Tag: Christian

DENOMINATIONS BE DAMNED

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DENOMINATIONS BE DAMNED

By Rick Mathes

Father God is not a Reformed Presbyterian, Jesus Christ is not a Southern Baptist, and the Holy Spirit is not a Pentecostal. There is only one Body of Christ. Any denomination or group that separates true Christians from each other is straight from Hell. We may not all agree on doctrinal distinctions or our forms of government but if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead, you are saved and that includes Roman Catholics. You heard me right!

Where I depart from some is in the doctrine that requires additions to the Bible, Jesus, grace or faith. But that doesn’t separate us from salvation. It’s not the “what” it’s the “Who” that saves. I believe that Calvinism is the gospel according to Jesus Christ and you can respectfully disagree as we celebrate communion together. But with deep respect, I demand that you certify your doctrine with only the Word of God or we will have a food-fight of biblical proportions! Ha-ha.

“T” The first irrefutable doctrine is that all men are totally depraved, thus you have the “T” of the TULIP acronym. That doesn’t mean we don’t do good works it means that no matter how many good works you do there is still the remnant of darkness in your soul that precludes it from entering the Shekinah glory of God. We need Christ’s imputed righteousness to stand naked before God.

“U” Our salvation is completely unmerited. There is no prayer, sacrament, confessional, priest or purgatory that will get us into heaven, only the Cross of Christ and His shed blood opens up the gates of glory.

“L” Those who don’t accept Jesus for their forgiveness of sin will pay the price and suffer eternity in hell. This means our Lord’s atonement on the cross was limited. It was limited to only those who accept the Savior. He didn’t die for those who turn their back on Him and His sacrifice.

“I” the predestine grace of God is irresistible, you are totally unable to resist it. We elect are attracted to salvation like metal to a magnet. Our all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present God is not wondering who will be saved and who won’t. He knows because He chose you before time began and you can’t say no.

“P” My favorite is perseverance of the saints. That means that we who are His just don’t give up. We may get knocked down by the demons from time to time but we always get back up and press on! We don’t fight on our back, we fight on our knees and always win.

CONDEMNED

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CONDEMNED

By Rick Mathes

Twenty-six weekend revivals in twenty-six prisons over two states simultaneously! It had never been done before. The logistics of this prison invasion boggled my mind, not to mention the trembling of my heart. Over a thousand volunteers would have to be instructed, assigned, security cleared and coordinated with musicians all at the same time. Well, this overwhelming task sure go my soul winning juices going as I sharpened my marketing skills and committed to this undertaking. Direct mail, church meetings and endless phone calls. A blur of apprehensive Christians caught up in the peer group pressure, contagious excitement, invading prisons for Christ. Setting the captives free!

As the December invasion drew nearer, I became disquieted and panicky of possible prison violence and danger. I had recruited these lambs and sent them to the slaughter. The prisoners would chew them up and spit them out. I was walking in fear and doubt. My spirit had weakened and at least I had enough discernment to press on in prayer an fasting in preparation for this spectacular event. While deeply into it, the Lord impressed me on the importance of spiritual combat.

The light turned green and the invasion was a go when I received an eleventh hour call from death row in the state maximum security prison over 100 miles from me. They wanted to participate and not be left out. I volunteered to do a Sunday morning service and the arrangements were made.

I arrived at the penitentiary earlier than the visitors and subsequent to a very meticulous search I was permitted to enter the confined security area clutching my Bible. I entered the walkway with ten thickly screened cages on both sides that were only three feet square and barely tall enough for a man to stand up in. Very comparable to a zoo. Extremely debasing and smothering. I made a stand at the gat and resolved to preach out and down the corridor. I wasn’t sure anyone would show up so I just paced the floor and prayed.

Three hours had passed before all the C. P. (capital punishment) inmates were positioned in these cramped cubicles. Each C.P. had to be brought out one man at a time, cuffed from behind and leg-shackled. A further obstacle was caused by the “No Physical Contact” rule in effect. The unbroken pathway caused much complaining and inconvenience for the other prisoners. One by on they stepped into these disgraceful cages and the cuffs and chains were removed. No physical contact whatsoever. They were phlegmatic and sulky and then it really hit me!

