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Are you in a church that’s helping you to be transformed? Another way of saying it, are they helping you to put off the old life and put on the new life in Christ? I hope so. If not, then let me encourage you to stay where you are and join the ranks of the faithful remnant by learning how to really walk in truth to experience transformation in Christ. To do so will not only help you, but it will start a movement within your church to help others. Most of us have heard the old saying tossed about for years but few these days really understand its meaning. The saying is, “The whole Gospel truth.” As a believer, I venture to say that you know your church doctrine and may even have large portions of your Bible memorized, but you may not know if you are being transformed. Are you truly experiencing the new life in Christ? I hope to remedy that by showing you how to walk, in truth, which is our first step to transformation.

Once you have taken the first step no one will be able to stop your growth and that includes Satan. Let me be very clear. We are not preaching a different gospel. There is only one Gospel, the one written down so clearly in the New Testament. We believe the old gospel that Christ died on the Cross and then rose again so that through faith we could have a new life in Christ. So, if it’s still there, why is it no longer believed even though it’s still being preached and taught in your Bible classes? The short answer was covered in my last week’s article about the Lukewarm church, but simplistically stated again: “we must believe, really believe, the truth that God wants to give us life, to transform us.” He wants to make us into a new creation. As a new creation, you will not have one of the four static personalities, but you will have a dynamic personality that’s being changed into the likeness of Christ. We cannot go any further if you don’t believe this truth. To build on any other foundation will keep you in Christian infancy or as the Bible refers to as a carnal Christian unable to experience transformation.

To really believe this truth will open a whole new set of possibilities that will bring to light obscure passages of Scripture that may have been read before but not fully understood. The first one we will look at is in the letter to the Romans. The Bible says, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Romans 6:22). The first thing we see here is a process, we are now “being” made free. We are no longer under the control of Satan or the old sin nature. The Apostle says it again in another letter, where he says, put off the old life and put on the new life in Christ. So, we must get the process started by believing that it’s not only possible, but it will become a reality. Trust me, I will say it one more time. If you don’t believe this you will not be transformed no matter how many sermons listen to, no matter how many Bible studies you attend and no matter how many Scripture verses you memorize. We must truly believe in the transformation. We must believe that God wants to make you into a beautiful new creation like you were originally meant to be.

The next thing we need to do is to expect the transformation. We must expect it to take place in our life. This is much more than wishful thinking, walking the aisle, and accepting Jesus. It is expecting the transformation to take place in our lives. To expect God to re-create a brand-new life in us to the glory of God. Most walking the aisle and accepting Jesus, which by the way isn’t in the Bible, don’t really expect to be changed. Most are just looking for acceptance, fellowship and their free ticket to heaven. They may even look for miracles, visions, and healing, but that’s it. That’s all that most people expect. And if that’s all you expect that’s all you will get. We must expect the transformation to take place in our lives. If you want to be transformed and you really want to experience the new life in Christ, then read further.

At this point, we must realize that we cannot possibly do this on our own. You may have already tried. We don’t need to, because God gives us two things to cause the transformation to happen. Let’s look at the first. God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit that puts a seal on us; we now belong to God. Then the Spirit comes to dwell with us 24/7 for the rest of our lives. His job is threefold. He brings to your mind what other believers have taught you, the words of the Bible, and His still small voice. This voice of conviction tells you the things you need to put off, repent of, no longer do and very importantly the things you need to put on or put in their place. For example, if you learn that you can no longer lie then that is the thing to put off; then what do we put in the place of it? We speak truthfully to our neighbor (See Ephesians 4:22ff). As you learn this one lesson along with many others quickly to follow you will begin to grow in your new life. The Bible refers to this as growing from one degree of glory to another. This is the Spirit’s job. He is our Counselor. Our job is to listen and obey.

