Flesh And Bone Jesus

Many people relegate Jesus to the world of abstract thought. Spending the bulk of their time engaged in Star Wars like spiritual battles as they contend for the faith. I also have spent more than my share of time in the abstract world of theological thought and fought many spiritual battles in cyberspace. However, when the reality of sin and its consequences comes crashing in an abstract Jesus isn't enough. Even when we suffer because of the sin of another, theology and doctrine are not enough to sustain when your heart is being crushed. It is in these times that the Jesus Who was God but suffered as a man, the true Jesus, is the one we need. When the unspeakable has happened and there is no one to turn to and no one to bear the painful burden of despair, Jesus is there. He understands the gut wrenching pain with empathy gained only from experience. He is there to comfort and supply with that which enables endurance and even to love the one who's sin has broken your heart and threatens destruction of all you hold dear. In Him, no confidence is broken and there is nothing too awful for Him to hear. In His own flesh, He has already born the burden of all sin; even the one at present, the one with awful consequence that seems too great to bear.

Jesus, Who came to earth in flesh and bone, shed His own blood and bore the awful consequence of the sins of us all. He is here with us now, in the present, meeting our need where the rubber meets the road; meeting our need in the reality we now live out in flesh and bone. He is not distant in some far away place but as near as our own breath with the strength and the comfort that we need to carry on. Not only does He give us all that we need to endure but in Him, we will have victory over this world filled with the excruciating pain born by the sin of mankind.

Today, my heart is broken and I am filled with dread at what may come. In the silence of the waiting for the other shoe to drop, I take His hand. He pulls me to Him in understanding, in comforting embrace. In Him, my heart is already being mended as in His loving presence, I find healing and the courage to face whatever may come.

The Leftovers

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."

"Dear woman,why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."

His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
John 2:1-11

I can still remember the day after I turned sixteen.

I woke up at noon somewhere on the floor in my bedroom. The clothes which I thought looked so cool were disheveled and odorous. My companions -so full of wit and clever jokes at every turn- were laying around like snoring furniture. The pillows -when there were pillows- were shoes, pizza boxes. The pizza, so excellent the night before- sat stiffly in the boxes as cold as corpses. The video game controllers were knotted together.

This is the way of esthetics. What looks good in the beginning looks terrible in the end. Sometimes it never has to change at all ... people simply tire of seeing it.

The world often deceives the young with grand delusions about their future -sprinkling half-serious notions of "changing the world" and "the world-historical significance of changing the world". And then the young grow up and find themselves selling life insurance or administering a business.

And then they look at their own lives and say, "What happened to the significance of my life? All the lovely sounding words and promises ... what happened to those? Perhaps I am not one of those important people ... not a celebrity or politician. Maybe I'm just an ordinary person living in their shadow."

But God loves the ordinary people. He loves the ones the world cares little about. He finds the things about them that others call "dull" to be His favorite. He is ready to find the people who have been forgotten and despised by the world. He is ready to find them and call them His own.

People tend to think of growing older as a process in becoming less interesting to the world, and this is true enough. As the people who have made the attention of the world their hope begin to lose hope day by day (while outwardly delighting in the excitement of thinking it may all be over soon), God has saved His best for last. The people who belong to God rejoice in the promises He has given them. Even though the vessels of their bodies begin to crack and fall apart, their spirits drink from the fountain of life, and they praise their God.

The day the world anxieties over will soon be here. Everything will be accounted and the desires of the world will be exposed. It will be completely clear to all that no one really longed for the things of the world. They were for appearances only.

Father, teach us to be your little children. Fill us with the life that does not waste away. Renew us with your understanding. Our greatness is so pathetic, and our patheticness, Father, how you love it! Send us into the fullness of your ways, so that your name will be blessed on the earth.

The End Of The End Times

The end times officially began when Christ ascended into the clouds with the promise of His imminent return. The time of that return is know only to Father God. Jesus could have returned a few minutes or hours after His ascension or anytime there after. It has been over 2,000 years now and those of us who love Jesus are still waiting and watching as we keep a close watch upon the signs of the times.

Over the centuries, there have been many Christians who when comparing the prophecies with the events of their lifetime, have been certain that Christ's return would be during their lifetime. There have also been prophets who have been so bold as to even set dates for the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ. Some have even stopped all that they were doing to gather in an appointed spot to await Jesus on a date specified by these prophets. From the Montanists, to the Adventists, to those of The Church of God, all have been disappointed as Christ's date of arrival was, again, postponed.

