The Power of Perversion- the Archenemy of Purity

The subtleties behind the perversion invasion on the church resembles lymphatic cancer, it starts with only one small choice or cell but it soon spreads through the entire body and is highly incurable. The sad news is the church has been hiding this disease under its pews for decades and it is now habilitating destruction. “We don’t like to talk about such things or bring it out in the open”, I have been told by some church going leaders. I’m afraid ignoring cancer just doesn’t make it disappear. The growing nihilistic movement within the church also suggests that we live with it because, aren’t we just human? The Church is under an onslaught from the enemy, yet we have befriended the notorious foe and now the church’s very existence has become threatened.

Can you imagine the Apostle Paul hearing these arguments from today’s church? He would be outraged! I imagine hearing his heart break as he would preach, “Everything Christ died and lived for, which was to restore us in Him, is being marred by perversion. You choose in flesh and therefore live according to the destructive powers of this world, which is in direct opposition to Christ!”

Perverted jokes are no big deal, right? No, perversion destroys all “romantic” bonds we have with the Lord. We categorize perversion as a small problem but perversion breaks true love and settles for the lusts of the flesh. When we decide to crack a funny perverted joke we decide to step out of union with God in Spirit and align ourselves with the forces of darkness. Sadly, I have aided in the disfiguration of what purity seeks to restore, which is relationship and intimacy with God. Every time we do this though, especially as leaders within the church, we lose the presence of God.

Eph 5:3-5:
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. (NIV)

Jesus reveals where perversion takes place in Matt 5:27-28:
"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (NIV)

The battle for purity takes place in the mind because it’s all about what you are looking for. Jesus condemns the man who LOOKS lustfully at a woman. What are you looking for? Matt. 5:8 promises us that, “The pure in heart will see God.” I believe the pure in heart see the Lord because purity is directly proportional to what you are looking for. What I mean by this is that which is pure will only seek for what is pure and God is the highest form of purity. God lives and breathes purity. When our heart desires God it ultimately desires purity and vice-versa. Therefore, the flipside means that if your heart desires perversion, you don’t desire God.

We know also that where your treasure is there your heart will be also. (Matt 6:21) We have many men and women in our society committing adultery in their heart because their treasure is wrapped up in idolized romance and sex worship.Twilight asks: when you live for forever, what do you live for? The entire series is about hooking up with a vampire.

If I were the enemy I would use perversion to attack the church as well, I mean think about it: One, perversion replaces identity. They would no longer see human beings made in the image of God but rather objects of pleasure to use for their own good, both emotional and physical. Two, perversion separates their walk in love. They would no longer walk in love, which is what life is all about. They would constantly be looking for self-fulfillment instead of self-service. Three, perversion blinds and distracts. There is nothing more powerful to shut down dreams, visions, and prophecy then the perverted spirit. If you are addicted to pornography, your prophetic gift is impaired. If you have a visionary gift, your visions will be stripped from you because light and darkness cannot stay in the same mind. This is why we are commanded to take captive every thought (2 Cor 10:5) and to think on things above.
(Col 3:1-4):
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (NIV)

Phil 4:8
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things

Humans were created to be worshipers and whatever we think on or praise it then becomes exalted in our mist. The reason perversion is such an epidemic is because it operates by a spirit and stronghold of the enemy. Every time we think or worship with perversion in our hearts we create an atmosphere in our life that quenches the Spirit of God. An illustration of this is when we worship God because there are times when you can actually feel the manifested presence of God, this is a very normal experience but likewise, as we are getting closer to the day of the Lord; you will be able to feel darkness the same way. The lesson behind it is: the space you create will be occupied. If you create space for perversion, it will take over, and influence every aspect of your life. You will feel the dark presence from the kingdom of the air (Eph. 2:2). If you create space for the presence of God to dwell in your life, you will walk in Him.

