THE GOOD HAND OF GOD IN OVERSEEING HIS WORK DEALING WITH THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE WORK OF GOD-Part 3

The Enemies Out Lash-Part C

Hired Counselors

(EZRA 4:1-6)

¹Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel, ²they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here." ³But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' households of Israel said to them, " You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us." ⁴Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, ⁵and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ⁶Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Over the past 46 years Christianity has been under legal assault from various groups for differing reasons here in the United States. In 1963 the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a negative ruling regarding prayer in the public schools. Since then Christianity and the symbols of Christianity have been under constant legal contests. The enemies have hired counselors and attorneys who help advice them of what they need to do.

This maybe pretty much the case with the enemies of Judah in the days of Zerubbabel. Ezra notes in verse 5, “and hired counselors against them…” These counselors possibly played two different roles. First, they were unprofessionals who lived in the city of Jerusalem and basically acted as spies, counseling the enemy of every move being made. Second, these were professional counselors who had two basic jobs: a) give the enemies leadership advice as to what they could do legally; b) take their complaints to the government officials for redress. Based on verse 6 which discusses letters being sent to the kings the second scenario would fit.

What does all of this mean for us? Our enemy will do what he can in order to discourage and frighten us. Satan is not the only enemy we face. According the Ephesians 2:1-3 the world itself blindly follows Satan and as a result bringing themselves into opposition with God and His plan. Our Lord Jesus notes that if the world hated him it will hate us (John 15:18). Therefore it should be of no surprise that if we, as part of the world before we came to Christ, crucified Him, then in turn the world will do what it can to crucify us for knowing Him as Savior.

So we should not be surprised when the world hires it’s counselors to lie about us. When the light shines on roaches they scatter. When we shine for Jesus the world will hate us.

My question to all of us is do we allow this world to discourage and frighten us? Recently I found myself asking some legal questions regarding ministry. My ultimate response was if God is in it, the world will oppose it. Those of us who know Jesus Christ as our Savior are swimming up stream against the current. Tough times will come and the world will oppose us legally when we start to live for Jesus. Paul wrote in 2^nd Timothy 3:12, “And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Don’t let this world intimidate you, stand strong for the Lord, in the end he will make it right!

Let me know what you think.

God Bless,

Steven Swaim

(All passages are quoted from the New American Standard Version-THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION)

THE GOOD HAND OF GOD IN OVERSEEING HIS WORK DEALING WITH THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE WORK OF GOD-Part 3

The Enemies Out Lash-Part B
Frightening Them
(EZRA 4:1-6)

1Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel, 2they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here." 3But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' households of Israel said to them, " You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us." 4Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, 5and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. 6Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

In Hollywood there is an old effect which directors still use called the jump effect. It doesn’t take a lot of special effects to do it, even though it can be done with them. No! It is a simple technique where the director just simply wants to get a jump out of you. There maybe a hand which suddenly comes through a window or the main character may turn around with a light in their hand in a dark room and suddenly someone is there. But whatever it is it startles you making you jump.

Today we want to look at how the enemy attempts to frighten us. In this passage we see the returning exiles doing as they have been instructed too…rebuild the temple. But the enemies of Judah rises up and want to help. After their masquerade is foiled they become angry. In the first part we saw how the enemy attempts to discourage, but now we see their attempts to frighten.
Do not dismiss this word being used here. It brings about more than just an illusion of a jump scene or a sarcastic jest. It could include those things, but it is more. It is the idea of life threatening accusations being made. When it says, “…the people of the land…frightened them from building…” (v.4) it is not just an , “Oh! He scared me!” moment. No! The enemy is hard at work, threatening their very lives.

At times it is the same for us. If Jesus tares long enough then eventually even here in America we as Christians will face persecution. The enemy of our souls wishes to destroy us.

Peter writes in 1st Peter 4:8-9, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.” As Peter penned this passage I often wonder if he thought about 30 years before when he stood in front of the Lord Jesus Christ claiming he would never deny Him. At that point our Lord turned to Peter and said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen you brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)

Satan was roaring, but our Lord was praying. They tell me that in Africa the older Lion, who cannot run as fast, will be the one who roars the loudest. He does this in order to scare the prey into the claws of the younger faster lions. When the younger lions kill the prey the older lion eats first.

