Repentance – Recovery In Christ Ministries

July 18, 2015

Hating Gays

There has been a lot of talk lately about Christians hating, and persecuting homosexuals. Well, let me say right off the bat, that I do not hate gays. Whatever another person does in the privacy of their own home is no business of mine, unless what they do directly impacts my life, or the lives of my children and grandchildren.

We live in a sin cursed world, where things are not perfect. Everyone sins in this imperfect world. Homosexuality is a sin. Heterosexual sex outside of marriage is a sin. Heterosexual lust is a sin. Overeating is a sin. Hating is a sin. Gossiping is a sin. There are many ways to sin. Anything that is not done in faith is sin. You sin, I sin, everybody sins.

What is sin? Sin is disobeying God’s instructions. What are the consequences of sin? Sin leads to death, and death manifests in many forms. Relationships die. Businesses die. Finances die. Personal freedoms die. Health dies, and bad health can lead to physical death. And physical death can lead to eternal death.

Sin is a very bad thing, and it should be taken seriously.

People say that judgement is coming to America. They say that God is going to judge, and punish America for embracing homosexual marriage. I don’t see it that way, however.

According to Romans 1, normalizing homosexuality is God’s judgment on a nation, who has turned away from Him, and His standards. Since, we have allowed a small minority to make laws that turn our kids away from God, and His standards, His Spirit has backed off, and let the wickedness, which is in the human heart vomit out on our society, which is why wickedness is increasing.

We have thrown the gates open, so that our spiritual, and physical enemies can destroy our country. Just look at what is happening, it doesn’t make sense, we are self-destructing. And we think that we are actually doing something about it when we share a Facebook post, or write a blog post. Brothers, and sisters we have stood by and allowed a small group of people to turn our children away from God, and what we are seeing today is the fruit of our complacency.

Homosexuality is not the root of our problem, it is the fruit of it.

In Leviticus 18:22, and Romans 1:26-27, God says homosexuality is a sin. The radical Homosexual movement says that there is no God, and the Bible is a book of fairytales. The moderate homosexual movement says that the Bible really doesn’t say that homosexuality is a sin, or that God made them homosexuals, or that Jesus is ok with them being a homosexual. and that they are Christians.

Most people acknowledge God, and ignore the fools, who deny Him, so the atheistic wing of the homosexual movement doesn’t have much of an impact on our society. What does have a big impact, however, is the moderate wing of the homosexual movement.

The moderate wing of the homosexual movement denies that God said that homosexuality is a sin, and that it is perfectly normal. And the worst thing is that they say that they are Christian homosexuals.

It is very clear. God did say that homosexuality is a sin. And there is no scientific evidence that God made anybody a homosexual. And to say that a Christian homosexual exists, is a contradiction in terms.

Christians sin. When a real Christian sins, the Spirit goes to war with his flesh, in order to get him to stop. (Galatians 5:17) A real Christian can not embrace sin, and live comfortably in it. And a real Christian will not teach kids that sin is normal, and ensnare them in it.

What a homosexual does in the privacy of his or her home is no business of mine, but, it becomes my business when they want to teach my kids, and grandkids that it is not sin, and Jesus is ok with it.

Jesus is not ok with sin, and unless we repent (turn away from sin), we will not enter into His Kingdom. The unrepentant homosexual will not enter God’s kingdom. (1 Cor 6:9-10) And if our kids, and grandkids accept homosexuality, and become one, neither will they.

I am not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination. I am the chief of all sinners. The Holy Spirit wars with my flesh, in order to help me get it under control. It is a full time job for Him. I do not condemn anyone for their sins. I will standup and call my sin, sin. And I will standup and call your sin, sin. We must standup for the truth.

I don’t hate gays. What I hate is the normalization of sin.

I will not waver on my position. And the choice is yours, you can say that I am standing on God’s truth, or that I am hating gays.

May 11, 2014June 18, 2014

Recovery is a Relationship

A person does not recover by working a collection of steps (spiritual principles), a person recovers when he or she enters into a relationship with Yahweh (God).

Yahweh created the universe. Then, Yahweh created man. Yahweh placed man in the Garden of Eden, where He walked and talked with man, and supplied all of his need. In the garden, there was no lack, conflict, sickness, addiction or death.