We live in exciting days in a globalized culture that to many Christians appears ripe for the unfolding of Biblical prophetic events. I also interpret the signs and watch the clouds waiting for my Savior's return. I wait in anticipation but many Christians who are young in the Lord, watch with fear and in trepidation. With lives yet to be lived and young dreams yet to be fulfilled, the idea of the Tribulation and near destruction of the planet only adds to the uncertainty that is inherent to living in a world under the constant shadow of death. Satan, who knows he can't remove a born again Christian from the hand of God and devour him or her, looks for every opportunity to use fear against us. Satan's great power is fear. Even such godly fear as that involved in reading the signs of the times according to scripture can be an opportunity for the evil one. By tweaking this fear, he is able to distract many Christians and cause them to lose their focus upon Christ.

When Christians take their eyes off of Jesus and their mind begins to wander away from the narrow path, they are easily sidelined from the mainstream of Christian life and service. All Christians should study prophecy and be aware of the season they are living in; but we should never substitute prophetic signs for walking by faith. If we begin to live our lives in response to events in the world that seem to be fulfilling what we read in the Bible, then we have begun to walk by sight and not by faith. If we join groups of believers who are bound together by the same understanding of prophecy or around a prophetic teacher, then we have left the church to form a cult. The true church gathers in the Name of Jesus, whether they be two or more, not around any teacher or set of teachings. The difference is subtle but insidious,in keeping with Satan's manipulative, conspiratorial style.

Jesus is coming soon. We don't know the year, the month, the day, the hour, or the minute; and He will come at an hour we don't expect. He will come like a thief in the night. In the twinkling of an eye, we will meet Him in the air and be changed. We will be glorified. We must stay aware and not give up our hope in expectation. We must remain mindful of the season and continue to read the signs of our time. We must not lose our focus upon Jesus and we must continue to walk not by what we see but by our faith, which is only, Jesus. Our Salvation is in Christ alone. Our Sanctification is Christ alone. Our Redemption too will be Christ alone. For as long as we remain in this Age of Grace, the age of God's long suffering towards mankind, there is nothing more required of us than holding on to Jesus and trusting that He is holding on to us.

Measure all things according to the character of Jesus Christ.

The Antichrists Among Us

People in the United States worship many gods today and call many of them, Jesus. Some accept Him as a prophet but deny His Deity. They accept Him as the Son of Man but deny that He is the only begotten Son of God. They believe in their own definition of Him but refute what He said about Himself. This is one spirit of antichrist that is in the world. This is the Jesus of modern times who first appeared on the scene through the Modernists who viewed scripture as beneath the authority of man and subject to his interpretation. They believe that interpretation must change with the times and thereby, maintain truth that remains relative to modern man. This is the jesus of a god created by man to serve the will of man.

There is yet another jesus who is the jesus of wealth, health, and prosperity. These people don't deny the Deity of Christ but still view Him as one who serves their physical needs in this world. Truly, their god is their belly and they only follow that which promises to fill their insatiable hunger for what this present world has to offer. Their desires have enabled them to create a magic jesus to heal their flesh and give them the wealth of material possessions that they dream of. They don't understand that all that is material is vanishing and nothing that our eyes are locked upon in our desire for them is eternal. This magic jesus gives his followers momentary happiness but in him there is no joy as there is no eternal life in that which is material.

The third jesus, who is fast becoming prevalent today, is the new age jesus. He is god tailored to the individual. The god of personal choosing that tolerates all views except those who really believe Jesus as being the person Whom He says He is. All views are tolerated as long as those who voice them don't take their beliefs too seriously and actually believe they are literally true. The new age jesus is relative truth, man's way, and living the life of doing one's own thing. The new age jesus seeks unity of religion and moral license. His followers have their reward now for they are of the world and are perishing.

