You Are Being Fed ‘Strong Delusion’

You Are Being Fed ‘Strong Delusion’                              Kelly Durant 10-26-14

2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

¹⁰ And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:¹² That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

2. Most of us know how gullible and easily deceived we can be as people! If Christians get deceived by all kinds of false doctrines and how much more the people of the world will believe anything! A perfect example of deception could be compared to that of an anti-Christ leader such as Adolf Hitler. Years before the war ended he was worshipped as the savior and answer to a desperate world with the worst inflation in history. Remember, Hitler was blessed by the Catholic Church and followed by millions of Christians! It should horrify you to think how many so called Christians out there can so easily be deceived by a leader!

Today we are studying deception from 2 Tess. 2, which is set in the context of the end-time, when the charismatic anti-Christ will appear: 2 Thess 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

How do we as weak human beings accept strong delusion? Our logical yet illogical minds want hope in a supernatural salvation; God performs that in us in that respective position if we let Him. But a person disconnected or shallow with God and His sanity and peace will worship any deranged being, especially when they have a show of messiah-ship or supernatural power. As people we are always in search of answers, and in the absence of them, we invent them in our minds or flow with the winds of the world getting herded as sheep to the slaughter to whatever evil is trending and popular. The masses get swayed by the media. Never has the media lied to the public feeding us lies as it is doing today!

Also, deceptions and beliefs are passed down for generations until finally someone with God’s truth in their lives questions and challenges them. How many misconceptions of life have you lived with until now? How many cultures have started strange beliefs and practices lasting for centuries and even millennium? Adam & Eve taught their children to respect God, and many of their descendants knew God and the truth, but they all did not remain faithful. Those alienated from the truth or the deceived children had opportunity to know the truth later through the chosen Israelites, but history revels most of them rejected it. Today, God’s people who are Christian, who are in word and deed loving God and others and living holy lives, are the authentic ones in truth totally living free from delusions. However, all others live life delusional and diametrically opposite to a life of love as Jesus taught. Strong delusion creates hypocritical people.  

3. I pray for everyone around me to live happy and blessed, growing in truth and wisdom, advancing in prosperity and knowledge. But this implies that you and I must war against the lies and liars deluding people. But exposing their evil agendas is not enough. People are only enlightened and protected from lies by the study and obedience to the Word of God! How does His word lead us in truth? Jesus said John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The word of God transforms you and me by the Holy Spirit to indwell in the truth! Millions of people with testimonies bear witness to how they were once deceived by the lust, greed, and pride in the world but then they became free. John 8:32 ‘And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’. Religion itself cannot change evil hearts. We see religions today who murder in the name of their god. A Christian however, if authentic, has a relationship with Christ, and he or she becomes God fearing and loving and compassionate with a new nature like the nature of Jesus himself. A new conviction takes place causing he or she to abandon the deceptions of lust, greed, pride, anger, bitterness and ‘deny their selves’ in order to adapt totally the loving beautiful character of Jesus Christ.

Here is the delusion problem, in other religions those deceived follow some charismatic man’s teaching and/or they imitate the founder or leader. By doing this, they are doomed to repeat the same errors of the deluded leader. Most erroneous prophet leaders have led people to war for gain, or into prideful selfish illusions believing they are enlightened. The world’s so called holy sites or self-proclaimed written down revelations from god are supposed to authenticate their false claims to divinity. To outsiders it is obvious they lived under a crazy distorted reality of illusion, but to those who get hooked, the lie is the truth to them.     

4. Let’s discover some of the past delusions of the so called great cultures and keep in mind the present to discover current cultural delusions. A delusion, as you know according to the dictionary is, ‘A belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary.’   The Egyptians, for example have this symbol of the dung beetle as the sacred God that rolls the sun across the sky each day.

How did they conclude that there must be a cosmic beetle in the sky in charge of the function of rolling the sun from morning to night each day? Weren’t these people amazingly intelligent and master builders with an unmatched perfection of aligning pyramids with stars? Talent, intellect, and power does not stop delusion!

