^WC I am having a hard time understanding why everyone is free express their beliefs, no matter how contrary. But the Christian must censor his words. Whatever ever happened to freedom of religion (Christianity) and freedom of speech?
Author: Dr. William James Carter, I
I am a simple (though complex) person that has a desire to see all men to the foot of the cross. I enjoy preaching and hearing good preaching. My dedication to Godly matters is insurmountable as is my dedication to what He has called me to.
Part of that dedication is seen through my growing company "The Christian Perspective". While my monthly goal is my print voice there is nothing more exciting than seeing people delivered by reason of the verbal deliverance of the Word of God. As such, I am available to anyone needing a guest speaker for any occasion. So, tell everyone as we all work together in bringing men back to the foot of the cross.
On the business level, please do not use this material without my consent. Please consider copy write laws. However, if you wish to re-blog help yourself. Thanks for your cooperation.
Holiness and Mess Just Don’t Mix
Throughout the Pentateuch God shows that He demands a standard of holiness from His people. When Adam and Eve violated His standard there was an immediate consequence. The same was true of Cain who took it upon himself to kill his brother. These decided it was more important to follow after their own whims rather than present themselves holy before the Almighty God. This meant that they pulled away from God thereby setting up a “world” order that God was not pleased with. It meant that any devices that came to man’s heart would be fulfilled no matter the offense to the God of holiness.
Leviticus 19:1-2 reads, “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” This is a call for the children of God to separate themselves from the many forms of sin that were eminent in that day. There was the turning to false gods, idolatry and hosts of other things that God not only frowned upon but warned against in multiple ways from the time of man. Yet man saw reason to ignore the Creator of all and do all the evil he could imagine in his heart. But the love of God proved to be more eminent than the sin man chose to live in. God continued to urge His people to live a holy life. But, what is holiness?
Holiness is being separated and set apart from the world. It is that simple. Yes, there will be some that tout holiness as some distant, mystical aspect of Christianity that but a few are able to acquire. Yet the above Scripture shows that holiness is for all the people of God. It is not an aspect that is suitable only for the preacher and deacon but all are required not to bend to the world order rather the people of God are required to lean on the basic principle of holiness. This is to say that God called for His people to be separate and apart from the world order because He is above and cannot be touched by the world order. Therefore the people of God must not pervert the holiness of God with the mess of the world.
More evidence of God’s holiness is found in Deuteronomy 23:12-14; “Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee: For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee. Said in more modern vernacular God saying here to cover your mess. God is so holy that He does not want to see that which comes out of you. The instructions are clearly show that God’s holiness does not mix with mess.
Even so many that call themselves Christians have no problem relieving themselves and leaving their mess in the open. By this many “Christians” cuss and quickly ask God’s forgiveness even though the cussing is part of the norm in their lives. Others steal and declare that God knows their hearts. And the mess continues on with these as though there is no Holy God. The problem is that holiness and mess just don’t mix and this matter is further evidenced in Galatians chapter five. Even more the questioned is posed and answered, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid” Romans 6:1-2). The fact is that mess is nothing more than works of the flesh and those that indulge in works of the flesh will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Among the works of the flesh is reveling (Galatians 5).
Reveling, in part, is dancing in the street. Reveling historically was in honor of false deities and took place in the evening. Today many not only dance in the streets in honor of some “hero” or other reason but also bars and clubs are filled with drunken celebrations. Some may well be physically sober but drunkenness of the mind is just as dangerous. This mess is an atrocity to the Word of God and does not mix with His holiness. Our bodies are not to be used as instruments of unrighteousness, or mess, rather we are to glorify God in our bodies. There is no way to do both at the same time. The fact is holiness and mess just don’t mix.
A Word of Thanks
I am not ashamed to mention my ignorance to the blogging world. I am fairly new at it and have been learning more each time I come into the room of bloggers. Even so I made a major mistake through my ignorance. I had not complete my “About” page as I thought I already did. Well, Worn to Won showed me my error but my ignorance persisted. Then granonine stepped in and showed me the way. Thanks to both of you for stretching and growing me in the blogging world. 🙂
The guns have never been the problem. The problem with any murder is the heart of man!
Is He a Doctor Now?
I don’t usually post news reports on my blog but his is so incredible I had to post. I was also thinking what might happen with Obamacare. We really need to wake up and take notice of what is going on in our country!
loopyloo305.com: Being blind does not st
loopyloo305.com: Being blind does not stop things from happening, it just stops you from seeing it till it happens to you! ^WC
Just a Word About Ministry
It seems that no matter where we turn some are self-appointing themselves to ministry. Some are calling themselves prophets despite the fact that what they say does not come to pass and often is not predicated upon the Word of God. Others call themselves apostles even while they have no church homes and have planted no churches. Even more are simplistic in their self-anointing referring to themselves as ministers, evangelist or missionaries yet there are no signs following them, no one is brought into the Kingdom and the only missions fulfilled is the pulling together of the evening meal. Even more, many of these “ministers” are married and neglect to tend to the most important ministries of all, their spouses.
The reason the above groups are hypocritical at best is because they tend to ignore not only the Word of God but also the vows they have taken. If a minister is married, be that minister male or female, his first and primary ministry is to his spouse. There is no more important relationship other than that between Christ and the Church. As such the relationship between Christ and the Church as the example ministers need to follow in marriages. Too many marriages are falling apart in the Church because one spouse spends more time in “ministry” than actually ministering to the spouse. God is not pleased with this. In fact He is angered by those that choose not to honor His Word. Consider the words of Ephesians chapter five as it relates to marital relationships.
With this in mind consider just a few things the “minister” can do which are actually ministry. If you are on the phone with your best friend and your spouse has need of your attention the friend can wait. Hang up the phone and listen to the heart of your spouse. If the friend does not understand then the friend is not really a friend. And, do you have to go out with your friends every Friday night. What if that spouse wants to have a candlelight dinner with you? Will the answer be no? I should hope not. Wives need to understand what it means to be submitted to their husbands. Submission is a choice to honor and obey with all respect. It means not going behind his back when he has clearly made opposition to a matter rather it is giving him due as head of the house.
Now, it is certain that these words seem archaic in this modern society but much of the reason there are problems in households is because the wife often does not understand submission. It is not being a doormat but it is the intentional surrendering of selfishness in order to please the husband. It is the same thing that is required of the Christian in respect to Christ. It is not that the Christian is forced to serve Jesus rather he chooses to follow Jesus because of the love he has for his Deliverer. With this the husband is not excused from doing what is right. He is commanded to love his wife as Christ loved the church. This means that he will not ignore her needs rather will do all to meet those needs. He will not be her commander-in-chief but will be her leader and protector. His wife is not his servant rather she is his lover so that she walks with him and not behind him.
The point of this brief missive is simple: if you count yourself a minister and neglect your spouse in any way you are not a minister. You are a fraud because there is no greater ministry than ministry to your spouse.
preachercarter 