What is Satan roaring to you? Is he telling you that if you give you life to Christ that you will suffer? That God takes all the fun out of everything? That you might have to become a missionary to some dark foreign land? My question is, “What if he’s right?”

God’s answer is this, “The cross!” Jesus suffered and died for our sins. Any suffering we do is nothing compared to what happened at the cross. Jesus took all our sins on Him and did it with joy (Hebrews 12:2). Then three days later he physically rose from the dead. That is God’s answer! The old hymn says it best, “Jesus gave it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.” (“Jesus Paid It All”-Elvina M. Hall)

Don’t listen to the frightening threats of Satan or this world or even yourself. Listen to Jesus who will never lead you wrong. Even if you do suffer, it will always have a reason. God is not purposeless, what He allows is for the sake of His glory and the sharing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me know what you think.

God Bless

Steven Swaim

(All passages are quoted from the New American Standard Version-THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION)

THE GOOD HAND OF GOD IN OVERSEEING HIS WORK DEALING WITH THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE WORK OF GOD-Part 3

The Enemy's Out Lash-Part A
(EZRA 4:1-6)

1Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel, 2they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here." 3But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' households of Israel said to them, " You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us." 4Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, 5and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. 6Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.


Have you ever ticked someone off by opposing them? In the past I have always prided myself on being able to argue a Jehovah Witness down when they approach my door. In fact I have always enjoyed the fact that I could do it using their own Bible. However, as the scriptures say, pride comes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). God will in time bring someone your way that will knock you on your hills. Such was the case one Saturday morning when a knock came to my door. There stood a well dressed black woman with the New World Translation in her hand. I proceeded down my normal path of logic to dispel Jehovah Witness doctrine when she angrily stopped me saying, “How dare you insult me like this when all I was showing favor to you by bringing the word of God to you!” Naturally I was taken back and that morning the score stood: Me: Unnumbered, the JW: 1.
Whenever we oppose those in the wrong, no matter how often we have done it, eventually there will be a backlash. The same is true here in Ezra 4. The people have returned from 75 years of captivity and now have the opportunity to rebuild and start over when the enemy arrives. After using discernment and noting their help was unneeded, the enemy turns to deploy his weapons on the people.
The first thing which should be noted is that they used discouragement. It says in verse 4, “Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah…” Discouragement is simply taking courage away from somebody. Here they are taking courage away from the people to rebuild the temple and later the wall and the city (v. 21). More than likely they would do this by laughing at them, making fun of what is going on, dispelling the importance of what was happening, and ridiculing the work.
Throughout my life discouragement was often used, not to do evil things, but keep me from succeeding. I have had family members who did not want me to succeed in areas as a child and then as a young adult. My greatest discouragement came in 2000 with my divorce. To this day I still struggle to open the Bible I used to cherish in order to find God’s daily will for my life. While that is fading everyday, it still slaps me in the face. And then there are those who have been discouraging to me regarding the ministry.
The enemy of our souls wants us discouraged so that we cannot connect with the will of God. The Bible says regarding Satan the thief of our lives that he, “…comes to steal, and to kill, and destroy…” However Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, “…came that…” we “…might have life and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10). The forces of evil will discourage us from knowing God through Jesus Christ as Savior. In the end it will lead to eternal damnation. For those who know Christ as Savior, the enemy will use evil desires to sift from us the grand opportunity to live and do what God wants. As a result not only will we not receive eternal rewards, but because others will come to Christ, which is the eternal reward. The result of us falling for temptation in regards to the lost is their eternal damnation.
Question: Which are you? Do you know Jesus as Savior? Have you come to the point where you understand that you are a sinner lost in need of a Savior, on your way to Hell? Do you understand that Jesus Christ died on the Cross of Calvary, suffered, bleed and died for your sins, taking your place in judgment before God? Do you understand that He physically rose from the dead three days later to give you eternal life? If not then today you need to repent (turn from yourself and sin) and believe (totally trust) that Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal salvation? If you haven’t done this let’s start a dialogue and talk about what it means to become a Christian. Just e-mail me at bedevotedministry@att.net and we will start to talk.
For those who are saved what about you? Are you allowing Satan to discourage you? Is your life filled with those you will ridicule what you stand for and what you believe? Does it seem as if when you try and do well nothing really matters? Then allow me to encourage you from the words of Paul the apostle in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” To use the words from Bill and Ted’s Great Adventure, “Party on Dude!” Don’t let Satan or this world get the best of you!


