Fri, Sep 29th - 10:47AM

Transcendence of the Soul

          In times of deep emotional conflict we should pay visitation to God. 

The death of a relative should turn us to Christ, who is our very life; it is

well when anything does this.  When we are affected by the affliction of

death upon our families we must not lapse into astonishment, but like Job in

his time of great misery, fall down and worship Christ.  Those that wish the

mercy of Christ must always give honor to Him.  As Christians we must all

be of great faith in times of sadness and woe.  There is virtue in everything

that belongs to Christ.  A great fullness of grace which be in Christ, (as

spoken in John 1:16) that, from it we may all receive.  It is always Christ’s

will that His lambs be comforted, and it is His prerogative to command

comfort to those of troubled spirit.  Isaiah 58:19 states; He creates the fruit

of the lips; peace to him that is near and to him that is far off.  It is through

faith that we are consoled.  Temporal mercies become comforts indeed to all

of us, when they are received through faith.  If we desire these things for the

sake of God’s glory, and resign ourselves to His will in faith, love and

obedience we may then say that it was received by faith. 

          When death visits our door it brings hurry to our house at a time

when a loved one needs to be buried.  The demands on all of us in these

times can be a diversion to our grief which is apt to prevail and become a

merciless tyrant upon us.  During these times we are all heavy of heart, for

we shall sorely miss those that have passed beyond our grasp.  For

Christians this is an odd way, because there is no death to the Christian soul. 

This is the reason we should give praise, we know that Christ has relieved us

from the finality of death.  Those loved ones that have left us have been

freed from the bondage of the flesh, and their souls are now free from the

clutches of sin and the influence of Satan.    

          As faithful Christians we must not become as the heathens who mourn

with great lamentations, for them death is truly the final end.  We must

present ourselves as Christ has taught us, and that is to carry ourselves in this

life as examples of Him by His abundant grace upon us, and to leave it with

humility and honor.  The transcendence of the soul is another example

of the magnificence, power and glory of God just as was the creation of

man.  As God first expelled His breath of life into man, in death that very

breath of which is the soul of man, is released for its return to Him. 

The soul is that form and very image of God that all men were created in. 

After death it is joined in heaven with the countless other souls from the

beginning of creation and bound to God for all of eternity.  The human soul

is only a part of mankind during the span of life, God is the owner of all

souls and can either treat it with great mercy or misery.  He can reward it

with the glory of heaven or punish it with the pains of hell, it is His to do

with as is fitting for it.

          The death of the flesh is its completion and final destination, it has

returned to dust as it began never to rise from it.  Flesh is that which rots and

thus so cannot enter into the spiritual realm.  The human body is in nature to

that of earth and not of heaven.  This is a confusing issue for many to grasp,

for many feel that when Jesus Christ returns one final time that all will be

raised from the grave.  It is a well known fact that He will come to raise the

living and the dead, but this is not to be taken literally in the sense of the

actual flesh.  The living as spoken of in this context, is those souls that live

for Christ, and the dead are those that have chosen not to follow Him.  It is

then that the great judgment shall take place.  It is as it was destined to be

from the very instant of creation, it is the closing of a gate and entering

through another.  It is to be transformed from the human unto the ethereal,

the celestial and the heavenly.  

                                                                                brother philip             

Sat, Sep 16th - 12:11AM

Dealing with Personal Demons

            As faithful Christians we walk in that beneficence that only Christ can provide.  We strive to stay in His Light and refrain from entering into the shadows as best we can, for we are still of flesh and bone and prone always to the flesh.  One always includes in their prayers for that strength that we all depend upon from His Holy Spirit.  We endeavor constantly to act towards others with examples of a Christ like Character.  These examples are written throughout the gospels and left to us through the exemplary Acts of the Apostles.

            Regardless of our depth and breadth of personal faith there are those times when we all come under the attack from a personal demon from our prior life.  This is not out of the ordinary for any Christian to experience.  No matter how long our journey has been along that narrow path, there will always come a time when we will be haunted by our past.  We as being born again into Jesus Christ have overcome many faults of the old men and women that were once our past.  As we all are guarded by an angel, likewise we are tortured by a demon.  There is one very serious weakness that all of us have, these all correspond to something in our own individual human natures.  This greater weakness or sin is that which the demon knows is our weakest link of sin.  From time to time he will attack us from this point of weakness when it is least expected.

