The Whirlwind of God

Christians and Alcohol

2008-09-13T08:14:00.001-04:00

What are your feelings on the subject of Christians and alcohol? My feelings are based on the Word of God. We are to be followers of Christ. We are to imitate Christ. Nowhere in any of the Gospels do we see Jesus drinking alcohol.

So as you see, I think the answer is simple. Christians should not drink alcohol. What do you think?

The simplicity of trusting

2008-05-26T20:12:00.002-04:00

I read this status on one of the youths facebook account, "God is soo goooood! why do i not trust him more often????"

We live in a society that preaches self sufficiency. We hear the phrases, "figure out yourself," "you can do it, you do need anyone else," and "use your mind, that's why God gave it to you." These phrases may seem harmless, but the undermine our faith.

We all need, including myself, to feast on the Word of God so that we can know and experience who He is. Once we do that, we can truly trust because we know who He is and what He has done.

Abortion

2008-03-01T06:55:00.002-05:00

I have been stirred lately about the issue of Abortion. Abortion is not just a civil rights issue, it is an issue for the Church. Consider the following verses:

In Proverbs 6:16-19 we read there are 6 things that God hates,
"These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. "

We are also called to pray for unborn children, consider these verses in Proverbs 31:
"Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

More to come. In the meantime, check out www.bound4life.com

Comments anyone?

2008-02-19T13:47:00.003-05:00

Hello......

Is anyone out there?

Hello.....

I would love to hear from you.

Are you diligently seeking Him?

2008-02-19T06:20:00.002-05:00

In Hebrews 11:6 it says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

The word diligence in the original greek means, to zealously seek for something with all of one's heart, strength, and might. Another way to see the word diligence is one who seeks something so passionately and determinedly that he literally exhausts all his power in his search.

So I ask you again, are you diligently seeking Him? Or are you seeking after your own plans? Stop pursuing your own plans and ideas and seek Him with all your heart.

Manifesting His presence

2008-02-18T08:44:00.002-05:00

As I was reading this morning in "5o Days for a Soaring Vision," by Rick Joyner I came across something to really impacted me.

"To many Christians, faith is but an appendage to their life, rather than the essence of life itself. Jesus did not come to die on the cross so that He could meet with us a couple of times a week. He came to be our life. This is our ultimate calling and purpose: for Jesus to be our life so that we can manifest the life and power that is found in Him. This will never be done because we have better buildings or better programs. Our labor is for Christ to be formed in His people. Our goal is to try to present every man complete in Christ."
(from Fifty Days for a Soaring Vision, Copyright © 2001, 2005 by Rick Joyner)

I pose this question to you and I, is your Christianity an add-on or is it your life?

Consider this verse

2008-02-16T19:24:00.000-05:00

Matthew 24:14: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

Do you get the sense we should pursue missionary trips to countries and people who have not heard the gospel yet? Can anyone say the 10/40 window.

Missionary Work

2008-02-16T15:14:00.003-05:00

I need to preface this post by saying that I participated in missionary work soon after I accepted Jesus Christ. I went to Germany to work with Athletes in Action Europe. I worked a few baseball camps and assisted a local club baseball team. Other than that missions trip, which was over 10 years ago, I have not participated in a missions trip.

My oldest daughter (6 years old) told us when she gets older, she wants to be a missionary in China. She was moved by a radio broadcast of persecution in China. Every since than I have been praying about her calling. I have a desire to go to China as well and preach the gospel.

I am reading a book entitled, "Back to Jerusalem." It is about 3 Chinese House Church leaders and their vision to complete the Great Commission outside of China. The explosion of Christianity was a result of persecution not Western missionaries. This book has made me rethink my desire to go to China. Do they really need me? Not only are they sharing their faith with their own, they are sharing the gospel with anyone between China and Jerusalem.

Why do we Westerners think we have anything to offer? I believe it is pride.

Don't get me wrong, I believe we need to assist fellow believers overseas with our finances as well as go assist them with manual labor (building houses and schools). What do you think? I would love to hear your comments.

Our litte prayer warrior has arrived!

2008-01-31T08:32:00.000-05:00

Anna Grace (Luke 2:36-38) arrived on Monday January 28, 2008. She weighed 8lb 2oz and was 20 1/2 inches. The Bible says that a good is name is to be chosen rather that great riches. As we sought the Lord in prayer for the name of our baby. He gave me the name Anna. I believe that we are in the last days that the Lord talks about in the Word (that is another post all in itself). We, in these last days, are called to pray like never before. The Lord is looking for man or woman, who will spend time with Him in prayer to hear what is on His heart. Anna was born for such a time as this. We chose her middle name Grace, because we feel that God will give her the grace to pursue a lifestyle of prayer and fasting. Not only for herself but for her entire family.

Back from visting family.