God Bless,

Steven Swaim

(All Bible verses quoted come from the New American Standard Version)

The Dems Are Wanting You To Demo On

Okay folks the Dems in the House are getting ready to move our nation to the brink of Socialism through health care legislation. It's here like it or not. The Senate is still tussling over this which is good. Through the defense bill the Dems rammed a freedom of speech law through dealing with hate crimes. Supposedly religious institutions are exempt but if the Netherlands are any indication that won't mean much. Now they want to tell you how to eat, exercise, which doctor you can go to, ect. Eventually it will even break down to if you are having health questions because of your job; they will tell you what kind of work you can do. Believe me when I say 10 years down this road we are going to see it happen. It happened in Russia (and starting to happen again), it happened in Germany. Now it is here! The same government that cannot get the h1n1 shot to us wants to take care of us. What a joke! Contact Congress and let them know what you think. It's your government, they are your employees! I want to remind several of you who knew me in the 1980's that I warned you of the freedom of speech issue and some of you pooh, poohed me at that time. I was right then, I'm right now. I'm telling you this is going to affect your freedom on every level, plus if it passes in both houses then close to 5 million people in the nation will be out of work, almost instantly. Unemployment is at 10.4 percent right now. Pray and write and call.

Terrorist Groups Operating in Churches

Latest news reports are that five terrorist cell groups have been operating in many of our churches. They have been identified as: Bin Sleepin, Bin Arguin, Bin Fightin, Bin Complainin, and Bin Missin. Their leader, Osama Bin Lucifer, trained these groups to destroy the Body of Christ. The plan is to come into the church disguised as Christians and to work within the church to discourage, disrupt, and destroy..

However, there have been reports of a sixth group. A tiny cell known by the name Bin Prayin is actually the only effective counter terrorism force in the church. Unlike other terrorist cells, the Bin Prayin team does not blend in with whoever and whatever comes along.

Bin Prayin does whatever is needed to uplift and encourage the Body of Christ. We have noticed that the Bin Prayin cell group has different characteristics than the others. They have Bin Watchin, Bin Waitin, Bin Fastin, and Bin Longin for their Master Jesus Christ to return.

Which cell group do you belong to?

And guess what, no church is exempt. However, you can spot them if you "bin lookin".



Bin Prayin??? No, then you better get busy, cuz our country needs all the prayers you can pack in a day, not just when you are in church.



I "Bin lookin" YOU "Bin Prayin" ???

THE GOOD HAND OF GOD IN OVERSEEING HIS WORK DEALING WITH THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE WORK OF GOD-Part 2

Responding

(EZRA 4:1-6)

¹Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel, ²they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here." ³But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' households of Israel said to them, " You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us." ⁴Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, ⁵and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ⁶Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

In the First Colonial Congress members were arguing about how they should declare independence from Great Britain. For days they argued about the details. After several days of wrangling and fighting Ben Franklin stood up to speak. Understanding the gravity of the situation he simply stated, "Gentlemen we must all hang together or most assuredly we will all hang separately.". From that point forward the colonies began to work together for the sake of the revolution. No truer words could have been spoken.

As we look at our study of Ezra/Nehemiah here in Ezra chapter 4 we have seen the enemies of Gods people arrive and ask if they can help rebuild the temple. In fact there is some indication that they may have wanted build something along side it. Today we are going to look at verse 3 and the response of leadership regarding the situation.

