THINGS WE DON’T TALK ABOUT!-LESSON 12
HOW CAN I RECEIVE MY HEALING TEACHING SERIES
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Tonight, we are looking at “THINGS WE DON’T TALK ABOUT”
Let me make some opening statements:
This is a Healing Ministry but that applies not just to physical healing, but of the spirit and soul. I guess you could say it this way. My major is Divine (Physical) Healing, but I also have minors in the following areas: How to Receive Power and Build yourself up through Receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Speaking in Tongues; How to be Set Free from all Addictions; and Discipleship Evangelism made Easy. These areas are dependent on two things: Learning how to Develop an Intimate Relationship with God and Meditating on the Promises of God’s Word.
If you Christian and hold God’s Word-the Bible as the Gold standard-the litmus test then you will readily accept this. If you are not a Christian, I hope it will plant a seed. If you claim to be a Christian and don’t use the Word of God as your source then you are saying that I put my feelings and opinions above the Bible. If millions have put their faith in God’s word successfully now and for hundreds of years. (time-tested and you say well I just this is how I think about this-then in effect you are saying you are God. You make the rules!
I am not going into depth in these areas. Many Pastors and Teachers don’t walk to talk about these questions because it will bring persecution on them. I was one of those. God has called me to boldly proclaim God’s Word and I intend on doing just that. I will also state if this my opinion based on the Word of God. I will share what I think is right in this area but you must decide for yourself. I base this on the principles of God’s Word and my experience and asking the Holy Spirit for insight into these areas.
So, if it is the Word of God, if your claim to be a Christian, you must comply. You can’t pick and choose. You can’t put your opinion over God’s. You will lose that game.
Sadly, most will not bend the knee voluntarily to truth in this life but will be forced to bend it in the next. Weigh what I say against God’s Word; pray about and think about. So here we go!
1. What is Sin? Does anyone even know???
Sin in the original language (Hebrew) means to “miss the mark.” So, while what comes to our mind is probably obvious signs that you can see from the outside like:
(murder/adultery/stealing/lying/smoking/drinking/etc.)
And we don’t consider attitudes of the heart: (pride/hatred/self-centeredness, etc.) We should look at ourselves and let the Holy Spirit help fix ourselves. I think a healthy balance is this” I know that by Grace through faith that God loves me and has forgiven me and I am heaven bound and there is no condemnation in him but at the same time I am pressing toward that mark to know him intimately and to touch others because I want to strive to Love God with all my heart and my neighbor as myself. I believe that is a good balance.
1. How should a Christian treat a person who is gay?
With kindness as you would any straight person.
2. Are gay people born that way?
This would also apply to transgender, cross-dressing, etc. That is what the Bible is referring to when it says the effeminate.
Remember this. In Ephesians 6 it says we don’t wrestle with flesh and blood but with demonic forces. The devil is always trying to influence mankind to go against God and his ways.
So how do you know if you are a male or female: I am going to be blunt: Follow the equipment-the plumbing. It should be the rule of thumb for gender identity. What you are born with is how God made you and you should follow that and not try and change it.
We are so afraid of being politically correct that we have become blind. The reason when you see two men or women kissing or dressing or acting like the other sex and it bothers you is because God has put a conscious in you and it must be hardened to say that this is right. Even nature tells us that is wrong. What one generation condones the next practices. I have had talks with young people and told them if they lived fifty years ago they would have great reservations about abortion for instance. Most of them don’t get it. It just bounces off.
What does the Bible have to say on the subject; after all we can’t go by our feelings or by how we think things should be handled. I honestly believe that most people don’t read the Bible at all or enough or ignore passages they don’t like. I can’t you if you are going to that. God can’t either. We must embrace his Word.
As an instruction manual shows us how to fix something and is the final word on the subject the same is true with the Bible God has put his Word the Bible above his own name and if you pick and choose Truth the Bible warns us not to do that.
Romans 1:18-22 has this to say on the subject:
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, [in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their woman exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature and men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”
By this portion of Scripture, we can make several statements.
It’s obvious that homosexuality it wrong! Think about this from Sodom and Gomorrah to the New Testament writings God never approves or condones homosexuality (being Gay). It has now become a political correctness to support this lifestyle and this shows to me that we live in the end times.
So, are people born gay or is it a choice? Think about this. If you were born that way it would be barbaric of God to judge you for how he created you, but you are not.
