soon as within “the next 1-2 weeks,” Nisman said. He further noted that, “This would be a much larger ground offensive than Hamas is anticipating,” and that the operation, “would first aim to cut the Gaza Strip into different sections, then take control of peripheral areas which are used to launch short and medium range rockets.” Former IDF officer Dror Markus echoed this analysis, in a separate interview, indicating that if Hamas fulfills its goals of inflicting casualties on Israeli civilians, “Netanyahu will be left with no choice other than a limited ground military incursion.”
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The Ukraine and Russia are also nations who will be active in the prophetic years, AKA the time just before, during, or after the rapture, as per Ezekiel 38-39
WSJ: U.S. intelligence confirms surface-to-air missile fired at Malaysian jet but are divided over origin
PASSENGER MALAYSIAN AIRLINER #17, allegedly shot down by Ukrainian rebels. 295 souls aboard.
Foreign Policy magazine
What We Know So Far About the Passenger Jet Allegedly Shot Down in Ukraine
A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Washington declined to comment on charges that pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine shot down a Malaysian Airlines plane. “Why should we comment on allegations?” the official said. The spokesman did however point to an article published by the Russian news service RIA Novosti suggesting that the Ukrainian military shot down the aircraft, not the rebels.
Airspace in Eastern Ukraine is now closed ‘until further notice’
Eurocontrol, which directs air traffic across Europe, said that since the crash, all airspace in eastern Ukraine had been closed “until further notice” and that the European Aviation Crisis Coordination Cell had been activated to deal with the closure.
Obama is golfing.
In other news, GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL. He has kept His had over the fuse that will eventually light the Middle East and He may do so again today. Or He may not and this particular series of events may be the ones which lead the fuse to the rapture. Or it may be that a series of wars began today which the church will be seeing from earth’s vantage point. We simply don’t know, but His plan is perfect and His sovereignty is never in doubt.
I pray for the families of the souls aboard the downed plane. While heaven’s gate was likely opened to receive some, more likely Hades’ mouth was enlarged to receive even more. Hundreds of families are at this moment in shock and mourning at this senseless and tragic act that has rendered children fatherless, wives into widows and families torn by grief..
The Israeli soldiers fighting on behalf of a frightened citizenry should also be prayed for, as well as the leaders on both sides.
For perspective’s sake, I offer to you from 2005 John Piper’s essay, “Ten Aspects of God’s Sovereignty Over Suffering and Satan’s Hand in It“
The impetus for this conference comes from th ultimate reality of God as the supreme value in and above the universe. God is absolute and eternal and infinite. Everything else and everybody else is dependent and finite and contingent. God himself is the great supreme value. Everything else that has any value has it by connection to God. God is supreme in all things. He has all authority, all power, all wisdom—and he is all good “to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (Lamentations 3:25). And his name, as Creator and Redeemer and Ruler of all, is Jesus Christ. In the last four years, 9/11, Tsunami, Katrina, and ten thousand personal losses have helped us discover how little the American church is rooted in this truth.
In other words, our vision of God in relation to evil and suffering was shown to be frivolous. The church has not been spending its energy to go deep with the unfathomable God of the Bible. Against the overwhelming weight and seriousness of the Bible, much of the church is choosing, at this very moment, to become more light and shallow and entertainment-oriented, and therefore successful in its irrelevance to massive suffering and evil. The popular God of fun-church is simply too small and too affable to hold a hurricane in his hand. The approach I am going to take tonight is not to solve any problem directly, but to celebrate the sovereignty of God over Satan and all the evils that Satan has a hand in.
You should click here to read in full the ten things we celebrate in our Almighty and Sovereign God. He is still on the throne, praise Him. Here are some highlights
1. Let us celebrate that God is sovereign over Satan’s delegated world rule.
2. Let us celebrate that God is sovereign over Satan’s angels (demons, evil spirits).
3. Let us celebrate that God is sovereign over Satan’s hand in persecution.
4. Let us celebrate that God is sovereign over Satan’s life-taking power.
It is a time to mourn, but it is also a time to celebrate.
