Month: April 2012

Edging God Out – Sidebar

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 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” (Jonah 1:9 ESV) This is one of the most awkward verses in the book of Jonah. a vivid example of how sometimes our talk really doesn’t match our walk. Jonah is claiming to be a God fearing person at the same time living in rebellion. I know the sailors were going awhhh, Mr., this is weird – why are you running from Him? Related articles EGO – Edging God Out (waltbrite.wordpress.com) Edging God Out – Episode Four (waltbrite.wordpress.com) Edging God Out – The main thing! (waltbrite.wordpress.com) Edging God out – Second Episode (waltbrite.wordpress.com)

Edging God Out – First Episode

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Ego Part 1 Egoism is defined as an “inordinate concern for One’s welfare and interest.” Jonah was a man completely devoted to his own interest. His thinking, feeling and acting were all driven by and devoted to himself. Usually an egotistic person will have no room for God, he readily, easily edges Him out. In chapter one, God commissions Jonah to go and preach to the 120.000 people of Nineveh, but Jonah refuses to go and he decides to run from God.  There is something disturbingly wrong with Jonah’s response. Is because he really felt that God would have compassion on these Gentiles? I think there was something else going on.  I think Jonah loves the Lord and is faithful to him in many way, but only when it’s in his interest (2 Kings 14) and for his people. But like all of us there is something still in Jonah that God is trying to unearth. Something deeply embedded in him either through his culture or through a false theological assumption. You see, He had a deep seated …

EGO – Edging God Out – introduction

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The Parable of a prophet on his way down. The primary purpose of the book of Jonah is to engage readers in theological reflection on the compassionate character of God, and in self-reflection on the degree to which their own character reflects this compassion, to the end that they become vehicles of this compassion in the world that God has made and so deeply cares about. The book is a parable, I believe, to teach believers not to be like Jonah and it does  a great job in seven episodes about the dangers of edging God out (EGO) What I want to do in this blog series, is to break these seven episodes down  into five. Five mistakes to avoid, five pit holes to beware of, five traps to escape, five reason not to be like Jonah.  Before I tell you why you should not be like Jonah, let me tell you what Jonah did or didn’t do: He deliberately refused to share the love of God with a dying world He deliberately walked away from the …

HUG Somebody

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The Nomination for HUG the Award I would like to thank my sister in Christ from Poetic Journey a blog that exudes compassion, hope, faith, friendship ect… Her journey has inspire many and continues to inspire many to hope, and dream and discover God’s best for them. May your giving become more and more contagious. What is the HUG Award The HUG Award© was initiated by Connie Wayne at A Hope for Today at http://ahopefortoday.com, which promotes hope, love, peace, equality, and unity for all people. The HUG Award© is for people with an expectant desire for the world, for which they: Hope for Love; Hope for Freedom; Hope for Peace; Hope for Equality; Hope for Unity; Hope for Joy and Happiness; Hope for Compassion and Mercy; Hope for Faith; Hope for Wholeness and Wellness; Hope for Prosperity; Hope for Ecological Preservation; Hope for Oneness “People do not have to give up or compromise their own religious, spiritual, or political beliefs to qualify for the Hope Unites Globally HUG Award©. They qualify for the HUG Award© when, without bias …

Hugo Cabret on Purpose…

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I rented the DVD last week and finally watched Martin Scorsese’s Hugo and to be frank – I loved the Movie. Here are a few thoughts I gathered from Hugo Cabret on the subject of purpose: I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type parts they need. So I figure, If the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for a reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too. If you lose your purpose, it’s like you are broken. Maybe that’s why a broken machine always makes me a little sad. Because it isn’t able to do what it was meant to do. Maybe it’s the same with people. The amazing news here, first and foremost, is that God has an incredible and divine purpose  for everyone of us. That we can come into a saving and loving relationship with Him through his son Jesus Christ. Than again he crowns us, lavishing on each and everyone of us creative …

The goal is Christ!

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The goal is Christ Philippians 3 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. There is a disease that is growing rapidly in pulpits all around the world, I mean in every country without exception. It’s what I call “I’m somebody too syndrome.” Many pastors have fallen into the trap of making it their goal to grow their churches to a certain size or build their ministry – whether from the pulpit, blogs, books, radio and television to a certain size in order to be counted as one of the elite, cutting edge, rock-star, celebrity pastors. We may  not agree with the way I described it above, but, when we, as pastors make it our goal to build and pastor large congregations; build up our ministries to a certain fame, we may be pursuing the wrong goal. For most of the people I know with this kind of notoriety, they didn’t go looking for it. The glory of God and the salvation of souls has been and …

12 Years of Awesomeness

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Walter Bright Monday near Tehama, CA My 12 year old daughter. Loves the Lord, straight As and very beautiful… My girl! Love you so much! Like ·  · Share Adwoa N. Prempeh, R’man Pognon and 30 others like this. Walter Bright Well, you said it right… How is Mr Peabody, family, and ministry? I hope and pray that all is well! Yesterday at 10:11am · Like Louise Dennis-Peabody Doing good. Thx 4 asking. The church is great as well, Thank God. He has been really good!!!. Wish u n da family well also. Yesterday at 10:30am · Like

Spiritual Warfare 101

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Part 7 Dealing with Demonic Affliction Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts portray Jesus and the apostles as using the command-control mode to address sickness, the weather, paying taxes, speaking with personal authority, and so forth. The rest of the New Testament, following the main approach in the Old Testament, exemplifies and commands a different mode. Is there a similar switch for dealing with demons associated with ailments and afflictions? We certainly will not be surprised to find a mode shift. Scripture is ‘silent’ on the issue in the same way it is silent on paying taxes, performing resurrections, or stilling storms by words of command. The silence thunders. The mode of addressing demonically induced sufferings reverts to the classic mode: Live the Christian life of receptive faith and active obedience in the midst of life’s hardships…. The modern demon-deliverance ministries are predicated on two fundamental errors. First, they misread the biblical record and fail to distinguish between moral and situational evil. They cast out ‘demons’ of moral evil, something neither taught nor illustrated anywhere in Scripture. Second, they …

Spiritual Warfare 101

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Part 6 Sin and Suffering Proponents of EMM make two major arguments: Because Jesus and the apostles cast out demons, we should do likewise. Because EMM is not forbidden by Jesus or the rest of the NT, there is no reason not to use it. Powlison argues that the Bible does not teach us to wage spiritual warfare using EMM. Rather Scripture teaches us a different way to live the Christian life and fight our ancient foe. The Dominion of Darkness Entails Sin and Suffering One key to understanding spiritual warfare in the ministry of Jesus Christ is to notice that he mounted a twin-pronged offensive against the powers of evil—against moral evil and situational evil. Jesus employed two modes of warfare to address two different facets of the evil works of the devil. Moral evil = the evil people believe and do. Situational evil = the evil we experience (suffering, hardship, unpleasant and harmful events, death) The two meanings of evil are closely linked; Satan employs both for his evil purposes. God consistently portrays inhabiting …