Truth matters!

As the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” Soli Deo Gloria, the Latin term for Glory to God alone clearly shows that God alone is worthy of our worship. God own the supreme power and authority and there is no one greater or important than He. Therefore, He alone is worthy of glory and honor, and praise.

If God is greater, supreme, and important than anyone or anything, He must get ALL the glory! In Isaiah 42:8, the scripture says, “I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images..”  And Isaiah in 48:11 also says “…And I will not give My glory to another.” If our main purpose in this life is not about God’s glory, then God is not for us. God is jealous and stealing His glory or sharing His glory costs!

Why we give Him all the glory? The answer is simple, we were created by Him, and we were created for Him. The apostle Paul in Romans 11: 36 says, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” As humans make cars for the purpose of transportation, God created us to for His glory. And this is why the New Testament again and again calls us to do all to the glory of God. “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). But what does it mean we are created for His glory? Does God created us (imperfect beings) to increase His perfect glory? Not at all! One of my favorites Pastor, Pastor John Piper answer this question in this way, “Now when God says that He created us for His glory, it cannot mean that He created us so that He would become more glorious, that His beauty and perfection would be somehow increased by us. It is unthinkable that God should become more perfectly God by making something that is not God. It is a staggering but necessary thought that God has always existed, that He never came into being, and that everything which exists which is not God is from His fullness and can never add anything to Him which did not come from Him. That is what it means to be God; and it should humble us, O, how it should humble us, when we ponder His reality!” 1

Living for the glory of God: A concept that is easy to grasp yet difficult to put into practice

Why it is difficult? As human beings, we have this desire to put ourselves in the center before others. Often times our focus centers around ourselves. We strongly believe we deserve everything. However, living for the glory of God means it is not about you anymore. God’s priority in your life is to receive all the honor, all the praise, and all the glory. This doesn’t mean that God has an ego issue. Not at all! But we do!

Remember what John the Baptist said about Jesus?  Read John 3:30 – “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Why?  Because … it’s all about HIM … NOT about you or me. To live for His glory you must fully surrender to God.

“God is MOST glorified in us when we are MOST satisfied in Him” said Pastor John Piper. When our highest desire is for His glory, we surely satisfied. The end of every man’s living should be to know God and to glorify Him alone. When your ultimate purpose in life is to please Him, to glorify Him, and to enjoy Him (1 Cor. 10: 31) life make sense and there is no greater joy and privilege than to glorify God.

Eyob B Kassa

December 25, 2011

1 John Piper, Pastor, July 27, 1980 (Morning) Bethlehem Baptist Church GOD CREATED US FOR HIS GLORY(Isaiah 43:1-7) www.soundofgrace.com/piper80/072780m.htm Cached – Similar

But the question is, if God takes His glory so serious, shouldn’t we?

Sin may look desirable at first, test good at first but no matter who much we fantasize it, how pleasurable it be, it drags us down, brings us shame and finally death.

Sin must be defined according to God’s view and must be seen through God’s eyes. Sin is not doing something wrong, it is not! Sin is an attack on the infinite worth of God’s glory. And God takes sin seriously!

Sin must be seen as your enemy not a friend. You cannot take sin lightly because our sin cost God the death of his only begotten Son.

God is not a passive observer when you sinned. When we sin God grieves. Because He loves you so much He wants you to hate sin but follow righteousness.

Today, avoid those sinful cravings by live according to the Spirit. Romans 8:5, says “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit Desires.”

Avoid situations, connections, or any attractions that may lead you to making a sinful act. Remember Joseph? He did not only refuse to sin but also run away from it.

Stop playing around sin/temptation like Samson did. Some associations or relations may look harmless but they are the simple step to disobedience. In other words, stop playing with fire. Eventually, either you get burned or you get someone burned.

Avoid being vulnerable. Remember, an empty mind is the devil’s playground.

Meditate on the word of God. As Pastor John Piper beautifully defined it, “The word “meditation” in Hebrew means basically to speak or to mutter. When this is done in the heart it is called musing or meditation. So meditating on the Word of God day and night means to speak to yourself the Word of God day and night and to speak to yourself about it.”

Sin is a “me-first”, and flesh-centered life style and attitude. You can only defeat sin by being governed and controlled by the Spirit. “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:17). You need to deliberately put the word into your mind and set your mind on the “things of the Spirit.” But this is not a one time action. It must be diligently worked out each and every day.

Eyob B Kassa

November 29, 2011

The devil is a master of deception, and he is also known as the accuser of brethren (Rev. 12:10). He wants you to pay for something that Jesus has already paid for. He is the father of lies; his goal is to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10). He loves to embarrassing you with your past sin, beat you down with guilt and shame of what you did, and he loves to show how gross your sin looks and how filthy you are. He tries to do this not to help you but destroy you. He is doing this to take your peace, to take your freedom and to dominate and rule your sound mind. But here is the good news, YOU ARE FORGIVEN! YOU ARE ACCEPTED! GOD in His mercy and grace gives you a new life, a new day, a new year, a new purpose and a new path. Don’t allow the devil to bind you up or beat you down with your past. God has a plan for their future and it is awesome.

