#but please do continue to tell on yourself on how similar you are to evangelicals

[azurecanary]

At what point, does me simply mentioning in passing that i am a queer Christian, invite someone else to tell me that i will end up killed because of it

I swear, some people will be so incredibly against religion (as is their right), but as soon as they see a queer Christian, they are possessed by evangelical puritans

[samwisethewitch]

An Open Letter to Christian Witches

On this blog, I often champion the idea that witchcraft is a practice, not a religion, and that a witch can practice any religion, provided that religion does not explicitly forbid witchcraft. I still very much believe this, and the point of this post is not to tell Christians that they can’t be witches. However, as a non-Christian witch who has been deeply traumatized by Christianity, I do wish Christian witches would be a bit more mindful of how they show up in witchy spaces.

Recently, I’ve noticed a pattern of self-identifying Christian witches dominating the conversation and centering their own beliefs in spaces dedicated to witchcraft. Now, I wholeheartedly believe that this is unintentional, and most of these Christian witches seem like lovely people. But it’s still deeply frustrating and upsetting to be promised a safe space and support from other witches, only to be preached at.

Or be told that I’m doing witchcraft wrong because my ethics are not the same as someone else’s.

Or be told that I don’t understand Christianity, despite having spent the first two decades of my life fully immersed in it.

Or have my trauma invalidated because, “Not all Christians are like that!”

Or spend the majority of our time together reassuring and comforting a Christian witch who is uncomfortable with the inclusion of pagan and/or occult elements in a ritual.

These are all genuine experiences I have had with Christian witches in 2021. And in every single one of these situations, the Christian witch had a very negative reaction to any kind of constructive criticism or request that they be more mindful of the diverse beliefs and experiences in the space. Any suggestion that their actions may be causing discomfort for others was met with defensiveness, if not straight-up denial. The result is a situation where Christian witches are at the center of every discussion and demand (knowingly or not) coddling or hand-holding from teachers and facilitators, while those of us who are not Christian are left deeply uncomfortable but unable to express that discomfort without upsetting someone or being accused of creating conflict.

And I get it. I really do. Because for most of the people in the above scenarios, this was the first time they encountered a situation where their religion wasn’t the norm. But what I need Christian witches to recognize and be mindful of is that this discomfort of being surrounded by people who do not share your beliefs is something those of us who are not Christian experience every day.

In the Western world, and particularly in the United States, Christianity is a religious hegemony. (A hegemony is a group with total political, social, economic, and/or military dominance in a given area.) Everything in Western society was designed for Christians, to serve a Christian worldview, and to reinforce Christian hegemony. Everything from our government to our business practices to our media reinforces Christian values. For Christians, this creates the sense of comfort and security that comes from being part of the in-group. For non-Christians, it meas being constantly bombarded with someone else’s religion. For former Christians with church-related trauma, it means reliving that trauma constantly.

Here’s a look at an average day in my life as a formerly-Christian pagan with religious trauma. Please note that this is not an exaggeration — this is a description of what I experienced on the day I wrote this post.

I get up and, because I live with Christian family members, I walk past exactly five images of Jesus and/or the Virgin Mary on my way from my bedroom to the front door. On my commute to work, I drive past at least a dozen churches, including the one I used to attend, where my religious trauma occurred. I stop at a red light, and the car in front of me has a bumper sticker with an image of a cross and the message, “If this offends you now, just wait until you see it on judgement day!” I happen to know that these bumper stickers are for sale not at a local church, but at a privately owned, nominally secular business. When I get to work, the woman who greets me at the front gate is wearing a crucifix necklace.

I work in diversity education. When I get to the office, my boss asks me to join the local Interfaith council because I am the only person in our department who isn’t Christian. My current big project at work is trying to get a transgender speaker to visit our organization and help us lead a workshop to work towards amending a history of transphobia in our organization. My boss tells me today the she isn’t sure the speaker I arranged will be approved, because our administration might not think it is in line with our organization’s values. When she says this, I know she means evangelical Christian values. She doesn’t have to spell it out — there’s a chaplain down the hall from our office.

After my lunch break, my coworkers are talking about a church event one of them attended over the weekend. I do not contribute to this conversation. It has been several months since I attended an in-person religious event with people who shared my faith. As I’m leaving the office at the end of the day, I pass a Bible study group that has set up in our recreation area. On my drive home, I pass the funeral home where my grandfather’s memorial service was held earlier this year. The programs for that service had the Lord’s Prayer printed on them. My grandfather was an atheist.

This is my level of exposure to a religion I not only don’t believe in, but have been actively hurt by, on a daily basis. This is my normal. I’ve learned to live with it, tune it out, and self-soothe, because there is no other option.

When I’m finally able to be around other witches, many of them are coming from similar experiences. I am finally in a space where I can be vulnerable, where I can talk about what I really believe, and where I can receive support from like-minded people. But if there is even one Christian witch in the group, it’s highly likely that this space too will be dominated by Christian hegemony.

It’s a noted fact that a person exists within a hegemony, they have very little ability to tolerate challenges to this hegemony due to a lack of exposure. This is the origin of the term white fragility, which sociologist Robin DiAngelo uses to describe the discomfort and defensiveness white people feel when confronted with “racial discomfort” such as being asked to consider racism as a system they are complicit in and benefit from rather than as the actions of lone extremists. White fragility is something I have personally experienced as a white woman involved in antiracist work, and it’s something I have taken years to work through and am still actively working on. Since DiAngelo popularized this term, similar terms have been used to point to similar phenomena in other hegemonic groups, as in the cases of male fragility/fragile masculinity, cishet fragility, and yes, Christian fragility.

