The Great Commission Revisited

Jesus gave his apostles several mandates. The first was to be witnesses (martyrs) of Jesus life, death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8, 21-26, 2:32). The second, was for  Jesus' disciples to love one another, as Jesus loved them (John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:11, 14; 4:7-12). The third mandate, is for the apostles to make disciples of all nations (people) baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The apostles were commanded to teach these new students of Jesus to obey whatsoever Jesus' commanded them (Mat 28:16-20). Therefore, we follow the apostle's teachings, and continue to teach others (Acts 2:42).  

Notice, Jesus rebuked those who did not believe; those who had seen him after he had risen from the dead (Mark 16:14; John 20:24-27). We are called to believe the gospel, or good news of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Spirit (Acts 2:22-39; 1 John 3:23; 4:2, 14-15; 5:1).  Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, and he has been raised from the dead! Secondly, we are called to be baptized (Mark 16:15-16). Additionally, believers are called to receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).  Remember, John baptized with water, but Jesus with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16: Acts 1:5, 11:16).

The apostle Paul taught that people should believe in the Lord Jesus (Acts 16:31; Rom. 1:16). To the Jews the apostle Paul proclaimed Jesus as the Christ (Acts 17:2-3). To Jews and Gentiles, Paul preached Jesus, and the resurrection of the dead (Acts 17:17-18). He told the people of Athens that God was the creator of the world, and Lord of heaven and earth. He said that God did not dwell in buildings. The God that Paul proclaimed doesn't need anything. He is the life-giver. In God we all live, move, and exist. All people are God's children. God has declared that all of his children should change their minds about him. For he is the one that will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:19-31).   

The apostle Peter preached that we should believe in Jesus, who is the one appointed by God to be the judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42-43). The apostle Paul preached that Jesus will judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31). The apostle John records a time for the dead to be judged (Rev. 11:18; 20:12-13). The Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed also confirm that Jesus will come to judge the living and the dead. 

God loves us. In Christ Jesus, everyone is included in the love and grace of God. No one is without God, except in their own minds. We are called to believe that Jesus is the resurrected Christ. We are called to be baptized in water, and receive the Holy Spirit. We are called to love one another, and to share this good news with all people. 

Watch my latest video on, "The Great Commission Revisited."

The New Reformation

In case you are missing it, the "New Reformation" is underway. At the forefront of this reformation, the church is moving from a self-centric focus, sin-centric focus,  and prophet-centric focus, to a Christo-centric focus. 

Those who believe in taking the self-centric focus, and sin-centric focus, often say that Jesus came to help us live the Christian life, and we follow him. That is, we ask, "What would Jesus do?" and then we try, with God's help to do the same thing. The problem with this approach is that it places all, or most of the emphasis on self, sin, and Old Covenant teachings, instead of on Christ, and what he has accomplished for us, and as us.¹

Experiential Reality or Experiential Lie

There are two lies that the devil has propagated. The first lie, is that we must work to get sin out of our lives, and to become holy. It's the lie that was told from the beginning. The lie that says you need to partake of certain knowledge, and embark on a journey to become like God. But this is a false paradigm. The reality is that from the beginning God created us in his image, and in his likeness.²  

The gospel is the good news of Jesus. It isn't a path to a successful life. We are deceived into thinking that similar to achieving the American dream, our own efforts, combined with God's help, will allow us to achieve salvation. So under the old paradigm, believers incorporate the same philosophy that they have about achieving the American dream into the gospel. They believe that it's mostly about being smart, working hard, and being diligent. They say the more diligent we are in praying, studying, attending church services, etc., the more successful we will be at becoming like God. But that's a lie. Nothing we do can make us become like God. Nothing we do can make us holy. God alone has made us in his image, and in his likeness. God alone makes us holy. Jesus came to remind us of who we already  are in him, to give us abundant life, and to bring us back into relationship with the Father, through the Spirit.³

The second lie is believing that since God alone makes us holy, we can live outside of the truth as a dead man and not live as the resurrected son or daughter that God has made us to be. We are deceiving ourselves or just neglecting our salvation. We are called to live in the reality of who we are as the sons and daughters of the Living God,⁴ not as captives held in bondage by the father of lies.⁵      

Those who believe in the New Reformation, are Christ followers, who by the grace of God, have come to acknowledge that Christ is the only one who can live the Christ life⁶, and it's Jesus who lives his life within us.⁷ They believe that it's Christ who has saved us in his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Spirit.⁸ That when he said, "It is finished," he actually meant it. The difference between a believer, and a non-believer, is that the believer believes it, and makes a conscious decision to yield to Christ, and the unbeliever has not yet had his eyes opened to the "Way, the Truth, and the Life." 

