High Self Esteem is the Seed of Narcissism!

We all have noticed this trend - the trend towards helping people have higher self esteem.  I will venture to say that the quest to feel better about ourselves began before many of us were even born.  Almost 50 years ago, perhaps earlier than that.

Some time in the 1960's, the term 'self esteem' was coined in the field of psychology.  It was generally defined as 'personal worthiness.'  The year I was born, 1969, Canadian psychotherapist Nathaniel Branden defined self esteem as 'the experience of being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and being worthy of happiness.' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem]

Sounds innocent enough, right?

I mean, who wouldn't want to feel better about themselves?  Who wouldn't want to find better ways of coping with life?  Who doesn't want to be happy?

Somewhere down the line, someone came up with the brilliant idea that if we start 'building' peoples' self esteem that that will help people make better decisions.  That will help people cope better with the challenges of life.  That will help people treat one another better.  Have more compassion on others.  

So it was right around the 60's when people in this country-their collective mindsets-started to change...towards everything.  Towards leadership.  Towards authority figures.  Towards biblical, ethical and moral landmarks.  Even towards themselves...

(It seems like the building up of one's 'self esteem' has actually made people MORE focused on SELF, more selfish, and LESS compassionate!

And as far as the effect of taking the 'high self esteem pill,' folks treat one another worse than they EVER have in the history of this country.  Everybody has 'high self esteem; but no one gives a care about no one, either!)

What do we base self esteem upon anyways?

Self esteem is based upon the following factors:

• Career/Job - What kind of job do you have?  How do you feel about what you do?  How do others view your job?  
• Success Meter - Do you feel you are successful in life?
• Body/Self Image - How do you view yourself?
• Strengths/Weaknesses - What are yours?
• Comparison - How do you view yourself compared to others?
• Social Status/Classism - Where are you in life?  How does your lot in life make you feel?
• Social Skills - How do you relate to others?
• Good Decisions - Are you able to make good decisions?

I see one prevailing factor in all of these components of (high) self esteem:  SELF!

What's wrong with this?

I can say in the past 10 years or so - maybe a little bit longer - I have noticed this trend towards building high self esteem in others in the organized church system.

I remember when I was in church, being trained and 'groomed' for ministry, so to speak, I was taught, encouraged, to 'fix myself up.'  I always dressed humdrum, plain, no big hats, spike heels, or church suits here!  It just was not my style.  

But because I was always the compliant, obedient type, so I did it.  I was 'made over' to look like 'a woman of God.'  

I want you to note that all the emphasis was placed on how I looked on the outside.  It was concluded that if I changed the outside first, that somehow that would make me feel 'better' about myself on the inside.

(It was also concluded that because I didn't 'dress the part' that meant that I had 'low' self esteem.)

Personally speaking, I saw no problem with how I viewed myself.  I never considered myself as one with 'low self esteem.'  But I also never considered myself as having 'high self esteem' as well.  I just could never get with the whole trend of 'getting high self esteem.'  It all seemed rather VAIN to me.

When I look at all the criteria that is used to determine whether one has high self esteem or not, it is ALL based upon temporary criteria.  It is all based upon things that happens in THIS life.  It actually can fall into the (YES) category of sin the Word calls in 1 John 2:16 THE PRIDE OF LIFE.

Ah, you see, having 'high self esteem,' 'swag,' being a 'diva' ALL falls into the whole PRIDE OF LIFE thing. WHAT exactly IS the PRIDE OF LIFE?

It is the whole focus of people on living the best life NOW.  It is the whole 'me-centered, what about my happiness, I want my destiny' mindset that permeates society more and more with each passing day.

The Pride of Life is that thing in YOU that drives you, pushes you, to be overly ambitious, competitive, willing to step over (and ON) any and everyone to get to the top.

The so called prosperity message is steeped in THE PRIDE OF LIFE.  It is self seeking, prideful, driven, competitive, lacking compassion, selfish, diabolical.

But to get back to my own 'acceptance' of my lot in life...and lack of a struggle on the low self esteem/high self esteem seesaw, I didn't have low OR high self esteem.  I would say it was a healthy, sober self esteem that GOD gave me.

The body image issues that other women seemed to struggle with I didn't have - not after having gained a significant amount of weight over a 20 year period.  Not after many significant what others may call 'life failures.'  Not after ministry failures, or natural disasters, or family problems....or two divorces.

You see, a healthy, sober self esteem recognizes where you TRULY are, who you TRULY are and is comfortable and fine with that.  You realize that your self worth is not determined by ANYTHING in the natural, but by your 'relationship status' with the ONLY one who TRULY matters in your life...with GOD!

Over time, after having seen God work on my behalf and that of my family - over and over again - I developed a TRUST, a STRONG FAITH in God....knowing that no matter what came my way, that GOD WAS and IS IN CONTROL.  And HE has us!