Don’t listen to the Devil-he is a murderer!

Satan is known in the Scripture as the accuser, the slanderer, the father of lies, the murderer, the deceiver, and the adversary. There is no truth in him whatsoever. He hates truth and does all he can to create doubt upon it (read Gen 3:1). It is the devil who wants you to dwell in your failure and sins, not God. He (the devil) doesn’t want you to understand and acknowledge your God-given purpose in life. As a matter of fact he (the devil) specializes in planting doubt, fear, accusation, despair, intimidation, condemnation, shame, guilt, and regret in out hearts and minds. By doing that he to tries to keep us away from God as much as possible, to show you how much unworthy you are to receive his mercy, and to magnify your past sins and failures and says, “look, Your sin is too big for God to forgive and too much to forget.”

Don’t listen to the Devil - you are forgiven!

My friend, if you confess and repent your sins, no matter how bad they looks, no matter how great your sins, God will fully forgive all of your sins! He says, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds NO more” (Hebrews 10:17). And the scripture is also says, there is now “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1. You are now a NEW creation in Christ Jesus, and old things have passed away, and all things become NEW according to 2 Cor. 5:17. God doesn’t look at what you’ve done in the past, he already forgiven you. He doesn’t look back now on your sins or your failures with condemnation, and neither should you. God, your wise and loving Father, holds nothing more against you. God doesn’t want you to be constantly ashamed and regret of your past. God is more concerned about your future than your past. He wants to raise you up, so rise up!

Enjoy your freedom in Christ!

Today, tell the devil that you’ve already been accepted, forgiven and received a new heart and a new mind. Tell him that you are now a new person, a new creation, has a new purpose, peace and sound mind. Tell him you are not going to walk according to the flesh; you are not going to walk in anger, despair, resentment, impurity, bitterness, envy and fear NO MORE!!!

In Jesus Christ, in Him ALONE, you are justified freely Romans 3:24, you are forgiven of all your sins and washed in His Blood Eph 1:7; Heb 9:14; Col 1:14; I John 2:12, I John 1:9, you have passed from death into life John 5:24, you are God’s child for you are born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God which lives and abides forever I Peter 1:23, Jesus Christ is in you (John 14: 20), His peace is yours wholly John 14:27, you are no longer need to be a slave to sin, because God has given you His power in Christ to became a vessel to holiness and obedience Romans 6:6, you qualify to be given wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I Cor. 1:30, you are a temple of God in which the Spirit of God dwells I Cor. 3:16; Ephesians 4:30, you are holy and blameless in God’s sight.  Eph. 1:4, you have been saved from your sins by grace through faith Eph. 2:8, you have been purified from your former sins and you are now a child of God 1 John 3:2! Amen!!!

My friend, a Christian life is a life of freedom, freedom from any guilt, shame and condemnation. Don’t listen to the devil. Don’t waste your time listening to his lies, because he is the father of lies according to John 8:44. Enjoy your freedom that you have in Christ. You are free, and “If the Son (Jesus) sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8: 36).

Eyob B Kassa

October 6, 2011

Sometimes in life, God doesn’t give you people; instead He gives you a challenge. You go through what you are going through, but you will grow. 

When things go wrong, when everything doesn’t make sense, when the unexpected hits and blows you like a tornado, when your situation gets worse and worse, when you are going through challenge after challenge, …etc what are you going to do at that moment? What do you hold on to? What keeps you sane? Positive? Determined? Peaceful? Joyful?  Etc etc.,

Life is not about surviving, but finding your path and most importantly yourself and your purpose.

A human heart is prone to trouble and the mind is easily discouraged, depressed, and stressed when confronted by a difficult and uncomfortable situation. At that moment our mindset got usually into a negative state, hope start breaking down, peace shuttered, and life start losing its balance, purpose and meaning.

Unless you redirect your focus and reframe your perception about yourself and your situation you will be discouraged and frustrated. At that moment what you are focusing on makes a huge difference. Where your focus is, so are you.

Consider the scenario!

While David and his men had been away from their camp, Amalekites, a longtime enemies of Israel, had swept in, burned everything, and taken the women, children and everything captive. When David and his men came back all that remained was heap of smoking ruins. Everything was gone! Everything was destroyed! It was a terrible loss. As we read in verse four, “David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.” Some of the men also spoke of stoning him out of their distress over their families. And at that point, as the scripture says “David encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (verse 6b).

