Joseph Prince visits the USA with the message of Grace and the centrality of Jesus

Watch this!


http://video.foxnews.com/v/2781548227001/worldwide-phenomenon-brings-christian-message-to-us/


He will be preaching in Newark, Houston, and Dallas. Please go see
him if he's coming near you.

You can find his schedule here:

http://josephprince.org/



Grace=Peace,


Jeremy

Grace - The gospel of Jesus is epic

From Matt Chandler, The Explicit Gospel, pp. 137-138.

"The gospel is the fulfillment of every nation's political, religious, cultural, and historical longing.

The gospel of Jesus is epic.  When Jesus says he saw Satan fall like lightning from the sky, he is saying that the gospel is about the overthrow of evil itself, not just about our sinful behavior.  When Jesus casts out demons, he is saying that the gospel is about his authority and God's sovereignty.  When Jesus heals the sick and the lame, he is saying that the gospel is about the eradication of physical brokenness.  When Jesus feeds the five thousand, he is saying that the gospel is about God's abundant provision through Christ to a world of hunger.  When Jesus walks on water or calms the storm, he is saying that the gospel is about his lordship over the chaos of fallen creation.  When Jesus confounds the religious leaders, overturn tables, tells rich people it will be hard for them, renders unto Caesar, enters the city on a jackass, predicts the temple's destruction, and stands silent before the political rulers, he is saying the gospel has profound effects on our systems.  When Jesus forgives sin and raises the dead, he is saying the gospel is about individuals being born again, but he's also saying that the gospel is about his conquest of sin and death.

The mission of Jesus is so big that John the Baptist, in Matthew 3:3, wants us to remember these words from Isaiah 40:3-4:

In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD;

make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

and the rough places a plain.

Do you see that the work of Jesus is epic?  It is earth-shaking.  This work culminates, of course, in the end for which the Son was sent:  to die on a cross and rise again."  

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

Grace - Only Those Who Look Foolish Do Great Exploits

Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.  He killed an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear.  2 Samuel 23:20-21

"I believe that somewhere deep down inside all of us there is a primal longing to do something crazy for God.  We want to chase a lion like Benaiah.  But our fear of looking foolish keeps us hog-tied and locked in the basement.

Poll after poll has found that most people's number one fear is speaking in public.  Death ranks number two.  That means some people would rather die than speak in public.  Why?  It is the fear of looking foolish.

It is the fear of foolishness that keeps us from raising our hand in fourth grade.  The other kids will laugh if I get the answer wrong.  It is the fear of foolishness that keeps us from asking someone out on a date.  I don't think I can handle rejection if they say no.  It is the fear of foolishness that keeps us from changing majors or changing jobs.  People will think I don't know what I want to do.  It is the fear of foolishness that keeps us from praying for a miracle.  What if God doesn't answer my prayer the way I want Him to?

But here's the deal:  If you aren't willing to look foolish, you're foolish.  In fact, faith is the willingness to look foolish.

Noah looked foolish building an ark in the desert.  Sarah looked foolish buying maternity clothes at ninety.  The Israelites looked foolish marching around Jericho blowing trumpets.  David looked foolish attacking Goliath with a slingshot.  Benaiah looked foolish chasing a lion.  The wise men looked foolish following yonder star.  Peter looked foolish stepping out of the boat in the middle of the lake.  And Jesus looked foolish hanging half-naked on the cross.

But that's the essence of faith.  And the results speak for themselves.

Noah was saved from the flood.  Sarah gave birth to Isaac.  The walls of Jericho came tumbling down.  David defeated Goliath.  Benaiah killed the lion.  The wise men found the Messiah.  Peter walked on water.  And Jesus rose from the dead.

Can I tell you why some people have never killed a giant or walked on water or seen the walls come tumbling down?  It's because they weren't willing to look foolish."

Batterson, Mark.  In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day.  pp. 148-149

Grace - Don't Mix the Covenants

Wow...this explains so much:

"God makes it very clear that the two covenants are not to be mixed: "Cast out the bondwoman and her son" (Gal 4:30)… The old covenant operated by principles, the new covenant by promise… The distinction between principles and promise also explains why the Apostle Paul chose not to preach anything to the Corinthians other than "Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2). That puzzled me somewhat as I thought of all the wonderful Old Testament truths that were readily available to Paul. He could easily have preached Proverbs with all its wisdom. He could have preached Psalms with its varied and creative expressions of intimacy. Or he could have explored the many lessons learned from the history of Israel. Yet he focused completely on his message on Christ crucified. Why? Because Christ's death and resurrection represent the highest and most climactic revelation of God's entire design. It is God's bringing life out of death and something out of nothing according to his purpose. That really is gospel!"

