Top 10 song, er, device of all time:

"Paul advises, 'Don't let Satan get an advantage over you because we're not ignorant of the devices; the tricks he uses,' said Preacher Richard Jordan last Sunday morning. "An unexpected device, and this is a device that most of the time nobody's ever even thought about as a satanic device, and yet this is one of Satan's MOST pervasive means of affecting your life . . .

"Ezekiel 28 talks about the Adversary and his original creation: [11] Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[12] Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
[13] Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

"The king of Tyrus in 600 B.C. had not been in Eden the garden of God. So what's going on here? The king of Tyrus is really talking to the power behind the throne. Who is the god of this world? Satan. He's the prince of the power of the air. He's the prince behind the rulers of the world . . . 

"When the nations of earth came to the place in Genesis 11 where they said, 'We don't want the God of the Bible to be our God; we want to have our own gods,' God said, 'Okay, I'll let you walk in your ignorance,' and He gave them up. When he 'turned them over,' like Romans 6 says, He literally assigned to them fallen gods.

"When you read in Ephesians 2 about Satan being the spirit that works in the children of disobedience, that's not just like a great spirit working down at the ball game kind of thing.

"In Ephesians 6:12, you read about the principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world. There's a spiritual wickedness out there.

"Ezekiel 28:12 tells us Lucifer was a mental genius. He was beautiful. He had this glamour associated with him. If you ever wondered where sin came from and how it entered the universe, there it is. This is the character who introduced iniquity, crookedness into God's creation.

"Verse 13 talks about his clothes and how he literally had a pipe organ built in; he had music as a part of who he was. Inherent in his being was a universal language we call music and he was the director of it. He was the virtuoso, the master musician of the universe. Music is often called the universal language.

"It doesn't matter what language you use humanly speaking, the same music will produce the same effect on everybody no matter where you are on the planet. It's fascinating, because there's a universal language God's built into creation that the Adversary himself was designed to lead. So, when you think about his devices, you have to remember that music is one of the tools in his tool chest to affect your life."

*****

In a review of Taylor Swift's new album in today's Chicago Tribune, music critic Greg Kott writes, "Little wonder many of the songs sound like they’re marketing stratagems massaged by a team of A-list producers, including Jack Antonoff. When you’re the dominant pop star in the world, as Swift is, you’re no longer in the business of taking chances. Yet even those indifferent to Swift’s charms since she emerged as a teen-pop hitmaker in 2006 would probably acknowledge that she’s got a knack for writing hooks, and there are plenty of them on 'Lover.' "


"Woke folk" will tell you that many of the seemingly innocent romantic love songs we grew up with, and still have pop into memory whenever we hear them, are actually songs to/for/about the Devil!

For one example, who over 50 doesn't know the Carpenters' hit "Top of the World"?
The lyrics include, "Everything I want the world to be

Is now coming true especially for me
And the reason is clear
It's because you are here
You're the nearest thing to heaven that I've seen

I'm on the top of the world lookin' down on creation
And the only explanation I can find
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around
Your love's put me at the top of the world . . . "

Frank Sinatra's "I Sing the Songs," later made famous by Barry Manilow in the '70s with "I Write the Songs," is actually said to be a song giving Satan's perspective on the subject.

It goes, "I've been alive forever, and I sang the very first song,
I put the words and the melodies together, I am music and I sing this song:
I Sing The Songs that make the whole world sing,
I Sing The Songs of love and special things,
I Sing The Songs that make the young girls cry,
I Sing The Songs, I Sing The Songs.
My home is deep within you, and I've got my own place in your soul,
Now when I look out through your eyes,
I am young again even though I'm growing old."

When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of the Muppet Movie (1979). The "Rainbow Connection" in the lead track is said to be the rainbow bridge to the spiritual/demonic realm!

The lyrics sung by Kermit the Frog, playing banjo in a remote Florida swamp, include, "Who said that every wish would be heard and answered 
When wished on the morning star? 
Somebody thought of that and someone believed it 
Look what it's done so far 

What's so amazing that keeps us star gazing 
What do we think we might see? . . . 

All of us under its spell 
We know that it's probably magic . . . "

 
*****

Job 38:7 reports, “The morning stars (the classification of angels Lucifer was in; the top echelon) sang together, and all the sons of God (or all the angels) shouted for joy.”

“They’re watching God create the universe, marveling, ‘WOW! I got it! I see it!’ and Lucifer was the one leading them,” explains Jordan. “Literally, when the morning stars sang together, you know who wrote the song? You know who provided the music? Lucifer.

“Pipes and tabrets, or percussion instruments, were literally built inside of Lucifer and he was the original composer of music. He was heaven’s choir director.

