Finding Jesus --Following His way

Finding Jesus -- Following His way

"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." Matthew 2:1-?

"...you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

Genuine conversion involves three parts:

Our hearts are prepared by God, who stirs hunger for new life in in us -- and prepares him for the next step.

We hears the saving truths of the gospel: Jesus died for you, taking our deserved judgment for sin upon Himself -- then rose from death and returned to His Father in heaven

We responds to this message according to God's gracious work in us. He forgives, cleanses, fills us with His Spirit, and joins us to Himself. We become a "new" person, with a new heart -- a heart that hates evil and loves the good that God loves.

The counterfeit conversion celebrated by today's postmodern churches:

Unbelievers are lured to the church by the loud, sensual music and the fun of worldly fellowship

They hear a "positive" distortion of the true gospel that leaves out the key truths such as our deserved judgment and the impossibility of oneness with our Holy God without Biblical repentance based on conviction of sin

They respond to the counterfeit gospel: God delights in you continually, He longs for your friendship with a love that caused him to give his life for you. There is no discernment of evil or resistance to its power. God's actual truth seems intolerant and unloving.

After such a "conversion"

In our back yard is a small "prayer closet" -- a former playhouse converted into a quiet place to meet with my Lord. Our son painted and carpeted (with a small remnant) it, added plastic windows, two shelves for books, a slanted board for Bible reading and note taking, a tiny kneeling bench, some "ceiling" lights and a small heater.

Above the slanted table hands a small painting of of an ordinary shepherd walking behind a flock of sheep. It's a daily reminder of my heavenly Shepherd (not pictured) who guides me day by day. For the human shepherd doesn't actually lead the flock. Instead, he has taught his flock to walk in the way they should go. So he merely walks behind them, always ready to bring strays back to flock.

It's a bit like the true Church -- God's precious flock. There, faithful pastors preach God's Word and prepare the flock. God's precious people, born-again believers who know and love His Truth are equipped to walk by the Spirit within them and the Word imprinted on their hearts. No matter where God sends them, they follow the beacon of His Truth and the promptings of His Spirit. They demonstrate His life because, like Paul, they can say,.

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.

Well, that's the ideal. And it's far from the shepherding of today's church congregation -- and from the small dialectic groups sprouting up in churches and communities around the world. Their emphasis is on unity and consensus -- often based on cultural activities.... Shepherd whose emphasis is on human relationship and feel-good activities that build "common ground."

It's not on the divisive truths of "separation from the world" or the offensive reality of the "cross" -- the only gateway to true oneness with our holy God Himself. His kind of oneness brings the opposite of peace and unity in our seductive changing culture. "I came to bring a sword...

The Beginning until now

The End

In churches around the world, positive, "feel good," messages are replacing Biblical preaching. A convenient Bible verse may be added here and there for emphasis, but the focus is on "felt needs," not our sovereign God and His grace. Following in the popular footsteps of Schuller and Norman Vincent Peale, they build "self-esteem" rather than faith in God and His Word.

Treason -- tempting people into church through seductive bait rather than trusting God to touch hearts with the Truth

where God has indeed written on their hearts. (2 Cor.3: ). In fact, He warned ....

...shift from a heart or life connection to God to a mental/emotional attachement to man's changing perceptions...

God's sovereignty Gen. 35:5

place for prayer"...you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

The New Look of Christian Missions: "Emerging spirituality is changing the way missions is being conducted. The idea is that you can go for Jesus, but you don't have to identify yourself as a Christian or part of the Christian church. This concept spills over into some missionary societies too, where they teach people from other religions they can keep their religion, just add Jesus to the equation...." See God's Way versus our ways

It may well be, Robert. It would probably separate out everyone except those who love Him enough to lay down their lives for Him.

May He prepare us to joyfully pass that test – with our hearts set on the heavenly feast ahead!

From: Robert Griffin [mailto:Robert.Griffin@uav.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 11:07 AM
To: hope@crossroad.to
Subject: New look for Christian missions

Could it be that the mark of the beast is God’s test for these Christ followers to expose their false profession of faith?