I personally believe it is demonic spirits that fed these ancient ones misinformation. The obsession of Satan and his fallen angels is to subvert man away from the worship of God to the worship of his creation. The Egyptians were very idolatrous and had a half human half animal gods for everything! (Read more in Romans chapter 1). Exodus 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. The obvious is that their medicines and practices were making them sick physically and spiritually sick as well! Compare this to Santeria and other false remedies practiced today in Miami and worldwide.

They were a culture that despite amazing feats of constructions with intelligence, were totally deluded and deceived in their worship and thinking. Today people admire their structures, but recall they were one of the first to record curses, to use witchcraft, and create crazy stories of gods and the afterlife.  They invented nature worship, superstitions, ritualistic customs, and deceived many other cultures that followed them in this example throughout the ages. All anti-Christ leaders deceive with demonic presuppositions. Hitler stated that “By fighting off the Jews, I am doing God’s work”.Delusional people always feel justified their evil! 

5.  Jesus told us in Matt 24: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. God is never unjust to withhold the truth from anyone, nor does God lack compassion for those who have grown up deceived by evil and deluded by the world’s various beliefs and cultures of today. God’s plans are for the gospel to reach every person everywhere through his witnesses. God’s word is spreading through the internet.

As a kid I would wondered how will it happen that everyone will know but today we know that not just television but the internet reaches much of the world’s population. The internet users of today are about 2.5 billion (about 1/3^rd of the world) and in 20 years I have read it is projected to reach close to 100%! It’s crazy but Bill Gates and many others are giving away computers to the poor so everyone will have one. The equation is this; the truth of God is reaching many people through the internet but sadly many prefer lies and deception to the truth.

Almost everything in life has 2 uses, either for good or for evil. A knife can be used for food prep to sustain life, or it can be used to kill and take life! The same is with the internet transmitting concepts, religion, ideologies, and beliefs. Depending on what is practiced, it will serve for good or for destruction. Despite the existence of dozens of millions of legitimate Christians out there communicating, all of us know that there are many millions more seeking to deceive, rob, and enslave.

6. We find in Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

This is exactly what is happening today in almost every area of life! Deceivers, in order to persuade you to their dark side, attack the good you esteem and call it evil when the fact is it is that they are truly evil! They call the evil good, and boast its legal by man’s laws, but all they are doing is accommodating their sins. The world offers everyone all the self-destructive sins they could ever dream of but Christians recognize these deceptions as Satanic and are appalled. So what about the anti-Christ wolves in sheep clothing subverting the gospel with false gospels?

Currently, deceitful churches seem to be multiplying. I recall in Atlanta meeting pastors in meetings and some even boasted that they had gained their members by robbing sheep. How does that work? They gain others to their church not from the lost community, but from people who were already happy going to their own church. These evil pastors would tell them that their church is wrong and false and that they will go to hell if they didn’t switch to their church and doctrine!?

Take note: people who deceive quite often accuse others of what they themselves are guilty of practicing! They accuse other churches of false doctrine and yet they practice false doctrines! If you, however, live a life of holiness then lies will be revealed to you by the Holy Spirit!   John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. Do you see how delusion works on those without the Holy Spirit?

7. The ‘falling away’ of today is revealed in many churches and the frightening part is they may even accept and promote the anti-Christ when he comes on the scene! Didn’t churches do something similar with Hitler just 70 years ago? May God help us to expose churches that have become delusional accepting erroneous trends promoted by the anti-Christ ‘prince of the air’ which includes media. In Revelation chapters 2 to 4, 6 of the 7 churches were rebuked as not being worthy in the purity and holiness of Jesus Christ! We are seeing the same pattern of their sins deceiving again today as people in many churches are being cold and unloving, are accepting evil people as leaders, are accepting false prophecy, and they are lusting for money, or engaging in diverse forms of sexual promiscuity.

Every day we hear of racial discrimination, but what about how we are suffering from ‘truth’ discrimination! The problem today is the Word of God (the truth) has been disenfranchised in our satanically influenced society. The truths of God have been discriminated against and disallowed in government buildings, schools, colleges, companies, media, and even in people’s homes to the point that people today cannot make correct judgment calls on anything anymore because they are lacking in the most important information of all, the Word of God, the truth!