“Lucifer watched God create and decided he ought to be the one getting the glory in it all (Isaiah 14). He took the music and twisted it from being about God to being about him.

“That attitude of self-worship and independence from God—worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator—began right there and when Lucifer ‘fell’ he took his music with him.

“As Ezekiel 28:16 tells it, ‘By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.’

“He ran the world’s first advertising campaign, merchandising his ideas. And you know how important music is to that. It was a natural means of conveying his message.

*****

“Outlined in Genesis 4-6 is a picture of the original development of culture and society, including music, and its inherent sinfulness.

“When God wants to deal with the problems of life and culture, He doesn’t need 37 volumes written by Will Durant, or whoever else, to give you the course of Western civilization—He just writes it down in one chapter really.

“Genesis 4: 21 says, ‘And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.’

“Where does the art of music and entertainment come from? From whose descendants? Cain!

“I John 3:12 reminds, ‘Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.’

“Cain followed Satan. Now what kind of music do you think he was creating? You think he and his descendants were going to create music and musical instruments that praised God or praised themselves?

*****

“Describing the wicked in the days of Noah, Job 21 says, ‘They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.’

“The wicked have got music and they love it and it’s affecting them. They want to feel good. But notice what they don’t want:

“Starting in verse 13, it says, “They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.
[14] Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
[15] What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
[16] Lo, their good is not in their hand: the counsel of the wicked is far from me.”

“They’re not interested in glorifying God; rather it’s, ‘Why should we serve God? There’s no profit. What profit shall we have?’

“I mean, tell me this morning, why do you serve God? You know a lot of churches today rely on music to bring people in; it’s not the teaching of sound doctrine.

“I talked to a business lady recently and tried to witness to her, and she said, ‘Oh, I sing in the choir every Sunday.’ When I asked her, ‘What does your preacher teach?’ she said, ‘Oh, I don’t get to hear the preacher very often because as soon as the choir’s quit singing I have to leave.’ She’s in real estate. She has to go do open houses after lunch. You understand why she’s there? To sing in the choir!

“There’s a whole lot of people who do that. You have the great music, the drama, and then the little sermonette stuck over at the end just because you’ve got to do something religious. The thinking is, ‘We don’t see any profit in serving God that way.’

“Listen, the closer you get to death, folks, and I’ve observed this for years, the harder you try to prove you’re not dying. And that’s not just the physical things; you’ll see that in spiritual things.

“When the wicked say in Job 21, ‘What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?’ they’re saying exactly what the people in Genesis 21 did, but the context is those overthrown in the days of Noah in the Flood.

“From the creation of the universe to the Flood, music degenerated until it debauched the world and filled it with violence."

(new article tomorrow)

Special names for special people

The song goes, "El-Shaddai, El-Shaddai, El-Elyon na Adonai

Age to age You're still the same
By the power of the name
El-Shaddai, El-Shaddai, Erkahmka na Adonai
We will praise and lift You high, El-Shaddai"

"The name El-Shaddai means 'the most high' and that title of God is very significant," says Jordan. "All the different names of God describe Him in a special relationship. You've got special names for special people, don't you?

"Names mean things in relation to Scripture. Genesis 14: [18] And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

[19] And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

"You see how that title is defined for you as meaning something? When the Bible talks about God being 'the most high God,' it's talking about Him being in the position as possessor of all authority; the supreme ruler in heaven and in earth. 

"He's not just talking about possessing land; He's talking about being the ruler over creatures in heaven and earth. Those creatures are organized in governmental authorities.

"Ephesians 1:21 says, [21] Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

"Principality is the top ruler. A power is delegated authority. A might is someone who has enforcement power. A throne is someone who has localized power in a region. Dominion is a territory that is ruled. This is governmental authority.

"Satan says, 'I want to be the one who rules over everything going on in the universe.' His ultimate goal is to be LIKE, a counterfeit. He can't be the most high but he can take His place."

*****

Here's an old study on the surname Boanerges which is 'Sons of Thunder':

For the name James, Halley's Bible Handbook (1927) notes, “Older brother of John. Jesus named the two, ‘Boanerges’, Sons of Thunder. Doesn’t it indicate that possibly Jesus had a playful sense of humor? Not much is known of James. He was the first of the Twelve to die; killed by Herod, 44 A.D. Traditions are that most of the Twelve died as martyrs.

The “little flock” from the Four Gospels was “the true Israel of God,” and was led by 12 leaders; the ones who will sit upon 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

“The 12 princes that Numbers 1 and Isaiah 1 talk about being over the nation and restored in it; they were there, the princes in Israel, the leaders,” explains Jordan. “Peter, James and John represent those men and they later enter into an agreement that we will preach only to the circumcision; to the ‘little flock.’

