Are the 5-Fold Ministry Gifts Valid For Today?

We have an interesting topic to discuss today. In this video I want to look at an overview of the 5-fold ministry gifts that Paul wrote about to the Church of Ephesus. If you’ll turn with me to chapter 4 of the book of Ephesians, I will be reading verses 4-16, so let’s look at those verses together: 

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

But to each one of us grace was given according to

the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says:

“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”
(Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)” (Ephesians 4:4-10) 

How Do I Recognize the Truth in A Situation?

I tend to have this capacity to only see black or white on most issues...there are no gray areas for me. I see a subject as either right or wrong, good or evil, truth or a lie. But the problem is that most people live in the gray areas of life. They will excuse things that are very obviously wrong to me. They will cover up or ignore things that are very questionable. And, to be honest, the gray areas are where compromise happens. People who tend to see the gray areas have no problem doing what is beneficial for themselves or for the people they want to protect. They don't mind telling "little white lies" or doing things that are a bit shady if it promotes the purpose that they are standing for. 

Friends, if you’re standing for a purpose that must be lied about in order to protect it, or if you need to lie to protect someone you believe in, then maybe it's time to examine your own motives. Are you protecting that person or that purpose because it's good and right and honest, or is it because that person or that purpose is popular? 

To stand on an issue, you must ask yourself, "Why is this happening? Why is this person doing what they’re doing or saying what they’re saying? Is there any hidden agenda that I’m not paying attention to, or are they being completely honest and above reproach?" If there is any possibility that they are compromising, then you do NOT want to go down that road with them, because one compromise leads to another compromise, and that compromise leads to another compromise. And it’s in the midst of these compromises where deceit, corruption and criminal activity is found. 

Again...I will ask you to examine your own heart. Are you seeing the truth, or are you purposely believing a lie? If you really don't know, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Truth to you, and He will guide you into ALL Truth! Don't doubt Him...Trust what He shows you. 

The Truth Will Make You Free

It has been said that people cannot change truth, but truth can change people. I want to declare to you today that Truth remains steadfast, in spite of opposition, general opinion and even persecution. When all is said and done, the truth will always, always prevail. And so our goal in this life is to learn the Truth and then stand firmly on what we know to be the truth. Let’s talk about it

Let’s take a look at the book of John, chapter 8 verses 31-32:

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 

Some people will go to great lengths to try to prove that God’s Word, the Bible, cannot be trusted, that it contains lies, or errors, and that it is not, as most Christians believe, the infallible Word of God. Even many who claim the Bible is God’s Word, and they claim to believe what it says is the truth, they will try to pick and choose portions they want to actually obey, thereby turning it all into a lie. Some will try to make God’s Word conform to their own personal lifestyles rather than allowing it to change them from the inside out, and others will pick and choose small portions of His Word and hold it up as truth by itself without considering the context of the scripture. Jesus declared that His Word WILL set you free, yet many who claim His Word as truth are not freed by His Word, but rather use it as a cause for bondage and division within the very Body of Christ to which He sent it to deliver. 

Spiritual Wickedness in High Places

In the sixties and seventies, a comedian named Flip Wilson coined the phrase, “The devil made me do it.” It made for a lot of laughs back then and many people tuned in to see Mr. Wilson’s latest antics week after week during his appearances on “Laugh-In” and his own show later called “The Flip Wilson Show”.  He was hilarious!

But unfortunately, the concept of connecting comedy with the devil and hell has become all too popular, and this picture has become the typical view that most people conjure up in their minds when they think of evil… “The devil made me do it”. In general, people think of the devil as a cute little man sitting on their shoulder in red pajamas with horns and a pitchfork, and they think that hell is a made-up place where bad people go so that they can party with their friends and have a grand time after they die. But that view could not be further from the truth, and in this video, I want to share with you the truth about Satan, sin and hell, and I want to discuss the powers and authority and the reality of Satan’s power, and I also want to discuss how YOU can avoid falling into his trap.

Draw Near to God...