The last part of this verse of today in 2 Thess 2: 12 says it all, that the people were condemned because they “had pleasure in unrighteousness”. The main reason a person does not want the truth near them is because that it contradicts and convicts them of their sinful actions.  John 3: 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

8. So we are living in the time of strong delusion where truth rejecters and haters of Christians receive praises and front page media attention! The problem is we never hear about the demise of those who place a lie for the truth, and replace evil for good, so how do they end up? In the last verse we read, “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth”. This implies eternal separation from God where all the evil spirits of all time share the same burning jail cell!

If you investigate criminals in jail and what heinous acts got them there you will discover their confessions come from delusions of the devil. Many had fun seeing others in fear as their victims! Did you know there are many people who are so deluded that they actually believe they have super powers as a real sorcerer, vampire, or as Satan himself? All of these crazy people who have committed horrible acts and murders were usually influenced by a strong delusion that they wanted to make a statement of their greatness against humanity. But how horrible and unjust it is that they harmed innocent ones and did not get an appropriate punishment! Jail time does not resurrect a dead loved one! The delusion of having great power is Satan’s favorite tool! It is pride! Hitler killed innocent Jews believing he was doing God’s will!

So God is justified by allowing evil doers to “be dammed” because those under any type of willful delusion and not under the truth choose it by their own freewill and they, being highly destructive, deserve to reap what they deserve. Jesus says in Matthew 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.  People are either behaving loving like how Jesus is, or acting like Satan, and the consequences are either heaven or hell for eternity!

9. Propagators of delusion, who are obviously anti-Christ individuals, being religious, political, or criminally narcissistic mental cases, will all be judged severely for rejecting the truth of God! Basically no man can ever answer to God that he or she has never heard any truth at all. The obvious is there exists a universal sixth sense in every human of what right and wrong is, and the truth of God’s principles are universal, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.  

Practically every culture has held the conviction that to kill an innocent being is a crime that should be punished. Almost every religion promotes morality and being good. Political powers as well demand Godlike attributes such as loyalty, dedication, and devotion. Truth is purity, righteousness, justice, wisdom, light, goodness, holiness and more; truth is consistent and not relativistic having its source from God himself. Delusion, which is the lie replacing the truth, is insulting, destructive, and invoking condemnation and shame!

A final truth from God’s son: John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Being connected to Jesus protects you and me from being deceived.

10. We must recognize deceptions! We must vehemently reject all lies from the lying news media, the lies from our culture, the lies from leaders, and reject the delusions of pride our minds default to. Only the acceptance of the truth, wired deep in our brains will permit a continuing salvation from the deceitful world! We must have our hard drives erased and rebooted with God’s program or we are destined to crash and burn from our own viruses!

Everyone wants to live forever and, if honest, everyone wants love and happiness in life, and God offers this but it only comes through His truth. Due to deceivers and evil doers around us, we will never be able to live out the heavenly bliss God while here surrounded by evil people. A final judgment will be the retribution on all liars. Those that love lies and live deluded and keep wanting it that way may continue on sick lonely but with their spirit will be detained in the same hell jail as those who believed the lies of Satan like them.

But those of us who have the truth are free forever! Once someone is freed, there is no longer a binding to the cage and chain of lies and deceptions that once darkened the spirit. Pray for Jesus to come into your life and to free you with the Holy Spirit from all lies and lying influences of people and cultures so you will experience the truths of God that will leave you in awe and wonder!

Are you a part of the vine?

Are you a part of the vine?                           Kelly Durant   10-19-14

 John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (John 15)

2. How many of you have ever had a problem with a computer or TV only to find out that the problem was that it was not plugged in? That was my problem before when I was young, I was not plugged into Jesus and nothing brought me any satisfaction, pleasure, or a reason to live. This chapter of John 15 changed my life! In John today we are progressing through Jesus words to us before He went to the Garden of Gethsemane. With simple illustrations Jesus taught profound truths!

In verse 1 Jesus says He is the true vine and His Father is the caretaker, in other words, there is no other vine that is connected to God. You have heard the expression that ‘all roads go to Rome’ and the sad part is many people apply this concept to God, that it doesn’t matter your religion, all of them will lead you to God. Wrong! I discovered that the hard way. Jesus made it clear that we must go through Him, the only true vine, to get connected to God.