            Our demons we must remember are of a higher intelligence due to the nature of their former ethereal spiritual being.  They are highly aware of our nature to Christ and also know of the strength we derive from faith through grace.  This is the reason that we will come under attack using our strongest of temptations against us and will remain this way our entire lives.  Satan will never stop sending his dark angels to wear us down to the point of giving in to our greatest of sins.  The closer our own nature becomes in line with those of Christ’s, the more determined he becomes in trying to make us fall.  This we cannot escape from in this world, for the demons rule it as God reigns in heaven.  We must remain ever so diligent in relationship with God through much prayer and when possible, meditation.  These crosses that we all bear must be carried with the mantle of Christ that we have cloaked ourselves with.  Christ remains our strength and saving grace and in those times when we wrestle with our demon, we must always turn to Him in our times of deepest despair.  Even as the demon is always there, so be Jesus Christ waiting for our call.  He has conquered him in death as we must overcome him in life.

                                                                     God’s grace be upon you, brother philip     

Tue, Sep 12th - 1:22PM

Mice and Men

            Modern Christianity has become nothing more than a name of a once great doctrine taught by the apostles which was the foundation left by Christ for the building of His Body, the church, for all of mankind to join in fellowship give praise to the Almighty God and learn those things required for a righteous life.

            The problems that presently exist in the modern day Body of Christ actually started during the early years of the church in the time of the apostles.  This had become such a wide spread problem that Paul had to address it because of the separation it was bringing to the One Body of Christ.  In 1 Corinthians 1 he speaks to the problem of the church identifying themselves with the individual teachers that taught in each part of the world at that time.  “ Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (v10).  The early Christians began to segregate themselves according to who ever was teaching their individual church at the time.  If they were being led by Paul, then they aligned themselves to him, if it were Apollos they did likewise and the same thing in relation to the other apostles.  As an example there may have been Paulinists, Apollonians or Philipites.  As another example Paul states,” Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul” (v13)?  Paul was telling them that there is but one that you follow and that is our Lord, Jesus Christ.  And also in verse 19; “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent”.

            These issues have become apostasy in modern times.  The Reformation that took place in the Middle Ages has caused such a great schism to Christianity that there are now countless sects within it.  Due to the corruption to Catholicism by the Papacy, men like Luther, Calvin, Wesley and many more instituted new sects of Christianity followed by the doctrines written by these as well as other men that came after them.  The doctrines of each varied with regard to baptism, salvation, justification and grace just to name a few.

            Christianity has become so diverse that organizations have sprung up that bring all of the many different denominations together annually.  This is done so they may discuss the differences in their varied beliefs in order that they may understand one another better, rather than for the benefit of returning their individual followers to one flock according to the original concept laid out by Jesus Christ.  The fellowship of adherents to Christianity have become so confused by the doctrines of men, that they can no longer see the true light of the gospels and have become lost due to the foolishness and pride of their leadership.  The leaders of Christianity today are as the Pied Piper of fairy tale; the melodious sounds that emanate from their mouths have lulled the followers of Christianity into a state of delusion with the result of nonconformity to true doctrine.   Sectarianism has become the norm of Christianity.  Christianity itself has been nailed to a cross.  If as Christians we believe in one God for all peoples, then we must also come to the conclusion that there is also only one true doctrine for all of mankind.

            Theologies of men have done much not only to diversify, but also to further the demise of original doctrine according to scripture. These theologies are no more than a philosophy of religion, it is theory.  It is a feeble attempt by men to understand the nature of God in human understanding.  It has taken the New Testament, laid it upon a table and dissected it like a frog.  Theologians have taken apart each word, phrase and verse of the gospels with the result of having more interpretations of them than there are words in the entire Bible multiplied by 100.  This is the greatest example from the Bible regarding the foolishness of mans wisdom, each are of differing opinion according to its own author.  It is not knowledge, but love, that distinguishes the saints from the devils (Henry, Matthew).  Knowledge is like fruit when digested by the stomach, it turns to pure sugar.  Knowledge of the divine doctrine of Christ once digested by the brain turns to pure love in the heart.  Just as the sugar becomes the sustenance for the body, loves becomes that of the soul.  What is left of knowledge once digested is nothing more than waste, as the remainder of the fruit.