2007-11-24T18:39:00.001-05:00

I am back in town after visiting family for Thanksgiving. We had an awesome time with our family. I hope that your Thanksgiving was a blessing as well.

More to come on th Beautitudes in few days.

Keep pressing on!

Happy Thanksgiving.

2007-11-21T10:24:00.000-05:00

I pray that you and your family have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Blessed are those who mourn

2007-11-20T11:16:00.000-05:00

"Blessed (happy) are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4
When I intimately encounter the Lord and meditate on His attributes and beauty, I realize how utterly helpless I really am to live this life apart from Him. I am confronted with how poor in spirit I really am.

This is not to be condemning. Those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior can rest in the fact that through Christ we can do all things. Picture it this way. Before my daughters go to bed they need to have their rooms cleaned. As I look into their room, with the lights off and the hall lights casting dim light into the room, the room looks pretty clean. But when I turn the lights on in the room, it looks like a bomb went off in their room. It seems like every toy is on the floor, the sheets on her bed are off and crumbled up into a ball and that they must have the whole neighborhood over to make that mess.

When I turned on the light (not the dim light from the hallway), I clearly saw the mess. This is what it is like when we enter into His presence. His light shines on us to show us our helplessness. He does this to bring us closer to Him.

Being poor in Spirit

2007-11-19T11:52:00.000-05:00

"Blessed (happy) are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Being poor in spirit has nothing to do with money. It is the total absence of pride, self-assurance, self-reliance and the awareness that we are nothing in the presence of God. Our posture needs to be one were we look to God for everything. In other words, I need to look to God as a husband, parent, teacher, coach, friend and every other area of my life. I need to develop intimacy with God in prayer before I embark in any of the areas of my life I mentioned above. For example, before I devise my lesson plans or practice plans, I need to ask the Lord what He wants me to teach, what type of drills I should use and how I should deliver the information. Anything short of this sows the seeds of pride and self-reliance. I would be basically saying, I have the knowledge and training to teach and coach on my own. My prayer would sound something like this: Lord, I created the lesson plan/practice plan now please bless it and anoint my words. That is dangerous ground to walk upon. I have lived my life for too long on my own pride and self-reliance. It is time to sit at His feet. We each need to develop a track record with God. The Christian life is a marathon not a sprint.

My beautiful daughters

2007-11-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

Quote from the book

2007-11-18T16:03:00.000-05:00

"The glory of the Gospel is that when the Church is absolutely different from the world , she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, thought it may hate it at first. That is how revival comes. That must also be true of us as individuals. It should not be our ambition to as much like everybody else as we can, though we happen to be Christian but rather to be different from everybody who is not a Christian as we can possibly be. Our ambition is to be like Christ, the more like Him the better, and the more like Him we become, the more we will be unlike everybody who is not a Christian." (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones p.28).

Introduction to the Beautitudes

2007-11-18T15:53:00.000-05:00

The author, D Martyn Lloyd Jones states that all Christians are to live a life exhibiting the Beautitudes. They are not reserved for a select few super Christians. If you are a Christian, they must describe your conduct. The Beautitudes are a description of our character. The intent of the Beautitudes is that all Christians manifest all of the Beautitudes all of the time. The point that the author makes is that the Beautitudes do not naturally occur in all Christians. We cannot work to make the Beautitudes part of our lives. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit and by God's grace.

Sermon on the Mount

2007-11-17T11:09:00.001-05:00

I highly recommend the book, "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" by D. Martin Lloyd-Jones. This is a must read.

I can relate....

2007-02-21T22:58:00.000-05:00

Check out this blog. I can definitely relate.

Embrace Suffering.

2007-02-21T22:54:00.000-05:00

Embrace suffering. That is what I heard the Lord speaking over me for 4 days.

IHOP here we come!

2007-02-20T10:26:00.000-05:00

My pastor and I will be visiting IHOP the weekend of March 16th. We plan on staying with a friend of mine, Chris Regan. He is in the Forerunner School of Ministry. We are also going to the one day intensive, "Intro to Healing."

Yippee, snow day!

2007-02-14T05:52:00.000-05:00

One of the perks of being a Public School Teacher are snow days. My wife and I, both Public School Teachers, do not have school today. The weather forecast for Alfred, New York is calling for heavy snow throughout the day.

After the initial excitement of being home with my wife and 2 daughters wears off, we will realize that this day off of is not really a day off after all. Let me explain. According the State Education Department, we must be in school a certain number of days. In the event of school closings the day must be made up at some point. This snow day will be added to the end of our school year. Our last day of school will be June 20th instead of June 19th.

At this point, I will take this day off. After breakfast my daughters and I will go outside to play in the snow.

"Lenses of Understanding"

2007-02-14T04:31:00.000-05:00

My Pastor, Roger Gardner at the Alfred Lighthouse Christian Fellowship, shared an awesome message a few weeks ago entitled, "Lenses of Understanding. It was about how we interpret the Word and our life experiences.