Life was good in the garden.

Then, something happened. Man rebelled against Yahweh. Man rejected Yahweh’s revelation of what was good and evil. Instead of remaining humble and listening to his Creator, man chose to use his senses and logic to define good and evil.

When man rebelled against Yahweh, he broke his spiritual connection with Him. In order to objectify this spiritual reality to man, Yahweh kicked him out of the garden. Then, lack, conflict, sickness, addiction, and death came on man.

Therefore, the root of addiction is a broken spiritual connection with Yahweh, which led to a dysfunctional relationship with Him. This means that the essence of recovery is the reestablishment of our spiritual connection with Yahweh, which leads to a functional relationship with Him.

Connecting, and building a relationship

Since the root cause of addiction is a broken spiritual connection with Yahweh, which leads to a dysfunctional relationship with Him, the question is how do we reconnect with Yahweh and build a functional relationship with Him?

There are two ways to go when approaching this problem. We can put our faith in Yahweh’s revelation, or we can put our faith in our senses and logic. Now, since rejecting Yahweh’s revelation was what got us into this mess to begin with, we should not trust our senses and logic, we should trust Yahweh’s revelation.

Yahweh’s revelation of Himself and what pleases Him is the Holy Scriptures. The Scriptures explain how to reconnect with Yahweh, and build a functional relationship with Him, that is, the Scriptures tell us how to recover.

In 2 Peter 1:3, Yahweh says that He gave us everything that we need for life and godliness, when He revealed Himself to us in the Holy Scriptures. Hence, this is our starting point: The Scriptures are the complete revelation of Yahweh, and His plan to reconnect with us, and have a meaningful relationship with us.

No other revelation of Yahweh and His recovery plan is needed.

The Recovery Plan

Here is Yahweh’s recovery plan. We hear the Gospel of Messiah (Christ), that is, we hear that Yeshua (Jesus) shed His blood on the Cross to pay for our sins, and rose from the dead three days later. Then, we believe the Gospel, and bow our knee to Yeshua, and confess that He is our Lord.

Once we do this, then the Holy Spirit comes to live in our body with us. The Holy Spirit puts our old nature to death. Then, the Holy Spirit raises us from the dead as a new person. Then, the Holy Spirit teaches us, leads us, and gives us the power to do good. Then, we study the Scriptures to learn how to please Yahweh.

As we obey Yahweh, He delivers us from our addictions.

The 12 Steps

Some people say the 12 Steps boil down the Scriptures into 12 non-religious spiritual principles that can be embraced by anyone. Others say the 12 Steps have nothing to do with the Scriptures, they are merely universal spiritual principles, which tell us how to care for our inner beings and rightly relate to the universe.

Do not be deceived: The 12 Steps are not a boiled down version of the Scriptures’ recovery plan. The 12 Steps are a set of universal spiritual principles that promote peace, and well-being. A few of the spiritual principles line up with the Scriptures, but they do not reconnect a person to Yahweh, and teach him how to please Him.

If a New Ager, who believes that the Cosmic Field is God, works the 12 Steps, he is not converted, and given a relationship with Yeshua. The 12 Steps simply give him a little peace, and a sense of well-being so he can hear from his god a little clearer. That is, the 12 Steps lead a New Ager back to the cosmic field.

If a Muslim, who believes in Allah, works the 12 Steps, he is not converted, and given a relationship with Yeshua. The 12 Steps simply give him a little peace and a sense of well-being so he can hear from his god a little clearer. That is, the 12 Steps lead a Muslim back to Allah.

If a Atheist, who does not believe in God, works the 12 Steps, he is not converted, and given a relationship with Yeshua. The 12 Steps simply give him a little peace, and a sense of well-being so he can hear himself a little clearer. That is, the 12 Steps lead an Atheist back to himself.

In other words, the 12 Steps are not contingent on repentance, nor do they produce repentance. And without repentance, there is no relationship with Yahweh.

