FOLLOW JESUS, NOT YOUR HEART!

The world tells us all the time to FOLLOW YOUR HEART! And it if FEELS GOOD IT MUST BE RIGHT! But the truth is far from that. If it feels good, it must be your flesh! 

Lets look at what the Bible says: 

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Prov 28:26 He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered.

Dont follow your heart! Listen for the voice of God! Shut off the TV, the secular music, the voice of your 'friends'! Get in the Word, on your face in prayer, fasting weekly if only for one meal a day, get around MEN OF GOD and you will OPEN THE PIPELINE to hear the Voice of God!

BUILDING BROTHERHOOD - EVICTING THE CRITICAL SPIRIT

BUILDING BROTHERHOOD - EVICTING THE CRITICAL SPIRIT

I have a vision of a club with a conspicuous lack of cynicism and criticism, characteristics so common in the biker community and the world at large, that it's hard to imagine life without them. But we must. Ideas are so very fragile aren't they. Ideas have to be nurtured and encouraged, protected and given an environment where they can grow. The easiest task of our enemy is to cut ideas off before they become action. It's him you see at work in the world, criticizing, fault finding, picking away from the shadows, and generally being disagreeable. When you hear these things from people, you aren't at war with flesh and blood but powers and principalities. Tearing down dreams is the work of a critical spirit, a spirit of correction. 'Oh I was just trying to help'. But it's not help. Help is easy to see, help comforts and builds up, it doesn't irritate and cut down. Help comes from humility, not from the pride of being right. 

Rev 12:10 calls the devil the 'accuser of the brethren'. It's easy to spot him at work dividing the church. Anyone running down the brethren, operating out of a critical spirit, sneering at other Christians, giving a bad report about those who work in the ministry, trying to show how wrong a brother is about some obscure point, these are the ones operating with the enemy. Don't be surprised if they seem to otherwise be strong Christians themselves. A religious spirit often hides a condemning critical spirit. The Bible says a perverse man sows strife (Prov. 16:28); that death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21). Slander is not pretty. It means "to defame someone; to harm their reputation; to disgrace; or to accuse." Consider this: the word slanderer in 1 Timothy 3:11 is the same word for “devil.” When we slander someone, we are acting like devils. We are mirroring the character of Satan. We can’t walk in the anointing God has for us and mirror the character of Satan at the same time. We just can’t.

So how do we keep the club uplifting? Challenge the critical spirit. It will always reveal itself during the process of joining, it can't stand not to correct people and find fault for very long. This is why we search people out closely during prospecting. Poke them and see how they react. When you see fault finding, consider it. Someone trying to help does so quietly, directly with the person they are trying to help, never in a self seeking manner. A critical spirit does so publicly to see how many than get on their side, to look important or knowlegeable, to show how others are wrong and they are right. If you or others cannot discern some serious issue (ie the bro punched me!) that is clear, then go back to the source and challenge it. You are likely to hear a whole pile of complaints, with little substance. Correct them clearly the first time. Identify the correct way to deal with legitimate concerns. 

If it happens again, come against it spiritually. I'm not the slightest bit afraid of making a point of it. Pray for people, try to teach them. Some people get it after the first time, but if not you may need to be harsh. A critical spirit is harsh itself, and cannot stand to be confronted. This is after all an MC. The rules are the rules, and after being told twice, it it happens again, this is not a person who is cut out for true brotherhood, which includes submission to each other. It's better to cut them out early, than to let them take root and start destroying what we have. And that's what happens, I've seen it time and time again.

The fault finder will either quit because they don't appreciate being called on their familiar spirit, or will learn and allow God to work on the issue, change their heart. Either way, it's your job to protect your brotherhood from that person. This is not for everyone. If you let them get a foothold, satan will make it into a stronghold.

Some people say that prospecting under in the club was easy, and some people say it was hard, and call it rude, condescending and harsh. Both get the same treatment, the difference was in their heart. When you hold a mirror up to someone and they don't like what they see, their choices are to change or break the mirror. When they break the mirror they will blame you for making them bleed, and bleed they will. You aren't responsible, you're just doing your job.

WHAT IF?

What if its all true? What if you can do all the works that Jesus did, and greater? 

What if you can raise the dead, heal the sick, talk in tongues, call fire down from heaven (when appropriate), and live an abundant blessed life of wealth and riches for you to spend on the Kingdom of God? What if you can tear down strongholds, cast out demons, be slain in the spirit, and Hear the Voice of God? 