Remember all the plane and helicopter crashes that were happening almost daily for a while? Then the news cycle went to tornadoes, then to massive floods and wildfires. What happened to the plane crashes? What caused them to stop? Friends, we need to know that the news media tries to capture our every waking thought every moment of the day! Whatever they want us to concentrate on is what seems most critical! While it's true that a lot of chaos is going on every day all over the world, the thing that sells are reports of crisis and so they flood the news with it. The best thing to do is to stay informed and take reasonable precautions, but take time to hang out with your friends, spend quality time with those you love and don't forget to give God your very best. Remember...if YOU draw near to Him, He WILL draw near to you and He will give you peace that passes all understanding in your soul. God bless you and be sure to have a Jesus-filled day!

Thy Will Be Done...

As Christians, we SHOULD hate sin and evil. As Christians, we SHOULD be angry about injustice. As Christians, we should expose evil at every opportunity. And as Christians, we should love when justice prevails on behalf of the victims who are sinned against.

And you hear people say, "No, Christians shouldn't judge. Christians should be peaceful and should never engage in any kind of conflict." But at the same time, we are told that we should be like Jesus.

Well Friends, if you think Jesus just sat by and watched sin and injustice take place and didn't expose it to the multitudes...then why do you think they crucified him? Why do you think the political and religious leaders of His day hated Him?

Listen to these words that Jesus spoke:

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. (Matthew 23:13)

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence." (Matthew 23:25)

"Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” (Mark 8:15)

And surely you remember the occasion when Jesus entered the Temple area and found people there using the House of God for financial gain rather than a House of Prayer.

"Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” (Matthew 21:12-13)

So to make Christians out to be a bunch of passive by-standers who do not stand for Truth and Justice and Honesty and Integrity is NOT a Biblical concept. Christians are to be at peace with all people, but when sin is prevalent, it should be made perfectly clear to everyone where we stand and what we believe. God's Word is only active when it's alive and working in and through His Believers.

So Christians, when you see sin and evil, our job is to shun it, expose it and whenever it's in our ability to do so, eliminate it. That's what it means when we pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven". We are asking God to bring to the earth the attributes of Heaven where there is no sin or evil and we are working toward that goal

I hope this message will inspire you to stand strong and bold on God's Word and His Truth. God bless you!

Time's Running Out...

Much of the world is living in a state of delusion... they go to work, they come home, and they turn on the TV to hear the news from the mainstream media, and whatever they are spouting out is what they believe is true. Weather change is what's causing all the extreme weather events, the Covid virus just happened to originate from China, and there is No Epstein Client List. As long as it doesn't bust into their little comfortable lives, they don't want to know about it. 

Meanwhile, multitudes of people are dying all over the world because of reasons that nobody wants to know about. Wars are killing innocent civilians every day for stupid, needless reasons that nobody wants to face or put a stop to. Children are being molested and raped and killed all over the world because, while people just turn a blind eye to it all, the horror continues. People are being trafficked and drugged and neglected and nobody cares. There is unimaginable suffering...and life just goes on as usual without so much as a prayer for others. 

Why? Because we have become the most unconcerned, uncaring, unloving generation since the time of Noah. And if you remember, Jesus said:

"But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24:37-39) 

And even the Apostle Paul alluded to the days in which we are living when he wrote to his protégé Timothy:

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:1-4) 

Friends, Paul warned us about the "strong delusion" (2 Thessalonians 2:11) that God would send upon those who closed their eyes to the truth. He warned about what would happen to those who went along with the crowd...those who stood for nothing and fell for everything. He told us the signs that we need to be watching for and the warnings that we need to pay attention to. 

But to many Christians, those are just words on a page that most have never even read or heard because they pick and choose which parts of the Bible they want to believe. They don't want to believe that God is not only a Loving Father, but that He is also a Just God, a God who judges rightly and who will punish the wicked for their choices. God will do EVERYTHING that He says He will do, and it's our job to know the Truth and to be warning the wicked, sounding the alarm and telling those around us about the Jesus Who can save their souls and turn their lives around. 

Each of us are responsible to do our parts, Christians! The day is growing short, and time is running out. Tell your loved ones...REPENT! Tell your neighbors...REPENT and turn to Jesus. Everywhere you go, people need to know the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And Friends...if we don't tell them...who will?