lenpaxton's Blog

Psalm 112:7-8 says ''He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.

His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon

his enemies.





The christian must keep his/her heart firmly fixed and focused on Jesus Christ and Him crucified at all times. When the storms of life assail the believer from all sides, the believer will come through each storm-provided they are maintaining their faith in the proper object,ie.. THE CROSS OF JESUS CHRIST......



All of mans self-help programs and humanistic psychology offer no lasting help and protection from lifes storms. our only, and i mean Only hope can be found in the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary.



I am a human being as I suppose all of you to be as well, and sometimes my heart bleeds. When that happens for whatever reason, I fix my heart and hope on the cross. This gaze of true faith brings healing, help, and hope to the believer.



Our victory in life, despite circumstances, depends on what we have as the object of our faith. The Holy Spirit will help any believer who is trusting in what Jesus did at the cross. That in fact, is the only way the Holy Spirit can help the believer. If the child of God is trusting in their own strength and self-effort, the Holy Spirit cannot and will not aid in such.



Gods desire is that each of us as believers walk in total victory through the storms of life. He desires further that we focus our hearts on the cross of Calvary. This my dear friend is true,bible faith. On the cross, Jesus provided everything that you and I need in life. Peter tells us " According as His Divine Power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who has called us to Glory and Virtue; Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and Precious Promises; that by these you might be partakers of the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.'' [2 Peter 1:3-4] All this is made possible by what Jesus did at the cross....



Evil tidings from the world around us should not put the believer in fear because we can be certain of the constant help of the Holy Spirit in our lives if our faith is properly placed in what Jesus did for us at Calvary.

[Jeremiah 6:16-19] â Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways,and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O Earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.â



The Church of Jesus Christ is at a modern day Crossroads. The word that is translated âwaysâ here indicates a place of decision. The prophesied apostasy is upon us and we are going to have to âseeâ and âchooseâ which path we are going to walk on.So many in the church today are running headlong onto the path of apostasy. The modern âWord of faithâ movement, with all of its divergent paths will lead some astray, promising riches and a god-like status that is not Biblical.Others will be drawn down the path of the â seeker-sensitiveâ church, which does all it can, even to the estrangement of Godâs Word, to make people comfortable. One very dangerous path of the modern church are the so called Church growth methods, such as G-12 and Cell group programs, which seek to totally control its members and introduce believers to a non-biblical route of discipleship. Their path is not one of Grace, but rather, is one of law.



The path that the believer needs to be on, is an old path.It was originated by God after the Fall and has been steadily revealed to mankind ever since. This is the path of the Cross. It is by faith in what Christ finished for us at Calvary that a person enters into relationship with God. As well, it is this same simple Faith in Christâs finished Work at Calvary that supplies the believer with the supernatural help and Grace needed to live out our daily lives. Faith in Godâs redemption plan is the âold pathâ. God revealed this Holy path to men like Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joesph, David, and to many, many others. When Jesus stated that He was the only âWayâ [road or path] that would lead men to the Father, He spoke of who He was and what He would do for all mankind at Calvary.



If you are trusting in your own efforts or law keeping to get you to heaven, you are on the wrong path. If your hope lies in your confession of a certain scripture or a particular church growth method, you are on the wrong path. If your eyes are ever on Jesus Christ, who He is, and What He did at the Cross, then you are on the old path. This path will lead you into a walk with God that is profitable for you; spirit, soul, and body. Righteousness will be your garment and faithfulness will bring you a crown. Every other path will lead you to weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those who reject Godâs path, the path of faith in Christ and Him Crucified, will find themselves facing the wrath and judgment of God. What path are you on?

In his excellent book â Set The Trumpet To Thy Mouthâ Pastor David Wilkerson makes the following points.



1-A true prophet of God is consumed with a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ.



2-A true prophet of God preaches and practices self-denial.



3-A true prophet of God has a holy boldness against sin. He never whitewashes evil.



Our dear brother has done well to make these observations. We have so few true prophets of God speaking today. One so-called prophet of today, Kim Clement, says that todays prophets are âmore funâ because they do not deal with peoples sin. Joel Osteen claims that he will not mention sin or the Cross. The list is endless and I could go on and on but the point is; how did we sink to such a low level in the church?



Our focus should be Jesus Christ and Him crucified, so how did we allow the base desires of greed and lust to dominate us to the point that now, the precious Gospel that cost Christ His lifeâs Blood has been cheapened to little more than get- rich- quick schemes and some type of magic talisman to make all our problems disappear?