It is always easy to blame someone when tragedy took place. As someone said, “misrey loves company.” When we are on the edge of despair, we tend to blame on someone or something, and that was what these men did. David not only had to deal with his own personal loss (I Samuel 30:5,6a), but he also had to deal with six hundred angry, grief-stricken men.

Everything he had was taken and the rest was burning down. What a loss! But, how did he respond to his situation? Think about that for a moment. As he stood before his burning house what was going on through his mind? How did he handle it? Was there a choice for him at that moment? Of course! 

Friends, life’s circumstances can either make you bitter or better, it’s your choice. Your choice determines the outcome. In the midst of discouragement, David encouraged himself in the Lord. He chose not to be bitter, discouraged, and hopeless. Rather, he took courage and strengthened himself in the Lord His God. When you start looking your situation from a different perspective, when you start encouraging yourself in the Lord, and when you say “NO” to fear, tragedy, loss, disappointment, etc., you see the same situation more precisely and clearly.

Be realistic but keep your focus beyond your situation

Nothing has changed. David’s situation was terrible. Everything he had was gone. His situation looked beyond repair, beyond hope and beyond his strength. His situation was discouraging. He was also surrounded by angry warriors. David had more than a bad that day. The Amalekites had taken everything. But, there was one thing that the Amalekites could not destroy and could not take. There was one thing that they couldn’t stole: his faith in God. The scripture says, “he encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” He didn’t turn to no one but God. His focus was on the Lord.

No matter what you are going through, no one can take your faith from you unless you surrender it. You have an option not to convinced otherwise. But does this mean we deny the reality? Faith is not denial. To deny circumstantial reality in order to maintain a positive faith confession is always has a bad result. But, faith acknowledges and recognizes. True faith courageously faces the reality of any circumstances, situations, problems, giants, mountains, etc., but chooses to see them contrasted to the power and greatness of God.

You cannot deny the reality and say I have faith. Biblical faith isn’t denying the reality, it is the ability to see beyond the reality. Faith is knowledge in action. It is an active trust and confidence NOT on anything but the Lord himself. The scripture commanded us to be strong only in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10). As the matter of fact, “He is the One who gives power and strength to his people.” (Psalm 68:35).

Focus on God’s Promise, Not Your Problems!

Whenever obstacles appear in your life, redirect your focus on God and His promises. When you focus on your problems you will be discouraged but when you focus on God you will be encouraged. In Hebrews 12:1-3 we are encouraged to keep our eyes on Jesus. Then we will not become weary and faint. Ephesians 6:10 urges us “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power”.  One of the best ways you can encourage yourself during a difficult time is remembering who your God is. If you keep on focusing on the situation you will be discouraged, intimidated, fearful, and finally defeated, but when you switch your perspective to God and His ability you will become strong, determined, powerful, and focused. When God is the only source of hope you have, you got all you need. It is not what you see matter but how you see. In a time of adversity, keep your focus on God not your problem because God will bring light out of darkness, peace out of trouble, and all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28).

Ziklag is not your final destination but it’s a place of transition

Discouragement is inevitable. Every now and then we collide with a difficult situation that test our strength and faith. Yes, Ziklag may be a place of desperation, tears, and pain but it is also a place of restoration, transition and preparation to get your victory. It is a place where you repositioning yourself to jump into another level. All the disappointments, failures, pain, and struggles you’ve experienced right now will equip you to fulfill your destiny. Ziklag is not a place of rejection but it is a place of transition. Your situation is not your destination. Ziklag is not your final place where you give up all your hope and dream. It must be a place of preparation. It should be a place where you reorganize yourself, your energy, and your thoughts and prepare yourself to go to the next level.

Discouragement doesn’t come from Lord but from the devil. And discouragement can also be a sign that we are walking by sight not by faith. But this doesn’t mean when you walk in faith you will not experience discouraging situations and conditions. There are seasons you experience discouragement, there are times you are facing countless obstacles, and there are levels of challenges that you will experience in this life. But as long as you fix your eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of your faith…” Hebrews 12:2a no matter how much trouble you face, no matter how much you lost, no matter how bad your situation looks, God will restore you and He surely renew your strength.

No matter what you are going through you will never be placed in a situation God cannot handle. God isn’t at work producing the circumstances I want. God is at work in bad circumstances to produce the me he wants. John Ortberg

 Eyob B Kassa

September 30, 2011

I remember this incident one night for example…

“Settle down boys,” I said,

“We are going to talk to God.”

“Talking to God?” asked my youngest son, his little hazel eyes wide open.

“We are talking to God?” asked the oldest one.

“Yes we do.”

They were surprised, with a good reason of course! I know what was in their mind at that moment, “How can we talk to God, we don’t even know if he can hear us.” That was a long time ago when we started our “family devotion,” which become a habit since then.