The final Antichrist is the most insidious and it is of this spirit that the final and most powerful Antichrist will arise. This jesus is known as the Son of God but not acknowleged as the Son of Man. This is the Gnostic jesus, he who is of spirit only and not able to indwell flesh as his followers perceive spirit to be good and all that is material to be evil. Gnosticism is an ancient Greek philosophy that was morphed with Christ early in church history. Some of their gospels (written as late as 300 years after the death of Christ, with new gospels being written presently) even teach that jesus did not come in the flesh but instead borrowed a body of flesh to die on the cross for sin while he remained outside observing. They deny the resurrected body of Christ as being flesh glorified by the Spirit. They deny the new Adam, Jesus Who is the Son of God and the Son of Man. They deny that believers in Jesus will also receive glorified bodies, bodies of flesh glorified by the Spirit of God and made eternal. They teach that upon death those who are the elect of the spirit that guides them (believing themselves elite among men) will become spirit only and ascend into heaven. They deny the earthly manifestation of the Kingdom and Christ's 1,000 year rule of righteousness on Earth; a time when God will tabernacle Himself among all men and fulfill the prophecies given to the Jews. Rather than teaching, as the Bible teaches, that the church is grafted into the people of God through faith in Christ, they teach that the church has replaced the Jews as the children of God and that the Kingdom is spiritual only. They twist the teachings of Paul which many have difficulty understanding and they do so to their own detriment. Gnostic's were called Nicoliatans by Jesus in Revelation 2:6. He commended the church at Ephesus for hating their works and stated that He hated their works also.

Gnostic's don't form their own churches but instead, they infiltrate bodies of believers. They often appear angelic, even as angels of Light. They are very hard to discern from true believers in the true Jesus and they guard the truth of their beliefs while also seeking to draw others in unawares. The Internet is made for their agenda as it allows them to make their way into homes to take advantage of people who have been hurt in their faith and are isolated and alone. They look for broken Christians. Those who have been hurt by life circumstances and currently doubt the purposes of God in their life. They especially seek out those who have been hurt by the church and discarded by mainstream Christianity. They seek out the spiritually gullible who have only a rudimentary knowledge of the Bible and can be easily swayed from the truth. They use charm and manipulation to gain the favor of those they are leading into deception. The Internet is chock full of their prophecies and hyper spiritual writings.

The Gnostic deception creates a strong delusion that is so subtle and convincing as to be powerful enough to deceive even God's elect if they were not guarded by Jesus. It is not possible for them to fully deceive those who belong to the true Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man. However, Satan can use them to make us ineffective in our Christian service by bringing us under the oppression of the evil spirit they channel. Every false jesus has this power but it is the Gnostic jesus that will deceive the entire world. It is to him that all other antichrist spirits will give their allegiance. Therefore, test all the spirits, even those that are pleasing and seem to be only Light. Test them according to the Holy Spirit within you and according to the Bible. Do not allow anyone to talk you into discarding the Scriptures as the authority for faith in Christ. Do not bite into the delusion that will someday, devour the world. Put your trust in Christ alone and no other.


2 John 1:7-11 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.

Refuge From Fear

Psalm 12:8 The wicked prowl on every side, When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

There is no better description of the time we live in than what is stated, simply, in the above verse. All that God teaches us to be immoral is not only condoned but celebrated in our popular culture. We are now living in a culture that in many ways has become toxic to human beings. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find others who are safe to trust. In my lifetime, I have seen murder go from rare and often the subject of horror movies to often and too common-place for the horror genre. The taking of human life is no longer abhorrent to our desensitised society but instead, mildly entertaining. Mothers murder their babies in the womb and many consider putting down as one does an animal, our mothers and fathers when they become old and frail. We, as a people, are ceasing to protect the most helpless among us. We are losing the compassion for one another that marks us as human beings and above animals. Kindness and goodness are presently viewed as gullibility and weakness. None of us are safe among our own kind when living in a society with this mindset. This is the same type of spiritual environment which allowed for Hitler and his genocide of the Jews. Truly, we must enter into a delusion of safety to enable ourselves to lay our heads down and sleep at night.

It is not abnormal to view the world we live in as hopeless and desire to escape from it. Sadly, those who are in the world and of it will choose worldly pleasures and develop a sin habit as a vehicle for escape. Materialism,drugs,alcohol,sex, pornography, and gambling, are among the most common; and their promise of escape is a lie, for they only add to that which makes escape a priority. If we are left to continue in this direction, there is no hope for human beings. We as a species will become extinct by our own hand.

Psalm 14:1

The fool has said in his heart,

"There is no God."

They are corrupt,

They have done abominable works,

There is none that does good."



There is no God is a foolish but popular statement today. The most learned among us, those who lead us, are the most likely to utter it. In the sixties, God was pronounced as dead and by the nineties, Europe had entered what is called the post-Christian era. God has been removed from public life and His Laws are no longer honored as the basis for our law. Faith in God is murdered in the hearts of many young people by teachers and professors with an agenda to destroy Judeo/Christian culture. In the sixties, they began this agenda by inciting young people to rebel by using the Viet Nam War and the fear of the draft as a vehicle to create social unrest. Professors, such as Timothy Leary, plied young people with drugs that induced a false spiritual experience and false enlightenment that released the foul spirits that move the world today. Paganism and New Age religions now flourishes in a nation that once, openly and corporately, trusted in God. The truth of Jesus Christ is now heavily suppressed in a nation who's motto of revolution from the king of England was, "No king but King Jesus!"

