Saturday Afternoon Blog with Pastor Williams (August)
Posted on August 3rd, 2006 by TADCCBLOG
Pastor Williams will be active on the blog site this Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3pm immediately following the WRJD 1410AM broadcast of “Christian Perspective Today”. Please suggest topics or questions for discussion.
Filed under: Discussion Topics, Live Blog on Saturday
12 Responses to “Saturday Afternoon Blog with Pastor Williams (August)”
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When will some of us Christians get real? We say we love God whom you can’t see but we hate (or won’t forgive) our brother whom we can see. How can a Christian hold a grudge against a person for years when the bible tells us to go to our brother if we have ought against him? If you confront this person(s) with the problem or conflict you stand a greater chance of reconciling any or all differences. Why would God listen to your prayer about–is it alright to be around people who have (unknowingly) offended you? You know the answer! Don’t waste God’s time and save your breath! There is so much more important things to be praying about. The bible tells us to lay our gift at the alter go to our brother and get it right. Very simple! Do you know how many people you have offended in your lifetime? What makes you so special that you think that you don’t have to do it God’s way? It is time for you to forgive them their trespasses so that God can forgive you of your trespasses. You can know that you have forgiven that person(s) when you can be around that person with a good spirit and clear conscious. If you do not forgive them and continue to pray senseless prayers God will not only not answer (other than what is already written in the bible) but He also will not forgive you. You can know that you have not forgiven that person(s) when you refuse to be around that person or when you hear their name or see them your heart gets heavy and your mind replays what was done against you or reminds you of something they did that you did not like. Let it go! Release them! But what is so ironic is that most times that person(s) doesn’t even have a clue about your ought! So why hold something over them that they are oblivious of. Let it go or go to them like the bible says. You can’t disguise unforgiveness! You can’t justify unforgiveness! God gives us the grace to forgive. So forgive! Be that example of righteousness. Be that example of holiness. How sad that some of us Christians think we are getting into heaven with unforgiveness. But it won’t nor it can’t happen in this life nor the life to come. (Matthew 6:14-15)
Contender, how unfortunate but true. We that are not babes in Christ must be the example for sinner and saint. There are some Christians learning to walk as believers and have not mastered forgiveness. Then there are sinners that know nothing about being a Christian and must see forgiveness portrayed by someone on a daily basis to grasp what it truly means. This is one reason why Christians have adversity. It allows us to let our light shine to a world devoid of truth and hopefully get them to practice the path of righteousness that God has given to us through His Son Christ Jesus our Lord (Matthew 5:14-17).
Through either bad examples from people calling themselves Christians or simply bad teachings the spirit of unforgiveness has been allowed to fester in the hearts of some in church. Some even believe it is a right to harbor unforgiveness.
To forgive someone is to give them the right to do to you the same thing he had done before. The Heavenly Father forgives us and gives us the opportunity to stay with Him or fall back into sin. It is always the choice of the person forgiven and never the option of the person offering forgiveness as to whether or not forgiveness should be offered or taken.
For some forgiveness is an option or conditional. I will forgive you if you do a particular thing. I will forgive you if do not do it again. There are NO conditions to forgiveness. Either you forgive the person and give him the chance to inflict the same pain again or you do not forgive.
How then is a Christian to prevent himself from being taken advantage of repeatedly? There are people that will take advantage of you and continue to inflict the same hurt repeatedly if given the opportunity. I believe this is the key to most unforgiveness. We do not want to endure the same hurt again.
This is where we rely on the God whom we have trusted for our salvation.
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
And,
Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
Those are the reasons we can forgive. God takes care of the adversary. The person is no longer our problem. Forgiveness is learning to trust God to take care of you and your insecurities.
Proverbs 24:17-18 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.
Through unforgiveness we hold back the hand of God to correct, discipline, reveal or even destroy the adversary. God wants every person to know ultimately that the pitfalls in life experienced comes from disobedience to God and not an infraction committed against someone. If we harbor unforgiveness, we blind the person to God moving in his life.
Pastor, I know that God is all knowing and all powerful, but do you think he knows what we are going to do before we do it (good or bad that is). For instance Jesus knew that Thomas would doubt him and Judas would betray him ahead of time, so did Thomas and Judas have the power then not to do those things. I was just wondering philosophically how much power and determination I have. I keep trying to convince myself that I am a good Christian, and would like to prove this one day and good deed at a time. But other times, I feel like I might do bad things and my rewards and/or punishment are already set. What do you think about this?
Yes they both had the power. When God created us, He created us as free moral agents to choose good or evil. This is why Adam rebelled in the Garden of Eden, he chose to disobey God.