Those who believe in the New Reformation, are Christo-centric, or Christ-centered. They believe that we are all children of God. There's no way of being "in him," without being in Christ. For being "in him," means being in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.⁹ Those who go off into a far country are still sons and daughters. The prodigal was living outside of his true self as a son. He didn't lose his identity when he lived outside of it. He may have been lost, and living as a dead man, but in reality, just like you and I, he was always a child of his loving Father.¹º 

Watch my latest You Tube video, "Reality, Can You Handle the Truth?"

¹ Those who believe in the New Reformation take a highly Christocentric view of the gospel. They believe that Jesus is our life, and they place more weight on him, the resurrected, last Adam, than on the dead, first Adam.  

²Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;  God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good  (Gen 1:26 first part-27, 31 first part NASB).

³The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (John 10:10; 17:3 KJV).

⁴The Psalmist wrote:  I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High (Ps.82:6). When Jesus quoted the Psalmist he knew that his listeners would be familiar with the entire Psalm, so he quoted only the beginning of it, and said, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? (John 10:34 NASB). The Apostle Paul wrote: For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (Rom. 8:14 NASB). The Apostle John wrote: See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother (1 John 3:1-2, 10 NASB). The devil is a created being, a fallen angel, and in reality isn't the father of anyone. What the Apostle John meant, is that although everyone is a child of God, some knowingly, or unknowingly, live in captivity, in the lies of the devil. Thus they are living as though they were his children, and not in the reality of who they really are. 

⁵Jesus speaking to the Jews who rejected him, and his teachings: You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44 NASB).


⁶When Christ, who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (Col. 3:4 NASB).

⁷I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20 KJV).

⁸who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, (2 Tim 1:9-10 NASB).

⁹The Apostle Paul preaching to the idol worshiping Athenians said, for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’  Being then the children of God…(Acts 17:28-29 NASB).

¹ºBut when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;  for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate (Luke 15:17-24 NASB).

The Often Overlooked Message of the Book of Acts, "The Last Days!"

The often overlooked message of the book of Acts is that we are in the last days! We have been in the last days since the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the believers just like Jesus said. The apostles were, like so many of us, concerned about Jesus return to earth to establish his kingdom. But they didn't understand that Jesus was going to "return" first through the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-8)! The plan of God was that the kingdom of God was being established within men (Luke 17:21). The Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands (Acts 7:48). He was to live his victorious resurrected life in human beings through the power of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 2:20)!

After Jesus was resurrected he commanded the apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:44-53). They were witnesses of the Holy Spirit and the power of God demonstrated in Jesus life through the many miracles that he performed and in his bodily resurrection (Acts 2:22, 24). Now that same power would be working in them so that they would be able to testify of what they had seen and heard (Acts 4:20).

On the day of Pentecost, after Jesus had received the gift from the Father, He poured the Holy Spirit out upon those who believed, just as he said. Peter told the crowd that was present that the prophecy of Joel was being fulfilled. He quoted the prophet Joel saying, 'And it shall be in the last days,' God says, 'that I will pour forth my Spirit on all mankind...' (Acts 2:17).

We are in the last days; however we have been in the last days since the day of Pentecost. Our focus should not be on an event, but on the person of Jesus Christ who desires to live his victorious, resurrected life within us with power, through the Holy Spirit which he freely gives to those who obey him (Acts 5:32).

That's the gospel - it's incredibly good news and something to get excited about!

Listen to my message from July 8, 2012, "What did the Witnesses Have to Say?"

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission."

Just What Is The Purpose Of The Bible?

In the movie “A Few Good Men,” Lieutenant Jonathan Kendrick (played by Keifer Sutherland) tells Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee (played by Tom Cruise) 

“I have two books at my bedside, Lieutenant: the Marine Corps Code of Conduct and the King James Bible.”  

It's estimated that more than six billion copies of the Bible have been sold. But how many people know what the purpose of the Bible is? 

I opened the Bible for the very first time while attending college at the University of Minnesota. There wasn't enough room on campus for all the students that desired on-campus housing, so we were placed at the Hotel Duluth. I read through chapters of the Bible and found it very interesting, but I never understood what the real purpose was. 

Jesus said to the very religious and pious people of his day, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life John 5:39-40 (TNIV). 