There are many signs today that portend to the fact that God has delivered our once Christian Nation over to wrath. The first chapter of Romans runs a clear parallel to the decent of America that I have witnessed in my lifetime. This nation which once served as a refuge for those who wanted to worship God according to His Word and not according to government or apostate religious leaders has become, increasingly, uncomfortable for Christian people. We too have sought escape and systematically, over the past three decades, have begun to withdraw from the common culture. We began by first pulling our children from public schools and placing them in parochial schools. As the church became more anemic by those who wished to tailor her to please the world, parents withdrew even further and many now teach their children at home. Home churches and the Internet fill the spiritual void (felt by so many who long for sound, Biblical teaching) created by the leaders of an institutionalised church too consumed by worldly ambitions to accommodate. The one area that we have not retreated from has been politics and though involvement is good, there is no hope in politics. Time spent on political activism would be better invested in fulfilling our true call to activism, that of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Christians continue to flee from public life and with each one that enters retreat, the nation at large grows darker. It is not an abnormal reaction and I too have participated in trying to escape and protect my children from a culture bent upon self-destruction. Sadly, because of our exodus, we have become a subculture and in our frightened state, we have very little affect on the community that surrounds us. Our fear has resulted in our hiding the Light of the world under a basket. By not trusting God to keep us in the midst of evil, we no longer act as a purifying agent in our communities.

Psalm 18:1-3

I will love You, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock and my fortress
and my deliverer;

My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my
salvation, my stronghold.

I will call upon the LORD, who is
worthy to be praised;

So shall I be saved from my enemies.


Psalm 14:2-3

The LORD looks down from heaven
upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who
Understand, who seek God.
They have together become corrupt;
There is none that does good,
No, not one.

vs.5-6 There they are in great fear,
For God is with the generation of the righteous.
You shame the counsel of the poor,
But the LORD is his refuge.

Fear does not come from God and is not the spirit which should move Christians. Jesus is not an escape hatch from the world, not for us nor our children. When we seek escape in God, we are no better than a drug addict; and more likely, worse when we use God as an addict would use heroin to soothe emotional pain and calm our fears. Even though God does not allow us full escape, He is our refuge. In Christ, we know that the enemy can't destroy us for our lives are hidden in Him. Even if our bodies are destroyed, we will not die. Eternal life is ours in Christ. In Christ, we are emboldened to stand against all that the enemy uses to cause us to fear. In Christ, it is possible to do as Jesus teaches; to be in the world but not of it. God has left us here with an active purpose that can't be accomplished through nonparticipation. He is our fortress in the midst of battle but not a sanctuary for those who have gone AWOL. He is our strength to endure and even overthrow the darkness. He is perfect armor and in Him, we are safe and will not suffer defeat.

Psalm 18:4-7

The pangs of death surrounded me,
And the floods of ungodliness made
me afraid.

The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me,
The snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the
LORD,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to
His ears.

Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also
quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.

There is no anger as powerful as that of a parent when their child has been injured. God loves us more than we can imagine, even more than we love our own children. Those who come against us to hurt us will not go unpunished. Though He is angry with the workers of iniquity in the world today, He loves them also. God desires that all come to repentance so that all might be restored to Him as Father. None can hear about Jesus if there is no one preaching His Word. Those who have no hope will never experience true enlightenment if the Light of the World is hidden because of our fear of them. The darkness that now seems near to total will not recede if we hoard Jesus and keep Him all for ourselves.

It is time for those who are in Christ to come out of the closet. Let us open our hearts to Jesus and be empowered through the filling of the Holy Spirit to be bold in our faith. Let us not shrink from the battle that lies before us but instead, seek the sure refuge we have in Jesus that is our stronghold in the very midst of battle.

Christian soldiers, arise! "Even the gates of hell will not prevail against Christ and His church."

Don't Forget ...

Only one this week ...