God has every area of our life mapped out. Whether we do good or bad, go right or left, God has that part of our life mapped out. This is the reason when God gives us a choice He knows what the outcome will be. So yes you have the choice to choose, but whatever choice you make God knows what the end will be. However, you were the one that made the choice.
God knows all as stated in Psalm 139:2. However God gives us a choice. Joshua 24:15 lets us know that God gives us a choice when Joshua tells the Israelites to choose. Deuteronomy 28 lets us know that life and death are set before us based on the decision we make. It is up to us which choice we make.
The one measure in your choosing that you are missing is Grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 states that we are saved by Grace, not of works. Grace is God working for you to save you. It is not through your efforts. That is why you can have the assurance that if you accept Christ Jesus after repenting of your sins you will be saved.
Grace works by faith. The Book of James says that faith without works is dead. Therefore if you want the Grace of God to work for you must have good works. First repent, then accept Christ Jesus and then allow your good works to follow (Matthew 5:16,17).
From this point on in your life God looks at your heart. As long as you purpose in your heart to do right, God’s grace covers the other shortcomings and failings you may experience until you grow into a mature person in Christ Jesus.
Your life is now in the hand of God. He is now able to do what you could not do for yourself. Trust Him.
Pastor Williams,
Please explain the difference, if any, between being “filled with the Holy Spirit” and being “baptized in the Holy Spirit”. Certain denominations insist that without evidence of speaking in unknown tongues, a person is not truly “filled” with the Spirit of God and are without their prayer language.
I am personally acquainted with several godly persons who are truly “sold out” to Christ yet have never spoken in tongues. I am also acquainted with several persons who supposedly possess the gift of tongues,however; certain aspects of their lifestyles are totally contradictory to the teachings/doctrines of Christ.
Lastly, I have several family members who love the Lord Jesus with all their hearts,boldly confess Him as Savior and Lord, but express concerns about their salvation because they have not spoken or prayed in tongues. Your comments please.
Katherine;
Being Baptized in the Holy Spirit is the initial experience of being filled with God’s Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11 and Acts 1:5).
Filled with the Holy Spirit is the renewal or re-experiencing the power of God’s Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 where it says to “be filled with the Holy Spirit” is present tense. We experience the “filling of the Holy Spirit by walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16).
By quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), we inhibit the overflowing or Baptism of the Holy Spirit that we initially received.
There are many gifts of the Spirit and Tongues is only one. The Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 14:5 said that he would rather that we prophesied rather than speak in tongues. Tongues as translated in the Bible is simply another language. He further went on to write do All speak in tongues (I Corinthians 12:30). Tongues is one gift for the Body of Christ just like prophesying and healing are individuals gifts of the Spirit. Each person has his or her gift from God. But they are not all the same gift. Some people will never speak in tongues because it is not the Gift God has for them. Ephesians 4:10-13 states that Christ Jesus gave gifts unto men. It did not say that He gave one Gift to all men.
Furthermore in the second chapter of Act verse four when they spoke in tongues the people from different nations speaking different languages were able to understand them in their native language.
There is also the Tongue of Angels which we call the unknown tongue (I Corinthians 13:1). The word “unknown is added for clarity in the fourteenth chapter of I Corinthians. It is not in the original text. The point being if no one understands what is being said, it is unknown to us and must therefore be a heavenly language or unknown tongue. Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour never spoke in Tongues.
There are examples in the Bible of people being Filled with the Holy Spirit and not Speaking in Tongues (Acts 8:14-17).
There are so many other Gifts that Christ has for the Body of Christ and not everyone has the same Gift.
Romans 12:4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Christ Jesus our Lord said you shall know the true believer by their fruit, not by the working of the Gifts. The reason is because a Gift is worked solely by God without any input from us, but we have to cultivate our fruit. Notice Matthew 7:22-23. Many gifts were exercised but God claimed that He never knew them because they did not have fruit that showed righteousness.
Pastor Williams,
Please explain where the belief that Black people are inferior and an accursed race originated. I’ve heard several therories over the years,none of which I believe. One myth: The mark that God placed upon Cain and his descendents were Negroid features and complexion. Another myth: Because Noah’s younger son, Ham, looked upon his father’s nakedness and laughingly told his brothers about it; Noah pronounced a curse upon Ham’s son Canaan and all his descendents. Theory is that Canaan was black, so all of his descendents were cursed to be “servants to their brethrens,”even to this present day(Genesis 9: 18-27). Third myth: Black people are genetically closer to the primate species(ape, chimp, etc.).
Pastor Williams,
Many pastors and evangelists teach that the body of Christ will escape the Great Tribulation via The Rapture. Few say that we will not escape but will endure this terrible time. Your thoughts please.