(Vs 2) Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. This verse is establishing that Jesus is the main part of the vine providing the sap, and each of us are like the branches and He expects each branch to bear fruit, and if a branch doesn’t he will cut it off and get rid of all those things that are getting in the way of serving God with fruits. Sometimes God takes away friends, spouses, or possessions out of our lives so we will be free to bear fruit. Bearing fruit is in Gal. 5:22 but it also refers to bringing new life to the body of Jesus. In other words, your purpose as a Christian is to bring others to the Lord, to get them to follow and serve Jesus.

3. (Vs 3) You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. You know there are a lot of people in this world that have a big problem with all the dirty stuff they have in their minds and hearts? Many millions of people have sin and addictions and they take medications to stop their heart aches and depressions. But if you are not working right chemically, medications might be alright for you, but I am refereeing to all the people who are not clean inside and have dirty secrets to hide. These kill inside! There is no medication, and no religion that can clean anyone’s spirit on the inside. You will only become clean inside by hearing and obeying Jesus Word!

(Vs 4) 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. Jesus makes it clear that if we are not looking for Him constantly every moment, if you are not close to Him, praying and living as He taught us, then we will not be able to bear fruit. If this leaf or branch here is not connected then it will dry up and die! But if it is connected over time it will grow and grow big enough to produce grapes.

(Vs 5,Vs 6) 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. The problem with not being connected is that we get dry and we become useless and God will at the end of the world put all the dry fruitless souls into the oven of the prison of hell. To be illustrative I was going to burn this branch but I decided I had better not! Fire is just too dangerous to play with and certainly we do not want to play with our souls which could be burned in a fire that never burns out, as stated in other scriptures.

4. (Vs7) If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will[b] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. This verse is quite clear that not everyone gets what they want from God in prayer, there is a condition, that we must be abiding close to Jesus! Those that are obeying God are the ones who are getting their prayers answered! (Vs8) By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. God wants to be glorified and the way we glorify God is not just with a song or a prayer, or being in church, we glorify God by bearing fruit for Him! If we are in love with God and Jesus we will have a beautiful light that is contagious and when we shine, the world will come out to see us shine! In order to show God that you are a disciple, one who follows Him not just in words but in deeds, you must bear fruit, bringing more souls to Jesus.

(Vs 9) “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. Just think how powerful and sacrificial Jesus love was, that He was willing to die a cruel death on the cross, and it is with this kind of love, this Love from His Father that we must apply to each other! (Vs.10) If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. Jesus makes it clear here that we must know His Word and do what it says. Here He is not saying we must obey the Old Testament laws, He is saying we must know what he taught, to love God and others, to preach the gospel to every creature’ and to obey Him in everything.

5. What we could conclude is that we will not be capable of knowing or having the joy of love unless we are keeping the commandments of Jesus! (Vs11) “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. The beautiful thing is that when we experience God’s love, we experience great joy! It works both ways, we cannot know joy unless we are close to Jesus.

I remember when I dedicated my life to Jesus when I was 21. I was so happy. Before serving God it was like traveling through the dessert until I finally found water! I actually remember my face hurting from smiling so much! I know I never had experienced a joy like that ever in my life! The joy we get from obeying Jesus is supernatural and real!

(Vs 12) This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Let’s understand what He means by this. How did Jesus love us? He gave up his life for us and sacrificed His life on the cross so we could have eternal life! He commands us to lay down our lives in love for each other. What bothers me is the lack of love of many Christians have toward one another! I remember in Bolivia I went to many prayer meetings with the ‘Ladies of society’ and they always had the servant ladies serving us tea. Never did it occur to them that they should be trying to win those servants for the Lord, they were often rude to them, and never would they invite those who were beneath their class. This exemplifies how we must change!

6. Real love loves everyone, no matter their economic class, race, or country of origin! And some people have a little click in the churches. They will get together with their group but they will not mix with others and that makes me very upset! I decided at age 14 I did not want any part of church anymore because I saw how the rich kids had their little group and if you were not a part of it, then you were just out of the picture.

I think it is a miracle that the Hispanics and other cultures stay Christian who go to some of these American churches. There are dozens of Hispanics in Americans churches today where they do not get equal treatment, nor do they even mix with them and become their friends. I have seen that and it breaks my heart to see there are a lot of people out there who really do not understand how the love of Jesus should be!