I was in an arena of death row prisoners that had committed crimes that were so unforgivable that civilized society required their lives as retribution. They had all been sentenced to die by lethal injection. Not competent to live. They would all eventually walk that last mile and return in a box. The awesome responsibility for their souls overwhelmed me and it was at that instant that I experienced a tremendous illustration from the Lord that has influenced my ministry to this day.

I opened us up in prayer and began turning to Psalm 51 when I noticed that I couldn’t see the print very well. I searched myself and realized that my glasses were missing and I would be helpless to read the text without them. Why would God do this to me? Didn’t he know how significant this service was? What did he expect me to do now? On my left was a murderous looking convict with a sneer across his disfigured and pock-marked face. Impulsively, I asked him if he could read this for me. He said he would.

I remembered a television service I had watched where the minister had someone read each line, and the preacher would preach. Seemed like a good idea to me, so I put the open Bible against the screen for him to read. And he began to read slowly and reverently, not however pausing for me to preach. Everyone hung on every word and the Spirit of God settled down on them in an incredible way.

When he was through, I couldn’t believe my eyes! One by one they dropped to their knees and began weeping. I hadn’t preached a singe word. Instinctively, I did a call to repentance and they responded as one. We then sang some praise songs to Jesus and the sentry ushered me out and on to the street. My head began to clear and the lesson sunk in.

Jesus Christ had done the service and what could I have possible have added to Psalm 51 but a death row convict to read it? My lesson? The Lord was with them before I got there and that He had remained after I left, still setting captives free 2,000 years later!

BARNEY THE BEAR

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BARNEY THE BEAR

By Rick Mathes

(Author of “Allah or Jesus”)

Many years ago the City Council of a large metropolitan city was researching diverse options that would stretch out a hand of brotherhood to the impoverished shanty town across the railroad tracks. They were seeking some benevolent gesture they could make that would give them positive public relations.

One day a Councilman spoke up and suggested, “Let’s help them start a free public zoo. Everyone loves animals!” The proposal was passed unanimously and it was voted to donated a cub bear to begin it with.

A ten by thirty foot cage was constructed and a cub named “Barney” was delivered to a neighborhood that had much crime and brutality. And the people responded by being mean and heartless as their displaced aggression took focus on Barney.

They would poke fun at Barney and flick lit cigarettes at him. He growled his first mean growl, snarled his teeth and paced six steps to the right, and then six steps to the left. Months dragged by and Barney began growing larger and meaner. The town’s hoodlums had already set him on fire twice and some men kids had poked out one of his eyes. He was a prisoner in a cage. They were doing horrendous things to him. He couldn’t escape his captivity. Barney was the victim of society and totally at their mercy. He didn’t know hatred, distress or brutality until it was inflicted upon him.

So, he paced six steps to the right and then six steps to the left, growled and then paced six steps to the right, and the six steps to the left, then six steps ….. He was incarcerated with no means of escape. No future. No hope. No one who cared!

One day an anonymous phone call to the city’s news-desk alerted a reported of the atrocities big, mean and ugly Barney was suffering. Intolerable! The feature story was run front page and the public was outraged that someone had fed him meat mixed with ground glass! Unanimously they decided to rescue Barney and transport him to their multi-million dollar zoo that had acres for bears and the tender loving care of dedicated attendants.

The truck was dispatched and the cage with Barney in it was brought back to the City Zoo and lowered down into an absolute dream come true, “Bear Heaven.” It had everything and anything a bear could ever dream of. Rolling hills, cold, clear streams, spring fed lakes teaming with delicious fish and the companionship of loving, bear hugging and joyful fellow bears welcoming their new friend Barney.

All this attention had made Barney fearful and angry as he paced the only home he had ever known; six paces to the right, and six paces to the left, then six paces to the …..

Very carefully, they slid up and opened the gate to his life-long prison of bars. Open at last! His way of escape was finally staring him right in the face! He nervously stuck his head out and looked over the breathtaking beauty of the new life that was open to him. And guess what he did? You guessed it; six paces to the right, then six paces to the left, and …. He wouldn’t take that first step to freedom.