There are several things we can see regarding this verse. First, leadership spoke in a unified fashion. Notice that Jeshua is mentioned here were as in verse 1 he was not. This is the reason I believe that the enemies of Gods people only consulted the civil side of leadership ignoring the religious altogether. They did not want to consult with them because they knew what the outcome would be. In fact the scriptures would not allow the Jews to have any dealings with the unbelievingly gentile especially regarding worship (Leviticus 18:21).

Second, we see them speak to the situation in non-negotiable tone. There is no negotiation with the enemy. God does not negotiate with His enemies nor should we. In fact when the children of Israel entered the land they to destroy the inhabitance because of their sin not negotiate good deal with them (Deuteronomy 7:2).

Notice the tone which Zerubbabel takes with them, "You have nothing in common with us in building the house of our God..." He knew that they worshipped Yahweh with other gods.

Third, we see a total willingness to continue the process in keeping with what has been promised by civil authority. In some ways this was the right thing to do but in other ways it may not have been the best thing to do. While it was true that Cyrus had ordered them to do this (1:1), there is something missing. In fact it maybe something similar to what Eve did in the garden, while not the same. In Genesis chapter 3 when the serpent tempted Eve, she responded by adding to what God had said, "And the woman said to the serpent, 'From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, "'You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.'"" (Genesis 3:2-3). While Eve may have added to God’s word here Zerubbabel ignored Gods word. What do I mean by that? Simple, Zerubbabel and the people’s authority to rebuild did not come from Cyrus but from God. The point is lost, the call to return and rebuild was not coming from a pagan king but from Yahweh. This is a great study in term of contrast where Nehemiah when his enemies attempt to lure him into their deadly clutches states, "...'I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should I stop while I leave it and come down to you?'". (Nehemiah 6:3)

So what are some things which we can learn from this passage? First, leadership should always have the maturity enough to consult with each other in important issues. The reason for this is so that when the decisions come down then it comes down with authority. Second, we should never negotiate with our enemies. While at times they may mean good, and the passage indicates that they had good on their minds, we should always be vigilant to stand our ground where Scripture, morals, and ethics are involved. Last, while we may have received permission to do something regarding Christ from some other authority, we must remember that ultimately our authority comes not from men, but from God and His word. Especially were the gospel is concerned.

What are some areas in your life that God is calling out to you regarding the enemy of our souls? Do you find yourself unwilling to be in concert with your local church regarding sin and salvation? Do you find yourself attempting to negotiate with Satan and his temptations? Are the scriptures your final authority when it comes to doing what God wants?

Let me know what you think.

God Bless,

Steven Swaim

THE GOOD HAND OF GOD IN OVERSEEING HIS WORK DEALING WITH THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE WORK OF GOD-Part 1

The Enemies False Display of Kindness

(EZRA 4:1-6)

¹Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel, ²they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' households, and said to them, "Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here." ³But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' households of Israel said to them, " You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us." ⁴Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, ⁵and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. ⁶Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Have you ever had someone walk up to you and act like your friend when in reality they had their own selfish motives in mind. It’s happened to all of us. We call those instances Judas Moments. A time when someone shows apparent good will but in truth they mean nothing but ill-will toward us. Of course we get the name from what happened to Jesus in the gospels as a result of Judas’ betrayal.

As we continue our study through Ezra/Nehemiah we come upon a very important moment, what appears to be a “Judas Moment.” Verse 1 notes that the “…enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple…” How did they know? Remember that shout which we discussed the last time in chapter 3 verse 13? More than likely this shout along with all of the other activity received huge amounts of attention. Now the enemies of God’s people have arrived and as usual they appear to have friendship in their words, but their motives are questionable. What we see here is the enemy’s false display of kindness.