So that took the pressure off ME having to attain success....or me having to attain a certain type of body....or me having to elevate my social status or be overly concerned about what others thought of me.  

THAT confidence does not come from a makeover.  Or a job promotion.  Or marrying into money.  Or being elevated to another social class, or being a social butterfly, popular, pretty, well accepted, cheery, happy, or having a lot of friends.

THAT confidence comes from TRUSTING IN GOD...and IN HIM ALONE!

The Word tells us to be sober-minded.

When one has an over-inflated, unrealistic view of themselves, they walk around feeling entitled, like God-AND THE WORLD-owes them.  They are feel they are owed success, happiness, money, prosperity, ministry, sex, drugs, education.  They are so ME focused that they cannot develop faith in God, neither can they trust God, because it's ALL about THEM.

When they don't get what they want, they pout, and whine, they get angry, and they will do whatever it takes to get what THEY want.  THAT is NOT being sober minded, nor is it trusting in GOD.

And when you don't TRUST GOD, you may develop mental illness...and become a threat to society.

I share this not to brag or boast on myself...but I write this post because for the past ten years or so, I have noticed that the more we as a society push the high self esteem pill on others, the LESS confident this society has become...as a whole.

All of the things that high self esteem is supposed to remedy -according to psychologists - actually has made folks WORSE, in terms of the ability of people to cope with life challenges, their perception of themselves, a mass inability to deal with the reality of themselves -to face who they REALLY are - and others around them (lack of overrall discernment), the lack of love and compassion on themselves and others, the increase in the spirit of competition (in AND out of the church), the increase in suicides, familicides (murder of families), infanticides (murder of babies), murders in general and the ability to deal with life disappointments and failures.  

I have also noticed that as society has gone on a mission to build the self esteem of others, the higher the rate of narcissism has been in people as a whole....

This has been because the focus has shifted OFF Jesus Christ of Nazareth as our hope, our way to cope with life and its challenges, we have failed to help people to see themselves as HE sees them, and not give a care about how ANYONE else views them!

High self esteem is the seed for narcissism.  

Narcissism:  Inordinate (uncontrolled, irregular) fascination with oneself; excessive self love; vanity; self centeredness.

We have a society of parents that don't chastise their kids, worship and idolize their kids, over praise them for doing things they are SUPPOSED to do (i.e. go to school, do chores, obey authority figures, etc.)  in efforts to build high self esteem in kids.  We now have parents that are plastering their kids' faces with tons of makeup, dressing them up like mini-adults, and entering them into beauty pageants at WAY too young of age...fostering vanity in these kids.  We think nothing to dress a child up as a little adult, we make them participate in what is supposed to be recreational sports (for the purpose of them having fun)...and then we treat the whole activity like its the NFL Super Bowl....and then the kids are forced to play, to win, to outperform the other kids....why?  To gain the love, acceptance and approval of over competitive parents!

Couple that with a societal mindset of 'not judging folks' and blaming others for our own personal failures, our fascination with body image, attaining the trappings of success and the over emphasis on class and social status in this society as we grow up....and instead of breeding and raising people with a healthy, realistic self esteem -one that is based upon who they are in CHRIST- we have raised a generation of self centered, narcissistic, selfish, uncompassionate, scared of failure, overly competitive, obsessed with their looks people!

The way to counter that is to teach people -preferably from birth- that they are to esteem OTHERS better than themselves.  Teach people to have a servant's heart....get RID of competition....TOTALLY!

Teach kids to not be so focused on themselves.  Get rid of all the perceptions and misconceptions we have instilled in kids about success....and failure....

Teach them that TRUE success is in how OBEDIENT they have been to GOD, and not man.  Teach them that there TRULY is NO FAILURE in GOD...and that true success is not based upon how one looks, or what one has, or how others view that person.

Teach them that failure is NOT the end of the world.  That they can always try again.  Never give up.  Have faith in God.  Even unsaved folks...they may not have faith, per se, but they can believe that it is going to be OK.  Teach people what REALLY counts in this life....

It is NOT what we have been taught!

High self esteem IS indeed overrated.

Philippians 2:3
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves....

Pure Worship??

Anybody who has ever been in church in the past 10 years or so knows this song.  It is one of the most popular worship songs of the decade.  EVERYBODY has sung this sung, remade this song.

It is the christian universal worship song, sung in millions of churches, countries, missions, fellowships all over the world!

But as I was posting on the subject of worship earlier, God began to speak to me about this song...

"Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
  Open the eyes of my heart
  I want to see you
  I want to see you

  To see you high and lifted up
  Shining in the light of your glory
  Pour out your power & love
  Singing Holy, Holy, Holy..."

This sounds innocent enough, right?

It sounds like the person singing this song is seeking after the 'presence of God.'  They want to be taken up in a glory cloud, so to speak.

I mean, any worship from the heart is pure, it is harmless.  It gives creedence to the whole act of worship. Someone who worships God from their heart, it is pure worship, it is undefiled unto God.