A Time for Everything
1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
New Insight on the Nation’s Earthquake Hazards (USGS map is updated & released)
Excerpts from the information accompanying the new USGS earthquake hazards map, last update 2008. Thank you scientists for your hard work on behalf of the US population. Christians, we know the hazards are increasing and we know why. Be prepared.
The USGS recently updated their U.S. National Seismic Hazard Maps, which reflect the best and most current understanding of where future earthquakes will occur, how often they will occur, and how hard the ground will likely shake as a result.
42 States at Risk; 16 States at High Risk
Students conduct the “drop, cover, hold on” safety procedure during an earthquake preparedness drill. Photo Credit: Jessica Robertson, USGS
While all states have some potential for earthquakes, 42 of the 50 states have a reasonable chance of experiencing damaging ground shaking from an earthquake in 50 years (the typical lifetime of a building). Scientists also conclude that 16 states have a relatively high likelihood of experiencing damaging ground shaking. These states have historically experienced earthquakes with a magnitude 6 or greater.
The hazard is especially high along the west coast, intermountain west, and in several active regions of the central and eastern U.S., such as near New Madrid, MO, and near Charleston, SC. The 16 states at highest risk are Alaska, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. [Since the last map, 2008] Several areas have been identified as being capable of having the potential for larger and more powerful earthquakes than previously thought due to more data and updated earthquake models. The most prominent changes are discussed below.
Changes: East Coast
The eastern U.S. has the potential for larger and more damaging earthquakes than considered in previous maps and assessments. As one example, scientists learned a lot following the magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck Virginia in 2011. It was among the largest earthquakes to occur along the east coast in the last century, and helped determine that even larger events are possible. Estimates of earthquake hazards near Charleston, SC, have also gone up due to the assessment of earthquakes in the state.
Central U.S.
The New Madrid Seismic Zone has been identified to have a larger range of potential earthquake magnitudes and locations than previously identified. This is a result of a range of new research, part of which was recently compiled by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
West Coast
In California, earthquake hazard extends over a wider area than previously thought. Most notably, faults were recently discovered, raising earthquake hazard estimates for San Jose, Vallejo and San Diego. On the other hand, new insights on faults and rupture processes reduced earthquake hazard estimates for Irvine, Santa Barbara and Oakland.
New research on the Cascadia Subduction Zone resulted in increased estimates of earthquake magnitude up to magnitude 9.3.
Earthquake hazard also increased for Las Vegas because of new science.
Full report here
Update & Further Thoughts on Do you "follow Jesus"? Or are you "saved by Jesus?
A few days ago I wrote about the trend of the young millennials calling themselves Jesus followers instead of Christians. Jesus followers are almost uniformly young, claim that the ‘baggage’ of the label ‘Christian’ weighs down their walk, and they’d rather be in a relationship than in a religion with rules.
I liked the essay I wrote and I posted it, but I still did some research, feeling like a piece was missing from my thought process. Turns out there was. And here it is:
Church. The Body.
Millennials who claim to be following Jesus almost always leave the ecclesiology out of their walk.
This term today of ‘following Jesus’ is so common out in the world! Most millennials are spouting this. Of course there is baggage in the term Christian. Of course there are rules. That is the point, but most Millennials want the soft, gentle parts of the relationship without the hard parts of the religion. And they bristle at the doctrines of sin and judgment. Most are not saved.
Here is a short essay on the subject of Christ follower or Christian by Tyler Braun, who wrote “Why Holiness Matters” from Moody Press. His thoughts crystallized some things for me.
Christ Follower or Christian by Tyler
Spend some time on Facebook and look at the religious views of many and you will quickly learn that there is a trend to be a “Christ Follower,” “Follower of Christ,” or “Follower of Jesus” rather than a “Christian.” You might be asking why… I think this is something common in the younger generations who are unhappy with the way Christians have represented their faith in the past. So rather than being grouped with the “Christians” they’d rather keep the religion out of it in order to only follow Jesus.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this practice of denying being a “Christian” in order to be a “Christ follower” is completely wrong. About the only positive I can see is the extra emphasis on following Jesus. There are many people who do not hold to any of the basic tenets of the Christian faith who are “following Jesus.” Why is it wrong?