These are the same people that let the Law come between them and the Life Giver! They even accused Jesus of being a sinner, a blasphemer and eventually got their wish and had him “gorified.” They were sin-centric not Christ-centric, and therefore never experienced the freedom of the new life that Christ wanted to give them; the freedom that resurrection Sunday pictures. 

Jesus, the Messiah, said he did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; but to fulfill them (Mat. 5:17 TNIV). The word fulfill is the Greek word Pleroo, and it means to complete. Jesus not only completed the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms, but he is the Light that opens up the Scriptures so that we can understand them (Luke 24:44-45).

The Light of the gospel of Jesus Christ will remove the scales from your eyes and the shackles from your ankles! 

Are you living life thinking that Jesus called you to change?  Changed equals “chained.” It's "do it yourself religion," as Bible translator and author Francois du Toit says. Jesus never called us to change. He calls us to receive a new life in him (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3). 

I couldn’t understand the purpose of the Bible when I opened it up for the first time while attending UMD, because I never wholeheartedly received what God wanted to give me in Jesus Christ. 

The purpose of the Bible is to lead us to Jesus Christ for eternal life or immortality in him; that we may receive freedom and participate in the new life we have in him; and that we would grow in the grace and knowledge of him (2 Peter 3:18); and that we would participate in his priestly ministry. 

I’m sending each of you a “key.” Here it comes! Now catch it. Stand up. With the key in one hand, lift the opposite leg up and put your foot over your knee. OK. Now reach down and unlock the shackle from your ankle. Shake it off and free yourself from that ball and chain that you’ve been carrying around. Now do the Hallelujah dance. Jump up and down and yell, “I am free! Free! Free! Hallelujah Amen! 

You are now free to experience your new life in Christ!  You have been unshackled from whatever sin or problem, fear or anxiety that you have focused your life on! You are now free to enjoy your life in Christ. You are free to wholeheartedly experience him! To live in Him! The old life is gone with all its sin and problems and fears. It’s really that simple. Don’t complicate it. Don’t labor. Rest in Jesus (Mat. 11:28-30). 

There is no life in the prophets. There is no life in Bible stories; nor is there life in the Scriptures; but the Scriptures, the Bible does point us to Christ who fulfilled them; he filled them to the full; he completed them; because as the Messiah, that’s  what He was called to do. Jesus completed his earthly ministry when he was resurrected from the dead, and ascended to the Father.

We have been given a new life in Christ - not a changed life, but a new life in Him - eternal life in him - freedom in Him! We share in his priestly ministry. It’s good news for everyone, especially for those who believe. 

We are free! Free! Free! Celebrate your freedom in Christ!

911 Celebration Of Freedom

Worldwide Grace Fellowship, Clarksville, TN

“You can take our land, but you can never take our freedom.” Mel Gibson in the movie Braveheart, portrayed WilliamWallace, a Scottish knight that helped lead the Scots to an upset victory over the English forces at the Battle of Stirling Bridge September 11, 1297.

Man has always equated blood for freedom and there have been many battles since the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Many have given there lives in quest of freedom.

In Genesis chapters 10-11, we read about a man named Nimrod, Noah’s great grandson. He saw God as someone who stood in the way of his freedom.  Just like Nimrod, human beings have tried to obtain freedom by their own best efforts.

Everyone wants freedom, but where does it come from and how can we attain true freedom?

Jonathan Ielpi worked for the New York City Fire Department in Squad 288, a unit that handled various kinds disasters. He was called to duty after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower on September 11, 2001.

After getting a call from his son Jonathan, Lee Ielpi a retired firefighter, drove down to the Twin Towers with his younger son Brendan to see if they could help out. When they arrived, the North and South Towers had already collapsed and looked as though they had been crushed in a giant trash compactor. The two 110 story towers were now just five stories of broken rubble.

Lee and Brendan began to comb through the debris in search of survivors, Lee, hoping that he would find his son alive. The day ended, but Lee Ielpi had not yet found his son.

Somewhere in the pile is a woman named Genelle Guzman. She and some coworkers were heading down Stairway B when she stopped on the thirteenth floor to take off her high heel shoes. That’s when the North Tower collapsed and a rolling wave of concrete, steel and everything else that was in the tower, buried her. Only her head and left arm were free.

For twenty seven hours she waited to be rescued. While waiting, she believes she encountered an angel named Paul, who came and held her hand  until rescue workers could cut her free. Genelle Guzman was the last survivor to be pulled from the fallen towers.