Perplexed, the attendants hurried off to prepare the most delectable and delicious bear food that money could buy and a chef could prepare. This banquet was laid out before him just outside the gate to his cage. All he had ever eaten was foul garbage. The irresistible aroma filled the air as he lifted his snout, sniffed and salivated in extreme hunger. His eyes scanned the full array of any delicacy a starving bear could ever imagine. Guess what he did? You guessed it; he paced six steps to the right, then six steps to the left, and then…. He still would not be enticed to leave his old life behind.

Freedom was staring him right in the face. The gate was wide open but he stubbornly refused to leave the life he had led. He was hardened and institutionalized; an incorrigible that just knew society would reject him. There just had to be a catch. A whole banquet of life giving food lay before him and yet he rejected even the multitude who had eaten the same food and had been nourished and saved.

Night had fallen and the City Zoo attendants knew that desperate measures had to be taken. They knew that this new home was Barney’s only salvation so they risked their relationship with him and determined that they  must use a confrontational means of reaching him. So they found a torch and set it aflame! Poking it into the cage and threatening Barney with consuming fire was all it took. He felt the approaching flames and bolted through the one and only gate of salvation! Terrified but free of his prison at last!

Even though the banquet of the Word is laid before criminals, it sometimes takes fire and brimstone to bring them to the foot of the Cross.

www.RickMathes.org

 

WHY NOT?

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WHY NOT?

By Rick Mathes

There are two questions that have nagged me from as far back as I can remember: Why and what is Truth? Apart from Jesus and the constant teaching of the Apostles, neither question can ever be objectively answered. To this day my mind goes haywire when I hear people philosophize in a relative and often circular manner of reasoning. To them, truth is whatever they believe to be true. They cross their eyes when I remind them of the law of non-contradiction: A cannot be both A and B at the same time or A and B cannot both be true.

Socrates drove everyone nuts with his incessant questioning of “Why?” His dialectic method of questioning made fools out of those who lived without constants, nothing objectively secure.

My parents would say, “You need to be in by 10PM!” I’d ask, “Why?” and they would say, “Because we said so!” Made no sense to me the difference between 9PM and 11PM so I would stay out until midnight which made more sense to me.

And my second nagging question was, “What is truth?” I read almost every word in the Great Books Library, had a I Q of 140 and still didn’t know what truth was. I didn’t learn until I read the Bible Jesus say, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

I still can’t understand how Jesus can be the truth. I can understand how he has the truth, or he knows the truth, or he teaches the truth but how can a man be a concept, and why?

There I go again, I’m right back to where I started!

YOU WILL SEE

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YOU WILL SEE

By Rick Mathes

John 1:39 He •said to them, “Come, and you will see.” They came therefore and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

How can anyone resist His central command, “Come.” When the King issues a demand, all he wants to hear from you is, “Yes Sir!” Yet, with just a gentle invitation, one of the greatest Apostles, John and his brother stepped forward and spent the afternoon with Him.

I don’t know what Jesus discussed with the two teenagers but they never left His side until James was martyred and John lived out his old age in Ephesus.

Here are more notable requests:

  • Follow Me:
  • John 1:43 The next day He purposed to go forth into Galilee, and He •found Philippians And Jesus •said to him, “Follow Me.”
  • Come to Me:
  • Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
  • Learn of Me:
  • Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
  • Abide in Me:
  • John 15:14 “You are My friends, if you do what I command you.

I can’t tell you how many times I have taught my sheep to hear, listen, learn, apply and evaluate. We are the sum total of all our choices and for the life of me I will never understand why anyone would have a problem with the Lord’s good news.

He lays out for us to follow, come, learn and abide.

Many shallow, carnal Christians will put on a wonderful show of following Him. They are dot-to-dot perfect in the church attendance, Bible studies, good works and fellowship. But when things don’t go their way the turn inward to self and lose themselves in their own feeble and failing efforts.

Others only come to Him in time of need. They believe that Jesus is their servant not the other way around. Our mentors, those we learn from, are found often by chance instead of choice. We all need to hold on to Paul and drag along a Timothy. It is then that when you follow His steps the Holy Spirit will make His dwelling in you like your father’s blood runs through your veins; He will abide in you and you in Him.

NOW WHAT?

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NOW WHAT?

By Rick Mathes

Acts 1:6-8 (NASB77) 6  And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7  He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8  but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

We never forget the first time we dropped to our knees to confess Jesus as our Lord and we look forward to the last: the moment after our last heartbeat when we meet him eye to eye,

Let’s go through a here and not quiz first:

  1. What do you think about Jesus?
  2. Is His name an important matter to you?
  3. Do you sense He tests your condition?
  4. Have you seriously considered His Word lately?
  5. Was He sent from God to you?
  6. Is He your all in all?
  7. Have you deliberately picked up His Cross?
  8. Will you repent of your sins right now?
  9. Are you a faithful disciple of His every circumstance, Does your future only include Him?
  10. The future is not for us to know and I wouldn’t want to know it if I could. Like to me is a continuous adventure with fun and challenges behind every door in my fun house of salvation.
  11. When the Spirit of Go comes upon you:
  • You have courage you never know you had.
  • Your confidence level soars to a high but calm level.
  • You have a fresh and pure affection for all that affects you?
  • Your zeal for Jesus flames up and consumes you.
  • Your patience becomes that of Job’s.
  • Your perseverance through anything for the saints that are His.So now what you ask?Be a witness for what Jesus has done in your life. When people get to know you they should get to know Jesus. Witness what He has revealed to you through your faith and obedience. Your experience with Jesus should always be uppermost in your thoughts, words and actions. And most of all, persever. Fight the good fight, keep the faith and finish the race. Press ON!

YOUR BODY

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 YOUR BODY

By Rick Mathes

Romans 12:1 (NASB77) 1   I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

In no creature except man is there any act which involves such an interactivity of matter and spirit, boy and soul.

We are the sacrificing priests within the Temple of our bodies. This Temple is a house possessed by the Holy Spirit and preserved by the faith and blood of believers throughout the whole world. We, men of God, must be diligent keepers of His law in our heads and His passion in our hearts. As obedient slaves we go about the Father’s business and we don’t even notice we are doing so. Being a saved believer is a serious choice that cannot be violated or broken: a covenant.

C.H. Spurgeon: I scarcely like this word “sacrifice” because it involves nothing more than a reasonable service. If we gave up all we had and became beggars for Christ, it would display no such chivalrous spirit or magnanimous conduct after all. We would be gainers by the surrender.

Faith keeps the man who keeps the faith.

Our Body of Faith has:

  • Eyes to see
  • Ears to hear
  • Hands to grip
  • Feet to walk
  • Mind to think
  • Heart to love
  • Taste to appreciate.The first most grievous sin is to have a god more important than God. The second is to desecrate the Body which is the Temple of God. Immoral sex, obesity, alcoholism, drug addiction, crime, etc. is essentially spitting in the face of our crucified Savior!How dare you shame the House of God, your body and then yet expect God’s blessing.God is reaching out to touch you physically, mentally, educationally, vocationally, and spiritually. It’s your body to do with as you choose. It is my expectation that this devotional will motivate you to do some housekeeping and wash your soul in living water.

YOUR CHOICE

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YOUR CHOICE

By Rick Mathes

John 3:3 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

It is biblical to examine our selves and the first test question is to ask “Have you been born again?” Now the weight of that answer is dependent on your perception of what “born again” means. If I were to ask 100 Christians, “What is born again?” I would get 100 different answers. However, they would share one common thread: are you becoming lesser that He might become greater? Born again proof to me is when you are in the process of exchanging all you are for all He is.

In whom do you trust? Doubt an fear are the keys to hell and the opposite of faith and trust, the keys to heaven. You can’t partially trust anyone or any institution with your life when danger is eminent. When someone points a gun at you all you have is you and your trust in God’s sovereignty. But you still duck the bullet. God gave us inherent desires for self preservation.