Right?

From the heart...

SURELY, the 'Presence of God' will descend down upon whomever is lavishing all this love, attention and worship on God, right?

WRONG!

See, religious people have been erroneously taught that if anything originates or eminates out of the heart that that speaks to the pureness, the authenticity of it.

What does the Word say?

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

This is what we have to realize....

The heart of an unregenerated person is deceitful.  The heart of even the born again person can sometimes be hardened, carnal, soulish....

So to make the heart the telltale sign of whether or not something is godly, or pure or genuine is a very false premise.

We have all kinds of people that go to church....saved and unsaved.  Those who THINK they are saved, and those who ARE actually saved.  Those who are delivered and those who are not.

And all of these people-all with their hearts-some circumcised, some not-who on any given Sunday morning decide they are going to worship God.  Here they are singing, 'Open the eyes of my heart....'

When 'christians' hear:

God is a Spirit...and they that worship Him shall worship Him in spirit and in truth....(John 4:24)

They believe that that 'spirit and truth' is contingent upon the condition of the heart of the worshipper....when it is NOT.

When worshippers are told to worship God in spirit and in truth...it is not in OUR spirits or truthfully from OUR hearts.  The fact of the matter is that no matter HOW hard we try, we can NEVER be holy, truthful, spiritual enough on our own to worship God the way the Word requires us to.

The vehicle used to transport us from flesh to spirit, deceit to truth, error/emotions to fact is through the vehicle of THE HOLY GHOST.

It is HE who enables us to worship HIM in Spirit and in Truth!

It is NOT through how much we sing, we cry, we dance, we fall prostrate on the floor, we holler, we fast, we read the Word...NO RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY that has EVER been participated in can EVER guarantee that when we 'worship' God, we are worshipping Him in spirit and in truth.!

Having said that...I have to share with you that there ARE spiritual forces, entities, that DO accept worship 'from the heart.'

We have to stop and wonder....'WHERE did that saying come from, anyway?'

When a person tries to be spiritual through natural means, instead of petitioning the Spirit of God, the entity that is being entreated is the fake jesus.

The spirit of antichrist!

The way the antichrist 'is worshipped,' per se, is when one of the 7 chakras are opened.

Chakras, according to Hinduists, are 'energy sources' where ENERGY flows.

How many times have we heard preachers and worship leaders say 'let the spirit flow?'

And it is always assumed that that spirit that is 'flowing' is the HOLY Spirit.

But is it??????

Just keep in mind....when one speaks to flowing, that speaks to a controlled body of fluid, tangible presence, much like water.  What many and most leaders in the church have been doing forever is to attempt to control, manipulate, the 'flow of God' as THEY will, instead of allowing the Spirit of God to move as HE wills.

Why would anyone want to manipulate a flow?  A move?

They want to control it to appear powerful.  Its an ego thing.  It is nothing more than spiritual pride!

Even the most 'humble appearing' forms of worship that we have all witnessed and revered as holy, pure, that is supposed to get rid of pride...i.e. lying prostrate before God....crying, etc....all of that is spiritually prideful histrionics, done out of vain attempts to move THE PEOPLE...so the people can sit back and say, "Oh wow.  They are really serious.  They really love God!  What pure worship they give?  How anointed they are!  They are so humble! I just LOVE how so and so sings me into the presence of God!"

I present to you that NONE of that is TRUE Worship....and that the only one being idolized is the fake jesus!!!!

The only thing that is happening is a mass opening of people's heart chakras!

Hinduism is where we get the Kundalini spirit that is so rampant in the organized church system.  All the barking, crawling on all fours, hollering, jerking, 'quickening, jumping, all the weird manifestations during praise & worship was introduced when whole congregations were opening the eyes of their 'hearts/opening their heart chakras!'

Read about the heart chakra...

"Anahata (the heart chakra) is associated with the ability to make decisions (lord, jesus, come into   my heart/sinner's prayer)....outside of the realm of karma.  In Manipura and below, man is bound by the laws of karma, and the fate he has in store for him. In Anahata, one is making decisions, 'following your heart,' based upon one's higher self, and not from the unfulfilled emotions and desires of lower nature.

It is also associated with love & compassion, charity to others, and forms of psychic healing.

Meditation on this chakra is said to bring about the following siddhis, or occult powers; he becomes a lord of speech; he is dearer than the dearest to women; his senses are completely under control; and he can enter at will into another's body...." [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahata]

What I want you to realize is that you cannot worship GOD from the heart....EVER!

No matter how pure you believe your heart to be.  The heart is WICKEDLY DECEITFUL.  So even when WE think the heart is circumcised, pure....we cannot depend upon that.

I also want you to realize that millions of people in the organized church system has allowed their hearts  (heart chakras) to be opened.  They are unknowingly being influenced by and worshipping the fake jesus and all his minions.

This is a dangerous thing, and this makes the church a very dangerous place to be!