            Denominationalism is the devils playground.  The greater the division caused by man to the original precepts of God, the more joyful Lucifer becomes.  This is his greatest desire, to see men separate themselves from Christ, and the farther away the better, until one day there will be nothing left but a mere speck of the One Body that once was.  We are bringing about our own destruction not so much due to the teachers, but due to our own lack of knowledge in the truths that are spoken in the gospels of the Man who gave His all to save us.  Each and every person that refers to them selves as a Christian is guilty of following men and not Christ through denominationalism.  This is the exact meaning of those warnings in the following of false prophets.  Many have strayed from the Light and wandered off of the narrow path and into the shadows where the great adversary lurks in wait for us all.  The Reformation brought this about in trying to restore and right the wrong doings of the papists; it also changed those things in the New Testament directed toward the church concerning division.  This brought about the great divide in Catholicism, to the many varied denominations that now exist.  We must now return to the original concept by a “restoration” of what once was known as the One Body of Christ, and follow that which the apostles taught men regarding Christ’s plan for His church.  God had unity in mind for all those that He created, the man Jesus preached of its conception, and the God Christ brought it to birth.

            I converse by email with Christians from all walks of life and from many countries.  Many feel that unity is of little importance in the scheme of our religion.  Most feel that as long as one lives a Christian life according to the law and is reborn in Christ and of the Holy Spirit this is all that is necessary.  Unity becomes of little importance in regard to this line of thinking.  These people feel that as long as they are in fellowship with like minded individuals that this is all that is needed.  This is unjustifiably wrong in concept and was emphatically rebutted by Paul in his statement concerning that of “same mind and judgment”.  We are not only to be one in Christ singly and personally but as a whole flock.  Unity is not impossible or a difficult goal for all the believers in Christ to accomplish.  Where does one start?  We each have to start by spreading a message of unity and join in with others of like feeling.  If you have a computer then use it as a tool to seek out the world for your brothers and sisters in Christ that are of like mind.  The man Jesus began a movement in the world to gather those together that had faith and that believed upon Him and what He taught for the benefit of all men.  A gathering together is not an incomprehensible goal if we truly follow those plans that Jesus directed us to follow.    The difficulty will only be in regard to the organized churches themselves.  They have become as structured enterprises with all the trappings of big business, but this is not to say that they cannot change also.  It would be as the rich man that wanted to follow our Lord; they only have to give up that which holds them back.       

            My brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray that you will take time out to assess what I have written and pray for guidance from the Most Holy Spirit of God to lead us in the right direction and that direction is towards God and away from men.  We are held personally responsible for those things that are commanded by God to all of us; and not to place the responsibility on those that lead us.  Heaven is not an easy place to gain entry into, regardless of what we have been taught.  Yes we have been made heirs to the most magnificent Kingdom of all kingdoms, but it is God who makes the final call, and we can still be written out of His magnificent will.

May all the blessings of God be upon you and forever remain in His Light, brother philip               

Tue, Sep 5th - 10:48AM

THE STRAYING LAMB

The shepherd loved His little lamb, and gave it His tender care....

And followed it with His loving eyes as it wandered here and there....

And as he sat by His grazing flock, who so meekly His voice, obeyed,

He pondered sadly His little lamb, as again and again it strayed.

The little lamb had a loving heart and adored his shepherd, true.

But it would turn aside and seek its own way, as lambs will often do.

With HIS gentle voice, the Shepherd called to His loved and straying lamb,

"Come back, little one, for you are not safe, unless you are where I am."

But the lamb would soon forget and unthinkingly wander away,

And not really noticing what he did, from the Shepherds side would stray.

Until one day, the Shepherd kind took His rod in His gentle hand,

And what He did then seemed so cruel that the lamb could not understand.

For with one sharp well aimed -blow, down the rod so swiftly came

That it broke the leg of the little lamb and left it crippled and lame.

The little lamb, with a cry of pain, fell down upon its knees....

And looked up at his Shepherd, as though to say," Won’t you explain this, please?"

Then he saw the love in his Shepherd’s eyes as tears ran down His face,

As He tenderly set the broken bone and bound it back in its place.