Obama's Acceptance Speech: "This is our time to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth: that out of many, we are one..." Obama's Acceptance Speech:

My first encounter with such hypocrisy happened at the Lutheran St. Olaf College in Minnesota, where "pre-sem" students boasted about avoiding the draft by attending Luther Seminary in Minneapolis. My family had moved from the increasingly secular Norway, and become nominal Lutherans in America. It would still be almost a decade before I actually knew Christ as my Lord, yet I was shocked by the hypocrisy and disillusionment I saw. What kind of hope would such future pastors offer their congregations?

Today, that the religious department of that supposedly Christian college is led by a Hindu scholar.

A consistent theme in the agenda for societal transformation is “a new way of thinking.” There are many nuances to this “new way of thinking”, and an entire volume could be filled describing them all in detail. Much to my chagrin, I’ve come to realize that some of these nuances have already taken root. We’ve seen this in the way our government is dealing with the financial crisis, and I’ve seen it as prevalent in my efforts to affect change in my son’s school district. The particular nuance I’m speaking of is our willingness to defer both our responsibility & authority to so called “experts.” I cannot tell you how many young parents I’ve spoken with whom will agree with me on a particular issue, yet they will refuse to take a stand. Instead, they will almost always wish to defer the well-being of their children to so called experts within the district; experts whose policy decisions they disagree with. This is antithetical to both our system of governance and society. The experts should not make the decisions, but rather act as objective advisors to those of us with the most at stake. We, as parents have the most at stake. This is the way it works in almost every area of our society. Whether you engage an attorney, a mechanic, a doctor, a financial advisor, etc.; you seek their objective counsel, and you make the decision. This in fact is the way the public school systems were set up. The school administrations bring their proposed policies & curricula to the school boards, who then have the final say. The school boards are representatives of, and accountable to the electorate. However, standards-based education reform has shifted school governance to a “top-down” approach, removing meaningful local control, and realigning allegiances of many school boards. The school board in my district is no longer called the school board. In many documents I’ve read, they have begun to be referred to as the “Superintendent’s cabinet.”

"Every [human] transformation... has rested on a new metaphysical and ideological base; or rather, upon deeper stirrings and intuitions whose rationalized expression takes the form of a new picture of the cosmos and the nature of man.... We stand on the brink of [such] a new age." Lewis Mumford, quoted in Global Mind Change by Willis Harman 115

"By deliberately changing the internal image of reality, people can change the world." 157 ...Global Mind Change by Willis Harman

"Because of the interconnectedness of all minds, affirming a positive vision may be about the most sophisticated action any one of us can take....159

First of all I will interpret the latin words on the seal. 'Annuit Coeptis' means 'Announcing The Birth Of' and 'Novus Ordo Seclorum' means 'New World Order'. So therefore it says 'Announcing the birth of the New World Order'. The date in roman numerals is 1776, the year the modern Illuminati was formed and also the year of American independence. The latin 'E Pluribus Unum' means 'One out of many' which is the foundation of the New World Order's plan to unify the world's governments, religions and money systems into one so the world can be controlled.

The capstone has not come down on the Pyramid. This means that the plan is not complete. Only when the New World Order is established upon all nations and the world leader is enthroned the plan will be complete. On the obverse is an eagle whose dexter wing has thirty- two feathers, the number of ordinary degrees in Scottish Rite Freemasonry. The sinister wing has thirty-three feathers, the additional feather corresponding to the Thirty-Third Degree of the Scottish Rite conferred for outstanding Masonic service. The tail feathers number nine, the number of degrees in the Chapter, Council, and Commandery of the York Rite of Freemasonry. Notice the stars above the eagle's head forms a hexagram the most evil of all witchcraft symbols.

Let us now go to Manly Palmer Hall, member of the Illuminati and 33rd Degree Freemason, called "the 20th century's greatest Masonic scholar and philosopher" by the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree of Freemasonry's official monthly publication, the Scottish Rite Journal in the obituary section of August 1990.

http://www.geocities.com/endtimedeception/seal.htm

http://www.masoncode.com/The%20Great%20Seal.htm

See also What it means to be a Christian

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