The second thing God gives us to help in our transformation is other believers in the Church. Now here is the exciting thing about transformation. God through the Holy Spirit will work as fast as you are willing. It does not need to take years while you sit in the church waiting for the next weekly sermon. No, it happens every day by spending quality time with other maturing brothers and sisters in the Lord. Your spiritual growth or transformation must, I repeat, must happen every day. The established church may only come together once a week, but God’s holy children of the faithful remnant must come together daily. In the old days we used to call this discipleship where a mature believer who is being transformed meets with a new believer in Christ, desiring transformation. Watch this! Everyone must be involved. You are either the mature believer being transformed, or you are the newer believer who is struggling with putting off the old life and putting on the new life in Christ. This is not a counseling center, it is the Church of God filled with His beloved children helping one another in their growth.

So, the question we must ask ourselves is, “are we truly helping others to grow up in Christ.” Be careful how you answer that question. This is not just about sharing your opinion for that particular day. It is not just a casual, fun fellowship. It is walking with the other person. Observing their behavior, the things they say, and the things they believe about their relationship with Christ. It always begins with listening. The Bible says, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19). We must really listen without thinking of something else, then pause while you speak quietly to the Spirit so that He alone can lead you on what to say to your brother or sister, to really help them in their transformation. This is the job of the Church. We are the Church. This is our responsibility. Not just the responsibility of the Pastor, the teachers, and not the job of so-called professional counselors. It is our job to help others to grow in their faith, to become all that God has called them to be in their new life. The Bible says, “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another” (Romans 15:14). God has given all His children the ability to help one another grow in their new life. So, let’s help one another walk in truth and take their first step to transformation.

Coming Soon: Rev. Blair has recorded this Blog Article as a Tribulation Radio Show in HD Video with local vocalists, prayers, and much more to the glory of God.

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The Lukewarm Church is Blinded by The World (Video)

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The Lukewarm Church is Blinded by The World

September 11, 2018 Rev. Daniel Blair 2 Comments

When did we stop trusting God? When did we stop trusting Him to really make us into a new creation and then to grow us from one degree of glory to another (See II Corinthians 5:17; 3:18)? Perhaps it all started when the world turned its back on God and then discovered very quickly that humanity was in trouble. Why were they in trouble? There was no longer a moral anchor and humanity began to drift into a greater sea of immorality. Many tried desperately to reign in terror and gross immorality with new laws and mandates, but everything failed. As churches emptied and immorality increased fallen humanity needed a solution and they needed it quick. So, in time they resurrected some old theories of a pagan writer who lived a few centuries earlier; someone who thought he understood human nature. Then with the experimentation of new drugs, seemingly to affect behavior, and this new science of mental health, then the art of modern psychology was born. So, humanity no longer needed God to direct their path and provide them a moral anchor, because a new quasi religion had arrived on the scene to solve all the problems of fallen humanity. So how does all this affect the lukewarm church?

Let’s back up a minute. Humanity had been in great trouble once before. Many centuries before when every man called upon his own deity and decided his own fate. A time when most of humanity could change his moral commitment or religious devotion as easily as changing his soiled clothes. The world was on a collision course with destiny and all would have been lost if it were not for one solitary figure. Jesus Christ came offering a new life to all who would follow Him. This was the miracle of miracles! He came to offer eternal life, but the real miracle is that it would start immediately. There was no waiting. The new life in Christ was not just a promise, but a reality to be experienced now. All that was needed was faith to open the door and even that would become a free gift through His amazing grace. If God could create the heavens and the earth, then surely he could re-create new life in His children. Nothing was left to chance, but everything was planned down to the smallest detail. God would begin by giving us the indwelling Spirit with a specific job of growing us from one degree of glory to another, by putting His laws into our hearts and writing them in our minds, giving us a desire and the ability to obey them, and even convict us when we strayed from the path. But that’s just the beginning!