Lee Ielpi was still searching for his son Jonathan. He had given up hope of finding him alive. However, he wanted to be able to bury his son. On December 11, 2001, Lee and Brendan Ielpi, helped carry Jonathan’s body from ground zero.

On this the tenth anniversary of the 911 attacks, families of the victims are gathered at the September 11 Memorial to remember those who were killed. They will notice two huge holes in the ground where the twin towers once stood. For me, these holes represent the 2983 people who were killed in the 1993 bombing and the 911 attacks. Their names sketched in the bronze plates that surround the footprints of the two towers. But they also symbolize our poverty and nakedness without Jesus Christ.

The Freedom Tower is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013. It will be 1776 feet high, commemorating the year of our nation’s independence. However, independence doesn’t equal freedom!

Jesus said that everyone who sins is a slave of sin John 8:31-36. His words offended the Jews who thought they were free men. They were Abrahams descendants and to them, that meant they were free.

But Jesus explained that Abraham’s blood couldn’t set them free from sin. Slaves have no purchasing power, they have no inheritance, they can’t afford to purchase righteous garments to clothe themselves, nor could they purchase immortality. It was only Jesus who could do this for them, because it required his precious blood not Abrahams.

In the old covenant, slaves were set free once every seven years (Ex. 21:2; Deut. 15:12) and only once every fifty years (called the Jubilee), on the day of At-One-Ment could they return to their inheritance - their land and their families (Lev. 25:8-16).

But the good news - the gospel of Jesus Christ is we don’t have to wait fifty years to return to our inheritance - our inheritance is Jesus Christ. We are set free when we trust in Him. Jesus redeemed us. He bought the righteous garments to cover our naked bodies and he will clothed us with immortality. He is rich in the love nature. A nature that is foreign to human beings. It’s the nature that loved even His betrayer Judas, in that Jesus washed Judas’s feet before he was crucified, knowing that Judas had already betrayed him.

How many men did William Wallace slaughter for freedom? His sword and his garments stained with the blood of men. Since the Battle of Stirling Bridge, there have been many battles. I witnessed the battle at the World Trade Center ten years ago this day from a high-rise office building on 15th Street and 8th Avenue.

Throughout history, man has been willing to shed his blood in exchange for what he has perceived to be freedom. In reality the exchange has kept him in bondage to a sinful hurtful nature.

Today Jonathan Ielpi’s fireman’s jacket is part of the remaining artifacts which is held in the September 11 Memorial and Museum. That garment couldn’t save Jonathan’s life.

Jesus died, but He isn’t in the tomb. He is in you and in me and in all those who have surrendered their lives to Him. Christ in you the hope of Glory (Col. 1:27).

I can hear him saying, “Don’t worry. I am your Tower Of Freedom. I have come to set you free from the hurtful, sinful nature. I will clothe you in white garments of righteousness (Rev. 7:14). I will clothe you in immortality (John 3:16). All that the Father has is mine (John 16:15). I am rich in the love of God, because I am God. I am a Warrior of Love! I have violent love for you.

It’s not the shedding of your own blood... it’s not the shedding of another man’s blood... No,  my robe has been dipped not in the blood of men, but in my own precious blood (Heb. 9:12; Rev. 19:13), which was shed for you, and you, and all of you. So that all men can live in freedom-  life forever more.

Let the celebration begin! 

Bibliography: You Tube, Genelle Guzman McMillan, Guideposts TV; Kelly, Mike, “Last Survivor pulled from WTC rebuilds life, recalls horror.” The Record (Bergen County, NJ) Sept. 10, 2003; O’Shaughnessy, Patrice, “God Willing, I Will Find & Bury My Son.” Daily News, October 14, 2001; Hastings, Deborah;/Lennihan, Mark, “911 Father: I Don’t Understand All of This Hate.” AP, Sept. 9, 2010

Jesus Is Alive

My good friend Clinton Tuck shared his journey of faith today with fifteen people who attended the Support Group meeting in Clarksville, Tennessee. The Support Group is a group of people who believe in Jesus Christ as their everything. Group participants are active missionaries who participate in Jesus' love, compassion and mercy for humanity. This group meets to pray for those who are hurting. Attendees are encouraged to share the love of Christ by using their own pain as training and to consider serving those who are struggling with similar hardships.

Here is what Clinton had to say to us: “I had two strokes,” he said. “I lay in the bed at the nursing home with my grandchildren sitting around me. I couldn’t talk to them. I wasn’t able to speak. I had a tube in my chest because I had double pneumonia. I had another tube in my stomach, a feeding tube. I asked God why did you keep me alive? God has a reason for everything. He put this on my heart,” referring to encouraging those who have ended up like him and have given up hope.