I think we all have operated one time or another, in the spirit of perversion but the Lord wants to set us free now. Every day we should decide to start anew in Christ. He wants to restore your dreams and visions. He wants to give you his love in exchange for the counterfeit lusts of this world. I pray that you see the importance of this message and begin to walk with a purpose to destroy the works of the enemy within your own heart. It’s not easy but that’s because there is a price to be paid for purity because good things are never cheap.
Matt 7:7-8:
7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV)

God's Emotions

I’m caught off guard almost every time I hear a person say that they don’t feel God. What exactly is feeling God? Some extremists say that it is impossible to feel God. This conclusion is enticing but if it were so, almost the entire bible would not be applicable. I often wonder if these folks are experiencing the same God I am because Romans 8:11 says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” The previous verse talks about the Spirit being alive because of righteousness. With the Lord living in us how can you NOT feel Him? Right… well maybe… Sadly I have come to the realization that only dead things can’t feel and I’m afraid many people are dead in themselves and serving a dead God. On the flipside we have those emotionalists who attribute everything they feel to God! One day they joyously walk into the work place singing how they feel God, and the next day they are completely distraught and depressed. I indirectly ask to myself if they are still feeling God. Instead of blaming our feelings on the absence of God or attributing them to God, I would like to stand on the fact that we are in God and apart of being in God means that we should experience God at every level, including the complete emotional realm. God is not a feeling but he is a Being with the entire spectrum of emotions available for us to experience in Him. The fruits of the spirit for example, are traits involving deep emotions that are interwoven within the personality of our LORD. The problems arise when we aren’t in Him. You hear the urgency in Jesus’ voice as he explains it to his disciples in John 15:4 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (NIV)

One problem Christians have is when we are in Christ but then the life we feel isn’t always what we want, so we disassociate this experience from God. Our arrived assumption is that we do not feel God. Sadly, this claim reminds me of the time in scripture when God cut Jesus off from Him. Jesus cried out, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, also known as “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46 NIV) Many Christians complain, in a sluggish way, that they don’t feel God and it crawls under my skin because the only time Jesus claims not to feel God is when he carried the weight of our sins, so that we can feel and experience life with Him. Our problem is not that we don’t feel God or are incapable of feeling him but that we still want control of our emotions and are not completely grafted into the vine, which is life. We don’t want to admit that experiences shape our emotions as opposed to God’s truth so we claim we don’t feel him. We think that feeling God needs to be a pleasant experience, when truly it’s not the emotion that gives contentment but the action of remaining in him. Paul’s contentment in prison is a great example. I believe what Paul wrote in Philippians was inspired by the fact he stayed in the vine. Our emotions should be so caught up in the Lord that we never fail to produce a harvest, despite what season or drought we are in because the harvest is not from our source but God’s.

Another problem Christians have is that we claim to be in Christ but our fruit isn’t alive. We get so caught up in the emotion that our obedience and behavior turns outside of God’s will. One of the saddest things I see in the church today is when mighty men and women of God, who are gifted, try to recreate what was done before by the spirit, in the flesh. It takes the life and joy out, and substitutes it for a mediocre replacement. We have many Christians today who are up one day and down the next because they put their value and emphasis on the emotion instead of the alignment to God’s emotion. God has an array of emotions but they are in sync with his pleasing and perfect will, not yours.


If our purpose for being in God is to feel good then it is impossible to be in God. Just as Christ died, so must every one die to their sinful nature. If you attribute, “feeling God” only to the times you, “feel good” then you are robbing yourself of the joy you can receive through suffering. Being in God is a choice we make every morning. We decide who is in control, and we can only serve one master. Have you surrendered to God and will you let him dictate how you feel?


(2 Cor 4:10-11) “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.” (NIV)

Hair Cut

This past Friday I decided to get a much needed hair cut. Unfortunately the coupon I had that would have knocked three dollars off my bill was to a hair cut place that I couldn’t find. It’s not like hair cutting places all have the same name but they do all smell the same and sell the same products. It’s very easy to get confused. I think I past three hair cutting places all located within a mile before I reasoned to forget about my coupon. I was about to walk into one store, when I saw that the line was very long. This is why they have multiple hair cutting shops located so close to each other I thought to myself. I got back in my car and went to the next shop. I walked in and there wasn’t a line, so I put my name on the sign in sheet.

The girl who sat me down to cut my hair was a young, nose pierced, southern girl. She asked what she could do for my hair and I told her. The nice thing about getting your hair done is it opens up opportunity for conversation and that is exactly what we did for the next thirty minutes. We didn’t talk about normal social events or anything typical but instead the topic revolved around church. I told her I went to Emmanuel College and she inquired if that was a private school. This started the very meaningful conversation.

The hair dresser, Jenifer, explained to me how she used to go to church but doesn’t anymore. The hypocrisy is just too much she huffed. What the Lord challenged me to do was to listen without pushing anything on her. I did. She admitted to me that she needed to be back in church and I asked her why? She said that she was raised that way and that she wasn’t living right without being in the church. I asked her what she meant by that and she defended her case and said that she wasn’t living that bad but she didn’t feel it was right. My heart broke. The Lord reminded me that worldly people don’t need to know when they are wrong nor do they need correction because it is a natural understanding. What they need are real people who are willing to love them and bring them to the Lord who lives in us.