I’m not trying to argue that all hegemony is the same, and I am definitely not trying to say that my personal religious trauma is anywhere near the level of pain caused by the mistreatment of Black and brown people by white supremacist society. My point here is simply that being part of the dominant group breeds a very low tolerance for exposure to other groups.

Christian witches are members of a hegemonic group entering a space historically occupied by marginalized people, which creates an imbalance of power. (And yes, you can benefit from hegemony even if you are marginalized in other areas. Identity is multi-faceted. Queer Christians, disabled Christians, Christians of color, and yes, Christian witches still benefit from Christian hegemony.) The only way things are going to get better is if Christians are willing to do the work themselves of building tolerance for religious discomfort. The rest of us can host as many interfaith and secular events as we want, but if Christians aren’t able to tolerate the inclusion of other belief systems, we’ll never truly be on equal footing. Until Christians stop centering the Christian experience, it will continue to dominate interfaith spaces, including witchy spaces.

TLDR: I’m asking Christian witches to be mindful of the privilege they bring into interfaith spaces. I’m asking you to be willing to feel uncomfortable, and to recognize that your discomfort does not invalidate the work your facilitators have put into creating the space and/or program. If you truly can’t stand the discomfort, I’m asking you to politely excuse yourself instead of demanding emotional labor from other witches.

[yourgodmoments]

Christ’s Foot Soldiers - part 2

Last time we looked at how to increase our ability to facilitate other people’s entry into the kingdom of God by accepting Christ as their Savior - in short, to be better evangelizers. We also examined how to use those enhancements to introduce the gospel to those who don’t feel that they need saving.

Well, what if you approach someone who says that they want to hear what you have to say? ‘Hallelujah,’ is what you’ll probably say to yourself. Still, you don’t want to pass over the spiritual necessities they need to absorb in their heart to consummate their readiness and desire for salvation.

Whoever you’re approaching, keep your gospel-telling conversational, not a fire-and-brimstone monologue. Ask questions that give them openings to tell you what their pre-conceived beliefs are. Lead them to feel that they came to the gospel understanding on their own. That is when people are ready to believe. God can strip their egos later…

Previously, we concentrated on how better to deliver the gospel. Now, let’s spend a little time with the message itself. We might want to open with what it is that we all need saving from:

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Jas. 4:17 ESV

“…for there is no one who does not sin…” 1 Kin. 8:46 NKJV

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rm. 6:23 CSB

Simple. It’s death! And, we are all found guilty of practicing sin, which leads to it.

Next, we can talk to them about what is drawing their attention to salvation:

He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]… Eccl. 3:11 AMP

God Himself is clamoring for their attention, because He loves them and wants to spend eternity with them. And He has a plan for that: salvation through Jesus Christ. It is through the blood of Christ that saves us, and the power of the Holy Spirit that brings Jesus to reside in us, when we accept Him as Savior and Lord over our lives.

Jesus came to save us from our sins. In fact, much of His earthly ministry consisted of saving the sinful in His proximity, hanging out with the outcasts.

The veracity of His divinity as the Son of God was demonstrated in His miraculous deeds, His irrefutable gospel, His sinless life, and through His resurrection.

Through Christ, we connect with God the Father, as well as the Holy Spirit, so that we have the Divine Dream Team Triumvirate living within us, caring for us and pointing us in the right way.

Christ died for you, just as much as He died for me and for everybody else. When that happened, Jesus removed all barriers between you and God by becoming your God-connection.

And [at once] the veil [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom… Mt. 27:51 AMP

Therefore, believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus… Heb. 10:19 AMP

Thus, you get to know and have a relationship with the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, eternal and changeless holy Creator of the universe. That may sound overwhelming, but there are surefire ways to have that happen.

First, God wrote the Bible through the prophets and the apostles, by way of the Holy Spirit. It tells us most of what we need to know about how He feels and what He’s like:

“The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth (faithfulness); keeping mercy and lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” Ex. 34:5 – 7. AMP

The other way to know God intimately, is to know His Son, Jesus, who is an exact replica of His Father, one with Him and yet separate in a way in which in our finite understanding, do not fully fathom:

He (Jesus) is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator of all creation. Col. 1:15 AMP

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” Jn. 14:7 NKJV

Sounds great, huh? God put together this whole arrangement: Himself, His Son and the Holy Spirit, to handle a major problem: to reconcile His children who were lost to Him.

God created a perfect world, a perfect man and wife, and left us a set of perfect commandments to follow, to live a perfect life and stay in right relationship with Him.

But, because the members of humankind want to be masters of their own destinies, to be their own gods, they rebelled against God – beginning with Adam and Eve. That is called ‘sin,’ and as we saw in the beginning, the practice of sin brings death, death in the form of an eternal separation from God and His children.

In His infinite love for all of humankind, God put into action a plan that would save us from our sins. He sent His Son as a Spirit to be born of a virgin and grow to be Jesus the Savior. God worked through Him to bring you the gospel message that you are hearing. Broken down into a nutshell, it is this:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that through Him might be saved.” Jn. 3:16, 17. NKJV

And this is the reason:

“…to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.” Acts 26:18 NASB

Did it work?

And although you were at one time estranged and alienated and hostile-minded [toward Him}, participating in evil things, yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach _ [and He will do this] if you continue in the faith, well-grounded and steadfast, and not shifting away from the confident hope [that is a result] of the gospel that you have heard… Col. 1:21 – 23. AMP

Perfectly!