“Reporting on Jesus’ choosing and commissioning of the 12 Apostles, Mark 3 says, [13] And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.
[14] And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
[15] And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
[16] And Simon he surnamed Peter;
[17] And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:

“Notice there are three of those 12 He gave special names. Now, it’s interesting that the three He surnamed are who? Peter, James and John. Who are we reading about in Galatians 2? Peter and John. Two of the guys He surnamed write I and II Peter; I, II and III John; the Book of Revelations and the gospel of John.

“Peter, James and John are that little triumvirate of guys who go with Christ; He takes them off  up into the Mount of Transfiguration and into the Garden of Gethsemane.

“J. Vernon McGee used to say these guys weren’t special; they just were extra-thickheaded and needed all that extra attention. That might be true, but they did get a lot of special attention.

“Now, you understand why Peter was surnamed. Matthew 16 reads, [17] And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
[18] And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
[19] And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

“The Messiah’s church is going to be built on a confession and on an understanding that Jesus is the Messiah. He’s the true vine and only those in Him are going to be the nation and get the kingdom.

*****

“James and John, as we’re told in Mark 3:17, ‘were surnamed Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder.’ What is thunder in the Bible? To be the son of something is to be the personification of it; the essence of it.

“When it says they’re going to be the personification of thunder, in the Bible thunder is a representation of the voice of God (Job 37 and Joel 3). Joel 3 says He’s going to roar forth; He’s going to thunder. In Revelation are the seven thunders.

“These two men are designed to be, set out especially to be, the voice of God. The literal personification of the voice of God to Israel.

“Acts 12 begins, ‘[1] Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
[2] And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

“Herod reaches out and takes James, who is the son of thunder. He’s the personification of the voice of God!

“Verses 21-22 say, [21] And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.
[22] And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

“Who did Herod seek to be, by the way? HE wanted to be the voice of God. Herod, in rebellion against God, reaches out and strikes James down. Herod, a type of the Antichrist in the passage, is going to speak great swelling things, seeking to strike out against the voice of God, and literally seeks to destroy God’s message to Israel.

“After Herod killed James, it says, [3] And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.)

“He saw the Jews were pleased so he went out and got Peter and was going to do him in too, and in the rest of the passage you read about Christ coming and taking Peter and releasing him. Jesus Christ isn’t through with Peter. There’s something Peter needed yet to do.

“Also, John escapes death. There are two things left for John and Peter to do. One man, Peter, who represents the Rock, the foundation, and holds personally the keys, the authority of the kingdom, and the other who represent the voice of God speaking.

*****

“They do two things. One, they endorse Paul’s ministry in Acts 15. As Galatians 2:9 says, [9] And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

“Two, they write some very special instructions to those circumcision Believers living at that time, but living after their program had been interrupted. So, the things they wrote would have to be for the circumcision Believers once their program takes up again, which is future from where we are.

“They literally wrote some books in the one of the most unique periods of time in all of Bible history, the Book of Acts, where God had interrupted one program and started another program and yet the ‘little flock’ from that former program is still there.

“They write some books to prepare the people who are going to be in an exactly similar situation in the ages to come, after the dispensation of grace, but who are going to be aware there was a dispensation of grace.

“You understand, if all Israel had in the Bible to read and study was Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, how in the world would they know how to explain Paul’s epistles and what happened for 2,000 years?! But all you have to do is read II Peter and see how he deals with it in great detail!” 

I hear the rolling thunder?

Over and over in Scripture when God's speaking it's this voice that is thundering, making thunder a representation of God's voice.

Job 37 reads, [2] Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.
[3] He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
[4] After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.
[5] God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.

"When James, Peter and John are surnamed 'the sons of thunder' in Mark 3, it's talking about how their speaking is going to be as the voice of God; they're going to have a special kind of relationship in communicating God's message, speaking FOR Him," explains Jordan.

"John 12 reads, [28] Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
[29] The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
[30] Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

"Notice Christ heard what the Father said but for everybody standing around it was, 'Woah, it's thunder!' They don't understand it but they hear the sound.

"Acts 12 starts, [1] Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
[2] And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.

"You know what Herod did? He silenced God's voice. God had been speaking through the apostles, the little flock, and the political leaders didn't like it.

"Verse 21 says, [21] And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. [22] And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

"Herod wanted the position of being the spokesman for God. Notice in verse 22 it's the god with the little 'g.' Verse 23: [23] And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

"The Jews were blaspheming; they didn't want to hear God's message to them. Politically and religiously they didn't want it.

"God sends an angel and opens the door and let's Pete out because God wasn't through with Peter. He wasn't through with John either. John writes the Book of Revelation. There was still something very special for Him to do with Peter and John.