The Christian 12 Stepper

Logic tells us that: If a Christian, who has accepted Yeshua as his Lord, works the 12 Steps, he obtains a little peace, and a sense of well-being, so he can hear Yahweh a little clearer. That is, the 12 Steps can lead a Christian back to Christ.

It is not this simple, however.

If a Christian buys into the 12 Step system, and attends its meetings, he is yoking himself to unbelievers, in a spiritual quest to recover. This is dangerous. This unholy system could turn a person away from Christ, and make his love for Him grow cold.

This unholy system seeks to replace the role of the Holy Spirit. A person can learn to depend on the Group, or his Sponsor, or the Big Book, instead of cultivating a relationship with the Holy Spirit, and renewing his mind with the Scriptures.

Moreover, according to Galatians 1:8, Yahweh will not find us guiltless, if we preach another gospel to people. What is the Gospel? It is how we come to know Yahweh, and develop a relationship with Him, so that He can deliver us.

If a Christian proclaims the 12 Step message, he or she is preaching another gospel. Yahweh will not find this Christian faultless on the day of Judgement.

Why would a Christian involve himself in this unholy system?

Recovery is not the product of the 12 Steps. Recovery is a relationship.

November 18, 2013June 18, 2014

A.A.’s 1st Step……A Step in the Wrong Direction

I live in a small town, where there is a church on nearly every corner, and most everyone claims to follow Yeshua (Jesus). Yeshua is well-known, in this part of the world, and, in this part of the world, if a person wants to be normal, he has to follow Him, or, at least, say he does. Consequently, it is often hard to tell the difference between a real Christian and a fake one.

In this part of the world, it is hard to tell a Christian from a non-Christian, because being a Christian is a cultural norm, and this cultural norm integrates itself into our individual paradigms, which gives us the ability to masquerade as a Christian.

The Apostle Paul said that we had to believe in our heart that Yeshua rose from the dead, and confess Him as Lord with our mouth in order to be a Christian.

How do we know if we have believed in our heart?

We have a paradigm shift when we believe in our heart.

A paradigm is an a priori (a previously held) commitment to a point-of-view (a worldview), which serves as a framework for interpreting the information that we encounter in life. We construct a paradigm (a context for interpreting information) at a very early age by integrating our experiences with the prevailing paradigm within our culture. This integration occurs, directly, through the transmittal of knowledge, and, indirectly, through how our culture defines and uses words.

A paradigm shift is a sudden change in the contextual framework that we use to interpret information. Since, we use our paradigm to interpret the information that other people transmit to us, via written or spoken words, the information that other people transmit to us about their paradigm, will not produce a paradigm shift in us. The only thing that will produce a paradigm shift is a “violent” encounter with truth. When our paradigm is exposed to a truth that shakes it violently, then we “experience” that truth, and it alters the framework of our interpretative context.

When a person is confronted with God’s law, and made to realize that he is an inmate in Satan’s kingdom, who is held captive by chains of sin, then he is ready to hear the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. When he hears the Gospel, the Holy Spirit confronts him with Truth. At this point, he has a choice to make. He must choose to harden his heart and reject Truth, or humble himself and embrace it.

If a person humbles himself and embraces the Truth, the Truth will shake his old paradigm down and build a new one. In the old paradigm, everything revolved around this person and what he wanted. In the new paradigm, everything revolves around Yeshua and what He wants. In short: The paradigm shift called repentance causes us to stop following our selfish desires, our plans, our lusts, the world and Satan, and start following Yeshua by pursuing His Will, righteousness and holiness.

When we accept the Truth that the Holy Spirit confronts us with, and bow our knee to King Yeshua, we repent. Without repentance, there is no remission of sin. Without repentance, there is no procession of kings. Without repentance, there is no change in kingdom citizenship. Without repentance, there is no salvation.

Repentance produces a change in direction. Before repentance, we pursued our will, that is, we pursued our lusts and the things of the world. After repentance, we pursue God’s Will, that is, we pursue righteousness and holiness.

When we realize that we are a sinner who is trapped in Satan’s kingdom and call upon King Yeshua to rescue us, He will save us. Then, when we confess our sins, that is, when we agree with Him and call our sin, sin, His grace washes us and empowers us to change and grow until we overcome that sin.