A lens is a transparent object with curvature. The lens bends light in a nutshell. I am a Physical Education teacher so that is were my understanding ends in regards to a lens. He went on to say that we truly need to interpret scripture through the Holy Spirit. We need to encounter the Word. It is not enough just read the Word for head knowledge, we need experiential knowledge.

Understanding truth is progressive and layered. It takes time. Our foundational layers are critical. Just like you would not build a house on sand, for it will wash away during a storm. Our foundation needs to be solid. (see Matthew 7:24-27)

The 5 lenses of interpretation (not an exhaustive list):
1. Personal experience
2. Faith/Heart
3. Theology or Belief System
4. Tradition
5. Maturity

How do you interpret situations in your life? The leper in Matthew 8:1-4 did not have any understanding of who Jesus was and what He was sent to do. When he saw Jesus he worshipped Him. He seems to have had an understanding of who Jesus was but he was unsure if Jesus would or could heal him. He said, "Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean." Jesus response is priceless. He put out His hand to touch him and said, "I am willing; be cleansed."

The Bible does not give us a biographical sketch of the lepers life. But it seems as though the lens that he was looking through was dirty. Jesus in His awesome leadership cleaned his lens as well as his leprosy.

Comments anyone?

2007-02-14T04:28:00.000-05:00

Please leave a comment. Let me know what you think.

The Jealousy of the Lord of Hosts

2007-02-09T04:29:00.000-05:00

I am taking a course online called, "The Excellencies of Christ," by Allen Hood from the International House of Prayer-Forerunner School of Ministry. This course is absolutely amazing.

Chris a friend of mine who is a full-time student at the Forerunner School of Ministry, took this class and said that I will change the way you look at Jesus. I thought I had a pretty good foundation of who Jesus was and is. But this class has made me see the God-Man in a new way. I am in love with Jesus more and more everyday.

In Mark 9:14-29, Jesus heals a boy with a mute spirit. The boys father initially brought his son to the disciples to be healed, the disciples were sent out with power over unclean spirits (Mark 6:7)by Jesus,but they were unable to heal him. The father being distraught brought his son to Jesus. As they approached Jesus the spirit within the boy convulsed and the boy fell to the ground foaming at the mouth. The mere presence of Jesus causes the unclean spirit to feel uneasy. This only should show us the power of Jesus. Jesus asks the father, "How long has this been happening to him?" Since childhood, the father says. He went on to say, "but if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." This man needs a revelation of Jesus.

This father is at the place many of us reside in our faith. Can Jesus really heal me? Is He able to heal me or a family member? The answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Jesus was sent to the earth with a divine purpose from His father, restore dominion and authority (Gen.1) that was lost in the Garden. It is through God's jealous love that He sent His only Son to the earth.

Jesus tells this father, "if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (v.23) Immediately the, "father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, by His word, "Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!" At His Word the spirit cried out, convulsed the boy greatly and came out of him. Did you catch that, Jesus spoke and it came out. I am not sure if you really heard that, Jesus spoke and it came out. Do you think the God-Man has compassion? Do you think He wants to heal his beloved? Read Jesus mission statement in Luke 4:18

The healing of the boy with a mute spirit should help us to see the jealous nature of God. He desires that we no longer remain in bondage to the schemes of the enemy. That all sickness and disease be removed from love who love Him. Jesus was sent to reclaim the dominion and authority that was lost in the Garden.

The Merchant Band rocks!

2007-02-08T18:12:00.000-05:00

Check out this interview with the Merchant Band
You can buy their newest CD, "The World Can't Wait."

The Necessity of Prayer

2007-01-10T06:01:00.000-05:00

I sit here this morning pondering prayer. In Leonard Ravenhill's book, "Why Revival Tarries," a few quotes strike me with such power. He says, "One praying man stands as a majority with God." He goes on to say, "God sought for a man not to preach but to stand in the gap." In talking about Elijah Leonard Ravenhill says that he prayed, "no man can do more that for God."

God does not need us but he desires that we partner with him, become co-heirs. So what is prayer and why is it necessary. What does prayer accomplish and how should one pray?

I believe that purpose of prayer is for us to get to know God and His Son, Jesus. In Gen 1 God gave us dominion over all things. When Adam and Eve sinned that dominion was lost. The only way for the dominion for mankind to be returned was through a King. No man in history would restore what was lost. Only Jesus, entering lowly as man could restore this lost prize.

I am learning that prayer is not a time for me read off my list things that I want God to do for me. It is a time to get to know Him intimately. To gaze at his beauty and to gain a little understanding of who He is and what He has done. I realize that at the end of the day we cannot really know Him without revelation. Hans Urs Van Balthazar refers to this as the ecstasy of non-comprehension. Or what the great mystics called , "Negative Theology." We can never really know Him until He returns. But it is awesome to get into His presence and meditate on Him.