It is a gift from God, not something that you can earn. Jesus acquired this gift for you with His life on the cross, taking all the punishment that God would have laid upon all of humanity born throughout time, wiping out all our sins – past, present and future, by exchanging that sinless life for all the lives that would be snuffed out from the ravages of sin.

God’s gift works individually when that person comes to Christ and repents of their sins (i.e. acknowledges he or she is a sinner, exhibits true remorse with the intent to do their best not to repeat them), and to accept Jesus as who He is and what He’s done, and make Him the Lord of their life. Immediately, the sinless righteousness of Christ is transferred to them; and when God looks at him or her, He only sees that righteousness. Their price has been paid for an eternity in paradise…

…the dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Eccl. 12:7 CSB

…I saw a new heaven and a new earth…I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…”Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more…” Rv. 21:1 – 4. CSB

Now, talking to you, my fellow evangelizers: all these scriptures are very apropos in their sequence, but I really put them in for you, to empower you with your truth. Remember, this might be your hearer’s first time for the gospel, so be careful not to overwhelm.

Well, at this juncture, it would be good to dive right in: ‘You’ve seen the vital importance of the salvation of your soul and how to get saved. Will you accept Jesus now? Let’s kneel together and I will lead you through prayer and your salvation will be secure.’

(Time for that sinners’ prayer):

Dear God in heaven, I am a sinner, unable to save myself. I am truly sorry and will do my best not to repeat my sins. But I know that I cannot do it myself. I believe that Jesus is your Son and that He died on the cross for me and was resurrected to pay for all my sins. Please make your Son the Lord of my life, that I may receive your forgiveness and by your Holy Spirit, I ask for Jesus to take residence within me. Thank you for opening heaven so that I may live in eternity with you. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Or something similar. Please, at this juncture, do not let this newbie out into the world. Either follow up with them or connect them to a church.

Be happy. The angels are rejoicing!

I know what you’re thinking, ‘What if they ask me theological questions that I have no answer for?’ We’ll handle that next time…

Goodnight and God bless.

[readingbank-blog]

Why God Wants You to Experience Suffering Appointed Unto Suffering

For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake

Philippians 1:29

That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.

1 Thessalonians 3:3

Christianity is a religion that does not only involve believing but also suffering. I once attended the funeral of a pastor of a large church. His ministry had similar foundations to mine and the dead pastor had had strong beliefs in the doctrine of faith, prosperity and healing.

However, the unexpected and slow death of this pastor over a number of years had brought untold suffering to the family.

Different people gave speeches at the funeral, paying tribute to this great hero who had passed on. Finally, his wife spoke to the emotional crowd of thousands that were in attendance.

She said, “The death of my husband was not a defeat. It is easy for Christians to think that we were defeated because he did not get healed.”

She went on and made a profound statement that encapsulates a missing truth in our teachings.

She said, “I believe our theology must include suffering.”

When she said this, I recognized the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking through all the pain and difficulty we had been through. God was saying: Our concept of Christianity must include the concept of suffering!

No amount of faith, healing and prosperity teachings can remove the truths about Christians suffering. The Bible is littered with Scriptures that point us clearly to the existence of a divine plan that includes suffering for Christians.

We may not like it and we may wish it were not so, but there is so much of it everywhere in the Bible that we cannot escape!

Paul said, “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22)

The apostle Paul spoke of many sufferings in his letters. He said he was troubled on every side. He went on to say that he was persecuted, perplexed and cast down on many occasions. What do you think these things mean? Are they some kind of enjoyment?

Paul described his life as being always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake. What does it mean to be always delivered to death? Do you think it means he is receiving prosperity and healing? Honestly, I don’t think so! Indeed it sounds terrifying for anyone to be always delivered to death!

The ministry of Jesus involved two very different aspects. Preaching, teaching and healing formed one clear phase of His ministry. The second phase of His ministry was to basically experience different kinds of suffering. He suffered rejection by the Israeli community, betrayal by Judas, desertion by His disciples, false accusations by the pastors, misrepresentation by the Pharisees, pain from the Roman soldiers, the psychological torment of impending death and the pains and horrors of crucifixion.

But why does following God include all these different kinds of suffering?

Why does someone who obeys God ever have to experience suffering?

Is it not the case that the obedient ones deserve to be exempted from some of these hard and difficult experiences?

Many times, bad people seem to have it easy but the good ones seem to suffer. Indeed, we have tried to eliminate the concept of suffering from our theology because it is a most uncomfortable and difficult-to-explain reality.

But it is time to bring back the concept of suffering into our theology. The teachings on faith, healing, prosperity and long life are the mainstay of a large part of the church. But it’s time to include suffering in these faith teachings. If we fail to add suffering to the good news sections of our doctrines, we will always be incomplete and often feel defeated and confused in our Christian journey.

Reasons Why God Wants You to Experience Suffering

1. God wants you to experience suffering because it pleases Him.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief:

Isaiah 53:10

Have you ever wondered why the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was described as sweet smelling to God? “… as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Ephesians 5:2).

You would have thought that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross would present a detestable, disgusting and repugnant scent to God. Yet He calls it a sweet-smelling savour.

Amazingly, it pleases God for you to experience some suffering. I thought of the verse, “It pleased the Lord to bruise him” and said to myself, “This must be a mistake. How could the Lord be pleased to bruise Jesus? How could God be happy when His Son is suffering? Which parent would be happy for his child to suffer?”