Hall, Dudley.  Grace Works. Vine Books, 1992, 128-9.

Salisbury Post

Military honors, Patriot Guard

escort planned for Krider

Hugh Fisher, October 21, 2013

Curry Krider when he was in service in 1969.

SALISBURY — Curry Krider’s sister, Terri Hill, said her big brother was “always a hero” to her and to his family.

“He always took care of me when I was little,” Hill said in a phone interview Sunday. “He used to joke that, when he would go on dates, he’d take me with him!”

It was Curry who came to her high school to tell her that their father had passed away,

“He was like a father, almost, to me,” Hill said.

On Tuesday, family and friends will gather to say goodbye to Krider, who died last Wednesday at age 71.

A Rowan County native, after college Krider served 12 years on active duty in the U.S. Army, followed by more than 20 years in the Army Reserve, from which he retired as a lieutenant colonel.

The N.C. Patriot Guard Riders will accompany Krider’s funeral procession from Christiana Lutheran Church to Salisbury National Cemetery, where he will be buried with full military honors, to be provided by a detachment from Fort Bragg.

“It’s really just an honor beyond words,” wife Diana Krider said in a phone interview Sunday. “I know he would just be so proud of that. That’s the way he would want it.”

She said Curry’s entire life was shaped by his military service, “and so their being there means an awful lot.”


‘Army all the way’

Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966 at age 24, Krider was commissioned as an officer in April 1967, according to articles in the Post archives.

In August of that year, he went to work as a training officer at Fort Campbell, Ky., a position he held for almost two years.

He was promoted to captain in August 1969 and, in December, was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for “expert guidance and leadership” at Fort Campbell.

In October 1969, Krider was ordered to Vietnam, where he served as a military advisor to the South Vietnamese army.

Capt. Krider left active duty in 1978, and went on to serve in the Army Reserve, ultimately being promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

He served for more than 20 years in the Army Reserve, including duty as a casualty information officer during the first Gulf War, and as coordinator of military emergency response in Europe in the 1996.

In civilian life, he owned Curry’s Auto Parts, carrying on the NAPA dealership that his grandfather, Doug Bankett, had owned before him.

And he was the family spokesperson throughout years of negotiations to develop family-owned property off Arlington Street along Town Creek — a development site that ultimately became home to the Walmart Supercenter, Cracker Barrel restaurant and other retailers.

Curry also taught military science courses at Catawba College, and on several occasions shared his views on military conflicts in the Salisbury Post.

His leadership and service inspired his nephew, Michael Todd Hill, to enlist in the Army.

“He was a big part of my life,” said Michael, speaking by phone as he drove from Tennessee back to North Carolina on Sunday. “He actually swore me into the Army, when I joined. He was there for my graduation from basic training.”

And, because he was a retired lieutenant colonel, Curry Krider got permission to visit his nephew in the holding area before Michael’s plane left for deployment to Iraq.

“I didn’t even know he was coming,” Michael Hill said. “… “We got to spend about an hour together, to sit there and talk.”

“Of course, I was pretty scared, leaving on my first tour, never been to combat,” Michael said. “He got my mind right for what I was about to go do.”

“Curry was Army all the way, and he was very dedicated to the service,” his sister, Brenda Krider Martin, said in a phone interview Sunday. “I think he would be very honored for this to be happening.”


Honoring service

Diana Krider said the family is still dealing with the emotional shock of Curry’s passing.

“He was just so well known in Rowan County … Even people who might have disagreed with him still liked him,” Diana Krider said.

“It was just a shock,” Brenda said, of their brother’s loss. “I think we’re all still in denial.”

Terri Hill said she sees the military honors as a final gift for a man who put his life on the line for his country.

She recalled sending homemade cookies, carefully wrapped, to Curry while he was in Vietnam.

There, she said, he would unwrap them and share some of them with Vietnamese children.

“When he (Curry) came back from Vietnam, they didn’t honor them like they do our guys now,” Terri Hill said. “They were looked down on.”

Still, Terri said, Tuesday’s service will be a way of thanking him, one last time, for all he did for his family and his country.

