Be Jesus Donkey And Walk On Blessings

Are you Christ's donkey? The present Church of Christ is not seeing the measure of signs and wonders the early Church saw because we have much fewer donkeys of Christ than they had. This poses as a big limitation to the manifestation of God's power in our time. This article encourages you to become a true Jesus donkey and then walk on blessings.
Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road - Mark 11:7-8 (NKJV)
Even so on your part, when you have done everything that was assigned and commanded you, say, We are unworthy servants [possessing no merit, for we have not gone beyond our obligation]; we have [merely] done what was our duty to do - Luke 17:10 (AMPC).
Many Christian believers truly want to serve God but they are not fully ready to be His donkey. This may be due to ignorance, pride or greed depending on their level of understanding. What they seem not to understand is that being Christ's donkey draws blessings to them, including material blessings.
A donkey is seen as a lowly animal compared to a horse. Jesus rode on it as a king into Jerusalem, however, it was the donkey that rode on the clothes and leafy branches spread on the road for Jesus. So, you being Christ's donkey gives you the opportunity to get the blessings while He gets the praises. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the church presently.
Many people are serving God but Christ's manifestations are limited in their ministry because they are either sharing the podium with Christ or are more interested in their bellies: what to have, eat and wear, and so mix God's will with theirs.
What does it mean to be Jesus donkey?
This means allowing Christ to use you to fulfill His plan and purpose on earth without you being noticed. It is letting people see Jesus instead of you, showcasing Christ and not you, and lifting up His name and not yours. It is letting the Lord increase while you decrease and dying to self such that to live is to live for Christ.
What is God's expectation of His vessels of honour?
The Lord expects that after you have done His will that you see yourself as a servant who possesses no merit for the work done, for you have not gone beyond your obligation. You have only done everything as assigned and commanded you: purely as a servant of God. All glory, praises and thanksgiving should go to God.
Christ Himself showed us an example by making Himself of no reputation to do the will of His Father. At the end, God gave Him a name that is above every other name that at His name every knee must bow and every tongue must confess that Jesus is Lord.
You are also expected to make your demand on God's word and not on the people. A servant is worthy of his wages and the Lord is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him and He owes no man. Therefore, search out the scriptures concerning your provisions and heart desires and expect the Father to fulfil His word concerning them.
For instance, 1 Corinthians 9:7-14 makes it clear that when a servant of God ministers spiritual things to people that they should minister material things back to him or her. This is true, but you are not to force the people to comply. Rather you are to go to God and put Him in remembrance of this scripture and expect Him to minister to the people to be a blessing to you.
In conclusion, Jesus Christ received power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing and they are available for all who will choose to be His donkey. It pays to be Jesus donkey, for God will mightily use you as He used the apostles and all that others are running after will be added to you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10113015

17 Tips For Effective Christian Courtship

If properly executed, courtship would greatly reduce the chances of divorce occurring in a marriage. Christian courtship is different from any other kind of courtship, and if properly executed, would take care of over 75 per cent of the causes of divorce. This therefore makes a good courtship important to the survival of any christian marriage. This article will outline 17 important tips that will make your courtship a good foundation for marriage.
1. Consider courtship only at a time when you are ready to get married. It is no child's play.
2. Enter into courtship only with someone you would consider marrying. You must only go into courtship with someone God has approved for you for a life partner.
3. You are in courtship to confirm that God has really ordained you getting married to this fellow. In courtship you have to authenticate and be sure that God really ordained the relationship.
4. Take time through prayer to discern God's will for the new family you are about to start.
5. Base your courtship in the family. Family member must be involve. As much as possible, spend time with each other's families. You need need them in the marriage.
6. Emotional Intimacy; Guard your heart and do not allow your emotions to drive you to sin during your courtship. Give yourself time to know each other.
7. Choose the right time in the relationship to reveal intimate secrets. This might save you regrets if the relationship does not work.
8. Physical Intimacy; Mutually decide what your limits would be. Write them down and make them clear from day one.
9. Save the first kiss; save the first kiss till after you have said. "I do". Kissing can ignite romance and could mean danger.
10. Hugging; Decide whether you should hug and in what context. Hugging is an acceptable and beautiful expression of affection, support and love. However when prolonged, it can ignite erotic feelings.
11. Choose where and when to spend time alone together. This should not be late at night and or in lonely places.
12. Resolve with your courting partner never to give in to sin.
13. Don't give rise to scandal. Don't give people a reason to suspect you are having a sexual relationship with your spouse-to-be, even though you might not.
14. Be accountable; Make a list together of resolutions and guidelines for your courtship so you can use it to watch your actions.
15. Get a mentor. The mentor should be married and well acquainted with the Word of God so he/she can guide and advice you appropriately.
16. Create time to pray individually and together with your partner.
17. Be active in your local assembly. Together, participate in church activities. This would help you understand how your partner behaves in a group.

How to Live A Christian Life

I Thessalonians 5: 14-22
This is the duty we as Christians are called to. How many of us are going to stand up for Christ and the sake of the Gospel? It is time we take out our Bibles the Word of God and dig into it as fervently as we do the idols we have set before us. I am speaking of those who clamour over this time of year with football starting. Then it will soon be basketball and we also have soccer going on now. How many of these great sports have been idolized in our lives? There is nothing wrong with loving sports, I love 'em nearly all of them.
IDOLS
Any image or thing we put before God. ANYTHING PUT BEFORE GOD! I hope that is plain enough!
SELECT PROGRAMS
I will get opinionated on the select programs for kids. I hope that each child participating in their chosen sport may achieve at his or her expectations each day. I hope for them that come time for college they excel enough for scholarships that will put them through college. But enough of the select programs, especially with such young kids. They are starting and having to commit way too early to sports for their own good.What qualifications do I have to expound on such matters? Seventeen years of umpiring high school and college baseball. Ten years of high school football and basketball officiating. When I started officiating there were no select programs and the kids still learned the sport in which they were participating. The directors of select programs do not care they are starting games during church time on Sundays, they think if the kid wants to be great they should sacrifice church. This is putting an idol before GOD. This is putting an idol before the cross of Calvary on which the Lord Jesus Christ died on for our sins. They have made the cross of none effect for their greedy programs.
HOW TO LIVE THE CHRIST FILLED LIFE
-Rejoice evermore
-Pray without ceasing
-In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ concerning you.
-Quench not the Spirit
-Despise not prophesyings
-Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
-Abstain from all appearance of evil.
GIVE IT TO GOD
Give your all to Him, give God all you have. We are truly in the last days and times are such we need our hearts and minds on Christ. I am not suggesting to abandon things we like such as sports. I love them to as I said, but I am saying get in check. Find out what is right and good and true. Do not put anything whether it is sports or whatever in front of worshiping God. Give Him all the glory and honor in and for your life.
FINALLY
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, Amen.

The Christian Life: A Great Sacrifice - Or Is It?

Does following God mean we put our happiness on the back burner? Does being a Christian mean we live a compromised life? Does it mean we have to set aside all of our hopes and dreams?
Those questions depend greatly on the source of our desires.
There are different ways to look at happiness. But there are only two sources. God gives us desires and talents, and Satan tempts us in an effort to make us fall. We all have our vices, those things that promise happiness and instant gratification but tempt us into doing something that goes against the life God intended for us to have.
Everyone is on their own pursuit of happiness. And many people go after whatever will make them happy in the short-term. Instead of thinking about the long-term effects, they go for instant gratification. Maybe they choose a well-paying job over one that they are passionate about. Or maybe they're in a rocky marriage and instead of sticking it out, they turn to others. Or maybe they seek happiness in a bottle.
If happiness is finding comfort in a bottle, or turning to another outside of marriage, or throwing colleagues under the bus in order to get ahead in a career, then following God will be very uncomfortable.
Being a Christian doesn't always mean comfort, at least not how man views comfort. But if we're following God and trusting in Him, we are able to feel a sense of peace and contentment. And to me, that is happiness. When we're done fighting, when we've laid all of our mistakes and failures at His feet, and when we invite Him into our lives, that's when we see breakthrough.
One of the really important things I've learned over the years is that I need to be content with where I am and keep working toward the things that I'm passionate about without getting caught up in the amount of progress I'm making. If I'm doing what I'm called to do, what I feel compelled to do, and when I give up the control and trust that God will provide, then things start to fall into place.
The hardest thing for me about being a Christian is letting God have the control. As a control freak, I like to have everything figured out and under control. But when I look back on my life, I realize that none of my own solutions worked. It certainly wasn't me who brought us back to Virginia. It wasn't me who gave me all of the freelance work I've had over the years. It wasn't me who got us into oil and gas so we could pay off our $150k of student loans so Harold could get back into flying. Neither of us had this grand scheme to pay off the debt and move back. We were just living day-by-day, trying to do what God was calling us to do. Thankfully, God had a plan and it was better than anything we could have come up with on our own.
Is it hard to let God lead? Heck yeah. Is it hard to trust and believe when naysayers come in all directions? Oh yeah. But I'm telling you, if you seek God first above all things, you will find the joy, peace, and comfort that you seek.

God's Love and Love in a Marriage

Jesus led a simple life of love. His life is a model for living in faith and love - in particular, love in a marriage.
What is love in a marriage?
A marriage is a purposeful decision to create something new for two individuals. This new creation requires three integral components to cherish and grow: intimacy, passion, and commitment.
From the Christian point of view, love is first and foremost based on God's love - a decision to love God and be loved by Him.
"Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" (Romans 8:35)
Accordingly, the purpose of a Christian marriage is to imitate Christ to love one another, as well as to know God through the knowledge and the love for each other.
Self-love (not the narcissistic love of self to the exclusion of loving others) is the foundation of love, including the love of God. The reason is that self-love is an expression of moral obligation to the Creator - a belief that we are created in His image, and therefore we should love ourselves, as well as others. Self-love, surprisingly, is a prerequisite for loving others, including God. This belief makes us extend our love of self to love of God, as well as to others, who are all created by the same God and in the same image.
Love in a marriage is made up intimacy, passion, and commitment. Intimacy is connectedness to your marriage partner through sharing values and feelings of closeness. Passion is a result of the intimacy, leading to romance, physical attraction, and sexual consummation. Essentially, passion is purposeful involvement, requiring a decision. Commitment, too, is a decision to sustain the relationship in spite of the odds and obstacles encountered. Life is full of choices and decisions, and marriage is no exception.
Jesus' life is a model for love in a marriage. He lived with the purpose of doing the will of His Father - acceptance for all, including Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, young and old; He demonstrated His commitment to preach God's message of unconditional love and forgiveness.
A successful marriage is one in which two individuals have made a decision to love each other. However, a decision to love does not necessarily imply a commitment to love. Commitment to love often grows or increases over time, provided the marriage partners can survive the ups and downs of a marriage - and this is where commitment to love plays a pivotal part. Remember, commitment to love is a decision in life, just as our decision to love God. It is more than words or mere talk: it is action in faith: "let us not love with word or tongue, but in deed and truth." (1 John 3:18)
Love is the foundation of a good marriage, and that love is cherished and enhanced by the love of God.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3014636

Christian Life Coaches - 5 Tips to Help You Succeed

1. Understand where your client is currently at spiritually:
It is important for the coach to understand that not all clients are at the same spiritual level. So it is important for the coach to determine the client's current spiritual level. Then use that as the foundation to move forward with future sessions. You may have a new Christian seeking a coach because they want to grow spiritually, and you may have another client who is a seasoned Christian desiring leadership coaching. So it is important for the coach to remember that clients vary in their "Christian walk."
2. Be a "Christ like" coach:
It is important as a Christian coach to always allow our clients to see the Christ in us. And for us not to live a life that is anything other than what Christ would expect of us. We can't expect to assist others in understanding that Jesus can be a light in their lives, when he is not shining in our lives. Our actions many times speak louder than the words we are trying to convey, so having a kind, non-judgmental and caring attitude will speak volumes to your clients.
3. Believe in your potential:
God has equipped you to be a wonderful and effective coach, and as a Christian coach you have Him guiding you through all of your sessions. As a Christian coach when we trust the calling that God has placed on our lives, it allows us to soar to levels that are even beyond our own expectations. We achieve personal and spiritual growth while assisting others in growing. The potential that has been placed in us by God is limitless, and when we allow him to "direct our paths" it will always lead us down the road to fulfillment. We must trust and be confident in God, and believe fully that He will empower us to be all that He has designed for us to be.
4. Spend time with God daily:
Spending time with God daily will give you the inner peace and guidance that you need to be an awesome Christian coach. When we have a daily prayer life and read God's word consistently, it gives us the POWER that we need to carry out the will of God effectively. We learn so much from God when we spend time with him, and he teaches us how to live a life of great quality. Spending time with God daily prepares and equips us to be world changers. It teaches us how to live the life that God wants us to live, and it teaches us how to help other's reach their God-given potential as well. When we spend quality time with God we are equipped and prepared to do marvelous things.
5. Do business "By the Book"
The Bible is the best "Self Help" book available. Base your business on a Biblical foundation and your coaching business will always be successful. Success in my eyes means being able to be a blessing to others! And anything extra that God gives me is a bonus. When we do business God's way we should never expect to fail. We should always expect to be victorious in every aspect. The Bible teaches us exactly what we need to do to live a prosperous and victorious life, and when we use that as our business plan, great things will follow.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5167254

Keys To Effective Christian Living - Pray

Spiritual communication with Almighty God is very important.
It is vital for the individual who desires a real, rich and abiding relationship with God. As the written word of God, The Holy Bible, is God speaking to man, even so, prayer is man speaking to God.
Many people do not make time to pray. They are too busy with their personal goals and agendas. They are surrounded by their own dreams and ambitions. Prayer is only used when they face a challenge which they cannot handle on their own. Prayer then becomes a way of escape, rather than fellowship and communion with the Most Holy God.
As the children of God, we should find a delight in making time to communicate with our Heavenly Father. We can be as close to God as we desire to be. His Word declares that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. How close do you want to be to God? How much do you really desire to know Him? Then draw near, child of God. The choice is really yours.
For the believer in Christ Jesus, prayer is much more than just asking God for things. Yes, we seek Him concerning our needs, for He has promised that as our Jehovah Jireh, He will provide all of our needs, according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus. But prayer is much more than just petitioning Him for needs.
Prayer is actually fellowshipping with Him. It is seeking His Face, desiring to know His Heart, plan and purpose. Prayer is worship.
Prayer is vital to spiritual development. It brings us into intimate contact with our wonderful Heavenly Father, into His very Presence. WOW. Think about that for a moment. When we pray, we are actually embracing the Divine, reaching into the Heavenlies and speaking with Omnipotence Himself, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
The more we pray, the more we are in His Presence. And believe me when I say that abiding in His Presence consistently, will change your life. You cannot stay in fellowship with Almighty God, embracing and enjoying His glorious Presence, without some of His Presence and glory rubbing off on you.
Some have wondered how people who walk in a strong degree of God's power, anointing and presence were able to attain such a level and dimension with God. There is no mystery to it. There is no secret about it. They spent time with God. They prayed and sought the Face of God continually. They persisted in the very presence of God until He rubbed off on them.
Any of us can do this. Any of us who desire rich, real and awesome power with God can have it. How, you may ask? The answer is, by drawing near to Him, through prayer.
Here are a few precious tips for drawing near to God:
1. Make time to pray.
It is wisdom to have a set time to be alone with God. Time with God is never wasted time. And you will only be the better because of it.
2. Pray daily.
Consistency is the key to breakthrough. Whatever you are consistent and persistent at, you will become better at. Consistency produces habit. Consistency produces victory. Consistency produces success. Consistency in the Presence of God will produce power with God, favor with God, anointing from God and spiritual breakthroughs on a consistent basis. Make prayer and seeking God a daily thing. His Word promises that if we seek Him with our whole hearts, we will find Him.
3. Pray correctly.
Ensure that your prayers have their basis in the word of God. Read the Word. Study the Word. And pray the Word. Praying according to the sacred Scriptures guarantee answers to those prayers. When you pray according to the Holy Bible, you will find God coming through for you again and again, because He cannot deny Himself. He will keep His Word.
I admonish you to practice the art of prayer and to do so beginning now. Your life will be better because of it. And things will go better because of it. Most of all, you will develop a strong Christian life and a sweet communion and fellowship with your Heavenly Father, which has no limits, knows no boundaries and will prove to be the greatest and most wonderful experience in the world.
Remember, draw near to Him and He will draw near to you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6216267

The Building Blocks of an Effective Christian Life

I don't know about you but for me salvation is the greatest promise I could ever receive. That Jesus Christ would step down from his heavenly throne to pay the penalty for my sins and misdeeds is a promise beyond compare. The second greatest promise is that I can live an effective life that never stumbles or falls and receive a rich welcome into God's eternal kingdom.
In his second letter recorded in the New Testament of the Bible, Simon Peter, a follower of Jesus Christ, describes a nine-step process that will render us both effective and productive in the true knowledge of Jesus Christ. In other words he promises that if I incorporate certain qualities into my life I can live a victorious life void of bumbling, fumbling and stumbling.
The foundation of this effective life is Jesus Christ; the inspiration is the Holy Spirit. Apart from Jesus and the Holy Spirit the best life cannot be attained.
The building blocks of the effective Christian life are:
Diligence
Faith
Moral Goodness
True Knowledge
Self-Control
Perseverance
Godliness
Brotherly Kindness
Love
These nine essential qualities are intertwined and work together to produce your best life in Jesus Christ.
Diligence describes the measure of effort necessary to attain the effective life. In order to attain the victorious life we must put forth an earnest effort to make it happen.
Faith is the assurance that what you cannot see actually exists. Faith is only worthwhile when placed in an object that is real and has the ability to assist you in your pursuit for the effective life. This type of faith includes putting your trust in yourself, others and of course God.
Moral excellence is an attitude precipitated by faith in God. When you place your full trust in God then regardless of whether you have the knowhow you will want to live a life pleasing to God; you will want to live a holy and righteous life that brings honor to God.
True knowledge is a second attitude precipitated by faith in God. Jesus Christ said, "And this is eternal life to know God and His Son who he has sent." When you decide to accept God and His Son as Lord of your life you will want to know him so as to know how to please him. We learn about God and His ways by reading the Bible and attending classes at a Bible teaching church or school.
Self-control is winning over the temptations that are innate within you. It is difficult to live a life pleasing to God by practicing self-control if you do not know God's requirements. Gaining true knowledge of God and his ways through sound biblical teaching will give you more tools to practice personal discipline and live the effective Christian life. Consistently practicing self-control by subduing your natural appetites will give you the spiritual muscle to overcome other obstacles thrown at you by the world and the evil one.
Perseverance is the ability to consistently overcome the temptations hurled at you by the world and the evil one. Practicing self-control and perseverance afford you the opportunity to live a life fully dedicated to God and his kingdom. Constant defeat will bring guilt and shame and an inability to focus your energies on achieving the best life God wants for you.
Godliness is a sincere devoutness to God and His causes. When you give your all through self-control and perseverance then you will develop an unyielding devotion and commitment to God and His Kingdom. You will possess a spiritual and personal confidence bolstered by the Holy Spirit that will draw others to want to know and honor God and His Son, Jesus Christ as well.
Brotherly kindness is: loving others because you truly value them. When we give our whole lives to God in faithful devotion to Him then we will be completely concerned about what God is concerned about. A Christian who does not love others is an oxymoron (as is a Christian who does not smile). God is most concerned about people. When you put your faith in God to live the abundant life he intended for you to live then you will be concerned for all people from every place on the planet. In Jesus Christ there is no caste system. There is no favoritism. Every human being who ever lived is welcome to join God's house, to be adopted into God's family. Your best life experienced is done so when lived in conjunction with others. You cannot live the effective Christian life alone by yourself.
Unconditional love is the culmination of a life lived in loving fellowship with God, yourself and others. When asked about the greatest commandment Jesus replied, "To love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. The second is to love your neighbor as you love yourself." Living the previous eight qualities will lead you to possess the most important quality: love.
These are nine building blocks of the effective Christian life. If you live by them you will be victorious every single day of your life.
Unfortunately, we are not perfect and even the best Christians on the planet stumble over temptation once in a while. Thanks be to God that he has given us a remedy for when we do fall. The Bible tells us that when we fall that we only need to confess or agree with God that we have sinned and the Lord will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This cleansing is based not on our personal merit but on the blood Jesus shed on the cross. So if you fall don't moan and groan about it. Pop right back up, agree with God that it was a bonehead move and walk on in God's loving hand.
God wants you to win! Put these nine qualities to work for you and you will live an effective Christian life and gain a rich welcome into God's eternal kingdom.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1354581

Christ Alone Means There Is No One Else

The question of why we claim Christ alone is God comes as an insult to so many other religious traditions and belief systems. It is true but there is no other way to salvation. When we talk about salvation we need to define what salvation is.
There are all kinds of salvation topics. But this is one about the soul and after death issues. When we talk about the salvation of the soul of a person the next question is from what? What is the soul saved from? The Christian answer is from eternal damnation. What is this damnation?
This damnation is the final destination of a soul after death because we believe there are two places the soul can go after death. One is to heaven and the other is to hell. These two destinations are determined to be for ever. That means there are no means of escape from hell once you go there.
This is serious stuff and so we are persistent in repeating these facts. The very foundation of Christian belief system is based on this fact that sin is what determines your final destiny.
If we can end the problem of sin then there is no doubt about where we will spend eternity. That will be heaven. God and sin cannot coexist. So God requires man to be sinless or sin free in order to enter his abode which heaven.
There is absolutely no definite way a man can determine if he is sinless. The fact is every one has sinned and knows there is sin in their lives from past, present and possibility of the future sin actions here on earth.
Jesus said there is only one way to pay for that sin and that is if some one else could shed blood but that blood should be innocent and sinless. Only God himself can provide that. That is precisely what Jesus provided for us on the cross. He declared it is finished.
All a human has to do is to accept it, repent of his past and place himself before God, and turn to him for salvation on the basis of the blood of Jesus.
Is it too much to ask? This is the simplest form of provision and solution. This move cost God to offer his own son on our behalf. It is neither cheap nor easy. We with finite human brains cannot comprehend fully what this meant to God and his kingdom.
But what ever it is the fact is it does not cost us anything except our pride, traditions, relatives and friends. Yes, we have to boldly take a step in spite of friends and relatives and religious traditions we were brought up in to confront all the oppositions and become a follower of Jesus Christ.
Salvation is assured when you take this step, get baptized and tell the world that you are now a follower of Jesus Christ.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6073623

The Church Era: The Holy Spirit and the Zeal of Pentecost

Jesus Christ preached important moral instructions and guidelines for living a godly life to the Hebrew people while He lived on Earth. He was the Gospel and He had a plan for His followers who were living in spiritual darkness to preach the spiritual meaning of His life, death, and resurrection to the entire world. He had an appointed time to be sentenced, beaten, and crucified on a cross. Jesus died, was buried and was resurrected from the dead for the sins of those who loved Him, believed in His sacrifice and obeyed His commandments. To spread His Gospel, it would be preached but not by Jesus who ascended to Heaven, but by men and women who had the Holy Spirit inside them.

When Jesus told His disciples He had to leave them, He said He would not "leave them as orphans." (John 14: 18); He said God would send them "the Helper, the Holy Spirit, in my name. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." (John 14:26). Jesus had promised His disciples: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses... to the end of the earth."(Acts 1:8).

Forty days after being raised from the dead, Jesus ascended into Heaven. His disciples were still in Jerusalem, ten days after the ascension, still feeling destitute for the Messiah they knew. Suddenly the Holy Spirit came down dramatic fashion to the Apostles as the "sound like a mighty rushing wind" (Acts 2:2) and "divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them." (Acts 2:3). All spoke in other languages which caught the attention of Jews from other lands who were close by, celebrating Passover. The Holy Spirit also imparted the mighty power of Scriptural knowledge and God's wisdom to the disciples, so they could go out in the world and spread the Gospel of Christ.

Peter addressed the befuddled crowd in the first Holy Spirit-filled sermon of the Church Age. He quoted Joel 2:28 which described to the last days of the Church Age when the Creator "will pour out" His "Spirit" so that "your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and old men shall dream dreams." (Acts 2:17).

On that day, 3000 souls repented of their sins and were baptized with the Holy Spirit's permanent indwelling of God's kingdom (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit provided a tiny glimpse of fellowship in heaven as more and more people gathered sharing kindness and love with one another. The Apostles shared the Gospel of Christ, which became known as the "Way", and even performed many signs and miracles. Day after day, they attended the "temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people." (Acts 2: 46-47).

The disciples Peter and John were taken to stand before the Pharisees after healing a man who was crippled (Acts 3: 1-10). They were asked by what authority did they heal the man. By the power of the Holy Spirit, they spoke with incredible authority and astonishing boldness, although they weren't educated. The disciples said that Jesus Christ had given them spiritual power. But the Jewish council told them not to speak Jesus' name, but they answered they could not obey them, but God (Acts 3: 13-22).

Stephen became another disciple who was prophesying with the Holy Spirit inside him. He also was taken to the council, he stood and boldly told the Temple authorities about the Old Testament prophets from Abraham to Solomon that they were men of God, unlike these Jewish leaders who had "resisted the Holy Spirit" and killed the prophets and, recently Christ (Acts 7: 1-50).

Stephen angered the temple authorities and was stoned by a group of rabbis. One of these zealous rabbis was Saul of Tarsus, who hated Christians and murdered many of them. Saul didn't hesitate to stone Stephen (Acts 7: 54-60). However, Saul became "Paul" the Apostle who was suddenly stopped on the way to Damascus by Christ Himself (Acts 9: 1-19). As a result, Paul became a bold follower of Christ who tirelessly spread the Gospel to as many towns as he could and revisited others to make sure these "churches" were getting along together as individual bodies of Christ.

The Apostle Paul wrote many of the books in the New Testament which were circulated as letters throughout the Christian communities. Many of the towns he visited were named in chapters in the Book of Acts as well as other "testimonies," later called "books" that composed the New Testament.

Thanks to the dramatic conversion of the disciples by the Holy Spirit, during the first century, the "Way" spread rapidly and extensively from Jerusalem and Galilee to Greek-speaking lands close to the Mediterranean Sea and territory that made up the Roman Empire. Many people took up their cross, adopted Christ as their Savior, and adapted their lives to Christ-centered morally sound teachings.

As the next two centuries came and went, the Holy Spirit continued to inspire and teach people of the Way (Christians) despite increasing persecution until the early fourth century when Christianity became a religion free to be practiced by the Roman Emperor Constantine. Finally, by the mid-4th century AD, the gathering of believers in Christ had a legitimate religion.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10122126

Is God The Author Of Sin?

The question of good and evil is intimately linked with God's and man's nature, as is to be suspected. We have seen that God is a spirit who has a spiritual soul, mind, and body.
Man also is a spirit, soul, mind and body, but the body is material. From these come four aspects.

The mystic says, "God is good because He truly loves us. Only His love is far higher than ours." However this kind of emotionalism is bound to run dry. We cannot be high on God all the time as if He were dope. Our spirits must lift us up regularly and our mind must give us reason. If we try to live on emotions only then we will soon find out that we lose heart. For what will we say if sorrow upon sorrow hits us. That God has lost His love? To escape from such an impasse one might embrace fideism (spiritual faith only). However fideism by itself is a dry, emotionless, impractical, though suprarational attitude towards God. To withdraw into an ivory tower of adamant faith is escapism. Our bodies, minds and emotional souls must participate in the flights of the spirit. If we do not see a practical purpose, or rational explanation, we must still believe though that God does. Paul says that, "... all things combine to work for the good of those that love God ( Rom.8:28)... " This is divine purpose in the practice of our daily lives. To say in a fideistic manner that God simply is good, no matter what He allows or does, is bound to let our heads bang into a wall of concrete reality.

On the other side of the balance there is the rational attitude that God is good because He has a rational reason for everything. However if we bank on rationalism too much then we will soon run out of reasons to believe in God's goodness. Our minds cannot grasp everything, not by far. If we demand complete rational understanding, we are really trying to reduce God's mind to ours. To escape the tension of rationalism one might embrace some kind of pragmatism. "God is good because everything serves a practical (material) purpose. Now pragmatism is very practical, but to try to find it in every event is also an impossibility. If you make yourself too dependent on material practicality, then you are really trying to make God the slave of your pleasures. However the Bible says, "As heaven is higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts ( Is. 55.9) "

Therefore we must combine material practicality, reason, emotion and spiritual strength in order to lay a good foundation for our faith. All four together can help us to cling to God. If we rely on reason only we will end up concluding with the deists that God just is not able to help us any better, or that He simply does not care about us. For if He were almighty He would not allow anything to go wrong. However we have already judged that such a God is a mad genius. If He is almighty but does not care about us, that makes even less sense. For what kind of a God is it that first creates us only to subsequently abandon us? Both forms of deism really imply that God is guilty, one way or another. But it is clear that if we are at the mercy of a psychopathic God that there is no hope for us at all. We had better become atheists then. However then we land in the following vicious vortex. For if there is no God, then the world was made by chance. But chance will destroy us in the end again. Atheism offers even less hope. Whereas deism is a break away from the truth, atheism is a double break. Whereas the deist more or less still believes that good and evil are absolute things, the atheist considers them relative. Good is simply that which serve practical purposes.

In nihilism there is even no difference between good and evil. And in some forms of existentialism good and evil are ignored or declared non-existent. Many atheists reason that evil does not exist in us, but it is the system that is rotten. However if we are so good, why then did we create a rotten system? If we are innocent than our forefathers are evil who made the system. But if they were evil, why aren't we? Clearly this is a contradiction in terms.

On the intrinsic side of the scales a similar glide into despair takes place. If we overaccentuate the mysterious and emotional side of God's love, we are likely to wind up saying with pantheists that there is some kind of hidden, mysterious link between good and evil. For clearly if the world emanated out of God, rather then was created by Him, then we have inherited the problem of evil from Him. God and evil ultimately must form a secret ununderstandable harmony in Him.

Somehow evil must be necessary, and somehow God knows how it all adds up. However if this is true then it must be argued that God is schizophrenic. There is no hope in an equivocal and labile madman. We cannot expect any kind of stability from a dualistic God. This kind of pantheism is emotional escapism, childish naivete. God cannot be partially evil, for good and evil are absolute things, infinitely more unreconcilable than fire and water. To escape from this tension one might embrace the following kind of spiritism. There have been polytheists that have claimed that good and evil are just human concepts, and ignorant at that.

Good and evil are chimerical appearances, illusions really, caused by the mirror play of empty phenomena. God or the gods are neutral, they are altogether beyond good and evil. But if this is really true then it just does not make any difference whether somebody kills his wife, or honors her. Here we can see that philosophy is truly ancilla theologiae, the handmade of theology. Logic, a philosophical discipline, clearly shows us that if a=1 then a≠2. If God is good than He cannot be evil. If I am falling from a roof, I cannot at the same time be going upwards. Without clear thinking we cannot distinguish between God and Satan, good and evil. Eastern religions that believe in the emptying of the mind, have very poor logical thinking indeed.

For your information we will discuss in short. Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism. Followers of these religions believed in a dualism of matter and spirit, equated with evil and good respectively. For them good and evil exist from all eternity. One day the good God will vanquish the evil one. But if these two uncreated gods have co-existed already an eternity past then what hope do we have that the good one will win out in the future (eternity)? Clearly the good one must be the stronger for there is more good in nature than evil, for else they would cancel each other out. But if the good god is so mighty than why hasn't he overcome yet? What guarantee do we have that he will overcome? And even if he turns out the conqueror, then evil can crop up again any time. For how could one eternal god destroy another one completely? Or how could he hold him in prison for ever? Also if they are already enemies for an eternity the good one will never be able to convert the baddie into a goodie. It is evident that these religions hold out little hope for us if any.

Another view is the following. There are certain theologians that claim that God and Satan are two figures of the same reality. God "plays the devil" only in order to test us to see whether we really will adhere to the good. This kind of dualism is a mix-up of pantheism and monotheism, whether these divines proclaim themselves as monotheists or not. Is it justice for God to send a family into the gaz chambers of Auschwitz just to see whether they will cleave to Him? What kind of a mephitic actor is this? What kind of a God is it that does not shrink from posing as Mephistopheles to a degree that shatters all moral equilibrium?

But the bible declares soberly, " Let nobody that is being tempted say, "I am tempted by God?" for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself tempts no one. But everybody is tempted being lured out and baited by his own desire. Then desire, having conceived, brings forth sin, and sin having been completed fully, produces death (James 1.13-15)."

Further there is the gnostic view that finiteness implies sinfulness. God gave us finite bodies to teach our eternal spirits how good it is to be fully one with Him. Clearly this kind of theory makes God the author of sin. We are hardly, if at all, responsible for our actions in this case.

3 Tips For Being an Effective Christian

Any person who is in business, in order to succeed must have the right tools for their particular occupation. They must also have the ability and knowledge to know how to use those tools to do the job they have set out to do.
Although a person may know how to do many things, it is best to specialize in one major expertise. In the beginning, at least
To be effectual Christians, there are daily tools we need, to have spiritual victory for ourself and to influence others.
Tip One Study Bible
As a christian, it is important to learn how to keep our sword sharp. Gods Holy Bible is represented as being our weapon to win battles, against the enemy. Ephesians 6 verse 17 says, And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
It is interesting to note, that in past years, a soldier would name his sword. If, in prowess, he became a great fighting warrior, his named sword received nearly as much fame as he did. Likewise, if he was lazy, that would also be accredited to his weapon.
Another fact was that the sword could be used as a backup. Carried on the back or hip in a sheath. It could be gotten to quickly, when needed.
Learn scripture, because in order to have over coming victory, 2Timothy 2, verse 15 tells us, study to shew thyself approved unto God.
Sometimes, because we are flesh, we let our human side get in the way.
It is not always easy to carry the physical Bible every where we go. If, however, we have it hid in our heart, like a backup, we can quickly pull out our sword, the Bible, for strength in time of need.
An effective christian is one that studies the Bible.
Tip Two Pray
Prayer, is a tool, that when used correctly, will move mountains.
James tells us in chapter five, verse sixteen, that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man, availeth much.
Back in England, Queen Mary, called bloody Mary, was said to fear the prayers of John Knox, more than all the armies of Europe. He was a great prayer warrior who could get a prayer through to heaven. Mary hated him.
The most effective Christians I have ever been around would spend much time crying out to God. Both for others and also, for themselves, to be better soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Tip Three Let your Light shine
Matthew 5, verse 16 says it all. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Story
Two women lived in a certain town. Both went to the same church. A epidemic broke out in the section of the neighborhood where mostly poor folks lived. One lady refused to go help, but the other went, staying day and night, until the danger was over. Her life was at risk, but she had Godly love for the people, not thinking of her self.
Who, do you think, let their light shine with good works?
If you want to be a more effective christian, go and do like wise. That will please our Lord, and others will see your Christ like spirit.