Earlier Episodes:
Episodes 1, 2, 3
Episodes 4, 5, 6
Episodes 7, 8, 9
Episodes 10, 11, 12
Episodes 13, 14, 15

Every Day Jesus

God is not a talisman and nothing fashioned by human fingers can harness His power. There is no sign, encantation, or ritual that can call His power down from heaven. There is no sacrifice that will cause Him to serve our demands. Even if we pray in the Holy Name, Jesus, the human will won't be served but only the Will of the Living God. Our faithfulness to corporate worship does not impress Him; and neither does any work that we judge to be good buy us favor from Him. God does not serve men or women but we are served when we fully surrender to Him.

If I should pray asking God to make me strong, I am in error. If I should ask that I be found worthy of Him, I am also in error and seeking my own greatness and not the glory of God. He does not perfect me in my own strength and worthiness but instead has chosen to work in my weakness. When I deny my weakness and try to hide it out of shame, I have become unteachable. I have ceased to walk according to the Spirit and instead, begun to walk according to a religion of my own making. My religion being rituals and practices that, according to my own thinking, promise to make me holy in the sight of God. My religion is in vain for there is no religion that can make men and women worthy of God's love and favor. Even the religion given by God Himself to the Jews cannot make anyone holy. Therefore, there is no joy in religion but only guilt.

When I was young and new in the Lord, I made many vows to Him of all that I would to do for Him out of gratitude for my Salvation in Christ. I wanted to change the world for His Name's sake! I fought for Him! I stood fast for truth! I denied myself many things thinking that this would make me holy and that my testimony would shine as an example to others. For the sake of my testimony, I sought to hide all that was weak in me. I hid it from myself, my friends, my family, and any stranger that crossed my path. I often even sought hide my weakness from God. I was so full of my own works, there was no room left for God to work in me. I focused upon my own strength and goodness rather than the Power and Goodness of God.

The weakness of my flesh is undeniable and when it became undeniable to others, I would cry out in sorrow and shame asking to be strengthened that I might not fall again! I begged for endurance! I asked for these things that I might be glorious and be made capable of glorifying God through the power of my own actions. Though I was born again, my flesh did not want to die and fought hard to deceive me so that it might continue to live. Pride is the power of the flesh and my pride longed to devour for itself all that belonged to God in me. Many years later, my pride still longs for greatness but is greatly hindered as now I near the completion of my redemption and Jesus in me has grown and continues to grow stronger every day.

When I was young in Christ, I used swollen words of my own devotion and set my course, planning how I could best serve God; more correctly, how I could do God a favor. Thankful I am now that the Lord is patient and faithful with me. He has allowed death to shorten the time that flesh is able to live in a world that has fallen away from Him and death weakens my flesh daily. Now that I am older and much weaker, I no longer make vows to the Lord and take part in crusades in His Name. In my weakness, I have learned to hold up my arms that my Father may lift me and carry me where He Wills me to go. I have found contentment in, Jesus even in the midst of personal failure.

It is in my weakness that God is fully glorified in me; and His Glory is my glory. There is no greatness required of me but instead, the trust of a small child. I am a child with no strength and power of my own. Yet, I am living a life empowered by the Living God. I no longer pray for my strength but instead, that Jesus be strong in me. I know now that I will not find victory by my own strength of endurance but only endure by His Mercy. It is by dieing daily to the desires of my own flesh that I am learning how to live; not for a few years that will end quickly but for eternity. As I diminish, Christ in me is growing brighter. I am in constant and continual contact with my Father through prayer and my conversations with Him sustain me. I take all of my problems, concerns, and worries to God; but not with commands of how I desire Him to fix them. Instead, I am learning to lay them at His feet just as they are and seek His perfect Will in each situation. I am becoming dead to the desire of my own will being worked out through God.

Much of my life has not gone in the way that I desired it should go. Even so, I am not filled with regret but with joy for in Jesus, God's plan for me is His life perfected in me. This perfect plan is made of a sound substance that can't be corrupted. The substance is, Jesus and His living in me by faith. This is not my work but the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Though I don't have great wisdom or riches, God's Will for me is His glory and that is glory for me. The abundant life that I am living is the glory of God in me by the Power of His own Mercy.

Look upon, Jesus! Look at all that God has done through the Son that we might find favor in the eyes of our Father and be fully restored to Him. In Christ, we are invited to walk hand and hand with the Living, Creator God! This is no religion. This is transforming relationship. In Jesus, the Father accepts us just as we are not only on the day of our Salvation, but everyday. There is nothing we can do or not do that will come between us and God ever again.

Jesus is the every day joy that fills all who call upon His Name and belong to Him.