Grace - In Times of Mourning

Below is a quote I planned to use in a devotional this week.  I began preparing the devotional on Saturday, October 12, but my father passed away unexpectedly on October 16.  I find purpose in this quote appropriate to my father's passing, since it speaks of God's union with us being so intimate that He actually suffers with us.  As I was driving to my hometown to be with family and prepare for the funeral that is still a few days away, I listened to some meaningful podcasts on grace.  I didn't listen to those podcast messages with the intent of finding comfort; they were just what I was meant to hear.  God knew what I needed to hear.  The basic message in one of those podcasts was this:

God didn't just create humans, He did so knowing He would one day become what he created.  God created what He would ultimately become???  What foresight He has!  Think about it, God's union with man is so perfect, so eternal, that He lives not only in those who have true faith in Him, but He will also forevermore literally be one of us.  In the same way He is forever perfectly divine, He will always be perfectly human.

I admit that I have not spent much time thinking about this particular reality.  Christ in eternal human form is certainly not something you hear preached often.  But there it is and it's theologically sound and emotionally comforting.  Jesus is forever in His resurrected and glorified human body and, for me, it's just one more way in which He tells us, "I understand" and "I am with you (and one of you) forever".

In this time and for the days ahead, I need to stay in this place where I am aware of God's perfect love for me and to know that whatever the outcome in my life because of my father's passing and whatever changes to the dynamic of my family, my Heavenly Father has and will continue to provide for me.  I hope your relationship with Him will also be so real for you.

The immanent God in us becomes wounded with us, suffers, struggles, hopes, and creates with us, shares every drop of our anger and sadness and joy.  The reality of God is so intimate as to be experientially inseparable from our own hearts.  But that very same God is at once transcendent, the creating, sustaining, and redeeming Power over and above all things.  We should not be dismayed that God's being surpasses understanding, for it is precisely through this mystery that God incarnate can both lovingly share our condition and powerfully deliver us from it.  It is through this mystery that grace remains absolute, permanent, and victorious.*

I'm sure I'll write more about this in the future, but I wanted to include you in how the grace of God is comforting me in real time.  If your theology doesn't do the same, especially that you would experientially know His love, I pray your eyes would be opened to this type of relationship He calls us to daily, and not just in times of mourning.

If you want to see this devotional online and others I've written, click here:  Strengthened by Grace

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

*May, Gerald G. Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in the Healing of Addictions. San Francisco, CA: HarperOne, 2005. Print.  p. 124.  The above quote may have been edited for clarity and understanding outside its context.

Grace - A Wrong View of God Robs Us

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!  For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  Genesis 3:1-5

Man's first inclination was to trust God.  He was without sin in a personal, intimate relationship with his Creator and Provider.  When satan appeared before Eve to deceive her, he brought into question the instructions God gave to Adam and Eve.  We've all heard that Eve messed up by including the you shall not "touch it", but I want to introduce another idea.  Could it be that the added condition on Eve's part was a result of the process satan intended all along?  In other words, once she began to consider the possibility that God was not good and trustworthy as Provider, satan was then and only then able to completely flip the table on her and, through his outright lie ("you surely will not die"), cause Adam and Eve to believe and act accordingly to opposite of the truth about God.  When we believe lies about God, we also believe lies about ourselves.

So now, instead of man's first inclination being to trust God implicitly, his nature became one which would first distrust God.  This tendency continues today not only in the lives of unbelievers through their nature, but as believers, we are still in a place where our thinking must be renewed, even though our nature has already been made like Christ's.  This is why Paul constantly alludes that our thinking must change:

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!  Romans 11:33

"Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?"  But we have the mind of Christ.  1 Corinthians 2:16

...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.  Ephesians 1:17-19a

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.  Ephesians 3:14-19

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding....  Colossians 1:9

...that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.  I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.  Colossians 2:2-4

God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.  It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.  2 Thessalonians 2:13b-15

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind....  Romans 12:2

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  Titus 3:4-7

I've highlighted portions of the scriptures above.  You must understand that the instruction from Romans 12:2 is for us not to conform, which speaks of our effort to adapt to or comply to an external model without any change within us.  Transformation, however, is the work of the Holy Spirit in us and our minds coming to realize and believe that work.

In light of this, I pray that you will understand that it is your mind which must be renewed to the goodness of God.  As you allow Holy Spirit to do this, you will begin to see yourself and all your circumstances differently.  Temptations will no longer have the power you once attributed to them.  You'll experience joy and freedom like never before.  You will be able to enjoy the REST that you have in Christ through faith.  You'll be positioned to let the life of Christ work supernatural wonders through you and around you.

Why do Christians struggle with sin and temptation?  Why do most Christians never see supernatural healing and miracles?  It's because they do not understand our sonship with Christ.  Slaves can't bear the fruit of God, but sons can.  Slaves can't work miracles and heal the sick and raise the dead, but sons can.

We've struggled with sin and temptation long enough; it's time for our sonship to be revealed to us (Romans 8:19) and to walk as Jesus walked (John 5:17).

