Category: Evangelical Christian

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father but through Me.”

Is Jesus a liar, lunatic or Lord? (You must answer this question to press on!)

COIN OF VALUES

Tagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

COIN OF VALUES

By Rick Mathes

Romans 7:21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good.

Where you stand is where you will fall. If it isn’t worth dying for, it isn’t worth living for and yet most don’t hedge their bets with any semblance of a higher power, humility or restraint of their carnal desires. The old adage, “He who dies with the most toys wins” is a bold-faced lie. UYu will never see a U-Hall trailer behind a hearse on its way to the cemetery.

Man’s values are weighed heavily on appearance and having an impressive resume. It is a bogus and manufactured front to impress others with “How great I am” or “Look at me the epitome of success.” “See what a winner I am!” Well, I suggest that I would rather see the sermon than hear it so if you look long enough, you will see through the façade. You’ll see there is no substance. “Where is the beef?” It’s not on a false front outside of you, it’s on the inside. I’ve often said, “Why should we get to know each other and ruin a perfectly good relationship?” There’s more truth to that than you think.

It’s not in wealth, brains nor talent. It is only Him.

Let’s look at the other side of the coin of values and see a glimpse of God’s integrity and character. Those two pillars are what the holiness of God rests on from which you will fall if you don’t keep your balance.

It’s all a matter of achieving His attitude of justice and mercy. The Good Shepherd has both the rod and the staff. The rod is to rebuke and correct and the staff is for recovery and God used both to shape our attitude and His mold.

He who has the gold makes the rules is so true. We are blessed by our Lord’s generosity. Thank God that he police don’t have the record on you that Jesus does. Earning $8 per hour making hamburgers is better that $12 per month mopping prison cells for the DOC. So rejoice and have an attitude of gratitude that God isn’t giving us what we deserve.

And lastly, note our Lord’s faithfulness. He promised that He would never leave nor forsake us. I believe Him because He has believed in me. I have the coin of values that He blessed me with and you can have it too.

COFFIN NAILS

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

COFFIN NAILS

By Rick Mathes

1 Corinthians 1:2 (NASB77) 2  to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

Paul’s companion Clement became the third bishop of the Church in Rome right behind Cletus and Linus. Fifty years afer the Church of Corinth was founded, Clement wrote to them after Paul had written the letter “3rd Corinthians” to sort out the internal dissention and abuse of the gifts. Clement had to rebuke them again because now the younger members were disrespecting their Elders and the whole mess was stirring up all over again. I might add that charismatic churches in your community have continued in this prideful destruction and here are some reasons that keep reappearing over the years:

  • Dissentions
  • Personality Cults
  • Cliquishness
  • Moral Compromise
  • Carnality
  • Sexual Perversion
  • Fornication
  • Incest
  • Adultery
  • Worldliness
  • Materialism
  • Suing Christians
  • Idolatry
  • Selfishness
  • Homosexuality

The sign gifts were being perverted to mimic the old rituals that included estate behavior and glossolalia. They became boastful of the gifts they claimed they had and they used them at times for personal gain as they do to this very day!

How awful must the Holy Spirit feel when so called “Spirit-filled full-gospel” churches do the same thing? It’s as if nothing has changed. This type of behavior is flat-out prostitution of the gifts and dangerously close to the unforgiveable sin of unbelief!

 

 

CHURCH

Tagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CHURCH

By Rick Mathes

The corporate church is the Body of Christ which is composed of all its elect. We don’t “go to church” we “are church.” The ground I’m standing on is church property because I am the visible temple of the Holy Spirit: He lives through me.

We come together to worship because like metal to magnet we cannot do otherwise. Our spiritual comfort zone is to be in “one accord” worshipping and enjoying our Lord in His glory.

So far we are in agreement with the Roman Catholics. Where we depart is when it becomes a “Mass” that features a ritualistic re-crucifixion of our Savior: another unnecessary atonement, one done on a weekly basis: over and over and over as the slaughtering of lambs in the Old Testament.

When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant it. He died once to free us form the punishment of sins, the power of present sinfulness and the presence of future sinful consequences. This was done once never to be repeated ever again. There has never been any need for a sacrifice since His and there never will be. The Roman Catholic Mass is blasphemy!

This “mass” of atonement for our sins in another gospel and is a direct reflection of ancient temple offerings. The need for these useless rituals is forever dispelled in the Book of Hebrews. There is not even a hint of the mass being held by a priest anywhere in the New Testament or any history of Christianity until it was invented by Rome in the fourth century.