The good Samaritan example shows us clearly we are to love those we normally avoid, hate, and don’t like! Sadly there are many people who think they are Christians but they are not practicing this verse and I am asking you to check your heart to see if you have the same kind of love as Jesus! We continue… (Vs 13-14-15) 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. Just think, Christians are the only ones amongst all the religions that have a loving master that calls his followers his friends!

7. Most all religions demand total subjection and servitude to the leader or teachings or else you will be severely punished! I want you to read history and about religions to see what I mean! In India when the great Hindu guru dies his wives and servants had to be burned alive along with him in the burial! Horrible, right? But Jesus is our friend who gave His life for us!

He is patient and lets us sin and do our own thing until we repent, but He will purge us and give us tribulation in order to straighten us out and if we will eventually give fruit unto God, we will be blessed, but if not, we will dry up and be useless and be burned.

8. And finally (Vs16,17) 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another. This is your calling. He calls us all! How much fruit have you brought to God? Now is the time to for you to promise to Jesus your life so you will win others to Him. Some of you do not have any fruit to show God because all this time you have been doing things your way and not God’s way. God’s way is to love others out of hell!

Do others at your work or in your family see you as a loving person as beautiful as Jesus?  Or are ready for God to cut things out of your life? With Jesus it is all or nothing, He gave all and He expects all! Come…. Connect totally to Him and experience love, joy, and usefulness!                  

The Pastor Gives His Life for the Sheep

The Pastor Gives His Life for the Sheep                  Kelly Durant   10-12-14
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

2. We chose this Sunday in October as pastor appreciation Sunday. Why did someone make a special day for this? I don’t know when or how it started but I will thank God for it! Some people want honor but do not labor at deserving it. Like one time a friend of mine was with me talking with the street people about Jesus, and one man said, “Hey you, do know who I am here? I am the King around here!” My friend said, “Oh, but what matters really is not who is the king on this block, but rather knowing who is the King of Kings!” He was left dumbfounded! Church members and Soldiers can often forget about all the responsibilities, feelings, and trials pastors go through. A pastor’s life may look wonderful to an outsider, but many aspects of a pastor’s life is not very easy. I and all pastors suffer when their people suffer!
Here is a fact: Pastors live blessed busy lives but many times they have to fight being overstressed!  Some amazing classic pastors like Charles Spurgeon, considered the Prince of Preachers in this modern age, even lived with depression. Many great people of God have had many secret trials and yet they hide it from others as they do not want anyone of their sheep to feel disquieted by their own pain! True pastors only want others to feel love and intimately know the love of Jesus! A true pastor remains solid in the good times and in the bad times being faithful to God’s sheep. But sometimes the bad times can break you and bring you to tears down a dark tunnel. Dealing with people’s souls can sometimes be disillusioning and difficult as some slip away but we do not focus on the negative, we thank God for the positive, for the good getting done, and the rewards for it on earth and in heaven.
A true pastor will remain faithful to his sheep as in the verse today, ”the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep”.  Pastors get all the blame when things are going wrong, and when things are good, they often are not recognized as the ones behind the scenes making it all happen.

3. It is hard to preach on pastor appreciation because after all, I am not seeking anyone’s recognition and praises; that would make me be some sort of co-dependent, egocentric, arrogant doer of works. Instead all I want is to share with you and others the love that Jesus taught us to give! I want to give and receive love, which is what God created us all to do! Every Christian, you and me, are all in the process of learning how to love God and others more! Agreed?
All any of us can do in life is to do our job as best as we can and then say what is here in this next verse in Luke 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Glory, honor, and respect are at times qualities that happen on earth amongst fellow servants but in reality most of it is reserved for heaven. Just as when Jesus died on the cross, not many were there to honor him, but God honored Him with signs, that according to scripture, scared everyone to death by an eclipse of darkness and an earthquake. Jesus is the good shepherd who gave his life for us who deserves all the honor of all creation forever and ever!   

