ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: CHRISTMAS
It has been a constant source of amazement to me that Jesus has always been painted as poor and indigent -- never mind what the Word clearly states.
It has been a constant source of amazement to me that Jesus has always been painted as poor and indigent -- never mind what the Word clearly states.
Most of the church world treats this as the Christmas season, but this is not the season when Jesus Christ was born.
We really have a lot of ground to cover today and I'm hoping we can finish this part today of dealing with the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking with tongues.
Perhaps one of the most controversial and misunderstood and abused teachings in the body of Christ has been that on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Dealing with the formulaic approach to water baptism has been the bane of the church world. It has caused sincere, committed believers in Christ to lose sight of how critical this foundation is to their being able to "go on beyond" into the realms that await.
Let's get right to it as we pick up where we left off last week. As a reminder let me begin with the theme of this series from Hebrews 6:1-3:
Today we continue with the theme we began last week. It is critical for all of us as believers, if we are to be a part of that called-out company we know as the Bride of Christ, then going on beyond the fundamental foundations of Jesus Christ is an absolute necessity.
The Son has risen on a new era. Strange way to put it, I know, but as the age in which we live comes to a close, society has become so dark and perverted that the previous generation would hardly recognize things.
More and more as I share on this topic, I realize that our entire society is predicated on a culture of death. We are all horrified at what we see taking place with ISIS and other terrorists across the globe and even here in the U.S., but they only represent the extreme aspect of this culture of death -- and the Fear of Death -- that pervades our society.
After returning on Monday from a 4,800 mile (driving) business trip that took me to several places in Texas, and an opportunity to minister in James Matchett's fellowship in Fort Worth on Sunday, my physical body has been playing catch up with the missed rest and sleep but my spirit has been absolutely fired up! I saw and heard things in our various business meetings which have prompted me to take a different approach today in dealing with the Fear of Death.