A typical gathering of the Saints was usually held outdoors by a river, stream or lake or in the home of some wealthy Christian. It was a simple service that included prayer and singing. They would all take oaths of the 10 commandments and someone would bring a Word from the Lord. They would have a communal breaking of bread, drinking of wine in memory of the Lord and when applicable conclude with baptism of newly born-again children of he promise,.

The marks of the true Church are:

The true preaching of the Word

The right administration of the Word

The faithful exercise of discipline

After the so-called conversion of Emperor Constantine (310AD), Christianity was declared the state religion and multitudes of pagans were admitted to the Church by baptism alone without conversion. They brought with them pagan rites, statures, ceremonies and practices which eventually found themselves incorporated into the Roman Catholic mass which is practiced to this very day.

Over 50% of this mass is of mythology and heathenism. And most of the balance is an invention of the strangest kind. Oh, how the saints that have passed must cringe as they watch the pompous display of worldly idolatry and self-gratification being displayed by men with questionable gender-orientation, parading around in gowns of mourning or celebration depending on the invention of the cause. The genuflect, bow and kiss of holy relics before a crucifix of worship as the saints look on from their statues in approval is straight from the altar of Satan.

“Oh mother of God we worship you” is the theme to the Matrix of glory. The fourth of their declared Godhead; and the faithful actually believe this! Amazing.

ALL OR NOTHING

Tagged , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

ALL OR NOTHING

By Rick Mathes

Luke 9:23 (NASB77) 23 And He was saying to them all, ” If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Salvation is not free. It costs everything. We must exchange all we are for all His is. It is a total displacement of who we were for who His is. That’s Christianity, being Christ-like. Not religion.

If you sense in your heart a yearning for Jesus to be Lord, praise Him because you have been especially chosen to be His. No one comes to Him except the Father gives to Him. You are elect and like metal to a magnet, you can’t avoid coming to Him. You are not able to turn back for long for the urge to be His is too great to resist

If you confess Jesus as your Lord, you must submit to His Lordship in everything. This includes those times and places when no one is watching. Well, He’s all present so there isn’t anything you can get by Him. He sees it all. You are His slave and He owns you totally. So like boing water through coffee grounds you process your every move through Him.

We know the cross He carried for us but we usually don’t accept the cross we need to carry for Him. We have been charged with sinning and sentenced to die to self so that we might live to serve Him. It all begins at the foot of the cross when we collapse under the weight of our sinful life and repent of our sins at the feet of the Master.

We must be wholly His to be holy. You can’t be part saved either. You are or you aren’t. When you do, submission to His will naturally follows and He becomes the Hand and we become the glove. He goes about the Father’s business in our skin.

Michael Angelo was asked how he knew that David was I that discarded block of marble. He replied that he just kept chipping on that marble that which wasn’t him. So it is with us as our Lord chips away at our sins so that we might repent, say “Ouch!” and slowly return to our first nature which was to walk in the presence of God. It’s our second nature to sin but all that changes when you are brought to that moment of truth by the Holy Spirit where it is all or nothing.

 

CHRISTIANS

Tagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CHRISTIANS

By Rick Mathes

Acts 11:26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for an entire year they met with the church, and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

Little did they know when the Church of Antioch first call the followers of the Way, Christians what they had started. There is no more highly honored near in any dictionary of any nation. We are followers of Christ and disciples of His Way. What a privilege: that He died for me!

But how can you identify a Christian? Are there any characteristics that separated ttthem from the rest?

I don’t know about you but when I’m with Christians I sense a sincere kindness I really can’t find anywhere else. Being kind and compassionate were the hallmark traits of that rag-tab early community of believers. They showed such patience with each other’s short-comings and growing pains. It was a true willingness of everyone’s part to be of one accord.

They had one God, one faith, one baptism and one desire to love each other with His agape love. It produced and unprecedented happiness that set them apart and was the envy of unbelievers. The early church didn’t explode in their mission outreach only, they imploded with worship. Unbelievers were beating the doors down to get some. Such was the condition of America has abandoned.

Charity is not the entitlement of government; it is the outpouring of Christian ministry. It is their eagerness that first established hospitals, orphanages and senior living accommodations. They did so with a humble loyalty to the principle of the gospel. St. Francis of Assisi said it so well, and I paraphrase, “All I want to do is go about the Lord’s business and not know it.”