4. Who do musicians admire? Other talented musicians! Pastors admire other men of God who bring respect, inspiration, and intelligence to the exogenesis or unpacking of God’s word. It is important to read about the great lives of Christians past! I hope you are choosing wisely what pastors you listen to on TV or the radio because some feed you with solid food and others feed you with junk food which will make you sick.
Every denomination has been blessed with their great pastors, and in our case it is William and Catherine Booth, Charles Brengle, and the Generals. Who has read anything about them? Many Officers today are very talented, sacrificial, and outstanding and they deserve outstanding appreciation. Many Christians today admire pastors who have deep teachings and good fruit, and have not been involved in scandals or doctrine perversions. Those modern day pastors may include Billy Graham, R.C. Sproul, D. James Kennedy, Charles Stanley, Adrian Rogers, Michael Youssef, and others. The Holy Scriptures come alive for those who practice them!
Today, I want to share with you the life of an old pastor from the 1^st century, one which when I read his story impacted me and made my eyes wet! It has only been a few Sundays ago that I asked you while in a sermon to name the name of a saint, any past man of God, and only a few could name one or two. Do you recall? I did a footnote in my head to share what I have here for you today. It may be up for debate who is a saint in the eyes of God and who is recognized by men by some huge denomination, but certain stories, being undisputedly true, greatly inspire our faith. A mature Christian will read about and focus on the lives of great Christians! Those who reject all church history are willingly making their selves ignorant and they are not in agreement with our Salvation Army creeds which follows the Wesleyan Quadrilateral which is the practice of applying 1) scripture 2) tradition 3) reason 4) experience. 

5. Polycarp (AD 69– 155) was a great man of God! He contributed much to the early church and gave his life for his sheep all the way! Can you imagine how it must have been for the church members in Smyrna watching their own beloved and aged pastor burn at the stake in a Roman coliseum? Polycarp was a disciple of Jesus’ disciple, the Apostle John. Everyone loved him because he possessed the same love, tenderness, and compassion as his mentor John. Several historical writings convey his story because his story influenced countless ones throughout the centuries.
Polycarp was the Bishop (a term for an overseer, a guardian, or a pastor in the New Testament) of the church at Smyrna (a city in present day Turkey). Persecution broke out in Smyrna and many Christians were fed to the wild beasts in the arena. The godless and bloodthirsty crowd called for the carcass of the Christian leader – Polycarp. The authorities sent a search party to find him. He had been put away into hiding by some fellow Christians but the Romans tortured two young believers until they finally disclosed his location.
When the authorities were arriving, Polycarp still could have hid away somewhere else, but instead he refused to leave saying, “God’s will be done.” In Christian grace he always showed Christ likeness. Polycarp welcomed his captors as if they were friends. He talked with them and insisted they eat a meal. He made only one request before being taken away; he asked to allow him to pray for one hour.

6. The Roman soldiers listened to his prayer. Their hearts melted and they gave him 2 hours to pray. They had second thoughts as well and were overheard asking each other why they were sent to arrest him? Other authorities also experienced a warmed heart when Polycarp arrived. The Proconsul tried to find a way to release him too. He want to stop his execution. “Curse God and I will let you go!” he pleaded. Polycarp’s reply was: “For eighty-six years I have served him. He has never done me wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who was has saved me?”
The Proconsul again looked for a way out and said; “Old man, just swear by the spirit of the emperor and that will be sufficient.’ Polycarp’s reply was: “If you imagine for a moment that I would do that, then I think you pretend that you don’t know who I am. Hear it plainly. I am a Christian.” More entreaties by the Proconsul Polycarp stood firm. The proconsul threatened with the wild beasts. Polycarp’s reply was: “Bring them forth. I would change my mind if it meant going from worst to best, but not to change from right to wrong.”
The Proconsul threatened, “I will burn you alive!” Polycarp’s reply was: “You threaten with fire that burns for an hour and is over but the judgment on the ungodly is forever.” They took him to the coliseum. The fires quickly engulfed him. All the witnesses noticed his faith and joy even while dying. He was finished off with a dagger. He was buried for the cause of Christ on February 22, 155 A.D. Little did he know that it became as much a day of victory as it was a day of tragedy.