Jesus Christ would establish His Church. Let’s be clear this is not the building. It is the people of God who are encouraged to come together as one people. Jesus Christ knew we needed one another as we grow and change becoming the new person in Christ. We would realize almost immediately that becoming different from the world would cause some dire problems. We would soon discover that we are no longer loved as their own, but rejected, scorned, and even persecuted. In the beginning of my own Christian pilgrimage, I can still remember the words of exhortation, encouragement and even an occasional admonishment from other dear children in the Lord. Of course, the greatest teacher was the indwelling Spirit that validated the beautiful Words in Scripture and helped me apply them to my own walk. I also discovered the great joy that comes from corporate worship and intercessory prayer. Then there was the great reward of helping others who had just begun their new life in Christ. All the “one another statements” in the Bible became especially meaningful as we learned to mutually encourage one another. So you might be wondering how did counseling from the world, devised for fallen humanity, get into the Church?

Well, there is a two-fold answer. Most people coming from the world, especially the adults, have grown up being told about all the things that they could suffer from. People started looking at their mental health the same way that they looked at the rest of their health issues. For us older folks we know it didn’t always be that way, psychology and any talk of mental health was only for crazy people, not for us regular people. As time progressed it became the most natural thing to suffer from worry, anxiety, stress, depression, loneliness, fear or any other number of disorders. For the record, the book containing these disorders has grown very thick over the years. The counselor’s office became just as important as the regular doctor or even the preacher. The great turning away from God created the humanistic counselor who promised to help those who struggled with their sins, which by the way was no longer called a sin, but an illness. This became so popular among fallen humanity that the Seminary started teaching psychology to new pastors, first in the Catholic Church, then also in the Protestant churches. I can remember taking a class in psychology at Seminary 35 years ago with many new pastors vehemently resisting the notion of needing to learn something that was designed to help fallen humanity – for those who turned away from God.

So over the past 35 years, psychology or at least its bedfellow Christian counseling (that utilizes the same methods as psychology) found itself fully established into the ministry of the local church. Now I know some pastors today will say that my Christian counseling always points people to the Bible. Yes, I am sure that it does, but it does a lot more. It uses most of the same operative words of psychology allowing them to stay trapped in their perceived illnesses that takes a great deal of time to bring about healing even if that’s totally possible. Where is the promised new life in Christ? Where is the miracle of miracles? Some pastors even take it a step further and preach this lie of needed counseling for the new person in Christ and the perceived illness straight from the pulpit. Whatever happened to sin? Jesus Christ never established the Church to set up counseling offices to help His children. What He did do was give everyone a new life in Him along with the indwelling Spirit who is our Counselor. He gave us a body of believers to help one another by bearing one another’s burdens and utilizing all the beautiful “one another statements” in the Bible (See Galatians 6:2).

What we should be doing is helping them to confirm their new life in Christ. Help them to see if they are really saved and if not, then perhaps there is an issue with faith, not an illness. We need to be as bold as the New Testament that says, if we say that we have fellowship with Him then we no longer walk in darkness (See I John 1:6). If we say that we know Christ, then we keep His commands (see I John 2:3-4). If we love the world then the love of the Father is not in us (See I John 2:15). If we do righteousness, then we are born of Him (See I John 2:29). If we are born of God, we do not purposely sin or make a habit of sinning (See 1 John 3:9). That should do away with the idea that we continue to struggle for years with the same sins of worry, anxiety, fear, depression, and many other sins now categorized as illnesses. Where is the new life in Christ? We need to help people to know if they are truly God’s precious children then we should be helping them to put off the old life and put on the new life in Christ immediately. Yet, the lukewarm church has constant, non-ending counseling allowing them to remain as little more than babies in Christ or of a carnal mind which is an enmity to God. We pray Lord that you awaken the lukewarm church. It’s time we threw the heretical teaching out of the lukewarm church and become the true Church. Let us experience the miracle of miracles, our new life in Christ. Amen

Rev. Blair has recorded this Blog Article as a Tribulation Radio Show in HD Video with local vocalists, prayers, and much more to the glory of God. Please Click Here

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For Every Action There is a Reaction (Video)

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For Every Action There is a Reaction

August 30, 2018 Rev. Daniel Blair Leave a comment

It’s breaking my heart that God’s people are being manipulated. Satan has not only led God’s children into deception and error he is also now manipulating them to fight a war that they cannot win, which will drive fear into their hearts. I have always been amazed by the ebb and flow of history. For every action there is a reaction. There are countless examples in history from the abuses of the Catholic Church to the Reformation and from tyranny to democracy. For every action there was a reaction. We have also seen the ebb and flow from the gross immorality in the early days of our country to the great evangelistic movements to the global emphasis on missions. For every action there has always been a reaction.