I only had ten more minutes with Jenifer but I made the most I could to show my love. It reminded me of the quote from Hammarskjold, “It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.” I did give all I could with the time I had but unfortunately I wasn’t at a place relationally to show her my Lord with words but only with my actions. She has been so hurt by other church people that she said she didn’t like those who imposed their views on her and she was thankful that I was not like that. Yet, I knew I had done that before, so what made me different now? The Lord whispered in my ear, love.

For the sake of her soul maybe silence was the required seed to plant and God will use one day to bring her to Him? Are we willing to pay whatever the cost for one soul? Whether it be silence or death or punishment are we willing to do it in Love? The reality that she might eternally die gripped my heart as I gave her the tip and I smiled, almost with tears, as I said my last goodbye. God didn’t want me to speak yet I felt very obligated. What type of people stand by and watch others die? We should say something LORD!? Silence ensued as she took the tip and I walked away. One seed fell and hit the cold ground.

Dear God, help us be obedient to you. Forgive us for not making the most of every opportunity and forgive us for doing things our way instead of walking in your perfect love.

Doors of denial or trust?

We try so hard to make it happen, whatever “it” may be. The “it” can be doors of destruction or even doors of blessing. Have you ever considered that the door won’t open because it was never intended to be pursued? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same result but expecting something different. So many times I feel like we do this. We just know what is best for us, so we pursue it over and over again. We weren’t intended to live a life of denial, yet we constantly revert back to this behavior of insanity. What is wrong with us? Maybe it’s because God is far from us? A life lived independent of God is a life lived in perpetual denial. There are Christians who love God but try to put Him in places he isn’t. Many Christians ramble on, “Oh God did this and God did that” when in reality they are trying to cover their decisions with lies of denial. We’ve gotten good at spiritualizing our sin and lack of trust in God! To put it plan and simple: Christians are pro discount shoppers. They find out what they want and put a God discount tag on it. Stop seeking for opportunity in dead ends and dangerous street alleys, when the Lord is saying loud and clear, “I’m not there!”
Are we willing to be thankful with where we are in God, with others, and with our self? The fastest way to blessing is thankfulness. God will entrust more to those who are thankful and responsible with what God has given them. In fact, God gives the desires of their heart, to those he loves. Can God trust you with his desires; can he trust you with yours? Are we going to label what is done by man as God’s way or will we trust in Him? As we begin to trust in God with the small things and only open the doors he has for us now, the doors that we worry about and try to control will be opened.

Faith and Learning

Brett McInnis
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7

The secular education system in America has done away with teaching biblical courses and has prohibited teachers from using religiously indoctrinated material. From the studies of Cardinal Newman, The Idea of a University, he proves that all education is religiously indoctrinated. While secular education wants you to believe that what they teach is neutral, Newman argues that it is impossible for education to be neutral. For instance, by not teaching students about God and assuming he doesn’t exist, it imposes another form of theology known as atheism. The education system’s claim to make education neutral is a contradictory assertion by nature. They themselves cannot live up to it because secular education teaches from a religious perspective. Therefore faith and learning cannot be separated. This integration is why it is extremely important to teach from a biblical perspective.
True education brings us into the knowledge and fear of the Lord and because there is no separation between education and faith, many are taught by a false standard. When we teach from the principle, that there is no God, education loses its purpose. Dictionary.com defines education as, “the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.” We want to be made ready for mature life. Christ claims, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” If we want to see students utilized to their fullest, it is vital that we teach from the Christian perspective, which is that God is the giver of all life and that knowledge begins and ends with Him. This prepares us to be made more human and in the likeness of God. While secular education only offers external motivation for acquiring knowledge, Christian education transforms us from the inside out because of its purpose driven by truth, life, and God. We are created to be more, for it is Christ in us the hope of glory who transforms and changes our lives and the lives around us. Secular education compromises with weakness and settles for a life of mediocrity and self-service. When our only concern is about vocation or gaining knowledge for self interests, it defeats the very purpose of knowledge. Knowledge is about knowing God and having the ability to share Him with others. John 17:3 says that eternal life is to know the Father and the Son whom he sent. If this aspect of education has been stripped from us then we are living a life with no meaning and the knowledge we have attained is useless. We are living immature lives. I encourage you to dig deep in your course materials for the glory of God because all knowledge stems back to the creator. Let us become the educated beings we were created to be and break the molds of modern education that teach atheism.

It is here!

The presence of God is being poured out like never before. We are experiencing mighty moves of God on the Emmanuel College campus because a group of four students began to pour out their hearts to God and invited Him to change their lives. On Tuesday and Thursday nights we have our prayer meeting at Nash chapel at seven o’clock if you would like to join this move of God. Last Thursday is was prophesied that it was time to hold services. Originally we just had prayer meetings but because God's presence has been so strong and ministry is taking place at a deeper level, we have it now set as a service. So instead of praying and interceding the whole time there is musical worship and a sermon prepared. Ben Cerullo attended Tuesday night’s event and the glory of God erupted in the place and people were healed and we fanned the flame to something that God wants to do in this generation. Revival is here. Come burn in the glory of God Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7 in Nash Chapel.

Timing

Nothing is more beautiful than perfect timing and there is nothing worse than bad timing. Think about it... A baseball batter without good timing would be a bad player, a musician without good timing would be a bad musician, a comedian with bad comic timing would be a bad comedian and this applies to everything in life! Just the opposite happens when we are in good timing. You get the home run, you play an awesome solo, and you make people laugh! So if life is composed of rhythm, meter, and timing then why do we struggle so much when it comes to relationships with people but most importantly GOD? The Lord wants to do a NOW thing in your life because He loves you. Talk about an easy home run right? Surrendering to God and allowing him to work in your life? Maybe not easy, but why haven’t we started? The time is NOW but we so often put the things that matter most, like our relationship with God and others, off till later when the timing is wrong. Make things right now. Live life fully, now. He stands at the door and knocks.

Rain

Some people get upset when they are rained on. They didn't expect it. They don't like it. It makes them look bad. They have places to go and people to meet and being wet somehow diminishes their appearance. I want to challenge you to walk outside in the rain with no specific destination in mind maybe just spin or dance but have one objective and that is to just get soaked.
Here at Emmanuel College it was pouring down rain and I decided to go get some coffee up at Jittery Joes and finish my homework. I had my destination and plan. I had my umbrella in hand, my rain jacket on, the book bag secure; I was all set. So I began to walk up the hill and I discovered that the umbrella was not blocking all the rain, in fact my legs and shorts were getting drenched. Nevertheless, I got to my destination. I went to open up the door and it was closed. I then thought of the next cozy place to finish my homework. I was sad that I missed out on my coffee but at this point I just wanted to find cover. Lion’s den was the place that came to mind. I took off for lion’s den. My shorts had taken the place of swim trunks as I scurried across wellons parking lot and over into lion’s den. I made it! As I began to unpack my belongings I realized I had left my ipod in my room. This normally wouldn’t bother me but there was a football game being watched and I could not focus on my homework. I left my bag in Lion’s den popped open my black umbrella and headed to my room. I was laughing at how ridiculous I felt. I got to my room and picked up my ipod. Before I headed back to Lion’s den I went to my playlist and selected the song, “rain drops keep falling on my head” by B.J Thomas. Now I was set. I walked slowly enjoying the rain and splashed in the puddles till my song was over.
Somehow, I think God calls us to a life of rain walking. Not literally but consider the mentality and willingness of walking in the rain. We might look foolish but our focus isn’t on our appearance. We might be uncomfortable but that’s only until we go all in and get all wet. When we hold back and try to block the rain that’s when we get annoyed. Letting go and getting soaked frees us. We try to prevent the rain from getting on us, avoiding the puddles; buying the umbrellas. What if we can live a silent life of trust in God? Not necessarily knowing the end to the journey but enjoying the place we are at. I prayed this prayer after my experience:
“God, I know I’m getting wet. I don’t like it but help me enjoy it.”
God wants us to get so wet in Him that we no longer care about our destination. If you can’t enjoy the rain how can you ever enjoy the God who created it? He is as playful, and as innocent as a child; wanting you to stop, put the umbrella down, and spin around and around in the rain. We are called to get lost in Him. Let yourself enjoy his love and peace because it is there for you. I just think we have big ponchos on, huge umbrellas, and our entire body is covered because we are afraid of getting wet. Won’t you just let go? We get caught up in the appearance, the uncomfortable situation, that we lose sight of the true objective. The kingdom of God is likened unto a child. If you aren’t enjoying God and you claim to be His, what will make the heathen want to join this love rain walk too? You want dry Christianity, to make it pleasing to the sinner but it is only when we are immersed in God will the umbrella-walkers ever want it as well. Only when we love these dry-people will they ever be willing to let go of their layers and get a taste of the rain. It’s uncomfortable at first but teach them how to go all in. We can’t teach them if we haven’t first experienced it! I encourage you. Get lost in the rain. Get saturated in the presence of God and don’t hold anything back because you need to get completely wet. Rain drops keep falling on my head.