Now he was utterly helpless and could not even stand! He must trust himself completely to his Shepherds loving hand.

Then day by day, till the lamb was healed, from the flock he was kept apart....

And carried about in the Shepherd’s arms, and cradled near His heart.

And the Shepherd would whisper gentle words into his now listening ear....

Thus he heard sweet words of love the other sheep could not hear.

He felt the warmth of the Shepherd’s arms and the beat of His faithful heart....

Until it came a blessing to seem, by his weakness to be set apart.

Every need of the little lamb, by his Shepherd was fully met,

That through his brokenness he learned what he never again would forget.

And as the broken bone was healed, and once more became whole and strong....

Wherever the Shepherd’s path would lead, the lamb would follow along.

Thus at the Shepherd’s side he walked so closely, day by day,

For once a lamb has a broken leg; it will never again go astray.

For the cords of love had bound it so in its hour of weakness and need....

That it had no desire to wander away, when once again it was freed.

Could it be you are broken today, and you cannot understand?

The painful blow of the Shepherd’s rod, nor believe it came from His hand?

He only seeks, by this painful thing, for a time to call you apart....

To cradle you close in His loving arms and draw you near to His heart.

So look up into your Shepherd’s eyes and earnestly seek His face....

And prove in the hour of your weakness and need the sufficiency of His grace.

For as you are borne in His loving arms and carried there day by day....

He will bind you so close with His cords of love that never again will you stray!

Author: Unknown

Sat, Sep 2nd - 5:09PM

This is something that I wrote on the school forum in regard to a discussion on the Place of Women in Relation to Christianity.  I am presently attending Trinity College and Seminary.

My dearest ladies and sisters in Christ,

            We have discussed in detail on this forum the place of women.  My opinion of these things may seem unorthodox to many.  I have always enjoyed the company of women much more than men, this is not to say that I am not truly a man’s man.  The natures of women are much more pleasing due to those things that they see and understand that most men cannot realize.  Their conversations are quite pleasing also.  I must also say that of all God’s creatures they are the most beautiful of all in my eyes.   The world since the dawn of its creation has always been of a masculine nature.  Due to this controlling nature of men it is one hell of a mess.  I truly believe that if women were more involved in the running of it, it would be much different than it is presently.  Women need to take more charge then what has been deemed necessary according to men.

            There were many posts on this forum that dealt directly with this in relation to their position regarding that to men.  I accept a great deal that was said concerning this but in my own opinion take it much farther.  It was stated that for a woman to preach in a church it would usurp the position of a man according to scripture.  The scriptures do say something of this.  This was related to a woman preaching from a pulpit in church, especially with regard to it being a church headed by a woman.  This is considered apostasy, and sacrilegious.  This is where I see differently.  What is the difference of a woman preaching on this forum to its many men than in a church building?  Did not Christ say where two or three come together is considered as being under a roof?  There is no difference, it is all of semantics.  There have been many noteworthy women down through the ages, but not enough to make a great difference in the outcome of humanity.  This is only due to the place that men have deemed fit for women to reside in.  I believe in our eagerness to follow Biblical principles we bind our thinking and logic to a certain degree and that highly intelligent brain that God gifted us with becomes somewhat stagnated in thought.  There are women out there in today’s world that could make such a difference if it were not for the issues of these ages old parameters upon them.

            My sisters I say to you as Christian women stand up and be heard.  Shout the name of Jesus from the rooftops even if it be a church steeple.  Become emboldened in your nature to Christ; be as Mary of Magdalena, or the tenacity of Joan of Arc.  Thrust the double edged sword that is in your hands and be fearless with the armor of Christ which is upon your breast(s) :-) for His Great Glory.  Do you really think that God will be angrier because you take this particular stand or will He be more pleased with the thousands of souls that you bring to the Magnificence and Glory of Jesus the Son?  Ladies step out of the orthodox box, the jeopardy you bring upon yourselves in Christ’s name is of little concern for the amount of souls you will save in regard to its penalties.  If anything, your standing in heaven may be of a lesser degree or perhaps you may have smaller wings, but I seriously doubt that you would be condemned to everlasting hell.  At worst, you may have to wait hand and foot upon all male angels for eternity.

May all my sisters in Christ become fearless in following His footsteps.    

                                                          With brotherly love, philip