Verses 27,28 say this “their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men”
So, what is the bottom line: God’s Word says they exchanged-natural relations and went contrary to how he had created them and it also states that God gave them over to their lusts and their minds became debased (lower thought process)
“they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (SUPER IMPORTANT) *****
I want to make this point clear. God made creation a certain way. God wants those who want him. When you worship creation more than the creator you don’t know God. People are not going to hell because they are gay, they are going to hell because they are sinners just like all people all before knowing God.
They refused to accept Jesus and obey his Word-the Bible. People are going to hell because they are sinner and being gay is just one of them. I do believe the reason it is mentioned specifically as are some other sins is for this reason. People would say yes, I am gay and I am a Christian. That combination does not exist. You must accept Jesus and serve him on his terms. The Bible’s instructions require obedience or you rebel and make up your own rules and go by your feelings or opinions. Then when you die you are in for a terrifying reality.
That is why I am warning you now! Because God loves you and so do I. It would be much easier to say nothing but that is not love. FOLKS LET ME MAKE A STATEMENT THAT I THINK IS SO IMPORTANT I THINK MOST PEOPLE AND SADLY MANY CHRISTIANS DON’T READ THE BIBLE AND DON’T KNOW WHAT IT SAYS AND DON’T REVERENCE IT; SO, IT’S WHATEVER IS COMMONLY ACCEPTED OR SOUNDS GOOD TO THEM IS THE TRUTH. IF THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD ISN’T IN YOUR HEART YOU WON’T KNOW GOD’S TRUTH!!!
3. Do gay people go to heaven?
So, what does the Word say? (I Corinthians 6:9.10)
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."
4. Is Abortion, ever right?
Background: Roe v. Wade began the Law in 1973 in America. Before that it was against the law to have an abortion. This was presented as an alternative to back alley abortion that were illegal. There were butcher shops and many women would die. I am sure that happened.
It was a different time and many women would have been shamed and sent away or even disowned by their families. Norma Leah McGarvey Nelson was the young lady from Texas that was in that landmark case. She felt she was used. Years later after becoming a lesbian, she became a born-again Christian and would be an outspoken person for the Pro-Life movement. She also renounced her Lesbianism. Which again shows you that choice is involved.
I did some research on this a few years ago. I was surprised by not shocked. Basically 95% of abortions had nothing to do with the mother’s life or rape or incest.
They were what I call convenience abortions-after conception birth-control-which contrary to popular belief is murder.
Now I realize some people think life starts after a baby is born. There are all these arguments about when the limit should be to terminate a pregnancy. Is it third-trimester or partial-birth?
The sad thing is once you open that door a crack; it will be pushed open with thousands streaming through it. We know that approximately 1 ½ million babies are aborted each year. We, in America, have abort in over 58 million. That is 1½ times the populations of Canada.
When does life began??? (Psalm 139: 13-16)
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when yet there was none of them.””
The only three instances where there may be a legitimate question about terminating a pregnancy are: (where the mother’s life is at stake/rape and incest) I am not a woman so I don’t want to venture there.
I am sure those contradicting feelings must be unimaginable. But I think if I was in that situation I would keep the baby and give it up for adoption (turn a bad thing into a blessing). I think the woman would feel worse in the short-term and better in the long-term about this. When it comes to saving the mothers’ life that is between God the mother and the doctors input)
I want you to know something; If you have already had an abortion(s) there is mercy from God available for you. He loves you can heal all those hurts at a heart level if you will just let him. There will always be a scar there but you can use your scar after the fact to help another woman.
5. Does it really matter what version of the Bible I read?
This ought to make people mad, that is not why I am doing it. Does it matter? Yes, it is very important which version you use.
There are three types of Bibles: Word for Word; the Thought for Thought; and the Paraphrase.
The Word-for Word is the most accurate but can be a little harder to read. The Thought-for-Thought is less accurate than the Word-for-Word but is usually at a lower reading level and therefore easier to read. The Paraphrase is the least accurate and maybe very colorful and seem to be fresh in wordage.
Here is the first rule of thumb. If it is a paraphrase; such as the Message Bible and the old Living Bible it’s not really a Bible. If it is written by one person, that is a red flag. Good versions of the Bible are written by numbers of scholars working together to insure accuracy. I wouldn’t read or use them-period. I can’t imagine trying to take my authority out of a promise in the Message Bible. I think what happens is people with good intentions write these paraphrases to appeal to perhaps younger reader or newer Christians. The problem then becomes two-fold. One you don’t have anything resembling an accurate version of the Bible and two someone like me must come along and tell you that you should give up this inaccurate paraphrase for something better. And you like that paraphrase and you don’t really want to give it up.