It is little wonder that the Church in America is so soft these days. David Wilkerson calls these modern prophets [ so-called] âPillow Prophets.â I agree⦠The church in this country has fallen asleep with its head in the lap of Delilah. The true glory of God has departed and a very cheap imitation is being promoted.



There is an old saying that I grew up on that goes something like this; I donât care how high you jump, you must walk straight when you come down. We, as preachers, do not need $5,000 ink pens or our own gimmicks. We do not need to live in the biggest and finest homes on the market. We do not need the most expensive airplanes so we can fly over the people we are supposed to reach. We do not need the most expensive clothes. One real big lie in the church right now is that a âKings Kidâ should have the best. That is a terrible lie. What about Luke chapter 9:23-25 ? or Matthew 10:37-42? Just to name a couple.



We must reach out to others with what God blesses us with. Christ taught concern and compassion for others; not greed. We need to tell men everywhere about the savior. Christians are to live lives that are examples of Jesus Christ. Jesus often spoke of giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty neighbor and giving away our coat to those in need. Whatever happened to that message? We are supposed to care for orphans and widows and those who have been beaten down by life; not try to get what little they do have from them. Come on church, wake up before its too late! Get back to preaching about the Cross. Get back to living out your faith in practical, everyday, common ways.



Most of what you see over TBN is vain and fanciful imaginations of the darker variety. Most of it appeals strongly to the fallen nature; the sinful nature of mankind. Where have the true prophets gone? We so desperately need a true word from God in our land. On second thought, we have a Bible chocked full of true words of God; maybe we should read our Bibles more and listen less, none at all preferably, to the pillow prophets that abound in our land.

I believe that in the last days, the doctrines of tolerance, falsely so-called, will be the very thing that takes freedom away from the people. Perry Stone, in his great book " The Pope,The Eagle, And The Iron Sickle." says this: "The universal cry now is for tolerance. We are being taught to accept everyone's personal belief, to be tolerant of all religions and to not condemn anyone, even if their religion contradicts the Word of God. This pressure to be tolerant is especially intense among the "Seeker sensitive" mega-churches . They invite people of other religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, to take the church's pulpit and "share their faith" among the believers in the church. This kind of emphasis desensitizes people to false doctrine, and will enable a future false prophet to be successful in deceiving the masses with his counterfeit doctrine and miracles."<br />

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Today, our critics label us as intolerant because we{Christians} hold to the absolute truths of the Bible. Our critics have changed the real meaning of tolerance. Webster's New World Dictionary Of English [3rd ed] defines tolerate as "to recognize and respect [others beliefs, practices, and so forth] without sharing them and to bear or put up with [someone or something not especially liked]." Scripture also expresses this thought in 1 Cor. 13:7 where it states that "Love endures all things."<br />

But today, a new definition of tolerance is being forced upon people. Thomas A. Helmbock, executive vice-president of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, states, "The definition of new... tolerance is that every individuals beliefs, lifestyle, and perception of truth claims are equal... Your beliefs and my beliefs are equal, and all truth is relative" [Helmbock,it,2]<<br />

Today some are telling us that truth is inclusive. The fact is however, that all truth is by nature exclusive. If a thing is true, then its opposite is false or not true. Josh McDowell, in his excellent book, "Evidence for Christianity" likens it this way- It is true that Washington D.C. is the Capital city of the United States Of America. It is also true that no other city in the USA can make that claim and be truthful because Wash. D.C/ is the capital city. Just because only one city is the United States capital does not mean that the people who affirm this truth are intolerant. A person may say that Detroit is the US capital; does that mean that his claim is equal to the person who affirms that Wash. D.C. is the US capital city? Of course not. It is plain to see in our country today that the people who don't want to live by the moral truth of the Word of God, seek to change that truth and force the rest of us to accept it.<br />

Christianity is a faith relationship with Christ but that doesn't mean it is a blind faith. The overwhelming preponderance of the evidence stacks up that the claims of Christianity are, in fact, true. It is the person who refuses to believe in the face of strong evidence who is really intolerant. Because many don't want to be held accountable by God for their actions, they try to create a god more to their liking. Man wants to define his own standards instead of yielding to the standards set by God Almighty. Do not be deceived by these false definers in these last days.<br />

In the end, on Judgement day, God; the real God of the Bible,and His truth will prevail.