What if you could just turn yourself over to God and be free to follow Him? What if you could get visions and dreams from God, and see angels and converse with them? What if ALL the stuff in the Bible that happened both in the Old and New Testament still really happened today, and not believing it when your told was really a sin? 

What if every time you prayed you got an answer, and the answer was able to make it through to you because you were fasting and praying like in Daniel 10, and the answer was brought by mighty angels? 

And what if the only reason it doesnt happen to you now is because you dont believe any of it, dont act on any of it, and you are missing out on the power of God everyday? What if?

http://www.disciplecmc.com/

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THOSE WHO ARE DOING IT!

THOSE WHO SAY IT CANNOT BE DONE SHOULD NOT INTERRUPT THE PEOPLE DOING IT. 

I saw this and I had to laugh. It's very much how I feel about Disciple Christian Motorcycle Club. I've been told many times that Christians should not wear a three-piece patch with an MC, because it's 'being like the world' and maybe it looks hard-core. I guess Christians shouldn't be hard-core? One prominent internet biker pastor in SC told me that he is seen lots of Christian clubs come and go, and prophesied that we be gone in three or four years. Thanks for the vote of confidence, we are still here and are going global.

But even more importantly this reminds me of how people view the Bible. Man-made traditions are accepted more than the Word of God in some quarters. We associate some kind of loose spirituality in saying that we don't feel 'led' to do what the Bible says. We escape any faith in our supernatural God by looking at things in the Bible and saying we don't 'believe' them, because we were 'taught' differently. But the Bible says what it says, in plain English, and there's no explaining it away. You don't abdicate your responsibility to read the word of God and do what it says by using the excuse that someone taught you the word of God isn't true. This isn't a pick and choose proposition, Where you can say I believe this page, but I don't believe that page. When people start telling you that things in the Bible aren't true, grab tighter hold your Bible! When they start trying to explain how the Bible wasn't written for you, but for some other people, shut them up. 

And why would people want to keep you from the things the Bible says? Because there is power in what the Bible says! If you look at the things people are trying to pick out of the Bible, you will find they are the things that give you the greatest empowerment and blessing! 

Living a life of sanctification? Oh no, just say a prayer once and you're going to heaven no matter how you live.

Giving money to the church? Oh no, my money is my money and I can't stand when pastors preach about it.

Laying hands on the sick and seeing them healed? Oh no, that takes faith, and I don't believe in that.

Speaking in tongues and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit? Oh no, I was taught that doesn't happen anymore.

Biblical prosperity? Oh no, I was taught that Jesus wants you to be poor, sick, and miserable.

Sanctification, the process of living holy, makes God more able to use you in more places, more powerfully! Giving to the church and the man of God in your life brings a blessing on you that is repeatedly spelled out in many places in both the old and New Testament. When you lay hands on the sick, prayed the prayer of faith and see them healed, it's God reaching down and showing then that he loves them in a powerful and personal way! The Bible says when you speak in tongues, you build yourself up in your most holy faith, and that you're speaking to God, giving thanks and praising him! The nine gifts of the Holy Spirit are used by God to bring glory to himself, to empower us to spread his word, and to show people that he is real! Biblical prosperity is Jesus fulfilling his word that he came to give us life, and life more abundantly.

Just because you saw the TV Minister preach prosperity out of order, does not mean you throw out the baby out with the bathwater!  Just because you were in the church where they were speaking in tongues incorrectly, does it mean it doesn't happen anymore? Just because you saw somebody pray for healing and not be healed doesn't mean the Bible is a lie.  Our faith does not come from circumstances we have seen, but from an unshakable belief in the word of God! When people preach you can be saved by works, do you throw salvation out the window?

So when you see some of us practicing the full Gospel, don't interrupt us, don't try to argue that we should regress, go backwards, and cut pages out of our Bible. Many of us were sitting where you are sitting, and making the same arguments you are making, when we were given the revelation that God still works in the supernatural! It would be impossible for us to go backwards! It's the height of human arrogance to use 'logical' arguments to explain away and nullify passage after passage out of the Bible. When you see us practicing the full Gospel, stay silent, or better yet ask questions, so that you too can see the supernatural happening. Because God hasn't changed!  It is time to start studying these issues diligently from both sides, rather than accepting what you were told without hearing all of the facts. Like it says in Proverbs 18:17 in a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines.