Easter: The Uncomfortable Reality!

Easter: The Uncomfortable Reality!                               Kelly Durant    3-27-16

Mark 16: 14 Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

2. How many of your went to see the recent movie “Risen”? I thought it was extremely well portrayed with much detail as it was in Jesus day. It was about the story of the resurrection from the point of view of a Roman Soldier that was sent to investigate what happened at the tomb. Try to rent it or see it, it is well worth it!

My favorite part was when the Roman Soldier found the ropes that sealed the rock frayed from being burst open. This Roman knew what a cut rope would look like, but ropes burst apart? I am sure many people in Jerusalem experienced revelations that caused them to believe in the resurrection as in the story of this soldier!

The truth is no one will respect or follow a leader once they are dead if they were an oppressor, liar, or a con. However, Jesus teachings still rules over thousands of millions even today because He was love and truth! When an evil person dies, as in the case of King Herod, the whole town celebrated! When Jesus died, many mourned but few, we observe by scripture, really expected Him to rise up out of the tomb. The first Easter, His resurrection, transformed humanity into a celebrated victory over death! But the first Easter did not exactly start out as a celebrated moment though.

3. Let’s go more into depth of the verses today. It says in Mark, “He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen”. I don’t know how you feel after getting rebuked for doing something wrong, but personally I feel embarrassed and humiliated! I would not feel too festive and happy. We celebrate Jesus resurrection today but the first encounter with Him made everyone feel afraid and ashamed of their selves.

Imagine witnessing a person die in such a horrific manner as Jesus did, and fearing the Sanhedrin might come to kill you now, but then you see the crucified Son of Man walking around with holes in their hands and feet, I think it would make any one of us so scared we would faint. It is like when you see a ghost, you feel mortified because you know it is a creature with supernatural power. Jesus showing himself to be supernaturally alive contradicted what is understood concerning reality, logic, and the physically possible!

So to prove it is Himself, Jesus appears out of nowhere to sit down at the table with them to talk. In another instance, He also ate fish with them on the beach. He took time with them but despite being undeniably in this world, they doubted in the beginning. Jesus does not like to see people afraid and doubtful and many times he repeated to all who saw Him the word, ‘peace’! For the doubters and unrepentant Jesus presence brings fear, but for those who love Him His presence brings peace! John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”.

4. To illustrate it was not such a celebrative moment at first, recall that the disciples when they first saw Jesus they were full of fear. Jesus had told them all several times that He would be killed and then come back, but it almost seems as if none of them really believed Him. Mark 8:31 “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again”.

Imagine seeing all the miracles the disciples had seen and then still not believing that He had resurrected! Remember these are dedicated followers that had given up everything to follow Jesus, they had no hopes to go back to their old life, and they saw dozens and dozens of miracles and yet they still doubted?!

It just goes to show how we cannot depend on all those who say they have experienced Jesus power to remain totally faithful and doubtless through every moment of their lives. Even the most dedicated have their weak moments but the comfort is that Jesus will still love you and receive you even though He may have to rebuke you and correct your lack of faith.

5. So take it to heart, if Jesus rebuked the disciples who were in it all the way until their own martyrdom, how much more you and I should expect to get rebuked by Jesus for our lack of faith, unbelief, and obedience! John 5:21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.

Our world today is the same as it was in Jesus time, there is a vast majority that will not even believe though there is proof that one was raised from the dead. And then there is also a large group that will not believe because they have not personally seen it. Both are hopeless doubters choosing death over life because they love darkness rather than light.

So what are we left to work with? Christians or believers that believe… but have doubts! But the hope is they will come around to have real faith and trust and obedience to what Jesus taught because the Holy Spirit will convict them.

6.  Easter then, in many ways, is an uncomfortable rebuke to the world! It is a mortal blow to Satan and his followers who can no longer reap dead men’s souls when the souls have been cleansed in the redeeming blood of Jesus. Jesus resurrection stripped away Satan’s power of maintaining a spiritual death over humans; that is if the human is repentant, believes, and obeys.

Easter, being a supernatural event, puts to the test every human mind and heart. A test usually provokes fear but after passing it, relief and peace come. It is amazing to me how many people in this life chose foolishly what they will believe in, thinking they will never answer for their actions. Read the Proverbs, they teach much about fools who refuse to fear and honor God, and their own destruction comes by their own choices.

Easter is a reminder that Jesus rebuked the doubting followers! Year after year during these special moments of celebration we must face the fact that some of our Christian brothers are not living pure repented lives displaying that they truly fear God, believe His word, and obey. Once you realize Jesus is alive and present in the here and now through the Holy Spirit speaking in your mind, it will make you be afraid as the 11 disciples at first were!

7. The most foolish thing one can do in life is to doubt something that gives you a win win situation such as is the case in believing in the resurrection of Jesus. If you and I simply accept and believe then we can be sure that we are saved by faith: saved meaning saved from the judgement for the wrongs we have done and also saved from a second death (spiritual one) and be resurrected. Romans 10: 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

What have you got to lose by proclaiming Jesus as risen except losing a dozen worthless prideful friends who are materialistic atheistic self-lovers? Start talking about Jesus to everyone you know for a week and see how many still keep you as a friend! They will be a good friend indeed if they are brave enough to allow your light of Jesus to shine in their darkened heart. I lost a few dozen so called friends at age 21 when I got on fire for God, yet I have gained thousands of trustworthy loving Christian friends in dozens of cities in return! You here are my friends that I never would have met if I had not taken the path of proclaiming Jesus risen.

The resurrection is real as 2 billion Christians proclaim today! However, if one were to entertain an idea that it were not real we would be as Paul states in I Cor 15: 16 “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” But I KNOW we will not be disappointed!

8. You and I have full trust that these ancient records in the Bible are truth and come from God’s anointed; that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and all the 11, plus the hundreds of other men and women, had a supernatural experience witnessing Jesus’ presence in His resurrected body. This is an experience you and I have not personally had but choosing to believe their story will unexplainably fill your spirit full of hope, peace, and a sense of eternity. When you believe, you inherently know it is truth and you will even die for it!

I also trust the testimonies of the millions of Christians that have lived before me sincerely having convictions of the truth of Jesus resurrection. If His resurrection was not something real, then what miserable lives Christians have lived being martyred and humiliated by most every evil government that has ever existed!

Here is a personal belief, I think that people who ask God if Jesus is really who He says He is or not, that God reveals His truth to them. Jesus in a dream revealed to me I had a mission to stop being who I was and to go into the world and save souls. And I obeyed the call! I have been reading testimonies from Christian news sources that many Muslims are getting revelations that Jesus is the Son of God.

9. Now back to our verses of today. Did you catch how Jesus rebuked the 11 for not believing (vs14) “those who had seen Him after He had risen”. Who is He referring to? That was Mary! Jesus showed his resurrected body first to her. What does that mean? It means He trusted her to be the witness to all the others and it seems they thought that she was just a woman being emotional and delusional. 

So Mary was in essence being praised while they were being rebuked. The pride of man is an evil thing. Then the next uncomfortable part is vs 15. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”. This verse, in my opinion, has been one of the least obeyed verses in the Bible. Very few Christians, dedicate their lives to travel in all the world just to preach Jesus. Thank God every first disciple obeyed! Soon afterwards every believer obeyed and went out preaching Jesus after gaining power from the Holy Ghost as we read in Acts 1. 

So doubting resurrection and not recognizing the first Easter as a reality will get you a rebuke from Jesus! Not listening to those who make you uncomfortable with the good news will get you a rebuke from Jesus. But being spiritually uncomfortable is the way God gets you and me to move out into action!

10. And the final inconvenient uncomfortable reality is vs16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” How clear is that? If you believe that Jesus lives, you will live as well! If not you will be condemned to let nature’s death take its course; it’s as simple as that.

And the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a must! John states in Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Do you feel uncomfortable? Let Jesus peace in!

The fire is what purifies our hearts and minds of all sin. It brings on the full repentance bringing us into holiness, obedience, and most importantly, living our lives motivated by God’s love! The Salvation Army’s mission statement makes it clear; we are “motivated by the love of God!”

Today, if believing that Jesus is as alive as He was over 2,000 years ago has not penetrated your doubtful heart, come and pray to accept Him in your heart and then Romans 10:9-10 will be a reality for you. You will be saved and resurrected when He returns. John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” Pray!

The First Palm Sunday and The Purge

The First Palm Sunday and The Purge                                  Kelly Durant

Mark 11:1-25

2. How many of you like crime stories? It usually begins with a piece of the evidence in front of you, but all the pieces you have to put together so you understand all of what happened. What led up to the incident? Who are the suspects involved? Often the initial evidence makes you think only one event happened, but later when you piece together all the events, things look quite different. The guilty ones at first might appear as good until we discover the bad things they were doing. Many unexpected things come out!

Today is Palm Sunday and it is a special Sunday celebrated by all Christians worldwide! At first glance praising and palms in the road seems all good, most everyone in Jerusalem was praising Jesus. Isn’t that beautiful? In places where church members cannot get palm branches they use other types of branches, or at least they do a special observance of some kind. Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem was something outstandingly phenomenal and this is why all Christians everywhere keep this tradition alive. It is a way for all Christians to relive the honoring of Jesus as the King of Kings, as the King of Jerusalem (the New Jerusalem), and as the promised Messiah from the linage of David.

Let’s follow the series of events as Mark records it in Chapter 11. There is first the grand arrival into Jerusalem, but then there is fig tree that gets cursed because it does not have any fruit? What does that have to do with anything? Soon we will see.

3. Jesus takes the initiative in preparing His entry as His instructions to his disciples were that they should bring Him a colt not ridden before. It was not customary for pilgrims to going into Jerusalem riding an animal, they generally completed the trip to the temple on foot. But Jesus always did things differently!  Zech. 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jesus fulfilled all prophetic scripture as He is the King, and the people are jubilant, He rode upon a donkey, and humility and purity were represented. At that time, Jesus knew the messianic significance of his entry and later all could see it for what it was.

The fact that the people shouted, “Hosanna!” or Hoshana (Heb) implies that they knew they were honoring Him as the Lord, as that word of praise was applied for one who would “save”, so they were recognizing His messiahship as the “Savior”! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

4. After all that praise and excitement Jesus and his disciples were hungry and you would expect good spirits, right? But they came upon a fig tree that made Jesus mad because the tree was barren, and Jesus cursed it! Why? If you take into account the Old Testament you can discover how the fig tree and bearing fruit is symbolic. Jesus spoke clearly about bearing fruit comparing it to spiritual fruit. We as Christians must have fruit good or we will die dry and cursed. Those connected to Jesus should be as a flourishing vine that produces good grapes, healthy saved souls.

Jesus was letting the world know that Israel in His day was finished; it was as a dried tree yielding no fruit for God. Look up Jeremiah 8:13 “I will surely consume them,” says the Lord. “No grapes shall be on the vine, Nor figs on the fig tree, And the leaf shall fade; And the things I have given them shall pass away from them.” That is a very clear prophecy! Matthew 21:43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”

The O.T. prophets used metaphors to illustrate what God was going to do for or against the nation of Israel. Here Jesus does the same; this event has meaning beyond its face value. When Jesus says to the tree in vs. 14 “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”, he basically was affirming that no one would ever get fed spiritually ever again by remaining with spiritually barren Israel. Jesus was the new Israel bearing fruit, and Jews, gentiles, and all nations now were the fruit God accepted through Jesus as the Messiah.

5. The destruction of the fig tree is associated with judgment as we find in Hosea 2:12 “I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were her pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them.”

John chapter 15, which was a message after the last supper, makes it clear that we as followers of Jesus are not to be fruitless as Israel was or we are worthy of a fiery judgement. 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. Jesus warns there is a purge, a purge for those who have no fruit for God.

I see a contrast here of signals here. For one, Jesus is praised in the streets as never before and Jesus instead of mentioning it or elaborating on it, makes a symbolic point that He wants to be honored not by loud praises, not by coats and palms in the street, but rather by real fruit for God! It reminds me of his words to the Samaritan woman in John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The ones of Jerusalem were not worshipping Him in truth as one week later the Jerusalem crowds yelled to crucify Him!

6. So you may by now see why I connote Palm Sunday referring to it within the context of a purge. We just covered how the next event of the fig tree was a symbolic miracle event to show God’s purge on the fruitless establishment (trees). Now let’s notice, it was right after all that praise going into Jerusalem that Jesus went into the temple of the Jews to purge it of its greediness and worship of money over worship of God.

Jesus was angered that the temple of God, where believers gathered supposedly with the intent to worship, pray and learn from God’s word, had made God’s house a lucrative endeavor. They were there not to worship God but there for the money!  He took a whip to the money changers and overturned tables and what did He say?  Mark 11:17 (b)“Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves. ” 18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.

So this is why here in our Salvation Army we don’t allow people to come in and sell merchandise on Sunday! Some churches sell DVDs and books written by the pastor on Sundays, but we don’t allow any of that. If I write a book now, it is TSA property and no royalties go to me but to TSA. This modern materialistic trend is making merchandize of the people. 2 Peter 2: 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. Some mega churches ask to see your W-2 to be sure you will give 10% of that and your membership is just to finance their luxuries! In John 15 Jesus was speaking to His followers so Christians are forewarned of judgement as well for worshipping money using the name of Jesus! He will say one day to their spirit in the judgement say to them, “I never knew you!”

7. Jesus’ purging out of the Temple is a prophetic sign that the Temple of the Jews, being corrupted, would no longer be needed or relevant. Why? Because in a short time, Jesus was going to die and be resurrected and Jesus’ sacrifice of atonement is a sacrifice that is effective for all time, past, present, future. Heb 7:27 Who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he (Jesus) did once, when He offered up himself.

No longer would there be a need for the animals to be sold at expensive prices and sacrifices be made in their Temple anymore, because Jesus was going to be the sacrifice for all nations forever! And believing on Jesus, praying, worshipping, and studying is something anyone should have cost free! Many people come to our Corps with no money and always our doors are open to anyone, and those who know me, know that I treat those who cannot support with us money get the same respect as those who do!

This purging act has another meaning as well. It is to remind us how God is a jealous God and we are to gather to worship only Him with no other interests! Through Jesus reactive actions we get a confirmation that God violently hates people who are in a temple for any reason other than to pray, worship, and study. Making money is what most everyone does 6 days a week, so to continue to desire profit on the 7^th day instead of a time out with God is an offense to Him breaking the law to keep the Sabbath holy. We are not legalistic, but God had reason for all his commands.  

8. So the initial evidence, the first event of Jesus going into Jerusalem at first appears to be the highlight of His ministry. He is finally recognized as the promised savior and messiah fulfilling prophecy being a descendant of King David. You would think that going there to get honored with palms and coats was all the picture you needed to see. The disciples and all of us forgot this: Mark 10:33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles

But as I mentioned like in a crime scene, one piece of evidence is not enough, you need all the pieces. The next two events of Jesus were those of judgement and purification. After all, Jesus multiplied fish and bread, He could have just caused figs to grow instantly on the tree but He didn’t. He wanted those who knew the words of the prophets to bear witness to the fact God will totally dry up a fruitless tree. The tree is symbolic of an organism with a central trunk and branches of followers, of a nation, or even an individual life. The disciples were astonished at how quickly the unfruitful tree shriveled up. Remember also Jesus Laments over Jerusalem.  Luke 13:34  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!

9. And after the frustration of going hungry over those who produce nothing, Jesus let explode His Godly wrath against those who were starving others spiritually using the Temple of God for their monetary personal gain in a final act of upsetting the money changers. The temple teachers were useless being, “Blind leaders of the blind” (Matt 15:14) seeking wealth from the people that they were exploiting in the name of God instead of teaching everyone about the love of God.  

Not long before Jesus crucifixion he said this to the hypocrites: Matt 22: 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Jesus hates hypocrites who rob God of souls!

So on Palm Sunday here is what we understand: 1) that Jesus is the Son of God, the savior of the world that takes away all sin and praise and submission is due Him; 2) that Jesus will not tolerate and will judge those who produce no good fruit for God, 3) that Jesus gets violently angry when the supposed people of God exploit others for their own material wealth profaning intended places of worship.

10. In conclusion, we know now that many of the praises heralding Jesus were hypocritical as they cried out to, “Crucify Him” a week later. This type of hypocrisy is hard to deal with as the false worshippers sing praises while in church and then they will curse the person who will not let them turn out of the church parking lot! Ask yourself, have I ever been a hypocrite in my worship of Jesus? Do I praise Him always no matter the circumstances, good or bad? Do I praise Him with a clean and honest heart? Praise is not just a “hallelujah’ or a ‘Hosanna’, praise to Jesus is a lifestyle of love and service to God!

We can observe today that many churches and religions do not have sweet fruits to feed the followers, but rather they gather thorns with rude and arrogant personalities. Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Matt.7:20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Each individual must bear fruit but that only comes if they are infused with the sap (the Holy Spirit) from the true vine, Jesus Christ. Ask yourself, am I sweet with good fruit, or am I like a thorn and a dried up tree? Tell us, what are your good works?

And finally, Jesus violently hated the hypocrisy of those whose God was not the true God of love, but rather Mammon, the God of money. Are you angry with the hypocrites and thieves?  You should be! There are many out there today! Imagine people not going to a temple to worship God but rather to admire and show off wealth or position and to gain wealth from church members. The replacement of God with the worship of Satan for material gain will not go unpunished. Palm Sunday brought on a purge! Ask God examine your heart and to purge you! so you worship Him in spirit and in truth, bearing fruit for Him in your life, getting clean of hypocrisy loving Him above any riches. Let’s pray… 

Lazarus Proves Life…Judas Proves Death

Lazarus Proves Life…Judas Proves Death                                               Kelly Durant    3-3-16

John 11:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. 7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

2. Have you ever passed out? Have you ever blacked out and later they tell you all the things that happened to you? It is kind of scary knowing you were not in control, right? But sometimes people still have a consciousness and they saw their body while they roamed around watching what was happening. It is something unexplained like the articles about people who have died and then come back to life. Are you aware that your brain will die only after 3 to 7 minutes without oxygen since the cells of the body need the blood flow? We really are delicate creatures and God is keeping us alive for His purpose!

Today anyone can find thousands of stories and books about people who have died and come back to life. (Here is only one link…http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/29/us/to-heaven-and-back/) I find each story very fascinating! The factor though is most of them were dead several hours and then came back, but according to science this is impossible and is a modern day miracle that anyone could ever revive! And today it is unheard of for a person to be dead several days and then come back to life.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after 4 days and that obviously was an amazing and frightening miracle! Imagine seeing a corpse walking like dead zombie coming out of the grave and taking off the wrappings on his body that for sure stunk horribly. And then after a few suspenseful minutes after Lazarus unwraps his body everyone starts to see the person they knew and he is well and in his right mind! After that miracle many believed on Jesus! John 11: 45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. (But also note the non-believing Jews wanted to kill Jesus?!)

3. Have you noticed that Jesus did this miracle of raising up the dead a few days before He was to be crucified, buried in a similar manner as Lazarus, be resurrected? Jesus wanted to show that His power of giving life to the dead could extend to anyone. He also did this miracle out of love for Lazarus and his family! And imagine this, Jesus felt Mary and Martha’s pain so much over this loss that it is here we find the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35 “Jesus wept”. Reviving a dead person is something shocking and no one had ever witnessed this before and you would think all the townspeople would have wanted to honor and protect Jesus so He could heal and resurrect thousands more! But it was not that way, later in Chapter 12 it tells us that the Jews were trying to find Lazarus so they could kill him! Imagine the gall to want to kill a man who came out of the grave! They wanted Jesus dead too!

So with miracles some believed He was the Son of God, yet others only got irate and felt threatened. Imagine those being so full of Satan that they refused to recognize Jesus’ miracles! Plotting to kill Lazarus in order to stop other Jews from believing on Him to me seems beyond cruel and audacious. But the same reactions concerning miracles continue today; those that believe simply believe by faith alone despite not reconciling the facts that a miracle is simply from God! And Jesus also said in John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Most of us have not seen a direct miracle yet we believe. But those who reject Jesus and miracles get full of Satan and get murderously angry against those who believe!

John 9:9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

4. So Jesus showed off to the world that He had the power to resurrect the dead! How great that was, so everyone wanted to celebrate with Lazarus! Once together at the dinner party, Mary decides she’s wants to be special with Jesus and washes his feet with and expensive perfume and with her tears.

That act of love in itself requires a whole another in depth study and a message for another day! How many of you have heard sermons on the washing of Jesus feet? What love, compassion, appreciation, passion and inspiration! Mary felt the need to show love in an outstanding way, to give back; she wanted to give up all her savings and life for Jesus! This is the epitome of love and generosity! Everyone could smell the sweetness of the perfume and witness her great love!

But always when something wonderful takes place, there will always be those who think they know more than others to counter it. How many times must all of us experience the opinion of the naysayers? Hearing the opinion of those who do little, but they are always ready to criticize the good of others gets old fast. Invalid opinions are the plague in the news today! One of Satan’s tactics is to downplay the facts and the evidence of the good in a person and attack with a counter alternative so that the evil one can appear better than the truly good one! (This is self-declared goodness, not a goodness by merit). Satan has always been playing politics confusing who is better than who!

5. So Jesus, like many of us who love Him, never get a break from hearing those who want to criticize and downplay the good getting done. Jesus raised Lazarus and then the news is the priests wanted to kill Him and Lazarus! The priests wanting to kill?! Jesus must have just arrived at this wonderful supper to be with Lazarus and family, and coming in the door everyone’s feet needed to get washed and Mary chose to wash His feet with a perfume and to dry his feet with her hair, radical and shocking, right? So now the next criticism now comes out of the mouth of one of His own supposed followers, Judas. Everyone should have said, “Wow, look how she loves Him!” but instead, as usual, the critical comments overtook the stage ignoring the passionate good happening.

What did Judas say? Vs. 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” Let’s analyze this a minute. Judas is seeing something worth the salary of 300 days of work being applied to Jesus feet. What we know today is that Judas did not value Jesus feet or anything Jesus taught for that manner! He was the weak link through whom Jesus was betrayed. Jesus had done miracles to feed the poor in the past and everyone knew Jesus was in control of all situations. Jesus in the past had already showed that He cared for the poor feeding them, but in this case He knew that she was preparing His body with this special perfume as if He were already a dead corpse! It was for His burial and I doubt anyone at that moment perceived it as such, maybe not even she knew it. (Amazing all the pieces that factor into Jesus life!)

Jesus did not need a coach, someone thinking they knew better than Him telling Him what he should or should not allow. It is the same in the church, some leaders are anointed and take wise decisions but just because it was not the decision some less involved person wanted, then all hell breaks loose with criticisms and, “He should be doing it differently” and “This is so wrong” spreading around.

6. So let’s compare the righteousness of Jesus with the self-righteousness of Judas and then think about how we too might be affected by the same Judaistic arguments today. Just think how unfair it is; many people sacrifice their selves and give up much if not all as Jesus did, yet there are those on the sidelines who are not giving up much of anything criticizing them and how things are done.

The pretext here was that Jesus did not care enough for the poor to give the money to Judas to administrate it so he could distribute it to the poor. So the first thing we notice is that Judas, the bag holder, had a self-interest, he wanted to give it to the poor. Why, we need to ask? Did Judas really love the poor that much? Or maybe we should ask what was going to be his cut of the deal? The scripture tells the truth on character and it is for us to learn by.

Vs. 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. 7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

7. In the world today there are many who pretend they will care for the poor better than others, but could they be full of Satan as Judas was? Their solution is that they want to take away from the rich, and the church, and even the from the middle class to redistribute to “the poor”. The problem is all of them are like Judas, after forcing others to hand the goods over, they do not give it all to the poor as they said they would, but rather they keep half or more for their selves! All the communist dictators who torture, steal, and commit mass murder always live a life of luxury and so do the thug leaders of their party. They control all the land, factories, military, and money and they only let their pawn countrymen live off the crumbs of the spoils. Judas was the perfect example of the first religiously hypocritical militant socialist.

Look at modern day communism as in Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, and any place where socialism/communism has been implemented; what happens when proud men without respect for God are in control? There is created a repressive, oppressive, corrupt Kingdom of Satan! Jesus prayed for God’s Kingdom to come, and we can see why He prayed that with all with all the murderous injustices man does. Jesus warned in John 10: 10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Here in the U.S. you may still have a little freedom of expression of faith and a little retention of wealth, but this is not so in 4/5ths to 5/5ths of the world today run by Satan!  Satan is always trying to convince others that He does not exist but He is the one who inspired Judas to betray Jesus and vocalize how He was more compassionate than Christ wanting to help the poor! It was all a lie! All self-righteous Jesus hating ‘accusers of the saints’ live to tell lies to others and they are totally deceived thinking that they are more compassionate, fair, and just than God’s people! Never believe them and expose their evil deeds! And remember, Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man. The facts prove evil men with or without religion always use their power to abuse and destroy but to live in the fear of God, to live loving Jesus brings life, freedom, and blessings!

8. Have you ever know people who joke about their self, like the amazing concert pianist who says to you, well you know I can’t really play so good? Jesus reveals this sense of humor with Mary when He says Vs. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” Jesus was not going to be there anymore? Say what? That was only true in part, as later He came back proving differently.

First point, for the words in the first half of the verse, Jesus is revealing to Judas and to everyone, that no matter how much you might give to the poor, the poor will always continue to exist, and why? Because the money box controllers will always hoard more than their share and let the poor suffer. Because the poor are often comfortably stuck in a poor cultural lifestyle! Also, the radical rebellious zealots against the establishment like Judas always try to manipulate your emotions saying, “Look! The Romans steal so much in taxes from you! You need to let me be in charge!” But the reality is zealots as the replacements, as the next controllers of the coffers, usually come in and steal all of what is left that the previous ones did not steal! I have personally seen this cycle over and over in the governments in South America. It is here as well, and worldwide!

History reveals that a true Kingdom of God system has never been established on earth (except amongst Christian communities as in Acts 2:44-45) so the conclusion is that the more poverty, the more oppression, and the more Satanic is the system is governing. Check the corruption scale worldwide, poverty and corruption goes hand in hand! A true sharing of the wealth will only happen in heaven!

9. So after Jesus resurrected, how is it Jesus says this before ascending into the heavens? Matt 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. This contradicts what he said to Mary that “Me you do not have always”. The obvious to me is that He was doing a word play with her. What He said at the time of the supper was a reality, that that particular body of His was not going to be around anymore, but His person, His presence, and His Spirit is now for always with her, and everyone who loves Him!

So what is the challenge today? To believe on Jesus power to give eternal life! To face the reality that you are going to die one day like everyone! You will not get the chance to come back as Lazarus did, but you will come back in a more glorious body on the last day of earth! John 6:40 “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” So the beauty of dying is that if you are friends with Jesus, Jesus will resurrect you from the grave no matter how many days or years dead you are!

Another reality in life while proclaiming this faith of Jesus and of the resurrection is it is going to bring on anger and persecution from the demon controlled people nearby! Many Satanic people today are just as vicious, just as murderous, as the Jewish priests were in Jesus day towards Christ believers! And they attack you for doing good in Jesus name! You have to always be ready for attacks from the self-righteous pretenders to defend the faith and what is rightly God’s. Are you praying and reading each day?!

10. And a final word of warning is that as a true Christian you need to be prepared to defend yourself from attacks from the people of the world or that come from within the fellowship as Jesus had to deal with. Many Christian churches today are sadly caving to the evil criticisms of Judas(s) invaders attacking how things are managed and even attacking the established Christian doctrines. Observe how many church denominations are getting divided and destroyed recently! Judases attack the Christian foundations or the way things are managed from within, and then they attack how the money is spent wanting control of that, and all because they have a pretentious pride that they could do things better.

Jesus raises the dead and he holds the keys to eternal life! Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”. (Jesus has this power) Watch out for people who criticize good leaders just as Judas criticized Jesus. Judas represents death, and he even killed himself! Judas like all zealots are out for their own worthless agendas (the zealots wanted the power over Rome) and we need the Holy Spirit to discern the characteristics and motives of those who seek their own gain instead of contributing to Jesus cause and contributing to the church which serves others in love for the salvation of souls unto life eternal.

I am not sharing this message because division is happening here in our Corps church, I am just warning everyone that division and harsh attacking words in general are dividing the people in society, and Christians amongst themselves, and we should be aware and forewarned of the enemy’s tactics. Always fight against the discouraging divisiveness people bring, it is like death, the death example of Judas!  

Come and pray and ask for Jesus to give you eternal life if you have never done it before! Don’t you want to come out of the grave like Lazarus? Come and pray and ask Jesus to give you the passionate generous love that Mary had for Jesus! Are you full of an intense love that just gives up all for Jesus? Come and confess it if you think you have ever been a mouthpiece of criticism against a good leader. Much was taught and needs to be learned from these days just right before He gives His life on the cross, but ‘remember’, then He came back to life with the power of resurrection and eternal life to grant it to anyone who seeks Him and He is with us always! Even to the end of the world! 