It is high time we totally RE-EXAMINE EVERYTHING we have ever thought we did for God.  We may have given access to demons unknowingly by entertaining doctrines and religious practices that emphasizes the heart and feel good feelings...

DON'T TRUST IT!!!!!!

Covering Sin With The Wrong Motive: A Recipe for Cont'd Sin

In light of all the recent exposures of sin that has taken place within the organized church system, I feel the need to explain what it means to cover sin, why the Bible says to cover sin and when covering sin for the wrong reasons always ends up in someone falling into a LIFESTYLE of sin.

Many times, when someone is found in sin-especially if that someone is popular or in leadership-many quote the scripture:

1 Peter 4:8

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves:  for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

So off they go with 1 Peter 4:8...they rush off and use this as a scriptural reference and excuse to participate in sometimes intentional, sometimes innocent cover-ups of sin (among leadership) that they now know about.

Religion has taught many that to not expose the sins of others is walking in love.

Others KNOW that true meaning of the scripture, yet they still misapply it to justify a blatant cover up of sin that the guilty party has absolutely NO intention of repenting of.

There is a process to this thing - the repentance of sin, the covering of sin, the application of the forgiveness of sin, and restoration.

Allow me to share:

1)  Knowledge of the sin (whether that be in yourself, or in others who were involved with sin)

This is when - when a person either is convicted of sin by way of the Holy Ghost Himself - made aware of their sin.  Or when a person discovers the sin of another.  When the Holy Ghost convicts one of sin, the remorse and grief one feels can be likened to that of grieving for the death of a loved one.  It can feel like the end of the world...the conviction can be extremely heavy...the way to tell the difference between conviction and condemnation is that the Holy Ghost will lift the conviction off the guilty party until they repent.  When one is walking in condemnation, that remorse and guilt over sin NEVER leaves the guilty party.  It lingers until the person feels worthless, unloved, forsaken, abandoned.

When it involves the disclosure/exposure of sin of others, shock can settle in for others who learn about the sin.  Unfortunately, the way of human nature is such that when most find out 'dirt' on someone else, they feed off it.  They may laugh and joke about it.  They are not interested in your being healed of sin or restored.

But the biblical way to deal with finding out the sins of others is for the SPIRITUAL to restore them....

2)  Confession/Repentance of Sin

New Testament repentance requires one to change their mind about their sin.  The Greek word for 'confess' used in the NT is 'exomologeo,' which means 'to acknowledge openly and publicly.'

The Word of God admonishes us to confess our sin/faults one to another so that we may be healed (James 5:16).

But did you realize that the same Greek word used for repentance is used for confession?

'Exomologeo is used for the word 'confess' as well as 'repent!'

That means in its proper biblical context, confession IS the same thing as repenting!!!!

(How come we don't hear this type of teaching IN THE CHURCH?????)

What we have been taught in the church is that if a church leader is caught in sin, then that leader's being caught in sin-and yet never fully acknowledging or publicly confessing of said sin-equates repentance.  THAT is simply NOT TRUE!

I don't know if this misinformation and misconception about the role of confession and repentance in the restoration process is intentional or if it is, in fact, due to religious ignorance and denial.

But whatever the reason, THIS misconception and false practice of NOT PUBLICLY confessing sin (exomologeo) and, therefore, properly repenting of sin is the numero uno reason why I believe many are NOT healed of their sin, neither or they restored!

Because the whole religious system is carnal and are ignorant of what it means to confess and repent of sin, and lack TRUE SPIRITUALITY sent from the Spirit of GOD, it is NOT equipped to help people be healed and restored of sin.

This would also explain the church's trend towards covering up and denying sin instead of dealing with sin...whether it be an individual's own sin, or a sin of church leaders.

Sweeping sin under the rug because company is coming over to the 'house' (church), does NOT mean the house is clean.

How many (black) church leaders who have been caught in blatant sin in the past few years flat out refused to address the situation AS THE WORD OF GOD INSTRUCTS US TO?  OPENLY and PUBLICLY.

A confession speaks to something that is actually BEING SAID by a person.  Its speaks to speaking on something they would rather keep private, but are compelled either by the law or by the Spirit of God to disclose, confess, share.

So many I know will misinterpret my stance on open and public confession of sin (especially as it pertains to church leaders)  and mislabel it...calling it gossip or slander.

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Listen.

For years-particularly after having fallen into sin myself and having to publicly repent, having had to leave a ministry, and later on shut down a ministry I started a few years back, it has been a serious concern of mine that there was no proper restoration in place for leaders who have fallen into sin.

What I have found is that the more you tend to cover up sin, the more likely it is it will come out sooner or later.

No one is healed.  Only hurt.  There are more souls hurt by the covering up of sin than there would be if they would just REPENT.

We all know of one famous preacher in the Atlanta area who fell into a scandal involving having illicit affairs with young men.  Instead of publicly confessing to what happened, he came out 'swinging,' so to speak, and vowing to fight the allegations.