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

Grace - Christ in You

From The Saving Life of Christ, Major W. Ian Thomas, pp. 18-19

"How much...can Jesus Christ do through you and through me?  Everything!  He is limited only by the measure of our availability to all that he makes available to us, for 'in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  And Ye are complete in Him' (Col. 2:9-10a).  What then is the faith that releases divine action?  How may you be saved by His life, as you have already claimed to be redeemed by His death?  This is the critical question of Christian experience, and the answer is simple--'The just shall live by faith' (Romans 1:17c)

Faith in all its sheer simplicity!  Faith that takes God precisely at His Word!  Faith that simply says, 'Thank You'.

If you are to know the fullness of life in Christ, you are to appropriate the efficacy of what he is as you have already appropriated the efficacy of what He has done  Relate everything, moment by moment as it arises, to the adequacy of what He is in you, and assume that His adequacy will be operative; and on this basis in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 you are exhorted to 'rejoice evermore!'  You are to be incorrigibly cheerful, for you have solid grounds upon which to rejoice!

Again, 'Pray without ceasing' (1 Thess. 5:17), and here the word 'pray' does not mean to beg or to plead as if God were unwilling to give--but simply to expose by faith every situation as it arises, to the all-sufficiency of the One who indwells you by His life.  Can any situation possibly arise, in any circumstances, for which He is not adequate?  Any pressure, promise, problem, responsibility, or temptation for which the Lord Jesus Himself is not adequate?  If He be truly God, there cannot be a single one!

...the office of the Holy Spirit is to make known to you, and to make experiential to you, all that Christ is in you."

Grace=Peace,


Jeremy

Grace - What's Troubling About Forgiveness

Sins were dealt with differently under the Old Covenant as compared to the New Covenant, and this difference is revealed in our difficulty in understanding how our sins are dealt with today.  Forgiveness is troubling to us because what we do understand very well is justice.

Got Sin?  Our first reaction is to bring on the judgment!

Some believers have a very difficult time accepting that justice has been fulfilled by someone being punished for another's sin.  Somehow it doesn't fit right with us; it's not how we've conceived that justice should be dealt out.

"The soul who sins shall die!" (Ezekiel 18:20 - read with gritted teeth and clenched fist!)

I've known so many people who at one time believed that only their past sins were taken care of by Jesus' blood and that with each new sin they needed to ask for forgiveness.  It's like they were hunched over as though carrying a heavy weight and never able to walk upright, free, and with fullness of joy.

Why were they so burdened?

It's because of a mentality based on Old Covenant principles.  Under the OT, only your past sins were covered!  Each new sin required fresh blood!  That's right:  slay your pet to get right with God.  And in order to do just that, not only did your sacrifice have to be spotless and perfect, but also the manner which is was offered and sacrificed had to be exact.  Forgiveness in this way required extensive and exacting details or else it was rejected.

Most people don't realize that the OT's continual blood sacrifice of animals served as a reminder of sins committed.  The amazing truth for us, however, is that the blood of Jesus is no longer a reminder of our sins because the sins are no longer remembered.  Not just past sins, but every sin we will ever commit was found in Jesus as our sacrifice.  Do you realize how this happened?

The Life and Blood of an infinite God destroyed our finite sins.  To the Infinite, everything is finite.

Hebrews 10:3 (NIV)
3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins

Hebrews 10:12 (NIV)
12 But [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

Hebrews 10:17 (NIV)
17Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."

Note the deliberate contrast Hebrews is making here point for point. Animal blood could not cleanse the conscience. The blood of Jesus cleanses the conscience. Animal blood is offered endlessly. Jesus' blood is offered once for all. The blood of animals offered repeatedly functioned as a continual reminder of sins. Under the blood of Jesus sins are remembered no more.  It's done...Jesus sat down because the work was finished.

I hope you'll rejoice in the reality of the forgiveness God has given you under the New Covenant.  You may find it troubling at first, because a very strong sense of justice has been instilled to you in how Christianity has been preached to you through a filter of Old Covenant shadows, but when you "get it", you'll find an overwhelming reason to rejoice!

In Christ, you are forgiven now and forevermore!

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

Grace - Works Without Faith

Unless a man is in Christ, no deed he does will be of benefit to him in God's estimation.  He may be immoral and unconcerned, or he may be moral and zealous.  He may have never set foot in a church building, or he may be diligent to attend every service and Bible study available to him.  Whether he does good or whether he does bad, it is him doing them and none are the fruit the Holy Spirit produces.  All of this man's works are without faith and are dead.

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy