A Habitation of dragons? or of the Holy Spirit?

Observe some of today's churches. Is God in those places? Or is there only a pretense of God in those places?

Believers in Christ, we understand that the church is the body of Christ. It is the group of people that gather (assemble themselves together) in His name. Usually we hold church in a house of God. 1 Timothy 3:15 describes the house of God as "the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

Not every church is fortunate enough to build - or acquire a building to be used as - a house of God. I knew of one church that gathered at different believers' houses until the day they were able to acquire a building. Today, I have learned of a church that gathers at a high school.

In the former instance, the believers of that church were devout men & women of God. They strived to keep themselves holy in all things. What does this mean? It means that they considered, "If Jesus were to visit my home, would he approve or disapprove of it?" Would He find stacks of distasteful reading material (i.e. pornography, horoscopes, how to read palms/tarot cards, gambling)? Would he approve of the television programs I watch?

Does this seem extreme? Of course it should to the carnal mind. This extreme way of life is one lived by those who are called and wish to be chosen. Those who strive to be called "faithful" and be found in the remnant. It is an extreme way of life which path can only be found by the guidance and instruction of the Holy Spirit. So at these believers' homes, there generally was not another spirit at work when church was held.

In the latter instance, I am not familiar with the hearts of the believers who gather at the high school so I do not touch them in any way here. I bring up this instance only because of a further story that was told to me. The two pastors of this church wish to purchase a certain commercial building that is zoned in an industrial section. The details of the purchase were sketchy, but I can relay only what I was told: In order to purchase the building, they have to purchase it with the assistance of a gentleman out-of-state due to this reason: as a church, they cannot buy the building. I'm not certain why as far as what laws are involved. Then, I was told the building would be used as their church for certain days of the week (i.e. Saturday, Sunday), but they will lease it out during the rest of the week to others. It was stressed to me that the City would be able to lease it out. Upon hearing this, I imagined that the pastors were going to achieve buying the building by asking for a federal grant which would then explain why they couldn't purchase it under the guise of a church, but rather under the guise of a community center. I was told this was not the case (the federal grant) & that is where the out-of-state gentleman came in... where money was concerned. Apparently, this building costs $25 million to purchase. Incredible. And the closing costs alone were $3 million.

Already, I've got a figurative red flag urgently flapping in some unseen forceful wind right in front of my eyes. I'm certain it has something to do with the sketchy reasons in the purchase process. But then, a second figurative red flag pops up next to the first one and waves about in like manner. Why? I'm told that the church is going to lease out the building to the City - and anyone else - to hold events there. And it was told to me like this, "So if someone wants to hold a KISS concert there, then KISS can play there. And if they want to serve alcohol, then that is acceptable by us. We may put a limit on how much alcohol can be served."

WOAH WOAH WOAH! Back up. Wait a minute. I need to clean my ears. I don't think I heard correctly. Did I?

Yes I did.

I do a big "Hmmm" right about here.

So then I ask, "Wait. The church is going to permit unGodly concerts and actions to be displayed inside their place of worship?"

And the answer I'm given, "It's just a building."

So I ask, "But isn't it your church?"

And I'm told, "See, you're saying the church is made of stone & steel...that it's a building. The church is the group of believers."

I didn't want to contend with a brother in Christ. But I felt we were already at odds in our ways of thinking.

I asked, "But then, what happens if these people go to their KISS concert and drink their alcohol. Then later, they find out the concert was held in a church...?"

I didn't get to finish my question - I was being told, "So? So? Hey - it's just a building."

I forced my question in, "Won't they be confused? They'd wonder why a church would permit that sort of behavior."

I was told this "tactic" (that's what it sounded like to me) would get them to come to church then.

I said, "But wait - last I recall, God is not an author of confusion. And I would think people would be a little confused about the whole thing. And you know the enemy is only going to use it and say you deceived them into going to church."

I was basically told that the reason they were going to allow the leasing of the building to the City with such liberty was because it would... and I'll paraphrase this... it would draw hell-bound people to the church.

I was then told a story about how some preachers in the past would say that if they could set up a church, they'd set it one step away from Hell's Gate. The reason being, they could save people who were on their way.

I had to point out the immediate flaw in that response, which was: "But setting up church at Hell's Gate is different than inviting Hell into the church. You could save people on the way to Hell's Gate, but permitting Hell to have free reign in the church is a-whole-nother story."

Every point that was made to me, I contested with the Scriptures. I was sad at what I was hearing. I repeatedly said, "That sounds too extreme to me. Where in the Scriptures does Jesus teach that practice? I'm going to have to pray and ask God about that concept."

As with everything I am taught regarding the things of the Lord, I refer to the Scriptures. Here are some Scriptures that back up my cringing at such tactics:

1 Corinthians 8:10 - For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;

2 Corinthians 6:16 - And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them. 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. 15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Philippians 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:

1 Peter 4:17 - For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

I also thought of the story in Matthew 12 about the unclean spirits being swept from the man. Now I know Jesus is talking about a man, but He has likened our bodies to the temple of God. Teaching us not to defile it. I cannot help but consider that any building that is used for the worship of God - which worship must be done in Spirit and in Truth - should not also house other spirits in the off-days that the Holy Spirit is invited. To me, that sounds like a double-standard. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

Matthew 12:25 - And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

Matthew 12:29 - Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

These are the thoughts that come to me. This church will of course do what they want. It saddens me to think of a couple things: 1) a person in a position of authority would be listened to and considered as giving sound advice or Godly wisdom simply because of their position; 2) the church is not asked to pray about the matter to determine whether it is God's will and the wisdom comes from Him; 3) nobody would ask the person placed in a position to watch over them whether or not God gave this advice; 4) The church is becoming a den of dragons.

Twenty-five million is a lot of deniro. I could understand leasing out the building simply to pay off that kind of debt. The conditions that were explained to me, however, are not ones I would agree to Scripturally. But - the fruit of it will be seen in time.

It is said twice:
Proverbs 14:12 - There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Proverbs 16:25 - There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

The heart of God is love

Each day it appears the world is getting darker. My post prior to this was about love. Let me tell you some stories about this love. It comes from God. "It" being the love...as well as the stories.

Once upon a time, there was God. The semites called him Yahweh or Jehovah. The semites were descendants of Shem, the son of Noah. (You can begin reading that story here). From the lineage of Shem came forth the Father of Nations: Abram, whose name - as it pleased God - was changed to Abraham.

Abram had a wife named Sarai whose name - as it pleased God - was later changed to Sarah. From Abraham and Hagar, the servant of Sarah, came forth Ishmael who was not the promised seed that God spoke about to him when He referred to Abraham's 'seed' in Genesis 13:15 (chapter 13 verse 15), "For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever."

Nope - Ishmael was a product of man's doing. The wife, Sarah, couldn't see how both of them in their old age could have a son (they were past 80 years old) so she encouraged her husband, Abraham, to sleep with Hagar to have this "promised son/seed".

Well, God had a plan already, but they went and tried to do what only God can do so then this here boy, Ishmael, was brought into the picture. When Sarah got jealous of Hagar (because Hagar was prancing around like she was the wife, all because she bore a son to Abraham), Hagar ran away and was by a fountain out in the desert. The angel of the Lord said this to her:

"I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude."
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, "Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."

So Hagar goes back to the camp and submits herself. Later, God does what he promised and gives Abraham and his wife, Sarah, their child: Isaac.

Hagar couldn't resist mocking Sarah & Sarah caught her doing it. So she had the slave woman cast out of the camp with her son to let her know that Ishmael was not the true heir of Abraham. The father's heart was grieved because of it - I mean Ishmael was the little son he played with for the 13 years. A father doesn't teach a son, play with a son, love a son for 13 years and then easily discard him like that. But God promised Abraham that he would make a nation from Ishmael because Ishmael was of Abraham's seed (sperm). After Abraham set Hagar out with Ishmael, she tried to turn away and let her son die under a bush because the water bottle that Abraham gave them was empty. God heard the voice of Ishmael. Whether Ishmael was crying or praying or what, the Bible does not say. Simply that God heard the voice of the lad. So the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, asking her what was making her sad...and then re-assured her that God heard the boy and would make a great nation out of him. Then God opened her eyes to see the water that she used to fill the water bottle up with. God was with Ishmael. He grew and lived in the desert & became an archer. And Hagar got him a wife from Egypt.

From the seed of Abraham came two nations: Ishmael and Isaac.
Isaac was the promised seed. But since Ishmael was also of his seed, the Lord followed through with His promise of blessing his seed and giving his seed the land that Abraham had seen. The Lord said all the families in the earth would be blessed because of Abraham and whomever blessed him would be blessed, but whomever cursed him would be cursed. The end. for now.

That's a bit of history to be reminded of there.
Now let's talk about God and love.

John chapter 1 verse 1:In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
verse 14: and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us...

The Word was Christ. Notice the capitalization showing personification of the Word. The Word was the person of Jesus, the fullness of Christ. The Son of God.

1 John 1: 7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

The minute a group of people who profess to "know God" or "worship God" begin to riot, get upset, get angry, demonstrate, act in rebellion, act in hatred, damage, destroy, kill, maim.... in the name of God... I have to question what sort of "god" do they serve?

For the God of Heaven and Earth - the Alpha & Omega - the King of Kings & Lord of Lords ... He does not need man to tell Him what is in man's heart. For He knows all that is in the heart of men/women. His arm is not too short that He cannot spare, heal, bless... nor is it too short that He cannot strike, pluck up, wipe out. He is God and that's just the way it is. He does not need mere mortal men of flesh and blood to "act on His behalf" EXCEPT IN ONE FASHION: To demonstrate His love.

TO DEMONSTRATE HIS LOVE - one to another.

Men, children, women killing others because they don't believe like they do... they don't have the same skin color they do... they aren't of the same bloodline as them... they don't come from the same race... This is murder and it's an abomination to God.

Believing that God would bless us with fleshly lusts, desires, and other things of the flesh when we "go to be with Him" or when "that day comes" is a false teaching.
God does not tolerate sin. He would not have a harem waiting in heaven for any man for any reason.

God does not tolerate murder. He demonstrated the greatest love of all: Even though we did not know Him, He sent His son to demonstrate His love to us...and in our arrogant ignorance we killed His son. By "we" I mean "the world". But more importantly, His son Jesus the Christ, knew that this was going to happen and HE OBEYED THE FATHER ALL THE WAY UNTO DEATH.

Because He loved you.

Before you were ever fashioned in your mother's womb, before you were even a thought, even while there were plans set out to destroy your life prior to your being birthed...and even thereafter, GOD knew your name.

God knew your name.

God does not forget us. We forget Him.
He gave us Jesus to demonstrate who He is, what He is about, how deep He loves us, and to show us how we can become sons of God.

1 John 3:1Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life. By his own power - which God gave him - he raised himself from the grave. He was clothed in a new body. His blood was presented to the Father for the purification of our sins. Thomas the doubter could stick his finger in the holes in his hands, but he could not see nor touch blood because there was no blood. The blood washed away our sins. One final scapegoat to take away the sins of the men.

All we have to do is believe. All we have to do is confess that Christ Jesus is the son of God and believe on His name. Couple that with faith and obey the Word. The Word was made flesh. The Word was uttered, "Let there be light" and it was good. God's word remains forever. The Word was written in the pages we call the Bible because the Spirit of God was obeyed by men who loved God. The Word gives us life, instructs us, gives us wisdom, dispels myths and fabels, teaches us truth, and shows us the Father.

Any who do not profess that Christ came in the flesh from the Father have the spirit of anti-Christ.

1 John 4:2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

I think as we watch the news concerning certain peoples, we can see there is much hatred toward their neighbors near and far. I think many of us find such behavior pretty wild. But God did say that he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. And I did just remind you that every jot and tittle shall come to pass that the Word of God has said. We're watching prophecy come true before our very eyes. I don't know how many of you are awake and aware of the changes in the spirit realm... nor of the prophetic fulfillments that are coming to pass in these days. It's amazing to behold.

Do you have His love in you?
Do you love others? Even when they hate you? Or when they spitefully use you?
Do you bless those who curse you?

Ultimately - in posing those questions, the main question is:
Do you have the heart of the Father?

1 Corinthians 13:13And now abideth faith, hope, [love], these three; but the greatest of these is [love].

Read the Bible - choose your language

Love forgives

This message is mostly to fellow Christians. Regardless of how long you have attended church or claimed to be a Christian, this is something we all need to remember. No matter what church we attend or what body of believers we fellowship with or where we encounter other believers, there is always going to be the opportunity for adversity between believers.

The Lord God puts people in our lives for a reason.

Whatever that reason is, we need to search Him for answers - not one another. Search His Word - it is faithful and true.

We cannot hold other believers - or even non-believers - responsible for the many feelings that swell up within us when someone or something offends us.

Unforgiveness does not show the love of God. God is love. Therefore, if we walk in the light as he is in the light then the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin and we have fellowship one with another. (paraphrase - 1 Jn 1:7)

There is going to be trouble in this world. Relationships are a challenge. But regardless of what has happened, it is so very important not to become bitter. Not to allow the cancer of unforgiveness to enter into our heart, soul, and mind and spew out of our tongues like poison to others' ears and spew out of our actions like soldiers combatting an adversary. Our fellow brothers & sisters in Christ are not adversaries. And those who are non-believers are not our adversaries.

Our enemies are not of flesh and blood.
We are complicated and intricate beings fashioned beautifully by the exact hand of God. All of us - believer or not. We need to learn to forgive and we can only learn by looking to the one who Forgave all of us: God. Through His Son, Jesus Christ - who was obedient to the Father all the way to death.

Let it go. Whatever it is. Lay it before God. He will not forgive you if you do not forgive others.


2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.