Then after a few other young men came out with the same allegations against this preacher, he STILL refused to deal with it publicly, but opted to 'settle' in court, paying the young men millions of dollars!

This happened at least 2 years ago, and this preacher has yet to (properly) repent/confess to this sin.  

This type of atrocity happens (in the church) ALL the time, unfortunately.

The people find out a sin about the pastor.  In black churches especially, the tendency leans towards covering up the truth than dealing with the truth.

This type of dishonest, unhealthy, unbiblical approach to sin fosters and breeds more sin, dysfunction and is also a breeding ground for demons.

When unconfessed sin lies within a house-no matter HOW ANOINTED the leader is-the Spirit of God LEAVES that house.  And another spirit rules.  It looks like God, acts like God, sings and preaches like God...but it is NOT!

I was inspired to write this blog based upon a story I learned of yesterday...

Gospel recording artist Deitrick Haddon publicly confessed to adultery, repented, and then he named names of others involved in the breakup of his marriage to his ex-wife, Damita.

I publicly applauded the courage, bravery and actions of Haddon in that it was refreshing to find someone who is still in the (church) system who I believe understands the process of repentance and restoration.   

He shared how he had not preached at his church in over a year.  In his letter confessing his sins and others involved, he didn't bad mouth anyone, but instead encouraged the involved parties to 'come clean in 2013' and bring back integrity and honesty into the ministry.

Some argued that Haddon had selfish motives and another agenda in doing what he did.  But according to the scriptures (and NOT the contemporary laws of political and religious correctness), I have to concur he was just, biblical and right in HOW he repented.

Yes, his confession involved naming names, but look at it this way:

In a court of law, when one has confessed to a crime, they are STILL required to take the stand...and they are STILL required on that stand to tell THE TRUTH, the WHOLE TRUTH and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.....

The confessor cannot cover for another in the guise of loving them, or covering their sins/crimes.  If they pull that in any court of law, they may be served the full sentence, and even may be in contempt of court!

The 'covering' of sin DOES NOT entails LYING FOR, WITHHIDING INFORMATION, or SWEEPING it under the proverbial rug in religious piety and hypocrisy...

CONFESS/REPENT means to CONFESS/REPENT....TOTALLY.  PUBLICLY.

3)  Covering Up sin to Save Face is NOT an Act of Love!

Which brings me to my final point...

MANY in the religious world are guilty of appearing to do the right thing...but if you dig further, one can see that it was done as an attempt to save the reputations of favorite superstar preachers, ministries, denominations and fellowships.

Yes, LOVE covers a multitude of sin...

BUT it does so only AFTER that person has CONFESSED/REPENTED (publicly) of the sin, and the covering is for the purposes of helping the fallen leader/brother/sister BE RESTORED.

The covering up of sin only is supposed to take place AFTER the person has confessed to the sin and are in the healing process of said sin.

Covering up UNCONFESSED sin is making whole congregations partakers of their leaders' sins...and this is why many households of faith are under the judgment of God.  They have allowed unconfessed sin to fester, rot and grow in an atmosphere of dishonesty, lies, deceit and cover up...NOT so the leader or the people can be healed....

But to save face!

It is a prideful, willful denial of sin-which is outright lying-and when one does NOT confess their sins, there IS no healing, deliverance, forgiveness or restoration for that person...AND for EVERY LAST PERSON who participates in the cover up of their sin!!!!!

I think in the legal world, it is called 'an accomplice to the crime.'

You didn't commit the deed, but you were a partaker of it...therefore you suffer the same fate/judgment as the one(s) who committed the sin...and WON'T repent.

Yes, I understand that there are people out here who are malicious, and will use confession/repentance as way to malign and mock persons found to be in sin.

But just because there are people like this in the world does NOT negate the necessity to obey the Word...EVEN in the matter of CONFESSING and REPENTING properly of sin.

Once you come clean, then God can heal you.  But if you continue to cover it up, the Word says you CANNOT be healed.

Don't worry about what others are going to say or do.

YOU DO what GOD says to do!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, having said all that, I don't want you to be discouraged!  The church (as a whole) may not be a safe place, a healthy place, where you can confess your faults, one to another, as the Word of God tells us to.  

I want to share with you that in the midst of all this confusion, THERE IS A SAFE PLACE!

A social network under the auspices of Pam Sheppard Ministries, the Remnant Exodus Society (aka RES-CUE),  is an online haven for sheep whom the Lord is leading out of a barren, corrupted place, into green pastures of a ministry that will do as Jesus said: "Feed and tend His sheep, and when one is lost, leave the 99 and go after him or her.  Many sheep are damaged today when they leave the Institutional Church.  Once you have watched the video series called "Leave the Church," and  read the various articles in this blogroll, go to  http://pamsheppard.com/rescue and become a trial member of our social network for born again Christians, the elect of God. You will hear from an RESCUE minister within 24 hours of your joining the network, most likely hours sooner.