Yet I remembered when my children were going to boarding school. I knew they were going to encounter things they had never experienced before. I knew they were going to scrub, weed and work like never before. They would have to get up early and work to a certain routine. I also knew they were going to suffer at the hands of wicked seniors.

And yet, I was pleased to send them to this boarding school. Why was I pleased to send them to this school even though they were going to experience some hardship and suffering?

You see, there were lessons I had tried to teach them when they were at home. Somehow, they did not seem to grasp or imbibe some of the things I was telling them. There were lessons of life I wanted them to learn. They had learnt as much as they could learn from my nagging parental instructions. It was time for the hardships of unprotected life to step in and teach them what we as parents couldn’t.

2. God wants you to experience suffering because it makes you perfect.

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

Hebrews 2:10

The word “perfect” means to make you complete. We are incomplete without suffering. A person who has had no problems in this life lacks something. He lacks the element that makes him complete and mature. Life on this earth includes suffering of all kinds. Once you have not experienced some kind of suffering there is a level of maturity that you simply lack.

3. God wants you to experience suffering because it will make you obedient.

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

Hebrews 5:8

The Bible teaches us that Jesus Christ became obedient through the things that He suffered. Jesus Christ was holy and without sin. Yet His obedience to God depended on him suffering certain things. You must also experience some suffering if you are to fully obey God.

Sometimes we think it is stubborn and bad people who need to suffer in order to make them obedient. But good people also need some suffering to prod them on into perfect obedience. When you experience hardships and suffering, ask yourself what the Lord is trying to get you to do. What does He want me to obey? What does He want me to do for Him?

Several people became obedient and served the Lord only because of certain hard experiences they went through. There are great men you know who only became ministers because they suffered certain experiences.

Maria Woodworth Etter

Maria Woodworth Etter, one of God’s Lady-Generals was known for her supernatural ministry of signs and wonders. She had a vision of the harvest when she was thirteen years old and heard the voice of God tell her to “go the highways and hedges and gather the lost sheep”.

Somehow, she did not heed the call.

Probably desiring to be like the average woman, she married a couple of years after she had had this vision. Eventually she had a large family with six beautiful children! Then tragedy struck and five of her six children died within a short space of time.

Maria herself became ill many times and often thought that she would die. Throughout the time of these different crises, she felt God calling her to preach to the lost.

Finally, she gave herself up to the Lord and became obedient to the call. She began ministering in her local area and began to see many conversions. This was the beginning of a great ministry that lay ahead of her. Maria suffered the loss of five children. What a terrible tragedy. Yet, it was this suffering that brought her to her ministry.

William Branham

William Branham, the famous prophet, also received a supernatural call to ministry. William Braham was a young boy when he started having visions and feeling the call of God on his life. When he was fourteen, he was involved in an accident in which he nearly lost both of his legs. As he lay there in a pool of blood, he saw a terrifying vision of Hell. He cried out to God for mercy promising to be a good boy if he lived. He lived, but forgot about his promise and about God.

One day as he walked by a church, he felt ‘something’ telling him to go into the church but he refused to obey and continued on his way. Soon after, he heard a voice saying, “I called you, and you would not go.” He realized then that he had to approach the Lord since his life has been spared, but he did not know how.

One day he decided to tack a letter to a tree. He then went into a barn and prayed sincerely from his heart. When he opened his eyes he saw floating in front of him, a brilliant amber light, forming a perfect cross in the air. There, in that barn, he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.

When God called him into nation-wide evangelism in 1934, he refused because his mother-in-law felt that he should not drag his new wife, Hope, around the country. He paid dearly for the mistake of not listening to the Lord by losing his wife, Hope, and daughter, Sharon Rose, to tuberculosis in the Flood of 1936.

After the death of his wife and daughter, he fell into a deep depression, feeling that God had abandoned him. He tried to commit suicide a few times but did not succeed.

Branham struggled over the next several years. One day he went to pray to seek God’s will for him and repented of his decision not to go into nation-wide evangelism. He went on to minister and obey the call of God, having one of the most spectacular prophetic ministries ever recorded in history.

As you can see from these examples, many people do not obey the voice of God until they go through much suffering.

4. God wants you to experience suffering because it will bring you closer to Christ.

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Philippians 3:10

Suffering creates a fellowship of like-minded sufferers who have experienced the same things. There is a bond that forms between people who have gone through certain experiences. In order therefore to be a part of certain fellowships you must suffer certain things.

You must suffer the seven years of medical school to be a part of the fellowship of doctors.

You must suffer the ridicule and rejection that people in full-time ministry experience in order to join a certain fellowship.

There is a closeness to God and to Christ that you have when you experience suffering. You will have a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for you as you experience the sufferings of Christ.

5. God wants you to experience suffering because of the glory that will follow you.

Just as the day follows the night, the glory of God will come after the sufferings we experience. The glory of being a doctor comes after the sufferings of medical school. The glory of having a baby comes after the suffering of labour and childbirth. The glory of having a baby comes after the suffering and difficulties of adoption.

The good news is that the glory we will experience cannot be compared with the suffering we must go through. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). There are too many Scriptures that support these great truths and these are just a few:

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

2 Corinthians 4:17

Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

1 Peter 1:11

But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

1 Peter 4:13

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Romans 8:17-18

6. God wants you to experience suffering so that you play your part in the completion of the sufferings of Christ.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.

Colossians 1:24 (NASB)

This is perhaps the most mysterious reason why we should suffer: to complete the sufferings of Christ. Does it mean that Jesus did not complete His work on earth? I think not. Jesus is the head and we are the body of Christ.

He told us to take up our crosses because the head had taken up the cross and the body of Christ must also take up its cross. If the head suffers and the body does not suffer then the sufferings of Christ are not complete.

7. God wants you to experience suffering so that you become humble.

Satan’s nature is pride. Satan is the king and origin of pride. He is also the ruler and the overseer of all the children of pride.

… he is a king over all the children of pride.

Job 41:34

After the fall of man, Satan’s nature of pride was somehow injected into mankind.

This satanic nature is the source of all the evils in man. Even after our salvation, we constantly struggle with this demonic influence that seeks to dominate our character and personality.

After the Lord has called us and we begin to serve Him, this very nature carries us away from His will. A little confidence, a little success and we are changed into demonized, pride-filled brats who no longer listen to advice. We secretly mock at others we deem inferior.

This is the reason why the Lord leads us along a road that humbles us and causes us to trust in Him. Perhaps no Scripture is as clear as Deuteronomy 8:2 on this matter. Some so called faith people (I say this because I consider myself a faith person) would wish that this verse was not in the Bible. But it is and there is nothing you can do about it. God does lead us on journeys with the intention of humbling us.

Some of the things that are happening to you are just to humble you and make you cool, sober, mellow and gentle!

And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, TO HUMBLE THEE, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

Deuteronomy 8:2

The apostle Paul also confirmed this truth. He said that he had been given a messenger of Satan to buffet him so that he would not be lifted up in pride because of his numerous revelations. He interpreted his difficulties, persecutions, reproaches and distresses to be gifts from God which induced the gift of humility in his life. “And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me--to keep me from exalting myself!” 2 Corinthians 12:7 (NASB)

Your Greatest Gift Is What Makes You Humble in This Life

If humility is the key to becoming the greatest in Heaven (Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 18:4) then whatever brings you humility must be the greatest gift from God to you.

The suffering that makes you humble is therefore God’s greatest gift to you.

If you have eyes to see you will count it all joy when you enter into various testings, trials and temptations (James 1:2).

What is it that has made you sad in this life and caused you to suffer?

It is the same thing that God has used to make you a humble person.

Is it your husband?

Is it the rejection you experienced?

Is it your wife?

Is it your marriage?

Is it your child? Is it the child you didn’t have?

Is it the husband you didn’t have? Is it your poverty? Is it your sickness? Is it the death of your spouse? Is it your accusers? Is it your weakness? Is it your inferiority? Is it the colour of your skin?

The natural man would call these things your greatest misfortunes. Indeed, to an unspiritual person, these things may look like the calamities and bad luck of your life.

However, if you can receive it, you would recognize that your hardships and your sufferings are the greatest gifts of God to you.

Not Everyone Becomes Humble through Suffering

Don’t make a mistake though. It is not everybody who experiences suffering that becomes humble. Some actually become even more hardened and resistant to God. You must allow God to work things out in you.

8. God wants you to experience suffering because He wants to test you.

And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, TESTING YOU, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

Deuteronomy 8:2 (NASB)

Suffering is indeed a test. It brings out what is in you. When you rebuke someone or correct him his true nature is exposed.

The Angry Pastor

One day, a pastor did something wrong and was corrected for what he had done. He was then moved elsewhere to do another job. Because he was moved, he developed a bad attitude, threatening to leave the church. He felt his issues had not been fairly handled.

I said to my wife, “This fellow is proving to everyone that he was indeed rebellious.” Before his correction it had been uncertain as to whether he was really rebellious, or just an innocent victim of circumstances.

His response to his difficulties revealed who he was.

This is how come marriage brings out your true character. Through marriage you will discover whether you are patient, kind, unreasonable, wicked, caring, unfeeling, hard, soft, flat or blank.

He Never Became Bitter

I attended the funeral of a great man of God. There were several comments passed by people who knew this man. There was, however, one comment that struck me. This comment was given by a seasoned minister.

He said, “Our brother has given us a good example in life. He showed us how to live and he has also shown us how to die. In life, he was cheerful, pleasant and full of faith. But in the years that run up to his death he was equally cheerful, pleasant and full of faith.”

Then he added, “He never became bitter in spite of his sickness and suffering.”

I think that was a powerful testimony of a man who successfully went through a test of suffering. He manifested faith and hope through his suffering.

Unfortunately, this is not what happens to everyone who goes through suffering. Some people become bitter because of the contradictory sufferings they experience after giving everything to God.

Don’t Become Bitter Because of Your Suffering

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Hebrews 12:3

The Bible teaches about how Jesus Christ received the contradiction of sinners (Hebrews 12:3). What is the contradiction of sinners? It is experiencing something contrary to what you would expect.

After doing good deeds and serving the Lord you expect to receive a nice reward. After being a good husband, you expect to receive nice treatment from your wife. You do not expect to receive insults, accusations, bad food or bad sex. That would be a contradiction.

After being a good wife you expect to receive love, care and devotion from your husband. You do not expect to have an antagonistic, hateful uncaring and unfaithful husband. That would also be a contradiction.

Be careful when you receive the contradiction of sinners.

Receiving the contradiction of sinners is one of the sufferings we are to experience on this earth. Do not turn against God when you receive the contradiction of sinners. Jesus experienced the contradiction of sinners and showed us how to endure it.

Do not become bitter.

Do not say that you need to be happy in this life.

Do not say that you need a break.

Do not say that you need to get away from all this.

You can never get away from the will of God!

The Swedish Missionary

One day, a European couple went to Belgian Congo as missionaries with their two-year old son. They laboured there for many years with no fruit.

During their stay there, the only person who had responded to the ministry was a little Congolese boy who used to bring them food. Imagine that! Your only convert after years of ministry is a little boy.

Finally his wife died a week after giving birth to their daughter. In despair, he left the Congo with his son but dumped the week-old baby girl on another Swedish couple. Sadly, this couple also died. An American missionary couple then adopted their daughter.

The Swedish missionary, thinking he was such a failure, turned to alcohol and completely forsook the ministry upon his return to Sweden. Indeed, he had received the contradiction of sinners in Congo.

But his daughter grew up in America and married a man who became the principal of a Bible school. On a trip to Sweden with her husband they stopped in London and whilst taking a walk stumbled on a congress being addressed by a Congolese missionary evangelist who was testifying of the great works of God in Zaire.

A conversation between her and the great evangelist revealed that he was the little native boy who had been her parents’ only convert during their years in Belgian Congo. He had grown up to be a missionary evangelist to his own country. His ministry included one hundred and ten thousand Christians, thirty-two mission stations, several Bible schools and a one hundred and twenty-bed hospital.

The next day she travelled to Sweden to look for her father. She found him in a run-down building in an impoverished part of Stockholm. When they knocked on the door a woman let them in. Inside, liquor bottles lay everywhere. And lying on a cot in the corner was her father – the one time missionary. He was now seventy-three years old and suffering from diabetes. He also had a stroke and cataracts covered both of his eyes.

She fell to her father’s side crying, “Dad I’m the one you left in Africa.”

The old man turned and looked at her. Tears formed in his eyes. He answered, “I never meant to give you away. I just couldn’t handle you both.”

She answered, “That’s okay Daddy, God took care of me.”

Her father’s face darkened at the mention of “God”.

“God didn’t take care of you,” he raged.

“He ruined our whole family.

He led us to Africa and then betrayed us.

Nothing ever came of our time there.

It was a waste of our lives.”

She then told him of the black preacher she had met in London and how the Congo had been evangelized through him.

“It’s all true, Daddy,” she said. “Everybody knows about that little boy convert.”

Her father was amazed. The Holy Spirit fell on him and he broke down. He had received the contradiction of sinners and it had turned him away from God. He had felt God was not real. He had felt that God had repaid him with evil after he had sacrificed his whole life for the Gospel.

Tears of sorrow and repentance flowed down his face and God restored him.

9. God wants you to experience suffering so that you can follow the example of Jesus Christ.

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

1 Peter 2:21

Suffering will be part of our Christian lives because Jesus Christ set the example and asked us to follow Him. No matter how much faith we have we cannot have more faith than Jesus Christ.

Jesus had all the faith to raise the dead and to heal the sick and yet He set us an example of suffering.

Suffering is not a sign of weakness.

Suffering is not a sign of defeat.

Suffering is often a sign of God’s hand actively working in your life.

10. God wants you to experience suffering so that the power of sin will be broken in your life.

When you suffer in the flesh you stop sinning. Because the Church is averse to suffering it has not ceased from sinning.

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

1 Peter 4:1

He that has suffered in the flesh ceases from sin. Where there is no suffering you see the increase of sin. The church of God that emphasizes on prosperity, healing and success but has no component of suffering is setting itself up for a great deviation from the faith.

Suffering has the power to break the influence of sin on your life. When people love money they often love pleasure.

Money has power to prevent sufferings.

Money gives people the power to steer their lives away from anything that threatens to cause any kind of suffering. That is why money is the root of all evil.

Money has been able to change the course of the church. Money has steered it away from places that it is needed most.

Instead of the Holy Spirit leading the church to the mission fields, the church is being led by an unspoken policy of avoiding trouble, difficulties or hardships.

11. God wants you to experience suffering because it proves that you are a good Christian.

For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

1 Timothy 4:10

Suffering is actually a sign that you are a good Christian. Paul said he was labouring and suffering reproach just because he trusted in the living God. When people are following the will of the Lord, they always encounter difficulties and hardships.

You must give up the notion that suffering is a sign of defeat or failure.

There is a notion that if you suffer, you are a failure. There is a notion that if you suffer, God does not like you. There is a notion that people experience difficulties because they are out of the will of God. Such thinking will not help you to be a good Christian.

Paul said Christians who want to live in a godly way will suffer. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

I want you to make up your mind to fight till the end of your life. Fight in every situation. Don’t give up! Don’t think that God is angry with you.

Those kinds of thoughts only weaken you. God is not angry with you! God is allowing you to encounter the sufferings and experiences that His generals and chosen ones go through.

When Jacob met up with Pharaoh he made a profound statement. He said, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers” (Genesis 47:9, NIV).

Life on this earth has few and difficult years. You must accept this reality of suffering and brace yourself to go through it.

Do not live this life trying to be happy!

You must survive!

You must make it!

You don’t have to be happy on earth!

All you need is to make it to the end of your course having obeyed the Lord in all that He told you to do.

If you try to be “happy” you will make a mistake and jump out of God’s plan for your life!

12. God wants you to experience suffering because it goes along with your specific calling.

Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed:

2 Timothy 1:11

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:

For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

Acts 9:15-16

When people are immature they do not understand why certain ministers go through certain things. One day, a minister of the Gospel heard me preaching about the trials of the work of ministry.

He said to me, “It seems you have really been through hell in your ministry.”

I was surprised at his comment and said, “Really? Did you not have any of these experiences when you were building your church?”

He said, “No, I did not experience any such thing.”

I felt silly to say the least. Perhaps the people I had preached to also felt that I had had all these experiences because I lived in Africa.

But I later found out that that pastor had never founded a church. He had actually been made the senior pastor of a church that was already in existence.

The suffering and experiences that you go through to found a new church is different from the suffering and experiences you go through to grow an already existing church.

This pastor could not relate with what I had been through because he had not functioned as an apostle, giving birth to churches, but as a pastor growing a church.

There are certain things you will suffer just because you are functioning in certain callings. Paul said he was appointed an apostle and a teacher, and because of that he was suffering certain things.

Some people go through challenges in their marriages just because of their calling. If they were not functioning as pastors or apostles they may have had a happier and easier marriage. Do not despise them because of the suffering they seem to be experiencing in marriage.

The Spotted Tree

One day, whilst on the golf course I noticed a big tree that had lots of spots on it. After walking by it I turned back to look at this amazingly spotted tree. To my surprise there was not a single spot on the other side of the tree.

Then I realized that it was not really a spotted tree but a normal tree that had been brutally assaulted by a thousand different golf balls. It only had those marks on it because of its position in the fairway of the golf course. If it was not positioned where it was it would never have any of those scars.

There are scars that people have just because of their callings and giftings. Most of the time ministers do not suffer because they have special weaknesses but rather because they have particular callings.

13. God wants you to experience suffering for the sake of righteousness.

But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

1 Peter 3:14

But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

1 Peter 4:15-16

There are different reasons for suffering. Many people suffer because of their own mistakes. This is what causes all the confusion when it comes to why people suffer.

Am I suffering because of my mistakes or I am suffering because I am in the will of God? Did so-and-so die because of his mistakes or did he die because he was in the will of God?

Unfortunately, we will not be able to answer all these questions now. If we try to answer all these questions now we will make mistakes. You must search your heart and believe that you are operating in the will of God.

Once you are certain that you are in the will of God, you must battle to survive and endure your sufferings.

14. God wants you to experience suffering because Christians must suffer affliction rather than enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season.

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Hebrews 11:24-25

Brother, Why Do You Want to Be Happy?

Many years ago, a pastor mistakenly married an attractive young lady who was unknowingly bad tempered, argumentative and ill-natured.

He suffered in his marriage for many years whilst this woman secretly tormented him.

He endured her cantankerous nature for many years never considering divorce. Perhaps, he secretly hoped that she would die but she never did. She seemed only to get stronger, healthier and fatter.

But one day, a new thought began to form in his mind; thoughts of leaving his wife and marrying someone else. The Scriptures on divorce were not strong enough to prevent him walking on his new road to divorce. I wondered what had brought about the change.

Sometime later, I made a discovery that seemed to explain the new drive towards divorce and remarriage. I found out that members of his family had been encouraging him to divorce, saying that he needed to be happy.

They urged him on, counselled him and impressed upon him that he could be happy, and that he needed to take steps so that he could have a new and happier phase of his life. “We want our dear brother to be happy,” they said.

Perhaps this “call to happiness” was the stimulus that urged the pastor to his eventual divorce and remarriage.

I believe that the desire to be happy is one of the most dangerous desires that have entered the Body of Christ.

That I can be happy on earth and that I should be happy on earth is a delusion that drives Christians into error.

It is the same kind of dangerous delusion that drives Christians to desire riches.

Why Should I Suffer?

That I should suffer, go through and stay on in darkness and difficulty is the mentality that keeps Christians on the narrow path. That is the mind that the older generation of Christians and ministers had.

The mindset of modern Christians is “I must be happy! I can be happy! I will do everything I need to do so that I am happy on earth! I will do that even if it means breaking Scriptures that are crystal clear!”

Many great ministers endure tumultuous and truly difficult marriages in which they are tormented secretly by calm looking beautiful wives.

No one really knows that these pretty wives are also pretty pretenders and secret tormentors.

Many ministers are able to endure and even have semi-successful homes until the thought of being happy occurs to them.

Through this idea of “becoming happy” the enemy is able to destroy God’s honourable servants.

But Why Do You Want to Be Happy?

But why do you want to be happy on earth? This is the key question you must keep in your spirit. Don’t even try to be happy. Tell yourself it won’t be long.

Dear friend, you will not live very long anyway. Your pursuit of happiness will cause you to wander into many temptations and snares.

You will sink and plunge into the mire of confusion as you seek for happiness on this earth.

This Must Be Your Prayer

“Help me to survive, O Lord” should be your prayer.

“Keep me alive. Help me to stay to the end of the road without letting you down. Strengthen me so that I can endure the pain, confusion, torment, difficulty, suffering, reproach, unhappiness, contradictions and depression that engulf my life.”

by Dag Heward-Mills

[ohioguru03]

Church and Gym?

You may or may not have thought about this before, but the gym is more like the church or Christian journey than you may think. While on vacation, I was working out at a neat little gym in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, when I began pondering how similar the gym experience is to Christianity or the Church in general. 

One of the things I absolutely love about going to the gym is everyone is on their own journey and each person has their own story or testimony if you will. That is such a beautiful thing and how well does that parallel to our spiritual walk. In my opinion, pretty darn close!

If you look around the gym the next time you are in attendance, just take a gander at all the differences in a given setting. There are people of all ability levels that come to the gym in all shapes and sizes. Everyone has a different story of how they arrived at the gym and for what reason. I think its fun and truly interesting to listen to people’s stories. It’s a place filled with hope and new beginnings. Hey, Christian, does that sound familiar? If you are at the right gym, it should be covered with encouragement, support, hope, and community. Hey, Christian, does that sound familiar?

The gorgeous thing is no one is at the exact same spot or ability level. There shouldn’t be any comparison. The only comparison should be with yourself. That is so freeing! Also, the gym much like the church, isn’t a one-size fits all that some may get you to believe. Some gyms aren’t for everybody just like some churches aren’t for everybody. 

You make like more traditional services with amazing old school hymms, while others prefer something a little different. Perhaps, musicians sporting skinny jeans, hard parts, and some sort of cool pair of shoes that we never seem to be able to find. Some people love to dress up for church, while others like to wear jeans and their favorite Christian t-shirt. Some bring coffee into service and would never attend another church that doesn’t allow that, while others prefer less “show” (you know the lights, videos, pastor sitting in a chair with a cool little table to the side of him, a coffee mug, and possibly a little monitor next to him, with a sweet band, free water, and people yelling preach) and more routine. That doesn’t matter one bit! The only goal when selecting a church should be to find one that glorifies God and makes Jesus famous! Catholic, Baptist, Protestant, Calvary, Methodist, or Evangelical, we may not all agree 100 percent on ideology or theology, but we all need to remember we are on the SAME team when it’s all said and done. 

When picking a gym, find one that works for you and make sure it’s one that is concerned about you staying healthy and ENCOURAGING you to be the best you! If not, find a new gym or be the change you would like to see. 

In the Christian walk, you may be better at some things in comparison to others. You are constantly refining those disciplines like you would in a gym. Certain seasons we see much more growth than others much like in the gym. It’s really hard for many people to continue to workout when the definitive results are coming as often, but those are the times we need to stay consistent just like in our spiritual walk when we don’t seem to be feeling it or prayers aren’t being answered or the fire just isn’t burning as it once was. That’s okay, because it happens to all of us more often than we would like to admit. I know both of my hands are raised. 

When I was in my early years, at the gym, I was doing a lot of comparing to other people not just in the gym but all parts of my life. That is an awful prison to put yourself in. I would constantly want to be like others in the gym and it was a constant cycle of trying to be like this person or that person. The problem with that is, you aren’t that person! I finally let go of most of that envy and jealousy, but it still creeps in at times. That doesn’t mean I’m not competitive. I now realize, for the most part, there are things that I’m better at than others, and that is perfectly okay. I just want to be better than I was the day before. At the gym, someone may be really strong on legs, but struggle to do pull ups or push ups. Someone may have really good endurance, but be really weak when it comes to weights. That’s life and it is what it is. 

This is the same thing when it comes to our spiritual gifts. I use to get overwhelmed when it came to this area of my spiritual life, and questioned if I even had any (same attitude I had the gym at times). As I’ve matured, I’ve come to realize being an encourager is one of my biggest spiritual gifts and I’ve embraced that. I’ve realized that I will never bench press 400 pounds, and I’m okay with that too. I’m pretty good, humbly speaking of course, at endurance and strength workouts combined which is why I love OCR. 

I’m finally content with what I’m good at or should I say what God has gifted me with and allows me to do. I don’t need to be Billy Graham, Keith Minier, Craig Groeschel or any of my other Christian brothers, I’m Kurt Stubbs II and I’m wonderfully and perfectly made in the image of God whether we are talking about my Spiritual journey or my physical journey. 

I love working out, as I mentioned, because every single person that I grab a set of dumbbells with, run a race with, climb a wall with, sweat with, and succeed/fail with has a story. Some of those stories are of hurt and pain or triumph and overcoming addictions, but one thing is for certain, EVERY ONE has a purpose/part in the story. How true is this in the family of believers of Jesus Christ? Every person I sit beside in church, on a park bench beside, pray with, cry with, laugh with, worship with or fellowship with is on a spiritual journey with Jesus Christ that started somewhere and somehow. Every story is different (most likely drastically different), but one thing I know for certain, every testimony is centered around the life-changing power of Jesus Christ. Let me emphasize this, not every follower of Christ has some amazing and unbelievable transformation story nor does every person in a gym have a story of losing 200 pounds or beating a disease through health and fitness. That doesn’t mean your story is any less any important. If you are part of my gym, your story is important to me and if you are part of Christ’s gym than your story is important to HIm.

I challenge you to think about this the next time you are in the gym. The person next to you has a story, so please just always keep that in mind. Never derail someone who is in the gym trying because you don’t know where their story started or where it will end, and the exact same thing goes for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Never discourage them or think they should be at the same place you are or they should be doing the same exact thing you are doing, because there walk with Jesus is going to be different. He is going to use them in a different way than he uses you or I, so He is going to equip them differently. I can honestly say I’ve been absolutely guilty of this in the past without question. Some of it was my own ignorance, some of it was arrogance, and a lot of it was me wanting God to be working on my schedule (how funny is that?). WE are all on the SAME team, and we should treat each other accordingly. Whether it’s our gym team or our Christian team, we are all in this together to encourage one another no matter where we are at. If we do our part and concern ourselves with our health/fitness we will be able to help many more people that way and if we concern ourselves with our Christian walk we will be able to help many more people that way. Don’t be afraid to be transparent about your weaknesses or shortcomings, because as I’ve heard many time, we connect most with others through our weaknesses and not our strengths. For when we are weak, He (Jesus) is strong! (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I hope, that if you’ve made it this far in the read, that this was so closely related that there were parts you couldn’t tell if I was talking about the gym or our Christian walk. I also pray you found this encouraging and you have fight, hope, and strength like never before. God Bless each and every one of you!