7. His death brought distaste to the Roman leadership and people because right after his death the appetite for the killing of kind loving Christians slowed to a stop for quite some time. Polycarp in all of his preaching years had even visited Rome, and with his testimony he converted many disciples of the Roman Empire.
It is recorded that he prepared leaders such as Marcion and Valentinus, who were of a great influence in the forming of the early church with Christian writings and doctrines. He corresponded with Ignatius and Irenaeus (important early church founders) Polycarp is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and the Lutheran Church which includes all Protestant denominations such as ours. In other words, everyone in all Christian denominations honor him as an outstanding testimony!
Sadly in our modern age many Christians have we stopped telling the stories of the great men of God. Polycarp was outstanding in his wisdom and witness, and in laying down his life for the sheep, of serving His Lord Jesus until the very end. Imagine, at 86 years old facing death by fire and still remaining firm in the faith! You would think he would have said just let me alone to die in peace.

8. Some of you may think, wow, what a great testimony, but is it relevant to me? Will face I ever this situation?  I am not sure I could be that strong!  Actually you can be that strong if you just remain faithful to be like Jesus every day! Just like with Polycarp, 86 years may go by (or 20 or 40 or 60) and then you are called to the test to give you last breath for Christ! If all your life you have practiced true faithfulness, holiness, and love, your love for Jesus will not fail you when that time comes! Many testimonies report that a dying grace takes over! It did with Stephen in the book of Acts7:58-60
I have felt horrible because in these past months many Christian pastors, leaders, and sheep throughout all the world, in particular in the Eastern hemisphere, have had to die for their faith! The most recent report is that there are 11 martyrs per minute happening in the world now! None of us know if we will be called by God to be a martyr or not but God’s peace frees us from worry about it. Jesus will reign forever and ever and His followers will win in the end. No matter if we die or if live, we are the Lord’s!
I have always been convicted by these verses, Mark 8:35-37  ‘For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? There is a popular song by Toby Mac, “ I don’t wanna gain the world and lose my soul” that encourages me! As long as I (and you) serve Him day to day we are saved and safe forever!

9. We are all bound by love. John 15:12-14  “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”
Everyone should have leaders in their life that they honor and respect. Some people may honor a pastor close to them and that is God’s design, but we all know in the end you do not answer to me and my wife or to any person for your deeds; instead you and I answer to the pastor of pastors, the Captain of Captains, the King of Kings, Jesus Christ!

Now is a good day to take a look at your own convictions. As a pastor I cannot make you do anything for Jesus; that has to be born from your own heart, for your love for Him, by conviction of the Holy Spirit. My role is to serve you, to build up the Corps, and connect with the community; to serve, teach, and pray. And my desire is to bring you conviction in your faith walk, inspiring you to lay down your life for Jesus, for your family, Corps, and suffering community. Let’s pray for all the world’s millions of Christian pastors today! You never know what crisis they may be facing, even dying for Jesus! Jesus, Polycarp, and millions gave up everything for Jesus and were faithful until death, may God help us all to do the same! Everyone is leading someone, right?

JESUS CHRIST , Liar or the Truth?

                              JESUS CHRIST , Liar or the Truth?

  The scholars of history face us with one of these conclusions about Jesus: He was a liar, an impostor, or He really was the Son of God! And if He is the Son of God then he really does brings forgiveness and Salvation! Let’s take a look today at what proves he was who he was. Think about this: all of today’s existing religions and philosophies cannot do us any good unless they can instruct us how to overcome death! Today scientists would like to have you believe that they will soon be able to conquer death by re-implanting into our human cells the part that wears out. They claimed that in an article in Time magazine a  few months ago. In reality they are proud dreamers that wish to get praise and worship from man and be recognized as the Gods and saviors of the world. They have made themselves the enemies of Christians because they wish to do research using the cells from aborted babies. Christians oppose that and we are labeled the stupid narrow-minded ones in the way of progress! When we defend the truth, we go against the world against what is wrong, We are either for the world or for Jesus. It’s black or white. I John 4: 5-6 dice Ellos son del mundo. Por ese hablan del mundo y el mundo los oye. Nosotros somos de Dios, el que conoce a Dios nos oye, y el que no conoce a Dios, no nos oye, En esto concemos el espiritu de verdad, y el espiritu de error.