Freedom

What exactly is freedom? Can you be legitimately free? Does gravity somehow suppress us because it holds us to this earth or is it working for our benefit? I would suggest to you that freedom is what holds us back or what keeps us from destroying ourselves. Freedom isn’t living an independent life free from negative influence; freedom isn’t individualism or self autonomy, freedom is coming to the understanding that we can’t be free outside of God. And even then we are held in His perfection and under his supervision. It is the striving to be free that causes us to be bound. Freedom comes from resting in the promises of God. It is when we try to attain freedom through our own efforts that we become enslaved to a false reality. Take this time to talk to God. Ask him if you have been living in a false freedom. If so, begin to give back to Him “your rights” and ask Him to lead you into true freedom.

Just Run

If Christians in the 21st century were compared to runners preparing for a race we could quiet possibly be the fattest yet most outwardly prepared group of runners around. These so-called runners have the map for the race memorized, they have new shoes, under armor, water bottles, MP3 players, sweat towels, and most importantly there lucky pair of socks. These runners are legit and ready to win, right? On the outside they have all the gear and all the gadgets but realistically they’re a bunch of overweight babies. Surprisingly, this looks identical to many Christians today who are theologians in thought but atheists in action. We have fat, out of shape, Christians who are preparing only externally to run a marathon! You can ask any runner or athlete, what is the best way to get in shape, and no doubt everyone would say, you have to work for it. You mean you actually have to do it!? I think three people just quit this Christian thing and at the same time three chubby people just fell to the ground to retrieve an Oreo. Why is this so difficult for us? Sometimes you just have to run. So many times we get caught up in analyzing how to run, what to wear, and the theory behind running that we never actually do it. If you never start running but you dream you will win a huge race, you are living in a false reality and you will never achieve your dream. No runner starts running 20 miles. It is the half mile and then the mile that launches us into our marathon. A runner is developed and grown over time. He pushes through each run before he reaches his goal. If you appear to be a runner yet you have never pushed through a run you aren’t a real runner. There are so many Christians who aren’t disciples. They look like Christians, they talk like Christian, but they live a life contrary to the Word. Instead of pushing on through the run or through the sin and temptation they stay and wallow in it like an overweight man at a buffet. How do you expect to win the race? Theology doesn’t save you and neither does knowing how to run. It is the action of putting your faith to works that causes you to bear fruit. It is the working through your salvation that guarantees your inheritance. Let us run together to win the prize. You don’t have to be in marathon shape but just start running.

En101 (First Blog)

God never ceases to amaze! Maybe this mystery is eternal; never ending? On one Christmas morning, there was one big Christmas gift under the full-sized green and lighted tree and I knew it was just for me because I got up extra early and spotted it out. I read my name on the tag and I couldn’t help but leap for joy! Now, the tradition of my family was that we first had to open our stockings. As any little boy would, I rushed through that stocking so I could see what was in the big box. I really didn’t care about the stocking! I wanted the tractor or the latest dinosaur! Likewise we so many times want to run onto the big gift instead of finding joy in the stockings God has for us. I learned as I got older that stockings were more precious. In the stockings were little knickknacks. Family jokes originated in the stockings such as toilet paper or lots of deodorant. Stockings became priceless. It’s the little things God gives us that truly matter. He gave me strength today. He woke me up this morning! Science can’t even explain how I am being held together yet this great mysterious God allows it to happen every single day. It’s the little things. If you are always striving for the big “breakthrough” you will miss out on the things that are priceless in your walk with God. So many Christians ask, “Why haven’t I had the breakthrough?” or “When will I see change?” maybe God first wants you to open up your stocking?

More about me...

I'm a hardcore worshiper. I won’t leave Christ's presence until I hear from God and get the blue prints and direction, he has for me. I'm hungry for relationship with other believers and I want to grow up in the bride to the best of my ability. I'm not moved by man's words but the power thereof... With what authority I have been given I seek wholeheartedly to be pleasing to the father. That what I have done with the time I have had here on earth will be pleasing to the Father and that all who know me will be blessed by the example and image I bare.