It takes a courageous warrior for the Lord to defend His name in this sewer of unbelief, apostasy and apathy. We must return to the cross and ask for forgiveness, receive it and then become forgivers. This is all supernatural and in respect for His forgiveness from that bloody death stake on Calvary.

Do you have the strength and resolve to admit, submit, commit and transmit the gospel from the top of the mountain? Then be of service to the Commander-in-Chief and defend that Name of names, Jesus. Proudly declare to all who will hear that you are a Christian!

CHRISTIANITY

Tagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CHRISTIANITY

By Rick Mathes

Acts 11:26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for an entire year they met with the church, and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

There is no higher rank, accomplishment or title that is greater than being a Christian. It hurts my heart deeply that it has been dragged through the mud and worse by the devil and his ministering demons in synagogues of Satan (carnal churches). It’s to the point that only 2% of professing Christians are really Biblical Christians that once populated that first church in Antioch. That means that the vast majority of religious counterfeits who call themselves Christians are going to a hotter place in hell. This begs the question; what is a Chritian and what is the vital doctrine of all Christians

A Christian is one who will not deviate from; 1) Bible only, 2) Jesus only, 3) Grace only, and 4) Faith only. That acronym TULIP (You can look it up.) and the gospel according to Jesus is Calvinism (All other faiths are bogus.).

The first step we need to take is to admit our sins and the need of a Savior. This conviction can only come from the Holy Spirit. No sermon or ritual will produce a real conversion apart from the moving of the Holy Spirit. Only a heart-felt appeal to God will suffice. So put your face in the mud, the blood and the tears at the foot of the Cross and cry out, “Lord save me!”

The next step is to submit to His will. You start out as your hand doing your thing and then He covers it with His glove of protection. This is called justification. Sanctification is where you exchange places with Him. He becomes the hand and your skin becomes the glove that covers Him so that He can go about the Father’s work through you. At this point, the rest of your life is none of your business! God is going to do with you what He wants to, how He wants to, where He wants to, when He wants to, if He feels like it. (Read this again)

You need to commit all you are for all that He is. This is a covenant that is deeper than deep. Even you can’t break it; once saved always saved. I can’t take the blood of my father from my veins anymore than I can take the saving grace of my new Father from my soul.

The natural outcome of these steps to holiness is to transmit or communicate the good news to others. The Word will get into your veins like fire and you will not be able to shut up!

CHRIST’S LOVE

Tagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CHRIST’S LOVE

By Rick Mathes

2 Corinthians 5:14 (NASB77) 14  For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;

How deep is your love? It depends on what kind of love you are talking about. Eros is the love hat is expressed and enjoyed though our five senses: see, hear, taste, smell and touch. This can include everything from the scent of flowers, to the thrill of sex, to the savory taste of a filet.

Another love is filial. This is the most familiar love of very solid friendship as we are expected to have with our best friends and closest neighbors.

Finally there is agape. This love was displayed in the Word of God such as: David-Johnathon, Paul-Timothy, or you and Jesus. It is a complete and total love worth dying for. This is most usual in a husband-wife or parent-child relationship.

Christ died for us because it was the wages of our sin. He dided that we might live: that’s agape love. Whoever would believe in His atonement would be saved by those who refused it would experience the second death. Since all have sinned this should be a matter for all to consider however Satan has his hooks in those who ae in the state of unbelief.

Christ’s love is the antidote of the sentence of death that is upon all me. We all fall short of the perfection God requires. Christ’s death proved His love for mankind and His resurrection proves His love for man. This second Adam was the love that overcame the raging hate and evil of hell.

It was expedient that this one would die to save the citizens of God’s new heaven and new earth. So Jesus died fo us ad now all of His will willingly and eagerly ie for Him. This is a relationship that none of Satan’s monarchs were capable of without the force of war

All of us elect now die for Him. We die to sin so that we may live in holiness. He left us His Holy Spirit to guide and encourage us to repent, believe and obey the Word of God: the essence of Jesus. What can exceed the love of Christ? God is the lover, Jesus is he loved and the Holy Spirit I the love that flows between them!

CHARISMATICS

Tagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CHARISMATICS 1

By Rick Mathes

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

Fifty years after Paul penned Second Corinthians, Clement continued this epistle because the next generation of the Church of Corinth was still abusing the sign gifts as they are today. I have a standing offer of $1,000 for anyone on this planet that can prove they have a sign gift.

Let me ask you Mr. Spirit Filled Christian, “Do you really have a closer walk with God than I do?” Is your walk with Him closer than Chrysostom, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon and a litany of other fellow believers who do not claim to have the sign gifts?”