Is Your Theology Oppressive or Liberating?

Is Your Theology Oppressive or Liberating?                                                         Kelly Durant

Peter 1:1615 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

2. As time goes on usually there is progress and advancements in most things that make you wonder, how did people live before? How was it done in the old days? For example, for transportation for centuries people rode in carts drawn by horses, but then the first car was made. It was complicated and uncomfortable with several gear shifters that had to be pulled to drive it. You also had to get out and crank the front of the motor to start it, and it would not go much faster than 40 mph. Today however, any modern car is luxurious by comparison with air conditioning, automatic windows, sound systems, gps systems etc.

So everything has a progressive science behind it and today I will comment on how the same can be attributed to theology. When the first apostles evangelized Jerusalem and all Judea, as in the Book of Acts, the men preaching had no background study in theology, no diploma from a Christian University, and some could not even read or write very well. Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.  The conclusion here is being with Jesus and having the Holy Spirit does through you and me what mere education cannot! Their obedience brought them power and liberation from the oppressive, hypocritical, condemning religions of their era.

As a matter of fact, for hundreds of years later most followers of Jesus never got to read what you get to read in the Bible today, they only had a few of Paul’s letters copied, and maybe some had the books of Moses, and others had possession of other Jewish writings as discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls.  So today we are privileged to have the Canon (Bible) prepared as we do now backed by dozens of thousands of intelligent theological material. Also the knowledge of ‘good and evil’ is augmented and anyone can “google” to read books that were prohibited from the Bible. But when you know God’s heart, when you have the Holy Spirit for discernment, you can determine why the ancients chose to ban certain books due to their inconsistencies with the holiness of God found in the scriptures as relayed from the prophets of God.  

3. After Rome was converted to Christianity by Constantine soon after 300 AD, many Christians came together to unite on the basic points of what Christians should agree upon. Many people believed on Jesus without ever reading the Bible (as the reading of the Bible was only permitted by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church) until Martin Luther, the reformer came along 1,200 years later and translated the Bible into German so that any believer could read it. The Church wanted his head for heresy but God raised up people to protect him in hiding. Many translators of the Bible were persecuted or martyred such as the English translators John Wycliffe and William Tyndale. Be thankful you can open the Bible and read it as millions before could not!

So the early Christian believers only had bits and pieces they could learn from through the predominant oppressive church stepping on the water hose preventing the flow of the truth. How many of you ever learned the Nicene Creed growing up? It was the only doctrine many Christians got to learn after it was introduced in the year 325 AD and they revised in 381 AD. The Nicene Creed is still used today and I want to review it as it is still forms a basis of theology for all Christian believers. Compare it to The Salvation Army’s 11 doctrines as we cover this, and you can conclude how for hundreds of years, millions of believers learned a fairly sound theology of faith, but it was just the basics.

  Nicean Creed: I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

                      And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

                   Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

                  And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. (Note, last sentence of 381 AD version omitted for further discussion for a later date).

4. After Martin Luther’s liberating blessing of expanding a full knowledge of Christ through Protestantism, the Bible as a collection of books written by the major and minor prophets with the disciples and Paul’s letters finally were compiled together.  And finally the Holy Scriptures arrived in the hands of any common person who wanted to read them! Christians were liberated by Luther’s more complete theology which included the ‘Sola fide’ declaration (Latin: by faith alone).

The problem was this, the established church for over a millennium maintained that salvation was obtainable only through faith in their church, and through their hierarchy of privileged elect men who placed unreachable demands upon the believers. For example, for salvation, for forgiveness of your sins, for saving a dead relative’s soul out of hell, for a series of sacraments, a monetary amount was required as a means for paying the priesthood to pray to God to convince God of doing the favor. Is it not sad how many people have been deceived by trusting their eternal soul’s fate in the power of others without ever verifying the truth of God for their selves! (See The 95 Thesis) The flawed doctrine emphasis then (still existing today!) is that salvation through Christ, or ‘faith alone’ in Him is not enough, that you need the priesthood’s blessings of their church as well.  How deceptive, right? Sola fide revolutionized Christian theology over 500 years ago! Only Jesus saves!

So Martin helped free captives from many false doctrines with the truth that only Jesus saves (Eph2:8,9) The doctrine of justification by faith alone in Jesus, is an indispensable contribution within our progress of Christian theology. Do you see how we must honor those who risked their lives to fight for the exposure of the truth in God’s Word? Many millions have died defending the truth of the Holy Scriptures being persecuted by violent deceptive ones who claimed that only they had the truth! Governments oppress truth the same way. But the more truth one knows, the more liberation one has from potential oppressors, but then persecution comes to you for possessing the truth! Today, the truth of God is being brutally oppressed!

5. Going forward, soon after this liberation of Luther the pendulum swung back into oppression again with John Calvin. Even though he had many positive things to contribute to Christianity, certain theological views he had were not consistent with an overall compilation of scripture. Here we see an example of how one verse can derail you if not thinking holistically.

His predestination doctrine states that God’s elect were chosen from the beginning, this implies that God created certain people to be predestined for salvation and some others to be predestined for eternal condemnation in hell fire. Say what? Does this not seem absurd that a God of love would create humans with the final end to destroy their souls? In other words, you no longer need ‘to go into all the world and preach the gospel’ because the elect will be saved without your sharing of the gospel.

This contradicts Jesus command of Mark 16:15 to preach to everyone! This false doctrine proves that his interpretation of that issue was not guided by the Holy Spirit, or even common sense for that matter! He was, in my opinion, on a pride trip of knowledge to show he knew more about Bible doctrine than others. He should have heeded the scripture that says in James 3:1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.  This is only one example, but in many denominations many erroneous theological interpretations exist.

6. With this doctrine in place we see the need for another liberator, correct? And who do you think God raised up? John Westley. He created Methodism, which were Biblical doctrinal basics on how to progress in knowledge and maturity, being ‘sanctified’ in the faith through holy living. He preached over 40,000 sermons in his life establishing hundreds of churches countering the predestination misconception that some are born sanctified and others are born condemned with the ‘whosoever will’ emphasis in his doctrine. We know ‘whosoever will’ from John 3:16. We know that God will save even the most horrible vile sinner no matter their past sins if they will repent and then begin a new life of Godly or holy living. This is basic Christianity 101 that keeps coming under attack and subverted. Salvation and sanctification are there for anyone but people need to learn about it through you and me in order to get it!

Satan is always infiltrating the Christian Church influencing it to be governed by oppressive leaders, false doctrines, and compromises of cultural subversions so that the effectiveness of the church is nil producing hypocrisy instead. So with a lack of ‘holiness’ in the faith visible in the people in the church, undecided observers may conclude that people in the churches are not authentic but rather self-serving.  Hypocrisy never is a value considered to be worthy of anyone’s dedication yet shockingly enough many ‘religious’ people today are blind to it. And don’t even mention to me about any holiness in other major world religions which I have studied and experienced; their corruption, abuse, and hypocrisy is worse than what you can even imagine within your limited Western mind experience!  