"Revelation begins, [8] I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
[9] I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
[10] I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
[11] Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book

"The common fable is John was in Patmos because he had been preaching and was exiled there. There's no reason to believe that, though, except that's what preachers say. He went there so God could GIVE him His Word. He went there to RECEIVE the Word.

"As we see in verse 10, John was literally transported in prophetic vision from the 1st Century into the last days. You talk about a time machine! He got the details about the last days.

*****

"The illustration in John 12 helps you ferret out what otherwise would seem like something that doesn’t quite fit together because it’s not an unusual thing for God to speak and for people to hear it as a thunder—as a noise . . . To know that God or an angel spoke but not know what the message was.

“Jesus gets the message in direct communication from God and the people just hear the noise, so Christ explains to them in John 12:30: ‘Jesus answered and said, 'This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.’ In other words, 'This voice came to remove any doubts in your mind that the Father is going to answer me. This is to strengthen your faith, to demonstrate to you that, ‘When I pray, heaven answers.' ”

*****

“That's interesting in the context of the conversion of Saul. Acts 9:3 says, ‘And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

[4] And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
[5] And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.’

“Acts 9 is Luke’s record of the conversion of Saul. In Acts 22,  you have the Apostle Paul himself giving a testimony about what happened to him on the road to Damascus ( Acts 22:6). Now Paul says, ‘I heard it.’

"In Acts 7, it says they were hearing a voice but seeing no man. You say, ‘Wait a minute, did they hear the voice or didn’t they?’ One verse says they heard a voice but don’t see a man. Acts 22 says they heard NOT the voice of him that spake.

"You say, ‘Why does one place say they heard it and another place say they didn’t hear it?’ The logical observation is the thing in John 12. They hear the noise, they hear the thunder (the voice) but they don’t hear ‘the voice of him that spake to me.’ They don’t get the words. Paul hears what the voice is saying. They just hear the racket.

"Acts 26:14 says, 'And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.'

“So when Paul heard the voice it was ‘the voice of him that spake to me’; it was an audible voice talking intelligently to him in Hebrew. When the other guys heard it, they just heard the commotion."

(new article tomorrow)

The test is expediency

James 4 says, [14] Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
[15] For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

How do you make the most of life when you are not dying but you know it could happen to you at any moment?

I have an old kitchen plaque saved from my childhood home that reads, Only one life, Twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last. ‘To me to live is Christ.’

Bible commentary writer Cora Harris MacIlravey (circa 1916), reminds, “Time is rapidly fading away, the things of the earth and of the natural are sinking out of sight and becoming as shadows.

"There is a glory falling upon our union with our Lord, which is shining more brightly as the days go by. It seems that there are only a few more mileposts to pass, only a little more time in which to perfect our relation to Him and our separation from all else, and then shall we rise to meet Him in the clouds; and thus be forever with the Lord . . .

“Let us lay our wills down at His feet, that His will may more closely encompass us. Let us yield that He may purify and fashion us into His own glorious image. Only as we abandon ourselves to Him without reserve, can we enter into this relationship. . . Every power and every faculty—all, all must be His and for Him alone; for Him to use as He pleases.”

Here is an old study on the subject:

“Paul says that as a saved person, you should count EVERYTHING in your life as loss, as dung, in comparison to the ‘excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,’ " explains Columbus, Ohio Preacher David Reid.

“You know what happens with us? There’s a lot of things we still esteem. There’s a lot of things that occupy our time, that become obsessions for us, and we don’t really believe that verse that the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ is so surpassing that it makes all the other things in which we spend our time dung.

“Webster 1828 defines excellency as ‘being of great virtue or worth.’ The second definition is ‘distinguished for superior attainments.’ The core of what it means to be excellent is to be superior. It’s something that is better.

*****

“I think Matthew 13 is an interesting picture of this. This is in the kingdom program, so please don’t misunderstand, but this is a good picture. Matthew 13:44 says, ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.’

“So you find a treasure in a field and it’s just surpassing; it’s beyond anything you’ve ever experienced. It is then a rational decision to sell everything you have; to give up every other possession you have just to get that field because that treasure is so great. That is the same concept that Paul is saying with regard to the ‘excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.’

“Think of it this way. Do we spend a lot our time occupied in worldly stuff that just fascinates us? The point in Philippians 1:10 is not simply to approve things that are different (through right division); it’s to approve things that are excellent; that are superior.

“In life you don’t look to simply be a dispensationalist because being a dispensationalist means you recognize the right division chart and the differences in things over time, but what you do is approve things that are excellent and invest your LIFE in those things. When we make decisions in life, we need to make decisions about what is the best thing.  Oftentimes the question we ask is, ‘Is it okay for me to do this?’