“Have you ever been to a nursing home? he asked. People in a nursing home can’t do anything for themselves. All they do is lie in bed. Many of them are just dropped off there. The people that bring them to the nursing home sometimes leave them there to die without ever coming to visit them, as he paused to take a deep breath, his voice somewhat broken. “If you visit a nursing home, you will be more thankful for what you have. You will stop complaining. I said I had two strokes. After the first one, my doctor said I needed to quit drinking and smoking pot, but I didn’t listen. I recovered and ignored what he said to me. I had all these friends and everyone loved me. It felt good to feel loved. They would say to me, ‘Oh Clinton, I love you,’ then when I got sick, they forgot all about me. I never heard from them again. Then I had a second stroke. It was massive. I thought I had an asthma attack. I said to God, ‘If you give me my voice back, I will praise you, no more filth will come from my lips.’ It took sixteen years to get where I am today. I am so thankful. I can get out of the nursing home now. I won’t let this stop me,” he looked down at his partially paralyzed body, his right leg is in a brace and his right arm is supported with a device to keep his fingers from curling up. “I want to tell everyone what God has done for me. Jesus is alive. He is a true friend. Friends are a dime a dozen, but a true friend is someone I want to hold on to.” He glanced around at various people as he spoke.

“God brought me back. I didn’t do anything. So many times I wish I could get on my knees and pray. When I was able to get on my knees to pray, I never did and now I can’t. But I can still thank him and praise him. We come to church to give him thanks and praise not to criticize one another. Be thankful. We have so much to be thankful for. Be thankful for Jesus. Do you think what you are complaining about can compare to what Jesus went through? He didn’t have to do it, but he did it for us. We’re never to good to help another person. When you see me, you see Jesus. He is alive and he is your true friend and my true friend.”

Simplicity In Christ

Several months ago I thought I smelled something burning in my bedroom. I was pretty sure it was the light fixture. I climbed a ladder and took the glass cover off the fixture. I unscrewed the light bulbs and didn't smell any odor of anything burning. When I tried to screw the nut onto the screw that held the cover up, it turned along with the nut and I wasn't able to get the nut tightened over the glass cover. The screw went through a plate that was fastened to the ceiling. I put the glass cover on a table in my living room, thinking that I needed to get up in the attic to tighten the entire fixture. Several days later, I crawled around in my attic trying to find the mounting bracket for the light fixture. There is no floor in my attic, so I had to walk on a small piece of plywood that I dragged over the two by six beams. I moved along the attic by standing on the plywood that I laid on top of the two by six beams. When I walked to the end of the piece of plywood, I stepped off it and onto the two by six beams and then pulled the plywood out ahead of me. Then I walked on the plywood from the rear of it to the front it. I continued to do this for about forty feet, until I got to the place where I thought I would find the mounting brackets for the light fixture. I have cellulose insulation that covers the beams and the sheetrock ceiling and that made it difficult to locate the light fixture.

A couple of weeks later, I called my neighbor's son Payton and asked if he would come over to help me. I had him stand under the light fixture and tap on the fixture so I could find it as I crawled around the attic for the second time. He kept talking to me and tapping on the fixture and I was able to locate the electric box that the light fixture is connected to. However, there weren't any mounting brackets for the light fixture. I came down from the attic and observed the fixture for the second time. I realized that the tin plate somehow must drop down from the ceiling so that I would be able to tighten the nut behind it.  I called my cousin Mike to confirm this. He told me that everything that is holding the fixture up is below the ceiling. So yesterday I unscrewed the two screws that hold the tin plate that is mounted to the ceiling. I dropped the tin plate down from the ceiling and was able to tightened the nut that screws onto the stem and holds the glass cover in place. It took me about fifteen minutes to repair the light fixture.

After I put away my tools, I started thinking about my relationship with Jesus. Paul reminded the Corinthians that our relationship with Jesus is simple based on faith and trust in Him. Jesus Christ is everything that we need to stand on. He is the Rock that is under our feet. Our salvation is in Him. Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV).

Paul was defending the gospel of grace from those who wanted to make it complicated thinking that faith in Jesus wasn't enough. Three different times the Lord spoke to Paul and said to him:

"My grace is all you need" (2 Corinthians 12: 9 NLT).

The gospel is grace by faith in Jesus Christ. We need to keep it as simple as that.

Oh yeah and the burning smell that I thought was coming from the light fixture, turned out to be a plastic bag that I had in the room which had the smell of garlic in it.