So moving forward from John Westley’s time, there was a fire for a few decades, but after the initial Methodist fire died out, after the first generations about the mid 1800’s a comfortable staleness set. So when there was a ‘laziness’ in the institutionalized Christian church, the Lord raised up William Booth to form a Christian Army to evangelize the world by serving and saving the worst of the worst. God seems to always stoke the cooling coals when they are dim so that the flames of Christian passion reignite to burn again to win souls.

7. William Booth created a new religious movement in 1865 that, in my opinion, has been the most effective church ever in alleviating suffering by providing homeless shelters and rehab centers, and while helping the poor, preaching to them to save their souls in the process.  Our doctrine is not much different from the Methodists holiness, but what is different is the application of it; the main element required is a love in action! A liberating holy love and compassion from your heart and mine for the needy and lost souls of the whole world! This is theology in practice proving ones sanctification in word and in deed!

So, this modern holiness movement teaches that you go through a ‘second work of grace’? Do you know what that means? It is a regeneration process of your soul. I like how it is expressed in Titus 3:5 “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,” In other words, at the moment you receive Jesus or soon afterwards, the Holy Spirit starts cleaning your heart over and over to the point that you will lose your desire for the sinful damaging things that you use to enjoy while living for the sinful flesh.

The danger we face today is the resurgence of another unholy oppressive Christianity without a liberating Christ! The church goer often attends a church trying to believe that they will go to heaven just because they belong to that certain more righteous church, or because they give money to gain the acceptance of the leaders. But take into account this was the similar condition of the church throughout the dark ages as covered earlier, and how sad it is when people barely know their Bibles and theology in its current developed state.  Many ‘believers’ often do little to obey Jesus serving as He did to proclaim to everyone the good news of God’s purifying holy love and salvation that comes ‘only’ through Jesus.  

8. Also, notice that the holiness church went through a phase (some are still stuck there) of defining what is holy and acceptable and what is not in the way of behavior, and this led to an extremist application of ‘dos and don’ts’. Certain ‘more holier than thou’ churches even declared that music played by bands in the church must be of Satan as people in the world dance, drink, and get crazy while hearing music. Imagine, this led to certain denominations making a rule of ‘no musical instruments’ permitted in the church!? The less extreme at least did allow only a piano, ha! Today, sacred dance, women preachers, and many things are prohibited by certain major denominations. So why does this happen? Holiness can be liberating, or it can be oppressive depending on whether the leaders are led by the spirit or led by the letter of the law. This narrows down to what theology is practiced.

So the problem is some Christian leaders of certain theologies keep getting doctrinally confused as to how they should enforce Christians to be acceptable or ‘holy’.  A change of heart must come from the inside, not the outside. True ‘Holiness’ will be a love for God and others so strong that it will produce a clean heart that is liberated, joyful, and compassionate.

9. I am glad the Salvation Army from the beginning believed in music bands, dancing with tambourines (which in the 1800’s mostly shunned gypsies played?!), and converting bars into places of worship! It is known some Salvation Army tunes were even copied from pub drinking songs with Christian words added! I am glad there were no strict copywrite laws back then!

So church history reveals much about God’s people, how they can be oppressive and abusive, or liberating and compassionate depending on whose theology they follow. It is as it was in the early church. 1 Corinthians 3:3-4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? It is a shame so many denominations and theologies divide us as Christians, and it is all because some are not up to date in their practice of a more complete and developed theology. It is also because Christians, despite having a vast wealth of historical knowledge available, are unwilling to read about it to learn a higher theological comprehension. 

Holiness in the end, is the love of God manifested in tangible acts! So how are you and I going to transmit that love? By living in a manner that reflects this pure liberating holiness doctrine of love, serving in order to have opportunity to win others with salvation! Have you been guilty of being a self-righteous, condemning, law enforcing controlling hypocrite practicing ungodly antiquated oppressive church doctrines?  Repent, let the Holy Spirit clean your heart right now, and ask God to help you to radically change so you love others into God’s kingdom! The more holy you are, the more Jesus conduct will be seen in you! 

Childlike People Love & Are Loved by God

Childlike People Love & Are Loved by God     Kelly Durant

Eph 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

Matt 18:4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

2. February is the month of love, and we are going to get up and hug each other right now!(pause) And here with Cubans and Latinos we can even give the ‘holy kiss’ on the cheek too! Romans 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss... (I Cor. 16:20, 2 Cor. 13:12, I Tess. 5:26) Four times we are commanded in the New Testament to kiss one another! And it is sad how some cultures don’t practice that greeting. I learned it is taboo for a Korean (along with several other cultures) to touch another when they greet! In essence I feel a bump on the cheek is a humble acceptance granting permission another person to be up close to your vulnerable face: I think it makes one feel loved, and accepted to be in your space, how about you?

How many of you get up in the morning, pray, and say, ‘Good morning’ to Jesus, your family, or dog, and then after that you feel a warmth that God’s love is in your life because he gave you another day to live? It is so hard to describe God’s love and mercy, right? It is more than a feeling. It is a faith and trust that His Holy Spirit is keeping you secure, peaceful, pure and holy, and keeping you energized with love to keep advancing in the fight of life!

Never forget your mission in life: it is to love! The greatest command is to what? Matt 22:37 Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” So, love is what we are commanded to do above all things, but who really does it all the way as God does it?

3. So how can you and I learn about love the way Jesus taught? Imagine Jesus right now with a child in his arms? That is beautiful, right? Now imagine that that child is you! That really would be amazing, right?

Jesus had a child in his arms when he said: 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus created you and all things with God, and He loves you! God loves us best when we let ourselves be like a child and that means to soften up your hardened grown-up nature. What is it that happens to us as adults that we develop all these bad and ugly attitudes to the point no one can hug us and love us like a little child anymore?

What is it about children that we love? They are innocent and sweet. They also are humble and simple and even can be funny. Jesus states that we are to humble ourselves as a child? What does He mean by that? How do you and I become humble as a child when it seems impossible to turn back the hands of time?

A child is humble due to the fact that he or she respects and obeys the parents, who are the authority over him or her. A child just submits and accepts His father’s word and will. A child is a humble because he has faith to believe all that you teach him, and he will believe you instantly, which is faith. A child will be affectionate. Also, a child will also speak the blunt truth, something that most adults are too embarrassed and proud to do.

4. Let’s reflect deeper on Jesus statement. A child is humble because he is meek and un-ambitious to control others. A child usually has no worries about their image, until later society teaches them the hypocritical values of who is pretty and who is ugly, of who is rich and who is poor. A child has no false pride or a desire for power, and especially that was true in the Jewish society in Jesus day, remaining this way in most cultures today.

How are healthy normal children? They are usually playful, laugh, have fun, and they are by nature loving and forgiving.  So what do you need to work on if you’re going to become humble like a child?

It means you must force oneself to be more innocent, loving, and happy. It means you and I will be obedient to God, not proud, but simple to accept the unconditional love of God without question and spread it around to others.

5. Do you recall another statement Jesus made about children? One verse before the one of study today. Matt 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. So being humble and being like a child determines if you will go to heaven or hell! That is very serious!

God is love and is as meek and humble as a child, so the elimination of pride along with innocent belief go hand in hand for salvation!