“Does Scripture tell you to think about life that way?! I Corinthians 6:12 says, ‘All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.’

“Romans 6:4 says, ‘Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.’

“Today, we are not under the law, period. You should make ZERO decisions in life on the basis of whether something is lawful. The fact is you don’t need Scripture to do anything you want; you already DO anything you want.

“By the way, there are consequences for everything you do. When you make bad decisions in life, there’s often physical consequences. You harm your body. There’s legal consequences. There’s reputational consequences. There’s consequences at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

“I Corinthians 6 says ‘all things are lawful to me but all things are not expedient.’ That’s the test! I Corinthians 7:23 says, ‘Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.’

“The idea there is, forget lawfulness as the test; the test is expediency. The word ‘expedient’ means literally ‘hastening, urging forward. Useful, profitable.’ In other words, does it move the ball forward? There’s a lot of things we do in life that just don’t advance the cause of Christ. It’s not expedient because it doesn’t contribute to our edification or the edification of others in the Body of Christ. It doesn’t lead to someone getting the gospel.”

(to be continued)

Put on inside out armor of light

Paul advises in Romans 12:2, [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Jordan explains, “That’s saying, ‘I’m not going to let the world decide how I’m going to live.' All the things of the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life. Those are the avenues the devil tries to tempt with.

“The lust of the flesh is the issue of pleasure. ‘I want to have my desires to feel; I want to be happy. I want to gratify my desires. I want to be pleased.’

“The lust of the eyes. That’s, ‘I want to have things.’ It’s the issue of security, control. The pride of life is that super-charged passion to BE somebody; for significance, for status, for superiority.

“All those things that drive us, they are the things that carry on ‘the course of this world.’ In order to renew your mind, you need to replace the worthless inferior thinking of human viewpoint with thinking that comes from God’s Word. 

“ ‘The transforming of your mind’; that there tells you it’s really a battle for your mind. And if you’re going to be surrendered to God, then the next thing is you’re going to be separated from the values of the world and separated unto the way God looks at things.

*****

“If you take Romans 12, Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3, you can find in those three chapters at least one if not a half-dozen answers for every question you’re asking yourself. Every problem you face, you’ll find the beginning--if not the complete--set of instructions for you to follow.

“You know how I know that? For 50 years I’ve been reading those passages for that reason. I’m giving you a quick shortcut!

"I’m telling you about this because I’ve already located these passages and found them to be a great source of instruction. You’re getting my ability to help you out a little bit.

“When you renew your mind, it transforms you. It has to do with focusing on who God’s made you in Christ. When you do that, here’s what happens--I Thessalonians 2:13 says, [13] For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

“To be transformed, there’s something inside of you which comes out. Jesus went up on the mount of transfiguration and who He was inside shined out of Him and that’s that word ‘transformed.’

“By the way, I’m always interested in that ‘to will is present but how to perform.’ How do you do this, Paul? Romans 7:18: 'For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.'

“He said, 'I want to do, to will is present with me, but I can’t figure out how to do it.' Then he gets over to chapter 12 and he says, ‘You know how you do it? Be not conformed.’ You’re transformed by the renewing of your mind.

“You see, you’ve got the information, and when you BELIEVE it, it becomes the energy, the life, the transforming power down in your soul that His life then works out through you.

“In Romans 12:2 you see the purpose for the renewed mind is that ‘we may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ The purpose of the renewed mind is so you can properly evaluate life and determine in the details of your life what it is God would have you to do.”

(new article tomorrow)

Circling around THE psychology lesson

Paul writes in I Corinthians 1, [27] But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
[28] And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

"It's very clear especially in Paul's epistles that the world system we live in, 'this present evil world', is the tool of the devil to seek to destroy you," said Pastor Richard Jordan in his Sunday morning sermon the other week.

"Ephesians 2:1-2 says, [1] And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
[2] Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

"The world is used to appeal to the lust of your flesh, and determine how you're going to walk according to the flesh. Verse 3: [3] Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

"The devil's going to use the world to tempt, seduce, deceive and to drive a wedge between you and who you are in Christ.

"He has a specific way he does that. Listen, this is THE most helpful psychology you'll ever learn. You can go to school and get three PhD Degrees in psychology and never learn this right here and never have the wisdom to deal with yourself or anybody else.

"I Thessalonians 5:23 says, [23] And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"We have a spirit, soul and body; that's the essence of humanity. When you are born into the world as a natural man your spirit is dead; it's cut off. God's up there and you can't contact Him. You're dead.

"Your spirit has no light so you're inner man is darkened, but your flesh is alive and well as the body of sin. Your life as an unsaved person finds its impetus there.

"Notice how that verse starts 'spirit, soul and body'? So when you get saved, the Spirit of God comes into your spirit; that life He puts into your spirit produces light which dispels the darkness in your soul, which then gives the capacity for your soul to live out through your body.

"James 3:14-15 says, [14] But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
[15] This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

"When Satan wants to work, how does he go? He gets your body, your body influences your soul and your soul works out . . .  God works spirit, soul and body, but Satan starts with your flesh and moves to your soul and then captivates your spirit."

*****

“Folks, the path of faith is wearying to the flesh. The flesh doesn’t like to be left out and that’s what faith does. You have to be constantly on guard because the seduction is so subtle and so insidious that it gets all of us.

“That’s why Paul warns in II Timothy 4:16, ‘Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.’

“Not just the doctrine but yourself. Why? You’re being careful to bring these things into your life because you can get to assuming they’re there when they’re not, and you get kind of diverted into (earthly, worldly) things. It can happen to you, too!

“That’s why Paul says in I Corinthians 9:27, ‘But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.’

“In other words, he disciplines himself. He’s careful to maintain good works. Why? Because that’s going to make him more pleasing to God? No. It’s because it makes him a better soldier. It makes sure he’s not ‘entangled with the things of this world.’ It makes sure he’s doing what’s expedient and not being brought under the power of something deceptively.

“It’s a faithful saying that you can give yourself to that; these things are good and profitable unto men.

“By the way, when Paul says ‘suffer,’ that word doesn’t necessarily mean that you experience pain. The word simply means 'to allow.' Jesus said, ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me.’ Spiritual growth is a process of paying more and more attention to God’s righteousness and less and less attention to your own.

“Preachers spend time trying to get people to do more and more--to try harder, live radically for God, change your life, etc.—and the result is really stunted spiritual growth because you fix your eyes on yourself and you can’t do it.

"It’s not going to be you. And when you’re in those moments where it’s you, and you come to the conclusion, ‘I can’t do it,’ that’s good! Because you know where to go to the One who can.

“Most of the thinking about Christian living and sanctification is really just terribly narcissistic. It’s thinking about, ‘How am I doing? How am I growing? Am I doing it right? Am I not doing it right?’

“We ponder our spiritual failures and we brood over our spiritual successes and it’s all about us. The more you focus on your need to be better, the worse you really get. You wind up becoming neurotic and self-absorbed and all of life’s about you.

“When you’re possessed with your performance, instead of Christ’s performance . . .  when you spend your time thinking about what you’re doing, instead of what He’s doing, well, then, what are you going to do but get worse?! That hinders your spiritual growth because it makes you increasingly self-centered.

“Sanctification, set-apart living, is forgetting about yourself. ‘It’s not me! It’s Christ!’ The grace of God works--is manifested, put on display--in your minuses, not your pluses. It’s in your weaknesses, not your strengths. Now, that’s the opposite of religion. Religion says, ‘YOU got to make it, YOU got to create it , or you’re going to fail.’

“My wife has a new chrysanthemum plant on the kitchen counter that just had a little leaf come out. Now, if she’d of pulled that thing up out of the pot and looked at its roots, and stuck it back down, you know what would happen to it? It wouldn’t grow so good.

“If you’re always uprooting, digging the thing up, checking on its growth (‘How am I doing?’), it ain’t never going to get anywhere. It’s Christ who’s the issue. He’s the cornerstone; the point of reference all of our life and all of our growth originates from. Spiritual growth and deliverance is by God’s design and God’s timing.

*****

“God’s in you to live His life. Now, in I Corinthians 6, that’s talking about you as an individual. His purpose in you personally is to make your life a vehicle, a vessel; that is, a living manifestation of the One who inhabits you.

“You remember Paul in Philippians 1 says that his desire is that whether by life or by death that Christ would be magnified in his body? That when people would see him, even in the extremity of death, they would see that the one he treasured, the one he valued, the one that was of the greatest magnitude to him was Jesus Christ, and when he made choices, he made them based upon what God’s Word said. When he took actions, it was based upon what God wanted done.

“The way sin doesn’t run your life is you’re not under the law; you’re not focusing on your performance. You’re under grace, looking at who God has made you in His Son.

*****

“I have a friend who doesn’t like how a song says, ‘He set me free.’ He said you need to sing it, ‘He made me free.’ That’s a technicality but he’s right. God doesn’t just set you free; He MADE you something you weren’t before. You’re free. You’re the Lord’s ‘free man.’ That’s the reality and faith can believe that.

“But you know what happens? If you look at Romans 7:1, Paul says, ‘Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?’ As long as it’s going to be what you do, here’s what’s going to happen to you.

“Then he writes in verse 14, ‘For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.’ I don’t like to argue with Paul, but that verse is wrong. Oh, I know Paul’s saying it, but Paul is not sold under sin. He just spent 23 verses in chapter 6, and six verses in chapter 7, telling you he’s free. And then he started looking at himself and his performance and said, ‘You know, I don’t look free.’

“The more he focused on himself, you know what the more happened? Those accusatory thoughts came in and sin revived and you know what happens when you start looking at yourself? You begin to see yourself, and when you begin to see yourself, you know who you begin to see? Failure.

“You say, ‘Well, I don’t have any failure.’ Well, that’s called pride. The Bible says the man that says he has no sin has made God a liar and truth’s not in him.

*****

“You go back to the psalmist in Psalm 3 and he could have been talking about Job of old. He says, ‘People look at me and they see what’s going on in my life, and they say, There’s no help from God for him; he’s so far gone even God can’t help him!’

“Paul says, ‘You know, those voices of condemnation and accusing are going to come because you’re conscious of who you are in you, and when you focus on who you are in you, you know what happens? ‘O wretched man that I am.’

“You see, it’s an inner struggle. There’s a spiritual battle that goes on but of faith. The victory is an inner victory, seeing the invisible reality. Moses won the victory, Hebrews 11 says, over Pharaoh by ‘seeing Him who is invisible.’ By faith, looking at the truth of God.

“Paul says, ‘I 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.’

“When you have your ‘I’ moments, they’re really not ‘I’ moments. They’re moments when you need to be learning that, ‘I can’t do this.’ And when you see, ‘I can’t do it,’ that’s what Galatians 2 told you.

“You only learn two things in your whole Christian life: ‘It’s not I, it’s Christ.’ And when you get into the, ‘The deliverance isn’t here; I can’t do it,’ you say, ‘Whoa, I need to look at Christ! Because HE can; because HE did!' "

(new article tomorrow)

Subtilty that takes you from simplicity

Revelation 12:9 says, [9] And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

"You see those capitals? They're proper names," explains Richard Jordan. "In Job, he talks about Satan in his origins being the dragon and Leviathan, that crooked serpent.

"It's important for you to always remember Satan is not just an evil force in the world; he's a personal entity. He's a mind. It's the 'wiles of the devil' (Ephesians 6).  He knows how to plot and strategize. He has a will. In Isaiah 14, five times he says, 'I will.' He has feelings. In Revelation 12, when he's cast out of heaven, it says he comes with great wrath.

"I Corinthians 2:6 says, [6] Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

"When he talks about the princes of this world, he's not talking about Nero and the Roman government. He's talking about the angelic creation.

"Verses 7-8 say, [7] But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
[8] Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

"That's how you know the princes there aren't the earthly princes because they wouldn't have cared about it. Rome didn't care about what Jesus was preaching; they were going to kill him anyway. The religious leaders wouldn't have cared. It was Satan and his host.

"My point is there were things God planned that they didn't know. God simply kept a secret to destroy everything Satan's wise plan was. He thought he was smart but he wasn't smart enough to figure out the plan God had that He didn't tell him about.

"Satan is not God, not equal with God. He's not omniscient; he's a pretender. He is a supernatural angelic being but he wants to make you think he's the God of this world.

*****

"In a passage that describes his career, Ezekiel 28:14 says, [14] Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

"You remember what the name Christ means? The anointed one. Satan was selected out by God to lead in His creation.

"Verse 17 says, [17] Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

"Notice he rebelled against God. He took his will and sinned. Verse 15: [15] Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

"When God made him, he was perfect until rebellion was found in him. With his deceptive plans to corrupt God's creation he became a crooked trickster.

"The essence of a trick is to make something appear to be true when it isn't, or to make something appear as if it isn't true when it is true. He tries to hide the truth and deceive you into thinking something else is real or vice versa.

"Isaiah 14:12 is the classic passage about the original intention of this character: [12] How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

"He sat down and plotted a plan of attack to take over the position of God Himself. When he was Lucifer (the name means light-bearer), Job says he had a 'high right arm' and he held up the light. As the anointed cherub over the throne of God, his job was to lead creation in the worship of the one who sat on the throne.

"That's why he was made beautiful and wiser than any other creature. God gave him those attributes so he'd be able to devise ingenious, brilliant, wonderful ways to reflect the glory of God and to see God's glory manifested in ever-new ways. Instead of doing the same thing over and over and over, he would have that creative spirit put in him.

"When he had that, though, what he did was focus it on himself. I've thought about this many times, Ezekiel says that around the throne of God is this light that's as the appearance of a rainbow.

"In the Bible, all the facets of creation and the glory of God manifested in creation are laid out in front of you, so the glory Lucifer is seeing is this fantastic demonstration of all the fascinating things God has placed in His creation.