Is there such a thing as a successful Christian?

If there is, what does he or she look like? For a very long time I have tried to be a "successful Christian." But I believe I created a false image in my mind and without realizing it, I was practicing idolatry. Most often I was discouraged and even depressed when I didn't live up to the image of a "successful Christian." I have come to realize that a successful Christian doesn't live for his or her own happiness and isn't necessarily happy. But just maybe a successful Christian is one who knows his identity is in Christ; knows he has Divine life and knows he has been given eternal life in Christ. Maybe the successful Christian is the one who knows what Jesus Christ accomplished for him at the cross and  lives in the reality of who he is in Christ. Maybe believing the reality that we are in Christ and Christ is in us and we are one with God, means that we don't have to live up to a false image that we create for ourselves and we are free to allow Christ to live His life through us and to suffer with others as He suffered for us. Just maybe that is what a successful Christian is.

(References: The Book of Colossians, especially Col. 1:12-14,19,27; 2:9-15,20; 3:1-4,11)

911 Commemoration at Worldwide Grace Fellowship, Clarksville, Tennessee

Worldwide Grace Fellowship Clarksville, Tennessee

Worldwide Grace Fellowship of Clarksville, Tennessee commemorates 911 celebrating the gospel of Jesus Christ, the hope for mankind.

Joe Radosti, a member of Worldwide Grace Fellowship and an eyewitness of the attacks on New York City from a highrise office building on 15th Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan, gave a message titled, “The Miraculous Story of Josephine Harris.” In addition an exhibit was displayed for viewing.

Josephine Harris worked on the seventy-third floor of the North Tower, World Trade Center, New York City.

At 8:46a.m. on September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the N. Tower at full throttle. Ms. Harris began evacuating the building shortly thereafter. The rescue team of Ladder Company 6: Mike Meldrum, Tommy Falco, Matt Komorowski, Bill Butler, Sal D'Agostino and Captain John Jonas, met up with Ms. Harris on the nineteenth floor. The group stopped to help her down the stairwell. They moved at a slow pace until they reached the fourth floor. That's when Josephine said, “That's it. I can't take another step. Go on without me.” However, the men of Ladder Company 6 waited patiently for her while she rested.

A short time later the building began to rumble. The N. Tower was imploding. There was a terrifying noise. An incredible rush of wind blew through the stairwell. The group lay covered with ash and debris, but miraculously everyone was alive. There was smoke and fires were raging nearby. They were encapsulated between the second through the fourth floor of stairwell B for more than four hours.

When the smoke began to clear they saw a light. Fire Chief Rich Picciotto who met up with the group around the twelfth floor and was also trapped with them, followed the light and climbed out of the wreckage. Soon the entire group made their way from darkness, ashes and death to life. Josephine Harris was carried in a rescue basket by Ladder Company 43 and Ladder Company 53.

Salvation is a journey in Christ likened to a journey down stairwell B. It's transformation and salvation through tribulation (for reference see: John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Rev.7:9-17). We need both Light and Water (Living Water) for our journey.

Satan the devil pretends to be an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), but he is the Prince of Darkness and can distort our view of God. Similar to someone trying to recognize another person in a darkened room, his identity can be mistaken. The devil offers humanity a water-slide ride, but at the end of the ride there is no water, only a lake of fire!

The religious leaders of Jesus' day rejected him as the Christ and thus rejected the Light that would open up their understanding of the scriptures and lead them on the journey to life-salvation. They murdered Jesus and tried to bury the Living Word in a dark tomb. But he is the Living Word, not the dead Word! Instead they buried the truth in the darkness of their hearts.

As we head down stairwell B, our journey to salvation, we cry out to God, as those trapped in stairwell B cried, “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! If we see God through the darkness, without the Light, we will hear him say, “Get out of my way. You're not moving fast enough. You're blocking up the stairwell.” So we might cry out again and receive another rebuke from him saying, “You again. I'm tired of your wining you sluggard. If you don't get moving, I'm going to kick you right down that stairwell into hell fire!”

It's only when we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6) and not a perverted view of who he is, that we hear him say, “I'm coming for you my brother! I'm coming for you my sister! Here put your arm around my shoulder and lean on me. I'll walk with you down the stairwell. I won't let you slip or fall. I will be your Light. Drink some of this Living Water for your journey. Be refreshed. My tomb wasn't dark enough, the stone in front of my tomb wasn't large enough, the guards weren't powerful enough, to keep me from rising or to prevent me from saving you!”