I have personally witnessed Jim Baker’s staff provide rented wheel chairs to older people standing in line for the healing service to be later wheeled out on the stage and miraculously walking from the chair! This “show time” is the equivalent of Saturday Night Wrestling on TV.

Even the famous Kansas City Prophets claim that they are only 70% successful with prophesies which is laughable. Faith healer Oral Roberts claimed that 4% of those patients in his ministry hospital (do you see the humor) were cured by prayer. Doctors of any hospital will tell you that 4% of their patients have psychosomatic illnesses (in their head). I could write a book on all the bogus claims I have seen and heard in my lifetime alone.

Their false prophets and faith healers with anointed prayer cloths are a complete charade. I stop just short of claiming that they are all from hell. Even Kenneth Hagen, Ken Copeland and Benny Hinn have led souls to an awakening of their salvation. My assessment before you and God is that this whole industry of merchandising Christ is pure spiritual humbug. Stay tuned for “Charismatics 2” to soon follow!

 

CHAINED

Tagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CHAINED

By Rick Mathes

2 Timothy 2:9 )) for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.

Prison ministry is a rewarding effort to lead souls from crime to Christ in which I have been a full-time minister in for over three decades. I have led thousands to the throne of grace and many more thousands have passed through our successful aftercare program. I have leaned that there is no difference in prisons for those outside the Department of Corrections and those inside that are convicts. One got caught and the other didn’t which includes me. I have never been convicted of a crime.

At the top of my list of those imprisoned in the “free world” are ministers. They are so beholding to the deacons and elders for their jobs that their knees shake in the pulpit at the thought of offending anyone. They have to have a grand-slam sermon every Sunday and grow the church or they will be selling hardware within 4 years.

I have often thought about how proud the donkey must have been that carried Jesus into Jerusalem. Out of all the donkeys in the world, Jesus chose him. Contrast that to the grumblers the minister asks to help him in the everyday chores of the church. Grunt work has a special reward in glory.

Some I have met who think they are free have concrete between their ears. It’s an understatement that they are unteacheable. Their mouth is going a hundred miles an hour and their ears are folded over and sown shut. Their minds are in bondage to relativity.

When I was growing up I lost all feelings from being abused mentally by a very dysfunctional family or lack thereof. My hero was Dr. Spock from Star Wars. He was without emotion, just stoic and logical. So I grew more hardened to my pain and the pain of others. I became introverted and obsessed with reading and acquiring knowledge: Maybe because I was treated like I was a useless dummy.

Here is the hypocrite with two mouths. The apostate that is enjoying his walk down the wide road to hell and the heretic that goes to church but lives for the devil. There is no fear of God in any of them. Satan’s battleground is your local church that for many is a prison with stained glass windows. Well let me tell you, you can park your hose in a garage but that doesn’t make it a car. The House of God has become the synagogue of Satan. Shame on us!

 

CAUTION!

Tagged , , , , , , Leave a comment

CAUTION!

By Rick Mathes

Galatians 5:25 (NASB77) 25  If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

What would happen to street traffic if there weren’t traffic lights? Chaos! Can you imagine the highway road rage if there weren’t any rules? It’s the same thing with real life. We need to know the perameters and when we see a red, yellow or green light, the message needs  to be consistent for everyone. So I would morally be very aware of words beginning with “self.” Almost all of them are a flashing red light!

The mother of “self” words is self-gratification. This is when your gods are all things that make you feel good. Mega churches have prospered and been exploding in worldly success because they worship on the altar of “self.”

It’s almost a make right or passage to be self-sufficient. All virile, hairy-chested men want to brag that they did it their way. They glory in their self-opinionated religions and self-assertive clawing to the top of the corporate ranks. Do unto others before they do unto you. He who dies with the most toys wins, oh really?

Being aggressive and contemptible will help you fight your way to the top of the world but it will cost you your soul. If you love the word more than the Word, the love of the Father is not in you. I guarantee you that there won’t be a U-Hall trailer attached to the back of your hearse!

As a matter of fact, it is despicable to stand at the foot of the cross and give our Lord the finger! There is no other choice but to accept Him. If Jesus isn’t your Lord, Satan is. Think about it. That would make you a Satanist! There is no deception greater than being a carnal Christian and believeing you are going to heaven. There is no bigger lie from the father of lies than thinking you are so led and you arene’t.

Watch the flashing lights. Do you have a green light or should you proceen with caution or stop?