"He's leading the choir. He was the original musician. Tabrets and pipes, musical instruments, are created in him. He literally was the heavenly choir director. You know why music is the universal language? Because creation was created to be led by a musician who turned bad.

"You think about how influential music is. There's a reason it's that way. God made creation that way, to harmonize around His truth. Lucifer takes it and uses it for himself.

"Here's this guy up here with all this beauty, this light coming out of him leading creation and he's looking down at God. Revelation 4 says the floor of God's throne room is like glass.

"Have you ever seen somebody walk down a city street, looking at themselves as they pass a store, doing what they call 'window-shopping'?

"In my thinking, here's Lucifer, this dazzling, beautiful creature, and he looks down and sees his own reflection. You know what he did? He fell in love with himself and thought, 'You know, I'm the one who ought to be on that throne!'

"He thought about it, and when you think about it and it aggravates you, you begin to brood and get mad. He developed a plan to put himself on that throne.

"When the verse says he 'did weaken the nations,' that's saying he went out and tried to destroy what God was doing in the earth.

"Verse 13-14: [13] For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
[14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

"That's a place in the universe where the angels go to give account of their stewardship. You remember in Job 1 when the angels of God appeared before the Lord and Satan came with them. Did you ever scratch your head and say, 'How'd he get in the heaven?' He wasn't in heaven; that's a planet in the universe in the second heavens where the angels come and give account of themselves and it's called 'the mount of the congregation' because that's where they congregate!

"In Ephesians 5 it says how the heavenly host are gathered together and how God judges among the congregation of the mighty because they have an accountability to how they carry on the business of heaven. Lucifer said, 'I'm going to be the one they give account to; I want to be the guy they're subject to.'

" 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,' and notice, 'I will be LIKE the most high.' He didn't say, 'I'm going to BE the most high.' He said, 'I'm going to be like Him. I'm going to be so like Him that nobody is going to know the difference; they're all going to think I'm really Him.'

"When it says 'most high,' that's a title of God, the possessor of heaven and earth, the one who runs the WHOLE show. So Satan's goal is to deceive people into putting him into the place of Almighty God.

"He does it, not by being God, but by counterfeiting. You got to get that. That's the whole issue in the idolatry of the devil. He's the deceiver, the counterfeiter. He's going to throw a trick out there to separate you away from the truth and cause you to believe his lie.

"II Corinthians 11:2-3: [2] For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
[3] But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

"The tactics that the serpent uses to beguile, trick, cast a spell on her that leads her into error, Eve, through his subtilty . . . You see the trickster working here? 'So your minds would be corrupted from the simplicity that's in Christ.'

"Can I tell you that in your spiritual life, your Christian life, your daily life, one of the great ways you can evaluate things you hear, 'Does it honor or take me away from the simplicity that's in Christ?' If it adds works, and your resources, it isn't the simplicity.

"The simplicity in Christ is, 'He's enough. He's everything. He's all that I need. I'm blessed with all spiritual blessings in Him. I'm complete in Him. I don't need anything else to be complete, to be blessed, to have forgiveness and purpose and meaning and love. I have it all in Him.' Anything that moves you away from that simple truth is corrupting you."

*****

Personal info: As a second and third-grader at the teeny-tiny Nate Saint Memorial School (closed in 2017) in the rain forests of Ecuador, on the Pacific side of the Andes Mountains, I was taught by two young missionary women from the United States. Both of them were unattached and looking to find mates.

I only have a few vivid memories of them. One is how they had a bottle of Lemon Up shampoo in their bathroom. I was attracted to it not only because I rarely saw products from the USA but it had a plastic yellow lemon for its cap. The other memory is how I made a pile on my dinner plate of chopped onions and peppers I picked out of a meatloaf they made and my mom got upset because I embarrassed her.

Little did I know that my dad, a missionary doctor/surgeon at the world-famous outfit's small hospital, was causing daily trials for my mother. The biggest thing is my dad was popping pills, something that led to us leaving not even two years into our stay.

After my dad was first questioned about his drug use by Dr. Wally Swanson, referred to by name in the movie End of the Spear, he stopped coming to work! My mom said he would leave our apartment early in the morning and catch a bus to a town 30 miles away where there was a little cafe. There he would spend all day drinking coffee and reading books he brought with him when we moved from Ohio. He wouldn't be home until evening.

One day my mom was doing laundry in the complex's laundry room when Swanson's wife, Charlotte, came into the room and said, "Tell your husband Wally is in surgery all by himself." My dad happened to be home that day and when my mom relayed the message, he simply said, "He can get Brian Wigglesworth (a British man who was the third missionary doctor) to help him."