Catherine,
I am glad you asked the question. There is a lot of misinformation and I am glad you are giving me the opportunity to correct bad teachings and beliefs.
First of all race as we know it was never mentioned in the Bible. This form of racism started with Carl Linnaeus, the Father of Taxonomy. Not only did he classify non-human living things but he also attempted to classify people by their facial features and color of skin. These classifications were done in the 1700’s.
Charles Darwin referenced Carl Linnaeus’ classification in his book the Descent of Man. This book classified Negroes, Aborigines of Australia and other people of color as inferior. Adolph Hitler used Darwin’s teaching to support his teaching of the superiority of the white race.
In 1968 the Epperson v Arkansas case ruled that a state ban on the teaching of Darwinism was unconstitutional. Therefore, from 1968 until the present, schools have been forced to teach racism under the pretext of evolution. This is why we are in our present dilemma with some believing that one race is superior to the other. It is all based on Darwin’s racist supposition which he got form Linnaeus writings in the 1700′s.
The line of thinking was an excellent fit for the plantation owner in the New World (United States) because it gave them cheap labor to work the fields. Therefore it was an economic decision to enslave Africans. To lend support to this economic decision, the racist church would misuse scriptures to support a position that the Prophets, Christ Jesus or the Apostles never supported. Indeed, on the day of Pentecost, about half the nations represented when God poured out of His Spirit upon the church are from Africa and descendants of Ham.
Ham, the son of Noah saw his father’s nakedness. Noah in a drunken state pronounced a curse upon Canaan. Oftentimes words loose the original meaning in translations. The word Canaan can also be translated as prosperity. This is what Canaan land was, the land flowing with milk and honey (Joshua 5:6). The implication being that Canaan land was a prosperous land. This is the way Canaan should be translated in Genesis 9:22 and 25. Ham was the father of prosperity. Ham, which mean hot in Hebrew , also is another name for Africa. Psalms 105:23 uses Ham interchangeably with Egypt which is in Africa. Egypt as we know from the pyramids, was very prosperous and industrious people.
The prosperity that was Ham’s would now be shared with the Shemites (Semitic and Middle East) and the Japhethites (Europeans.) Instead of seeing Canaanites or his descendants as servants in the Bible you see them as prosperous people as stated in Joshua 5. They were never servants in the Bible. Throughout history whites, blacks, browns, red and yellow people have been slaves. This is what conquering nations did to the people conquered. However, until the eighteenth century no one was enslaved for the color of his or her skin. To make the point further, Black people are not in slavery now which proves there is no curse.
The Bible declares in Galatians 3:28 that we are all one in Christ Jesus. Also Acts 17:26 states that all nations have been made out of one blood. The Bible is not a racist Book. Nor does it condone racism. There is no curse based on the color of your skin. Geneticist even today state that the first woman (Eve) had to be black based on DNA studies of people of various color. The supposition being that Black was not a curse but the original color of the woman. Adam in the Hebrew means red dirt. Therefore, the first two people based on the Bible and science were red and black.
By using the word prosperity for Canaan (in the Hebrew it can be translated either way), the scriptures speak to the world’s history and current situation.
Maxine,
The teaching of the church not going through the rapture started in the nineteenth century with John Nelson Darby and the Scofield Reference Bible. Before this teaching started, the church was pretty much unanimous in its position that the Church would go through the tribulation period.
The Book or Revelations is a compilation of other Books in the Bible. To understand how the Church goes through the tribulation look at how God brought the nation of Israel out of Egypt. The ten plagues upon the Egyptians did not touch the Israelites. God will keep His people the same way while still inflicting punishment on the unbeliever. In Ezekiel the ninth chapter you read where God seals His servants to protect them from the destruction to come while at the same time punishing the wicked.
The Didache a first century document left by, many believe, the Apostles speaks of Christ returning once after the period of tribulation.
The classic verse used to support us not going through the tribulation is 1 Thessalonians 1:10, where it states God delivers us from the wrath to come. The word deliver in the Bible is also translated as save. We as children of God are saved in a wicked world but we are not condemned with the world. That is what God means by delivering us from the wrath to come. He saves or delivers us while He is inflicting torment on the world.
I was in India and I know that Christians are already being persecuted. We need not fear what is coming because our faith and trust is in Christ Jesus who gives us the victory.
Pastor Williams,
Matthew 24:11-14 and 21-22 also support what you say regarding the body of Christ having to go through the great tribulation. 11)Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12)And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13)But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14)And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. 21)For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22)And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days WILL be shortened. We are the elect (PRAISE GOD)!! As you said Pastor, Father God is faithful and just to bring us through, whole and intact, encamping His Hands of Protection all around His children. HALLELUJAH! AMEN!
Amen!!!