It is not popular to claim Jesus is the truth and the Son of God. The American school system today has become an institution that teaches more politically correct agendas than it does reading, writing, and math. Most Hispanics that transfer here from other countries are about one to two grade levels above the Americans because they are learning more the basics and less about how one should think. One of the things kids are taught in school is that you cannot proclaim your faith publicly there. The truth is there are many children from Christian homes in schools but if they write a homework paper on Jesus, or witness about him in class, they are ignored and silenced. I think many Hispanics get confused here. This is the land of freedom and opportunity, but when it comes to your faith, society wants to put you into a box and not let you have your faith anywhere but in church. But those of us who have Jesus and eternal life have a debt to those around us; we must share Jesus with everyone, despite persecution and how it is unpopular!

Hispanics have a high esteem for Jesus. You see pictures of him in stores and on the buses. But Let’s take a look at what happens many times when a Hispanic immigrates into the American society. For one, they know they are a quest here. I know exactly how that feels, to be a quest in another country; I was one in 5 different countries for 14 years! You feel intimidated; you don’t want to call attention to yourself by being critical of their society and by being different. You see the good and the bad and compare it continuously with what you grew up with but you don’t know how to help others see a better way. In the US, Hispanics are often shocked by the absence of faith in the society. Personally, I believe God wants to use Hispanics greatly to get this culture back to what it needs to be spiritually. Hispanics must always stand up for Jesus! Jesus said that if “we deny Him, He will deny us”! In the schools Hispanics can be bold and witness their faith and get away with it! At work too! People here expect them to have their own customs and like Jesus said that no prophet is accepted in his own country amongst his own people. Americans will listen more to another person from another land share his faith than he will listen to another American whom he expects to be conformed to this secular humanist culture. I am counting on the fire of the Latinos to not only edify themselves but also with their faith, edify the Americans too.

Well, let’s examine if Jesus was a liar or not. Jesus identified Satan to be the father of lies but Satan would have the world believe that Jesus is the liar. The question is who is the real liar? If a person does not accept Jesus and obey and honor Him, then in effect that person makes Jesus a liar by not reverencing Him as to who He is, the Son of God. Many Jewish people today claim Jesus lied in being the Son of God, and they deny the fact that Jesus rose from the grave. The proof of Jesus not being a liar is in the many prophecies he stated that came true. The main supernatural prophecy he made was that he claimed he would rise out of the grave and He did! There are many strange groups secret societies I have come to know about that make Jesus out to be only a teacher, or guru, or something else. Those of that persuasion promote a lie and deny His uniqueness.  But Jesus could not have made it clearer when He said: I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me. In Him is the only truth, and anything that is not in Him and his truth, is a lie!

Let’s examine and see if Jesus was an impostor. I will never forget on time years ago when I made friends with a young Brazilian guy. When I spoke to him about Jesus, he started telling me that I was wrong and confused, that he grew up knowing that Jesus was an imposter. I thought, an imposter? He explained that Jesus wanted to be worshiped saying He was the Son of God and that He said and did things to fool people, but that Satan is the true Created son of God who controls everything!? Jesus, he explained, came to imitate Satan and so Jesus therefore is an imitator! I was speechless for a moment. I could not reason with that guy. His mind was made up and He did not want anything else. Like the phrase that says, most people’s minds are like cement, all mixed up and permanently set. But at least I did my part and offered him the truth that day. There actually are people out there that believe Jesus was an impostor. Some try to deny that He ever existed but there is plenty of secular evidence that proves otherwise. For example the great Roman historian Josephus: He describes Jesus well, and he describes the destruction of Jerusalem & Herod's temple, the one Jesus said would be torn down stone by stone which occurred in 70 AD. His historical accounts will turn your stomach over al the violence that occurred.

Jesus said, I and my Father are One. The difference between Jesus and Satan is that Jesus obeyed God and wanted to bring worship to God while in turn Satan wanted to be like God, he wanted to be worshiped!

Jesus was real. And He did rise from the dead. The proof is that every one of his 11 surviving followers gave up their lives to be martyrs, dying a cruel death. Would they do that for an impostor, con man, or liar?  The world empire of Rome converted because of him.  Throughout the past 2000 years Jesus has received attention like no other man in History, with hundreds of millions of followers with millions of  church buildings around the world. His followers have received harsh persecution and remained faithful. From this evidence we must conclude the following:

Jesus was the Son of God. He is the truth. He liberates us from liars and oppressors. He is the Truth and the Life!  Let’s take a moment to pray and reflect, if you have not known Jesus yet in a personal way. Ask Him in your life today!