Second is the Thought-for-thought. The NIV or New International Version is probably the most well know version of this. But again, it has the draw back that it isn’t Word-for-Word and leaves out major important verses of scripture because it is above the reading level. The NIV Bible is a bad trade-off in my opinion. Don’t you want something accurate?
They many examples of each of these three types of translations: just Google them to find out what is a: Word-for-Word; what is a Thought-for-Thought (sometimes called Dynamic Equivalent) and what is a Paraphrase. Remember no type or translation is perfect; but don’t you want a Bible that is as accurate as possible. I know I do.
This is my opinion and recommendation. You can do whatever you want. But if you want the most accurate version; I would always go with a Word-for-Word. I would never read or start someone on a Paraphrase period. They may have colorful language but they are not accurate. I would if possible upgrade from a Thought-for-thought like the NIV (the New International Version). It just leaves out too many important details. I would always go with a Word-for-Word translation. They are the most accurate.
Now old school was the King James Version. I still believe it is one of the most accurate versions but it is harder to read. I used it enough when I was in Bible College and a young Christian to understand it. I memorized Promises out of it. When I was in Bible College, the NIV took the church world by storm. I think mainly because the King James version was difficult to read and understand. Now to me it seems that the ESV has taken the church world by storm and largely has replaced the NIV. I have researched it and read it and use it. It is a very accurate Word-for-Word translation that is in my opinion easy to read. I also like the New King James Version. I like the New American Standard and the Amplified Bible (has shades of meaning-better suited for study than reading.
So, what is the Bottom line, Scot? This is my opinion. There are other versions of each of the three types; but I am familiar with these ones. I would give all the above-mentioned Word-for-Word Translations like the English Standard Version an A grade if I were grading them. I would give the Thought-for-Thought versions like the (New International Version) a grade of C. I would give the Paraphrases like the Message Bible a grade of F. So, if you were a new Christian or a young person, I would personally would recommend the English Standard Version (ESV). This is a very strong Word-for-Word Version that is easy to read and seems to be used by many churches.
6. What should be the standard for Christians when it comes to entertainment (Music/Television/Movies/Books)?
AGAIN, REMEMBER WITH THESE THINGS I AM NOT TELL YOU WHAT TO DO LIKE SOME KNOW IT ALL-I AM TELLING YOU WHAT GOD’S GENRAL STANDARD IS AND GIVING YOU MY BEST COUNSEL ON THE SUBJECT. YOU MAKE THE CALL!
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
These are the qualities (the litmus test) for reading/watching/and listening.
Hey, Scot I am a mature Christian, I can watch stuff and if doesn’t bother or affect me.
I Corinthians 15:33 says “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” (KJV) “Bad company ruins good morals” (ESV)
Remember they in the first century church and in Europe that they didn’t have TV or Movies, etc. but we do. If you don’t think what you listen to or watch or read affects you are deceived. It hardens your heart and pollutes your mind. On the subject of TV, if you watch it, we do; one channel I can recommend is the Hallmark Channel. When I was growing up it was Disney. There is a series that is on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries called “Signed Sealed and Delivered,” It is G-rated and family friendly. It is my favorite TV program of all times. It is the favorite program all of us in our home. When you can engage an age span from my Granddaughter Samantha who lives with us and is twelve to her mother Amber, a young adult to my wife Ginelle to me a 59-year young man you have really nailed it.
7. Do we need more hell, fire and brimstone preaching or love?
Ephesians 4:11-16 says this:
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
(Ephesians 4:15-Balance “Speaking the Truth in Love.” This is my opinion based on my experience as a Christian over 40 years. Let me apply this to an area I have already talked about. I believe I was saved towards the end of the “lets rail on gays. The truth was there and sometimes perverted, but there was no real love there that I saw. Then around the early 90’s, there was shift to the seeker-sensitive church for many. So, people who were gay were basically ignored. There wasn’t much speaking out at all. If we are going to really touch people who are gay-their lives that is and of course I am referring to those who are willing to be touched that is; we are going to have to make a major change. We need to Speak the Truth in Love. Whenever you major in one or the other you abuse or neglect. If you really love someone you will lovingly tell them “I love you Jim. I want you to go to heaven with me. But the Bible says that you can’t unless you accept Christ and change your lifestyle.