Or, simply call 518-477-5759.

KINGDOM TALK: What Did The Original Apostles Teach & Preach?

~~This is another blog I wrote four years ago, right after the last one about the 12 (disciples/apostles) mission.  It IS a long read....It's good to be reminded of some things!~~

Luke 6:13 -- The Call to Apostleship

Vs 12 says Jesus was in prayer all night in the mountain.  He called 12 out and named them Apostles.  

Jimmy Swaggart defines apostle as:  one sent with a special message; which will always be according to the Word of God; will set the standard (of the church).  

After Jesus called the apostles, He modeled for them what they were to do.  Listen to what HE preached after the commission.

Vs 17 - Jesus and His Disciples were out on the plain; met the masses who came to hear Him and to be healed.  They were delivered from unclean spirits.  The masses endeavored to touch Him; virtue flowed out of Him and they were healed.

Vs 20-23 - Sermons on the plains (aka the Beautitudes)

1)        I like to call it the "Blessings and Woes Sermon"

           First, apostles are to teach the people who and what is REALLY blessed and who and  

           what is REALLY cursed.

           *Blessed be the poor                    -                yours is the Kingdom of God

           *Blessed are you who hunger     -                you shall be filled

           *Blessed are you who weep        -                you shall laugh!

           *Blessed are you when men hate you, they shall separate you from their company, 

             shall reproach you, cast out your name for evil for the Son of Man's sake.....

           Rejoice in that Day!  Leap for Joy!   Your reward is great in heaven.  They did it to the

           prophets of old.....they will do it to you!

           *Woe to the rich                           -                 you got your reward

           *Woe unto you who are full        -                 you shall be hungry

           *Woe unto you who laugh           -                 you shall mourn

           *Woe unto you when all men speak well of you; for they also did of the FALSE 

             prophets!

2)         Love Your Enemies

Jesus commands us to love our enemies.  Not a milk toast message, or easy to swallow like pamplin.  But this is kingdom.  IF you're walking in the kingdom, you are loving your enemies.  And there IS a specific way JESUS instructs us to love them...

Vs 27-30 says we are to love our enemies and do good to them that hate you.  Bless those who curse you; give the other cheek after they slapped the first. 

Give to every man who ask of you; and to those who stole from you don't ask for it back in return.  

What?  What kinda message is that?  Surely God doesn't want us to teach the people to be weak, to be punks?  This is agape love; a love that will keep putting ourselves in positions to be punked.  The world's way is to avenge and protect ourselves.  God's way, kingdom, is to keep putting ourselves out there.  Seems crazy?  Probably.  But that's kingdom!

3)             The Golden Rule

We all have heard of the golden rule.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

The scriptures says...for if you love them which love you what thank have ye?  What does that mean?

Jesus is saying sinners have the capability to love those who love them.  Many Adolph Hitler was in love with Eva Braun, his mistress.  But what he had wasn't real love, it was lust.  Because after he finished having sex with her, he would put his uniform on and go kill about a 1,000 Jews or more per day!  If he had real agape love, he wouldn't have been able to exterminate millions of Jews!

That's the world's version of love.  And if we only love those who we think love us, we are no better than the sinners.  We are fooling ourselves!

Sinners also do good to those who do good to them.  But Jesus says take it to the next step.  He commands us to do good to EVERYBODY!  Enemies, friends, family, jealous folks, and all.

He also says 'lend to those who cannot pay you back!'  

What?  What is that?  

If we lend folks $5, we get all hot and backslide if we don't get $7 back by the end of the month!  I have heard folks so many times, so called saved folks, belly ache over another saint they lent money to not paying them back.  So now its been 5 years and you ain't spoke to Sis. Who Knows What because she forgot to or maybe couldn't pay back $5!!!!!!??????  

That's CRAZY!!!!

Sinners operate like that.  Banks do it every day (or well,maybe not so much these days now!)

We in the Church have gained the mentality, the spirit, of the world that says "I will be good to you only if you are good to me.  If you look like me, sing like me, preach like me, believe as I do, etc..  If you fast as long as I do, then we can hang.  If you hold onto my denominational standards, then we can fellowship."

Now e don't even want to help the poor.  I'm talking about the church!  I don't know where this spirit came from in the so called church today that says we aren't supposed to help the poor!!!!

When right here in the scriptures it says to lend to those WHO CANNOT PAY YOU BACK!  Sinners do that; that's how we as a nation got into this economic upheaval we are in right now.  Banks lending money, being greedy, thinking 'Hey, we will give you this loan and that loan and tack on 20% interest and get rich off your need!'  Then the same banks get upset, give bad credit scores, and take people's homes because they haven't gotten rich off you.  If that ain't charlatain, sinful, I don't know what is!