Do you see the common element in getting saved and overcoming the sin patterns of the past? It is recognizing sin, acknowledging sin, and confessing sin. God’s law highlights sin, so we can recognize it. If God says a thought pattern or a behavior is sin, we must agree with Him and call it sin, and seek His remedy for it.

This brings us to A.A.’s 1st Step: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.”

If an unbeliever takes A.A.’s 1st step, is he any closer to a Holy God, who calls his behavior sin? No! Is the unbeliever any closer to realizing that he is trapped in the kingdom of Darkness and Satan is destroying him, and he needs to be saved? No!

What about the Christian who takes the 1st Step? When a Christian says that he is powerless over alcohol and his life is unmanageable, does the Lord cleanse his conscience and give him the grace to overcome alcohol and manage his life? No!

1 John 1:9 says that if we will confess our sin, Yeshua will forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. These Christians are not confessing their sins, that is, they are not agreeing with the Lord’s assessment of their behavior so that He can forgive them and give them the grace that they need to overcome their sin.

These people say they are powerless, and they cannot manage their life. Is it a sin to be powerless over something? No! Is it a sin to not be able to manage your life? No! There is no way that we can say that we are confessing our sins when we say that we are powerless, and that we can’t manage our life.

No, it is a sin to drink too much alcohol and get drunk. The powerlessness and the un-manageability are byproducts of the sin of drunkenness, they are not the sin that we need to confess.

God created us, and gave us a free will. Consequently, we are not powerless over alcohol, and we can manage our lives. At some point, however, we chose to exercise our free will by drinking too much alcohol in order to get drunk and escape from life, which is a sin. After we chose to sin, our body developed a chemical environment that compelled us, or pushed us towards drinking again, and as we did, we burnt patterns in our brain that created an obsession to drink again. When the compulsion and obsession matured, we were addicted to alcohol. Then, we were powerless over alcohol and, as a result, our life became unmanageable.

The problem is not alcohol, or powerlessness over alcohol, or the un-manageability of our life. The problem is not a mythical disease called addiction, or an allergy to alcohol. The root problem is sin. The root problem is disobeying God.

Some people may think that I am being too dogmatic about the precision of terminology. I am not. Words have meaning. The words that we use to quantify reality, shape our perceptions of that reality, and influence how we interact with it.

Terminology is important. The terminology that God uses to describe alcoholism is sin….the sin of drunkenness. God says that drunkards will not inherit His Kingdom because they continue in sin and refuse to repent. A lot is riding on terminology. So, we had better use the terminology that God uses to describe our behavior.

In the small town that I live in most of the people, who go to A.A., claim to be Christians. And, in fact, I have some Christian friends, who go to A.A. The issues that I have raised may not seem that important to these small-town people. The distinctions I have made may not seem like critical distinctions in their eyes because they have already experienced the paradigm shift of repentance.

For the people in my small town, the issues I have raised and the distinctions I have made, may not be critical, because, we have a church on every corner, and everyone is a Christian, or says they are. But what about the people in New York, Los Angeles, or Las Vegas? What about the people in India, Indonesia or Japan? These issues and distinctions are critical for these people, because Christianity is not their cultural norm, and their paradigm points them away from Yeshua.

The problem with A.A. is that it uses terminology that sounds biblical, until you examine the philosophy behind it. When you examine the philosophy behind A.A’s biblical language, A.A.’s theology comes into focus. The theology of A.A. goes along with the paradigm that the sinner uses to interpret information, in order to ensure that he is not offended. The theology of Christianity, however, brings the sinner into a violent confrontation with Truth that offends him in order to destroy his old paradigm and build a new one and rescue him from Satan’s kingdom.

The science, philosophy and theology that A.A. promotes points people away from God’s Kingdom. Thus, when an unbeliever takes A.A.’s 1st Step, he is one step closer to Hell. And when a Christian takes A.A.’s 1st Step, he is one step further from the abundant life that he is seeking. Oh sure, a person’s life may improve after he takes the 1st Step, but this does not mean that he has left Satan’s kingdom, or that he is any closer to doing so. It means that he is marshaling the power of his will to manage his life. It means that he has taken a Step in the wrong direction.