–It isolates. Meaning that part of being a Christ follower is being in relationship with fellow Christians, not just those who follow Jesus the way we do.
–It segregates. The Christian faith has enough division. There is no need for there to be a division in how we state what we are as believers.
That’s good. Very good.
Here is a snippet from Time Magazine reporting on the trend that also crystallized the final thoughts about this trend for me:
…some also worry that “follower of Jesus” diverts people from the fundamentals. “Two questions constantly come up,” says Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary. “The first is Christology. What about the full divinity of Christ? How much can you keep that in the background? Second, what’s the role of the church in all this?”
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| Horse with blinkers, or blinders CC by Steve |
Again, very good. Many ‘Christ followers’ are like the horse with blinders, following only the straight line ahead, one horse unto itself, unmindful of those who are next to him or behind him. To some extent we adults have caused this. Millennials go to large para-church conferences like Passion, which they believe is church but is not church. Except for their youth minister, Passion doesn’t even allow parents or adults to attend with their children! Millennials attend Rock the Universe concerts that are promoted as Praise weekends, which they believe is church but is not church. The Mars Hill mentality of music as worship they believe is church but is not church. An even to some extent, separating the youths from the regular congregation as an entity unto themselves, sequestered in their own buildings, without the benefit of older role models to view and interact with, they believe is church but often is not church.
“The church itself is a dark and modern giant auditorium, with theater-style seats, an impressive sound system, and big flat-screen TV’s everywhere. It looks like the kind of place you might see a concert in, but not somewhere you’d expect to go to church. The prominently featured indie-style rock band felt right at home here, as did the theatrics that followed.” Millennial aged Mars Hill church goer.
We’ve given them para-church, home groups, praise group weekends, Walks to Emmaus and Chrysalis, and rock concerts, so is it any wonder they reject rules, religion, worship, and submission to the church leadership? Is it any wonder they eschew the word Christian as baggage, want to ‘follow’ Christ, and go off on their own? Is it any wonder they have no clue of what it means to be part of a body submitting to leadership, and not just a singular follower blissfully doing their own thing?
Not a Christian, But a Christ-Follower?
The downside of trying to re-brand your Christian identity
And the effort to uproot Jesus from the church makes as much sense as loving someone’s head, but not their body; or admiring Thomas Jefferson and sneering at the Constitution. Jesus is the foundation and cornerstone and head of the church. Without the people Jesus comes from, without the people Jesus births into the world, there is no Jesus. The people Jesus births into the world are called “Christian.”
We’re either all Christ followers or none of us are. We are all in a body, with Jesus as its Head. That body is called church, and church has rules as does our life. The relationship we have is to Christ, but it is also to each other. Christ followers, please heed this passage:
Unity in the Body of Christ
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)
Original essay: Do you “follow Jesus”? Or are you “saved by Jesus?”
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Further reading-
Liberals change word meanings with intent to deceive
The cults are infamous for perverting historically accepted biblical terms. “Is it any wonder then,” said the late Christian apologist/polemicist Dr. Walter Martin in The Riddle of Semantics, “that orthodox Christians feel called upon to openly denounce such perversions of clearly defined and historically accepted biblical terminology, and claim that the cults have no rights — scholastically, biblically, or linguistically — to redefine biblical terms as they do?” (Source)
Aaron: thoughts and scriptures
I am studying Aaron. The first High Priest. Melchizedek. Jesus the last High Priest. Lots of questions come up in my mind.
Aaron was Moses’ brother, older by three years. Their sister was Miriam who was older than both. It was Aaron who spoke for Moses, (Exodus 4:15-16) and it was Aaron whom God used as the vehicle for several of the miracles before of Pharaoh.