If these banks and financial institution were saved, kingdom minded, they'd forgive all these loans and stop seizing peoples' homes like they've been doing!  God commands are made to be obeyed.  God has cursed this nation with this financial crisis because these banks won't forgive these loans.  They are being greedy and prey on those who are suffering financially.

No matter what Obama does -- and I pray for him -- this financial crisis won't subside until we as a nation get rid of this credit bureau devil that hold peoples' financial mishaps and mistakes against them for too many years.  According to scripture, all debt is supposed to be forgiven after seven years.

Deuteronomy 15:1-2, 8-10

At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.

And this is the manner of the release:  Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord's release.

But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.

Beware that there be not a thought in they wicked heart, saying, The 7th year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against that poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.  

Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givenst unto him; because that for this thing the LORD they God shall bless thee in all they works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

Yet creditors will mark peoples' credit for debt that was made sometimes as much as 10 years ago!  The companies where the debt was made a lot of times doesn't even exist anymore.  They will sell the delinquent accounts to collections agencies and referred others to lawyers and spend all types of money to find debtors (called skip trace).  All of this to collect on an old debt, one the debtor isn't necessarily running from but sincerely has not been in a position to pay.

Yes, the debtor is given options to pay minimal payments, sometimes as low as $20/month, which seems low to many of our standards.  And while that is do-able, if you are talking about a $10,ooo deficit, how long will that person be paying off that debt?  there is principle involved here...

God says to forgive ALL debt!  Lend to those who cannot pay back.  That's Word.  And we are to do it with a GLAD heart, knowing we are not doing world business, but KINGDOM business!  

When we do this, the Word says "he that lends to the poor lendeth to the LORD!"  And trust, God will pay you back, WITH INTEREST!

And don't get angry with folks who don't-or can't-pay you back.  Doing Kingdom Business isn't just a matter of doing, but the motivation and spirit behind what we do!

If you got an attitude of "Man, she asked me for such and such, and that devil never paid me back..."  God will NOT bless you.  If you do something for someone, and you go and tell it on the mountaintop what you did, you have missed out on your blessing.  God says do it in secret, with simplicity...

Romans 12:8

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.

That's where you gain the greatest reward!

Do it expecting NOTHING in return!

When you do it this way, the Word says not only will your reward be great, but that you will be called CHILDREN OF THE HIGHEST!  Sons of God.

Jesus is good, merciful to the unthankful, the evil as well as the righteous, HE rains on the just AND the unjust.

We are COMMANDED to be merciful--TO EVERYONE.  Why?  Because that is a characteristic of our Daddy!  It's supposed to be in our DNA. Spiritual DNA!  If you come across someone who lacks the capacity to be merciful to others, I'd question their Sonship.  

Ask them...

"WHO'S YOUR DADDY?"

4)              Judging Others (Vs 37-42)

I think its amazing that as soon as God points out that we are supposed to be merciful that He goes on to speak on judging others.

            *Judge not                     -          you won't be judged

            *Condemn Not              -          you won't be condemned

            *Forgive                         -          you shall be forgiven

Take note--why would Jesus say these things in this order?

When one speaks of mercy, it lends to the fact that one has something they've done wrong, they've sinned, and need mercy.

That being said, when we come across someone who is in sin, who owes us, or God, has a debt to pay, yes, they did it and SHOULD pay!

They should die for their own sins.  They should be put in financial prison (given a low credit score) because they have a debt they owe.  They did wrong, and we shouldn't forgive them.   Because they are GUILTY!

But Jesus came to take the guilt away!  If we keep holding onto others' sin, if we keep judging them for past mistakes, if we keep taking folks to court for debt, keep marking up their credit reports, then what was CALVARY for?  All our sin, our mishaps, mistakes, debt, our junk....ALL OF IT....was nailed to the Cross!

With the work of the Cross and the Resurrection, ALL sin, ALL debt, ALL junk, ALL drama is gone!  Jesus' blood has forever allowed a way for it all to be washed away!

It's like there is a river of blood and there's a sewerage system availed to EVERY living soul walking the face of the planet.  But if you don't turn on the FAUCET and let the BLOOD flow, the sin, the debt, the drama is still there!  Staining up everything!

Has someone wronged you?  Owes you?  Turn on the faucet!  Cover it up not with more lies and deceit, but with the BLOOD OF JESUS!  How do you do that--turn the faucet on?

DON'T JUDGE!  DON'T CONDEMN...FORGIVE.  That's how you turn the faucet on!

When you do, the vale to that River of Life is released and where once a river of blood killed (in Egypt as one of the plagues) THIS river of BLOOD-if allowed to flow freely-will GIVE LIFE!!!!!

The Letter kills, but the SPIRIT GIVES LIFE!!!!!!!

I'm not saying don't preach against sin.  Jesus preached against it; so should we.

But after we've shown the people their sin, we also have to show them the way OUT OF SIN!  Point them to the Cross!  The Empty Grave!

True spirituality is the capacity to see in, preach and teach against it, and yet almost simultaneously offer a way OUT of sin.  It's the ability to show compassion and mercy to those who don't deserve it.