We must first ask the question as to why these people were considered enemies? Verse 2 answers our question. First they approach “…Zerubbabel and the head of the fathers’ households…” This particularly interests me because Jeshua’s name is not mentioned. While that may not mean too much to most people it interest me because this indicates that the Levites were not consulted in the work of the temple. The enemies only approached the civil authorities and not those who are in charge with the building of the temple. While most say that Jeshua and the Levites were considered in with “…the head of the fathers’ households…” I think differently because the writer of both books are very distinct about who they are talking about. This may have been done for one of three reasons: (a) It was an honest mistake; (b) There was hope that leadership would divide causing a rift in the community; or (c) Selfish motives from leadership would begin to show up proving that motives were not true. Second they are enemies because they want to “…build with you…” This indicates that rather than a partnership in building the temple together, they want to build something along side of the temple. Third, they claim, “…for we like you seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esahaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”

There are a couple of sub-thoughts which can come from this: (a) They do not seek God (Yahweh) the same as the Jews did. Notice the name Esahaddon which is mentioned. Many scholars have a hard time placing this king but most agree that more than likely he is the king mentioned in 2^nd Kings 17:24-26, 28, 32-33. In that passage it notes that the king of Assyria transplanted people from other lands into Israel and took the people of Israel and scattered them throughout the known world. In the process many of these transplanted people began to die. The people began to fear the God of the land and made an appeal to Assyria for a Levite to come teach them about Yahweh. The request was acknowledged and they learned about sacrificing to Yahweh. When this happened the deaths began to decrease. The problem is that these Levites would have also mixed much of the rival religions teachings in; therefore the people would mix the worship with Yahweh in with other gods. (b) Their sacrifices are questionable. If they do not truly worship in the way that the Law required then their sacrifices are suspect. 1^st Samuel 15:22-23 states, “...’Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry…” The Psalmist writes in Psalm 40:6-8, “Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. 7Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me; 8I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.’” Even though this is a Messianic Psalm it still points to what Samuel told King Saul, it is not the act of sacrifice that God is concerned with, but the condition of the heart. The enemies worship was corrupted and their sacrifices were questionable because their hearts were not right. This can be seen the statement “…your God…” In other words they have no personal attachment with Yahweh. They do what they do to fulfill an obligation not truly worship Him.

So what can we learn from this passage? First, No matter how the enemy or enemies approach us they are still enemies of truth. Second, leadership is always the first and most important target. They will approach leadership first in order to compromise its effectiveness. Therefore they will always approach the most vulnerable area. Third, there is always the claim that they worship the same God in an attempt to mask their true identity. Pluralism, postmodernism and essentialism are three of the most dangerous tools that are used in modern day Evangelicalism today.

What concerns me is this, that through the last thirty years churches have been in decline causing the churches to slide back into pre-World War II conditions. For pastors and members alike this has been a great cause of concern. As a result we have begun to pick up on the world’s tactics in areas of leadership, management, and commercialization. While this may not be wrong in and of itself, through the years it has caused us to culturize the church rather than the church affecting the culture. This has lead to what is known as the “Emergent Church” which has taken pluralism, postmodernism and essentialism to its highest level regarding Christianity and applying them to God’s word. We have now moved from pre-World War II conditions to a pre-Christian era and way of thinking. The errors that the post-modern approach has attempted to mix yogism and meditation with prayer. It attempts to prove that Yahweh, the God of the Bible, is the same as the gods of other religions.

There is also a lack of concern to come to Sunday morning services and continue to support the work of the local church. This is more evidence of the same Biblical cowardness as that which was just mentioned regarding emergent church theology. Paul wrote in 1^st Timothy 4:1-5-“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected it is received with gratitude; 5for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”

The point is we cannot afford to worship in the way of the world and hope to walk in the ways of God! My question to you and others is who is the focus of our worship? And what is the focus of our instruction? Our instruction should come clearly from Scripture alone and our focus of worship should be Christ alone. Understand I believe in Biblical scholarship as well, so don’t think that when the scriptures are studied, it is done blindly without an understanding of history, language, culture, and art. So as you go to worship this Sunday morning, think about what you are doing. Christianity is a thinking person’s religion. We should worship with minds in gear, but with Jesus at the center of our thoughts.

Lord Bless,

Steven Swaim

(All Scriptural quotes come from the New American Standard Version)