It was Aaron who was the deputy in charge when Moses went up Mount Sinai to speak with God and receive the ten commandments. It was Aaron whose rod budded to signify once for all God had chosen Aaron and his tribe. (Numbers 17:8)
As I study, I wonder, when Moses went up the mountain and was gone so long, why did Aaron cave to the demands of the Israelites and build a Golden Calf? (Exodus 32:1-6). Why was he the one to actually collect the gold earrings and other items? Why was he proactive in inviting them to the feast? Most of all, though 3000 who participated in it were killed, why wasn’t Aaron punished?
And then I was thinking about the Miriam incident. Despite being chosen to support her brother, and revered as a poet and a prophetess for her people, (Exodus 15:20, 21), Miriam got jealous- and so did Aaron. She AND Aaron grumbled, saying,
“Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” (Numbers 12:2).
This happened after the Golden Calf incident so I’d have thought Aaron would be chastened for good, not having been killed with the other wrongdoers. But Miriam came to him complaining. Her name is listed first. And though Aaron’s words are not recorded, there is the “we” aspect of it. “Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses” (Numbers 12:1).
So I’m thinking, was Aaron the kind of man that a person would feel comfortable complaining to? Why was Aaron so receptive? Yet again, God didn’t punish Aaron but punished Miriam. If the disobedience in the Garden against God was held against Adam because he was the head of the house & knew better, why wasn’t Aaron punished because he was high priest and presumably head of the house over Miriam as her brother? (I think Miriam is unmarried but I could be wrong on that). Yet Aaron escaped punishment, or even rebuke, for a second time.
He didn’t make it into the Promised Land, but God said that was because of Aaron’s and Moses’ sin at Meribah with the waters.
So I’m going, “huh”. Very interesting! My take-aways at this early stage are,
–God will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy
–Don’t grumble against God
–Don’t grumble against God-appointed leaders
–Don’t be the kind of person people feel comfortable approaching to grumble to
Epilogue:
Do you know why God spared Aaron’s life at the Golden Calf incident? Deuteronomy 9:20 has the reason. Moses said,
And the Lord was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.
PRAYER. The grace of God was delivered upon a rebellious man, whom a righteous man (Ez 14:14) prayed for. PRAYER! Do not neglect it! God’s grace is incredible. He has mercy upon whom He will have mercy, but the prayers of a righteous man DO avail much. (James 5:16). Pray!
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Further reading
Beware of bible teachers who preach themselves
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)
Some years ago, some women gathered in a living room to do a Beth Moore study. It involved a
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DVD of Moore and some workbooks. Back then, Moore was more cloaked in her language about receiving personal revelation. She would say, “God laid it on my heart” or “God impressed upon me” which is still wrong because she was teaching from these impressions, and not the scripture.
In one segment of her study, Moore had shared a long story about how God was directly giving her specific instructions on how to act in a certain situation, and was delivering sentences directly to her ears. For a teacher that says “God laid it on my heart” so often, she was certainly telling a story with a lot of specifics and many quotes from God. In the DVD, Moore repeated the things God had “told” her to do in this situation. The story Moore was telling involved Moore’s reactions to God’s directions, and Moore sharing the result of having ‘listened’ to His revelations. Anyone who has seen Moore in television or at a conference or any other venue knows this is how Moore teaches. After her personal story, she applies an out of context bible verse to it and finishes it up. It’s like backdating a check, fraudulent and dangerous.
The ladies got done listening to this particular segment on DVD. After the DVD was turned off, a moment of silence passed as the ladies absorbed what Moore had taught. Then one of the ladies sighed and said sadly, “I wish I had what she has.”
Bible study is supposed to energize us, lift us, empower us! Yet the ladies were drained, believing that Moore has a ‘more special’ relationship with God than they did or ever could have, that Moore has more of something than us that is impossible for mere regular women to attain.
A lady spoke up and said, “We DO have what she has, the Holy Spirit! We all have Him inside us!” But they looked at her like she was crazy and did not believe it.
What ended up happening in this study group is that the women talked about Beth Moore, her ‘power’ in God, her teaching style, her life. In their desire to “have what she has,” it made them want to be like Beth Moore, not like JESUS.
You see the problem.
“Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.” (Jude 1:8)