Whose work are you doing; As James so aptly pointed out in his epistle, “Show me your faith by your works.” The word teaches that we will be judged by our works. What you do is in direct parallel with who you spend your time with.

What company do you keep? It is absolutely true that birds of a feather flock together. What you do and say is reflective of those you keep company with. Losers always hang out with losers. WE downgrade and disintegrate as we drift from the children of the promise to the hell houds of the flames.

It all boils down to, “What have you learned from your master?” You mirror either Jesus or Satan depending on who your Lord is. When you are born again you are reborn to your first nature to obey Satan fades and your submission to Jesus rises on the horizon.

YOUR CHURCH

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YOUR CHURCH 2

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.

Sad to say but His Church can and probably is a far different place than your church or the ones that Paul preached in. I can’t help but apply simple logic to my faith and understand form the Word that if my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, where I stand is Church. However, like metal drawn to a magnet, others of like blessing are drawn to each other to form the visible Body of Christ which is the fellowship we attend corporately. So there is the invisible Church within us and the visible Church where we can gather together.

Putting worldly merchandising and marketing strategies to building a successful church really depends on what we consider successful and the manner in which we seek to attain it.

Inevitably we end up with programs and no prayers. We feverishly do all we can to have classes on anything that will attract the masses to attend. Prayer, if there is any at all is manufactured, mechanical and without life. People go to church on Sunday morning because they love the fellowship. They go on Sunday night because they love the Pastor but they attend the Wednesday night prayer meeting because they love the Lord. If your church has abandoned the mid-week prayer meeting, run from it!

So the main effect of this worldly effort to stage church gives you religion (in the image of man) without regeneration. All it becomes is a lot of ritual that escapes the reality fo the pure Gospel that if perverted. Paul said you would be accursed. Can you see the deplorable condition of what we accept as church? It has become nothing more than as entertainment center in most cases. Anything to draw a crowd but too much like a bright blue bug light that is eventually the demise of the unsuspecting bugs that fly too close to the flame and get zapped!

The sermons offer no salvation to those in the congregation who are not looking for it. Preaching “turn of burn” is not politically correct. It is ancient and certainly old-fashioned to preach “Repent, the Kingdom of God is here!” as John the Baptist did followed by Jesus, Peter and Paul. Open your spiritual eyes and pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to His holy ground.

YOUR CHURCH

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YOUR CHURCH 3

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 16:18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.

Cool marble floors, silent statues, golden altar utensils, and stain glass windows can give you spiritual chills but have absolutely nothing to do with winning souls or reaching God. All the bells and whistles in the world can’t get someone to say, “Save me Lord!” but the Word of God quickened in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. Like metal seeking the magnet, those elect are drawn to Jesus, drop to their knees and confess Him as Lord.

Beautiful organ music, huge choirs, over-head visuals and even indoor-fireworks and earthquakes ae all pushed to the limit and new gimmicks are yet to be invented to draw the gullible into these Christ-less rip off buildings with a cross on the roof. The Lord’s Church is barely visible in the “add hot water” “you blink you miss it” instant fast food religion that has infiltrated and captured most denominations.

Plenty of theology is invented to have you thirst for more: anything but repent, submit and obey. Father Lucifer does care if you want to give you heart to Jesus, repent of your sins and become born again, just don’t do it today. Apathy and lukewarm emotion is reflected in the new generation of young adults that live in a “whatever” world. The tail is wagging the dog and the dumbing down the children has come back to haunt the elite.

So here you have a beautiful church with only one problem: it is empty of believers!

When you open your doors to unbelievers without discipline you are guilty of he sin of permission. By not rebuking and correcting the sinners, you take on that sin as your own. Can you get a full understanding of this?

As ministers of the Word, to have His Church there has to be limits of which we will not go beyond. A true Apostolic Church of His is Bible only Jesus only, Grace only, Faith only. You can tell they are true to the Word if they ascribe to predestination of the elect and teach: Total depravity, unmerited salvation, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints. Step into the real church and hear the heavens echo “Welcome to the Body of Christ”, the called ones, the true Church.