Try to strive to be humble and childlike in your Christian walk and see what happens. The simple and sweet people seem to easily connect with my wife and I and we all get along well. But the only problem is when we encounter arrogant people. Even some so called Christians can be arrogant. They seem to interpret our meekness as implying we are simpletons or ignorant for being so nice loving the simple people. And sometimes you and I must hide our real nature acting harmless as doves, knowing inside that we are being wise as a snake in order to deal with the vicious poisonous pride of another person who may be challenging you.

 

Many people Regina and I meet have had hard lives, we feel the pain in their stories, and often I just want to hug them and tell them, Jesus is going to heal you with faith; it is going to get better! Compassion and love for another will move you. Real love in your heart begins with Jesus. But do you or I even get that chance? Not often enough! Pride, disbelief, and sin are walls that people build up around their selves to protect their damaged hearts. How sad it is when a person will not allow in an innocent childlike love!

6. Some people can be described as turtles that retract into their hard shell when they meet someone who is getting too loving, personal, and too close! They will not let you love them with a prayer and a hug because their pride gets in the way! They do not want to allow you to see their fears and worries.

Here is the mission you and I have: God wants to love everyone through you and me! We can do our part but the other person must be willing to be humble to receive it! You and I and you must go the extra mile and love all people despite how unloving they may be. We must model love and humility first! Prostitutes, drug addicts, and everyone no matter who need love but often they only get criticism from those who do not love as Jesus enough.

Jesus wants everyone to start life over by being like a child and even being reborn as a baby. He said we must be “Born again”, meaning one must make one’s spirit as clean and blank as a new baby or child! A child learns everything from the beginning; now that is humility! Read John 3:3

7. Jesus command that you and I must go preach the gospel to every creature (Mk 16:15) is humbling and actually very few of His Christian followers ever obey this to the full. I want to confess I felt like a baby or a child when I could not even speak a word of Spanish or Portuguese out on the mission field. I had to pass dozens of moments of embarrassment every day babbling like an idiot just to communicate.

I know what it is like to feel like you are a child, and many of you here do too, having to learn to talk all over again. I was determined to be able to learn to speak so well I could share the Bible with anyone and get them saved and to get them to be a disciple of Jesus Christ our Lord! And later I even had to learn sign language to talk with deaf people! Why don’t you try being deaf sometime and not use your mouth and see if you can get others to understand complex abstract parables. The Lord answered my desire to learn, as is in the promises of His Word. Ps 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Love for what you do will bring success!

People are not always kind when you tell them about Jesus. One thing that came to my mind over and over back then was that I needed to have enough love for the people that I possessed the quality of longsuffering as mentioned in Eph 4:2. “Love suffers long”. Love, I have learned, is not just good vibes and passion of the flesh as our culture often defines it, but rather love is an enduring quality that is willing to suffer in its process of doing good. Love means you are willing to be remade into God’s imagine being like a little child.

8. God can make you humble like a child, if you ask Him to! Have you ever asked Him for that? Everyone has to become as a child in their faith and walk with God or they are useless to love anyone! Children want love and children give love, so it is best you and I get started today before your heart gets hard as a stone! Claim this promise…

Ezekiel 11:19 “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh”. I feel a pain and sadness for people who need love with a cold heart and love should you feel their pain too. Some of you here in the Corps need more love! Is this not a true statement?  

Do you know how it is with pastors and spiritual people that God gives gifts to? You have a spiritual gift, what is it? Often those with the gift of discernment see many things that are inside of others just by looking in their eyes. We want to help but often we do not get the chance to pray and communicate more about it because they avoid us because they perceive we know. The bottom line is you and I must be more loving and sensitive to everyone so we can give love to even the most hurting and undesirable person. 

9. Just a reminder, no one, not me or my wife are supernatural and there are times we miss perceiving you or someone’s needs for attention and love. But consider that Jesus expects you and me to swallow our pride and speak up when we have a need. We must tell God and others. He expects you to pray and talk to him and share with your Christian brothers. Remember how children have few inhibitions to cry out when they need you. 

Ask yourself, am I proud, self-sufficient, and hurting inside and hiding my pain like the turtle in his shell? The greatest mission we all have is to be like Jesus! How was Jesus again? He was pure love, pure communication to heal the pain of those who would let Him. We strive for this pure state of being humble and simple because God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.

There are suffering people that you and I know who have not yet discovered the joy of releasing it all to God being humble and feeling the arms of Jesus around them being loved as if they were a child!

10. Jesus is expecting you to over and over be like a little child, and in learning lessons of love this month, the love of a parents and children is one of the purest forms of love. When you learn a submissive love, a submission to your Father God only then you will be able to understand and practice a deeper love with others. Love is a bond made by faithfulness and kindness to another. Real love begins at a humble vulnerable point like a child growing up and then it develops into maturity to care for another. Are you striving to be as loving as Jesus? Decide today to be great in the kingdom of God by loving God and others!

The challenge today: to love more! Love is everything! Every person we win to the Lord is like a new born child into His kingdom. In the church when you make friends with a new person, I want you to adopt then as if they were your own child! Everyone should have children in their lives, especially spiritual children that they (you) are discipling for Jesus.  

So the greatest thing God wants from you is lovingkindness (which is pure holiness)loving Him and others. It starts with humbleness. God renews all hearts with love! What does a revived heart look like? It is a vibrant one, loving to all with not prejudgments, full of life and spirit, and overflowing with love for God and all people! Ask God for the heart of a child before it is too late! 

In The World of No Love: Love!!

In The World of No Love: Love!!                                     Kelly Durant

I Cor.13:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

2. How many of you recall in your growing years falling down playing basketball, soccer, or having some accident and you got really hurt but no one was compassionate enough to come to your rescue? The others yelled at you, “Hey, get up crybaby and keep going!”, but what do you do when the pain is so sever you actually are paralyzed? We are reminded in many ways we live in an unloving, uncaring world full of indifferent people every day!

After you catch your breath you sit it out for a while and think about how you felt abandoned for a moment, how the game just kept on going without you, of how you really were of no concern to anyone as the game in the midst of the war battle was more important than you or your life and your pain. How do you respond to the “no one cares for me” reality as you experience pain in your life’s events? Humanity exalts ‘the systems’ of their inventions above life, while God loves His living creatures above all and not even a sparrow falls without him knowing! Matt10:29 He even knows how many hairs you have!

The good news is Jesus cares and you can feel the Holy Spirit inside you when you ask for it! The good thing as well is, our bodies usually do heal and they hurt a week or a few months but then get mended. You put ice on the bruised leg, but what can you put on the heart when it gets hurt? Who around you will take time with you to listen to you to love you authentically giving you hope to heal?

3. Many pains and cuts leave a scar and you and I are reminded of the pain until death what happened. But what about the scars on the mind and soul? What do minds and hearts look like with scar tissue? We know. We see the behavior of the wounded everywhere! Now focus on yourself, can you identify your past or present pains, disappointments, and moments of abandonment with no love? Many people are blind to them! When was your wake-up call that you live in a world with no love? The worst pain of all in life is the one of realizing that you are not really being loved by someone you counted on! There is the what was done to you factor, but what are you doing?  How much love do you give anyway? You know how reaping works, to get love, you must sew and give love.

So when was the first time you felt unloved? I bet many of you who are Christian cannot even recall that well because God has healed you of that pain! But I can tell you this by experience, I am sure many of you felt deep hurt after you had loved, sacrificed, and given your max to someone close and then you woke up one day to see that this person(s) did not appreciate and love you back in return. Jesus said, Matthew 10:36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ That is the pain God feels: He gave His Son to die for us and a vast majority of his created humanity are prideful, unthankful, and unresponsive to His great love!

To appreciate love, God made it so that you and I have to experience this unloving world full of no love! God’s love is an oasis in this world’s horrid desert! It was not God’s original plan to have to allow people to learn this painful lesson of being rejected and unloved (as Jesus was), but this is the predicament our past forefathers put us in, and we cannot change the people of the world’s past sinful destructive practices. Only with the love of Jesus can we change our present! What we can change in the world is those around us and our own heart and mind with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus reshaping our thoughts, character, and actions as He heals our pains with love.

4. I just spent a week in Bolivia last week and I was reminded by my sister-in-law something I said when I left back in 1981. I told her after 3 and a half years there I was done with the unreceptive people of Bolivia! But I actually went back to stay another 3 and half more but in La Paz! I was angry and disappointed then that few people would convert to become true Christians instead of being Christians in name only. The only real disciple converts I got from Bolivia was my wife (and kids!)  But there also was my sweet sister-in-law who still brings tears to my eyes when I remember how she tried her best to grow and read the Bible. She did grow spiritually and progressed materially as well but now she tells me she has a broken heart like mine, sad that very few convert to authentically love and serve God. There are a few others in my wife’s family on fire for God though, and I got filled with hope from them! God’s love is alive around the world despite the selfish survival mode people live contributing to this world with ‘no love’.

I identified then, and still do now, to Jesus words, Matthew 11:16 “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, 17 and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.” As a missionary I used to give out gospel tracks in the markets, I use to play guitar and sing songs to the market venders and to people in the jails, hospitals, and orphanages. I loved the smiles on the children’s faces and that was a special time in my life. But deep inside I was heart-broken and frustrated that little love for God was returned, few chose to serve Him, but only a little repentance took place. What stubbornness!  I have often felt like Jerimiah who preached for many years and no one repented!

Many people I met were content to excuse their sinful life of excessive partying, adulterous affairs, binge drinking, coca use, extreme greed and arrogance, and the continual excuse that they did not need to know God any deeper because they believed in their own way or went to church (which was usually only once a year!) So where was the all so powerful dominating church in correcting the unloving destructive ways of these resistant people? Imagine Bolivia: it is as most of the world. It has high poverty, crime, and families divided and destroyed, and no one seems to care?! Where is the love? Where is the disappearing love in this country too? No love means no respect or values, ‘no love’ means hell on earth!

5. The message I had for Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and have for Hialeah, Florida today is what works, 4: “Love suffers long and is kind,” I can tell you now I have meet too many people who are not kind to their neighbors and their own family members, and this lack of love has created deep scars and pain! It is a global epidemic!

But because I love God, I make myself be kind anyway! I have suffered greatly by the indifference and rudeness of others and only because I love God, pray and read every day, have I been able to remain kind through it all! For one, everyone has to at some point forgive offenses. Jesus taught us to pray that in the Lord’s prayer: to forgive offenses! I can’t say to anyone anymore as I did before serving God, “Hey, You go to hell!” With God’s love I humble myself and control my anger and say, “Hey, how would you like to go to heaven? Do you know Jesus?”

How tragic in life that many people usually do not see their own unkindness and sin: that they are not reaping love and kindness from others in this moment in time because they have not sewn love and kindness in the past. Basically the ignorance of not knowing and loving God and being kind is killing their ability to ever obtain love and have peace!

6. Have you noticed that politicians gain power from the people claiming that the financial divide of rich and poor is over race and the privilege of some (which they will fix of course.. yeah right, they haven’t yet!) These deceptive words are nothing but propaganda to feed the monster of the inner demons of envy and hate. Carnality and anger are opposite the spectrum of love’s values.

Vs.4:”Love envies not”, who is mature enough to not have envy? The anger between the haves and have nots is very real everywhere. Friends and families divide over who makes more money and who does not. Envy is manifested in political choices with the hope of gaining more from the haves. Some gain for a while, some lose due to poor choices, and this is just life. But to live with envy will kill you! Satan uses human weaknesses to achieve more control and destruction!  

Often when kindness, generosity, and love is shown to a person who is contaminated by this unloving world full of greed and envy one finds that they interpret the gift as indebtedness and dumbness on your part. The factor is, what have you done with your life in the way of being wise, prudent, and blessed by God? Some people refuse to accept that another has gained more than them by merit with God! Envious people are continuous complainers that have not learned the value of loving, of even loving your enemies. How sad and bitter are many.

7. “Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;”. This part refers to remaining humble even though you may be a loving, blessed by God person. This unloving world is made up of pride and most of the time people parade their good deeds only for shallow praise from others. Self-praise is arrogance, that ‘I am’ so good.

Love given to a person who does not have a heart like Christ’s can become an ego-centric thing.  Haven’t you always hated it when someone you know met a famous singer or actor and they were treated indifferently and rudely by them when they said, “Hi”? Be careful who you love! Even though many people may love a certain famous singer, politician, or person, this does not mean that they will get love back from them, or that this vain one will give love to anyone!

Also love, 5 “does not behave rudely,” The world is becoming more and more rude, have you noticed? Matt. 24:12 “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold”. It is up to us to keep on showing love despite the increasing lack of love and rudeness everywhere. Fight rudeness with kindness!

8. And finally we have 3 commands, 5,”does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;” Those who love with God’s love should never do anything with self-interest, that is to seek their own gain in something. Love just loves no matter what may come back or what may not come back.

Love ‘is not provoked’ implies that you do not make a big deal out of how offended you are over stupid words or unkind actions. If you have love, you will just let it go, but in some cases you may need to stand up to defend a Godly cause. It basically means you are not a sensitive crybaby making a mountain out a mole hill but have enough maturity to not let your angry emotions take over your actions. There are too many in this world who immediately allow their emotions to govern their actions!  Be controlled by God’s spirit of love instead!

‘Thinking no evil’ implies not seeking revenge on those who have wronged you or not loved you as you expected. We should never desire evil to happen to anyone! To the contrary, however, do not allow yourself to be abused over and over by someone! You must love yourself too, and if someone is harming you so much you are thinking evil like in dreaming of killing them, then you have to repent, give it all to God, and get as far away as possible from that person with ‘no love’!

9. Today I am challenging you to mature in love! When a person gets authentically full of God’s love they will become so loving, so dedicated to others, so kind and forgiving, and so selfless that the only thing they can see their self doing in this life is serving God!

I feel so sorry for so many people I meet in life! I can tell by their words and by their faces that they have never felt the intense amazing love of God deep inside! The fact is few people repent and give up their sins! Each person decides to accept God’s transforming love or not. God’s love in one’s spirit is best described (my opinion) as a person crazy in love or high on drugs! Remember how the town’s people thought God’s people were a bit too happy and crazy as in Acts 2: 15 “For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.” It was the Holy Spirit giving them the power of love to preach the Good News to all the different races and people.

The first disciples filled the ancient cities that had a ‘no love’ religion,  with love. Millions of Salvationist Soldiers and Christians worldwide keep spreading this same overwhelming emotional amazing love throughout the world! You and I have the task of filling the world void of love with love! Love is supernatural and will cause you to live by the I Corinthians 13 values we covered today. Do you feel called to love God more, even to the point to serve Him full time? Love heals scars and pains! Come now and pray!