There is no difference in our modern times when so many of our great Churches and denominations have lost their footing and have embraced the doctrines of this age. Incapable of ministering to the many souls gone adrift into a sea of emotional and psychological problems they have turned to the world’s counselors and drugs instead of teaching them the power of the Gospel to transform lives. As the world around us grows ever more-evil, our attempt to legalize the trespass has failed miserably. With every action there is a reaction. As our churches have grown worldly and attendance plummeted then the music was changed, evangelistic crusades ceased, and the power of the Gospel was watered down leaving souls desperate for change. As governments tightened their noose around the Church by restricting where the Gospel could be preached, where the Bible could be carried, and who could become a member of their church, many longed for a reaction. We as the Church have been sinking into the depth of immorality seeing abortion legalized, homosexuals, lesbians, and the transgender in the streets demanding their rights and then as a final blow we have seen colored lights on the White House.

We needed a change. The Church was drowning in a sea of immorality. Then along came someone promising change. He could never cure all the problems but perhaps he could loosen the noose around our heads giving us an opportunity to rebuild a lukewarm Church. Many (maybe most) of us jumped eagerly on the new political train that would take the country by storm. It would be more than a political statement it would be a lifeline, a new movement. Yet, something happened that we didn’t anticipate. Almost immediately we discovered nearly the entire media, the liberal universities and Hollywood would react in force, with a tremendous force to be reckoned with, with an evil intent and viciousness in their eyes. Also, some of us were alarmed at the sheer number of people who came against our new political leader. We secretly met with our new political leader and prayed enthusiastically that God would win the day and save our country from its fate.

Yet, there is another thing we had not anticipated. As the liberals are being singled out, so are we. Our new political leader is happy to show everyone, although we understand it was leaked, that there is a clear delineation between the Christian community seeking change and everyone else. We have been called to fight a war we can never win. History has proven that point again and again. Although we may lose the political war, God will truly get the last word. As we stand shoulder to shoulder persecution will come and that will truly separate the wheat from the tares. Although fear will enter the hearts of everyone who calls upon the name of Christ, not all will stand the test. Sadly, many will immediately deny their faith and join forces with the world (see Matthew 10:21). On the other hand, the wheat will grow stronger in their conviction of the truth as God’s judgment is poured out in full measure on an unrepentant nation and the world. God will have the last Word. For every action there is a reaction.

Unfortunately, we cannot change what has already happened. The lines have been drawn between Christianity and everyone else. What can we do? We can try to continue our support of our new political leader believing that we will win the day, or we can continue our support and prepare for what is to come – the lines have already been drawn. To prepare we most definitely want God on our side. Quite frankly that will not happen with the lukewarm church lest they repent. We must return to the sufficiency of Scripture believing that He indeed has given us everything we need for life and godliness (See II Peter 1:3-4). We must believe in the power of the Gospel to truly transform us as we put off the old life and put on the new life in Christ (Ephesians 4:22-24). Only then will we have the strength and grace to stand firm during the coming persecution. God help us to stand firm.

Rev. Blair has recorded this Blog Article as a Tribulation Radio Show in HD Video with local vocalists, prayers, and much more to the glory of God. Please Click Here

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Tag Archives: Bible

Walking in Truth, Our First Step to Transformation

The Lukewarm Church is Blinded by The World (Video)

The Lukewarm Church is Blinded by The World

For Every Action There is a Reaction (Video)

For Every Action There is a Reaction

The Lukewarm Church is Blinded by The World (Video)

Are We Rushing Headlong into a Repressive Dynasty? (Video)

Helping Christians Stand Firm