Vs 38 says if we give it will come back good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over shall men give to our bosoms.  The same measure we give is the same way we'll get it back.  This can be for good as well as for evil.

Vs 39 says can the blind lead the blind?  They will ALL fall into the ditch.

The blind in this scripture are those who cannot see the Kingdom.  The KOG is not meat, drink, but righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost.

Kingdom is loving your enemies.  Treating others the way you want to be treated.  Lending to the poor and not expecting anything back.  Kingdom is raising up the lowly and resisting the proud.  Kingdom is healing folks, deliverance, showing the TRUE WAY of salvation.

Kingdom is doing what Jesus did, walking like Jesus walked, teaching what HE TAUGHT.  We are supposed to be just like our Daddy.

If we aren't, He calls us hypocrites.

Funny how the world calls people hypocrites those who go to church and live another life outside of it.  But that's just the surface of it....

Vs 41-42 says how can you notice the (mote) speck in your brothers' eyes and not see the beam in your own?

Do you know how hard it is to see a speck in another person's eyes?  It's extremely hard to do.  When someone gets something in their eyes, we might inspect the eye a little bit.  But if we don't see anything what do we tell them?  

God wash your eyes out with some running water to flush that thing out.

Then we ask that person "do you still FEEL that thing in your eye?"

They can feel it, the object that's not supposed to be there EVEN BEFORE WE DO INSPECTING THEIR EYE!

Sometimes we get things in our eyes, and just let it stay there.  It doesn't bother us that much so we make no big deal about it.  But if it starts bothering us and obstructing our view, we will seek to get that think out of our eye, maybe even ask someone else to help us out!  

That's the way we are with sin.  

You know, most of the time, folks know when they are wrong.  It's not until that speck becomes a beam in our eye, our spirit, til it bothers us enough, that we try to get it out!

They're getting right, getting their vision right is NOT up to us, but to them!

We go around inspecting folks lives and no one ask us to.  It has to be their quest to get right.  that has to start with conviction ON THEM.  They have to get sick and tired.  Then they will seek help.  Our job is to let them know, 'Hey, if you need help, I'm here.  I love you.  And Jesus Does, too.'

If we were walking around downtown, how many of us would run upon every person who passes us by and start inspecting their eyes?  I mean, imagine it.

It's Christmas, so they got folks downtown.  And because we thought they may have specks in their eyes, especially today because it's snowing and all, and we are like, 'Uh, excuse me.  Let me inspect your eye to see if you got something in them...'

We would think to ourselves 'What is WRONG with that person?'

And how many of you know that that person just may run upon the wrong person and get beat down?  

Well, we gotta lot of folks like that, who run upon folks, inspecting their eyes, their lives, their marriages, their children, etc., sniffing out the 'SIN IN THE CAMP!'  

they say they SEE this, and SEE that, blah, blah, blah.

THAT'S not kingdom!

That's just like when they caught the woman in adultery..

Now, let's be real.  IN order for the Pharisees to have caught them IN THE ACT, they had to have followed or stalked them.  What????  When they got in the bed, they had to have their noses pressed up against the window, fogging up everything.  What's amazing is that they didn't even get ashamed when they saw them get undressed.  They STILL was looking!

For what??????

Were they like 'I wonder what they are going to do next?'

Well, duh!  What do you think?

They had to have been watching whatever happened in that bedroom for awhile...but their nosey behinds were still up in the business!

Bunch of FREAKS!  Peeping Toms!

But you gonna preach to me?  Mote?  Beam...HELLO?

But my point is in order for the religious folks to have caught the TWO of them in the act they had to been a bunch of Filthy McNasties, sitting by, watching them to see what they would do next.

So now because they felt guilty for not having run from the scene of 'the act'-and possibly enjoyed it-to defray from that guilt and deflect attention from THEMSELVES, they brought the woman only to be stoned.  

I mean, where was the man?  Come on!  If the people saw the naked woman all in the street, they would KNOW she was guilty.  And if the village people was too busy stoning them, they would escape being judged, being stoned by this open spectacle.  

Mote?  Beam???

We got many in the institution of church who love outward appearances of holiness.  The long robes and what not, openly showing and exposing the sins of others.  And what you DON'T know or see going on is what's going on underneath those robes while they sit in the best seats of the synagogues, behind the doors of the hotel room where that conference is being held, in the homes of the most prolific and profound teachers of our times, in the confession booths of our biggest rectories....ITS SIN!

Porn, rape, incest, theft, fraud.  You name it!  It's going on!

And these modern day preachers who preach against sin and yet offer no way of escape are preaching an incomplete, ineffective gospel.  

They are NOT preaching kingdom, but religion!

That's a Pharisee spirit.  That's why Jesus Christ of Nazareth called them 'hypocrites.'  Because He knew they were pointing out and preaching something they were guilty of themselves!