Prayer is a great privilege not an obligation

I am not sure how many of us do realize that prayer is actually means having intimate, personal, and passionate relationship with God. Mark; in his gospel tell us that Jesus went off by Himself, early in the morning to spend time in prayer with His heavenly father (Mk. 1:35). Luke 22:39 suggest that a place called the “Mount of Olives” was a favorite quiet time spot for Jesus. Do you have a quiet time with God? Do you have a special place that you want to be with God? Prayer is not about location or time. It is about having intimate and personal relationship with God. And intimacy cannot be hurried and cannot be confined with time and place. Yes sometimes we need a specific location and time to have fellowship with God, but the purpose of prayer is not about location but interaction with the living God. Some people think that as long as they go to church once a week, sing a few songs, and pay their tithe, that they are “in relationship” with God. But God doesn’t want your one-day in a week church attendance, your money, and your Bible study time, none of your religious list. What He wants is you! Walter A. Mueller said, “Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble: prayer is a life attitude.” This doesn’t mean we will pray without a pause all day every day. Don’t relegate the idea of prayer to just when you are on your knees. Make prayer a habit. Develop a constant communion with God.

We need to be taught to pray, because we are chronically prone to pray wrong, said Edward H. SchroederLord in his article, Teach us to Pray, printed in Nexus, Vol. 2:1 (Nov. 1961)1. When the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him “…‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples’” (Luke 11:1) His answer was very clear “when you pray, say: …” in (Luke 11:2-4) or in the gospel of Matthew He states, “In this manner, therefore, pray.” (Matthew 6:9). Now let’s pause here for a while and look what Jesus was trying to show them.

Prayer is about relationship

Prayer [Gk: "proseuche"] is “communion with God”. It means “intently engaged in; attend constantly to; persist in adherence to; constantly devoted to.” True prayer is not a mantra. Prayer is having intimate conversation with God. Through prayer we actually experience a relationship with God. The quality of our prayer life then determines the quality of our relationship with God. Prayer is talking with God. So, don’t make prayer a lecture. Prayer is neither to inform nor to impress. Prayer is having conversation with God. Remember: conversation is talking “with” not just “to”.

So, why the disciples came and asked Jesus? Even though there is no clear indication, they must have seen the way Jesus was praying every day in front of their own eyes, because He had been praying at certain times and places. Or “they had been struck with the Excellency and fervor of his prayers, and, recollecting that “John” had taught his disciples to pray, they asked him also to teach “them.”2 Whatever their reason was, Jesus’ response was direct and revolutionary. Surely the disciples of Jesus being Jews they recite the Shema, pray the psalms, offer spontaneous petitions to God and had some “idea” of prayer like their pious leaders and rabbis of their time. But now things about to change radically and there will be no more bigotry, prejudice, social elitism or religious arrogance about prayer or God.3 As Philip Yancey mentions in his book, Prayer, does it make any difference? “No one in the Old Testament addressed God as Father. But Jesus did it 170 times”4. In the patriarchal period, when people began to call upon the name of the Lord’ (Gen 4:26; compare Gen 12:8; Gen 21:33), prayer is naive, familiar and direct (Gen 15:2 ff; Gen 17:18; Gen 18:23 ff; Gen 24:12). It is evidently associated with sacrifice (Gen 12:8; Gen 13:4; Gen 26:25). As Joachim Jeremias has noted “this represents a radical departure from Jewish custom and tradition. Though Jewish people were given a lengthy number of appropriate titles for God in personal prayer, significantly absent from the approved list was the title “Father.””5

Prayer is not about words, but where our hearts should be

We have made prayer a ritual. We tend to think prayer is exercising a religious custom in a public assembly. Even when we pray, we sometimes do it in a way we talk to some “distant relative” who live far, far away. But if we could understand God’s main purpose for us is about fellowship or “koinania” according to 1 Cor. 1:9 and our God is a “relationship oriented,” and God’s desire is to have close and intimate fellowship with His children, then the whole idea of prayer would be clear. That was what Jesus trying to show the disciples in the first place.

Prayer is having intimate communication or relationship between the heavenly father and His children. Prayer is the outgoing of the heart. Beyond the content of discourse, prayer is “an overflow from the encounter between the living God and the living person.” In other words, prayer should come from a humble heart. C. H. Spurgeon said, “How many, too, have found a prayer upon their lips! It is a very common thing with those who pray in prayer-meetings, and those of us who pray in public, for our lips to run much faster than our hearts move, and it is one of the things we need to cry to God to keep us from, lest we should be run away with by our own tongues, as men are, sometimes, run away with by their horses, which they cannot restrain; and you know, the horse never goes faster than when he has very little to carry. And, sometimes, words will come at a very rapid rate when there is very little real prayer conveyed by them. This is not as it ought to be with us, and we must look into our hearts for the desire to pray, and if we do not find it in our hearts to pray a prayer, let us rest assured that we shall not be accepted before the throne of God.”6

Prayer is not a way to manipulate God into doing things OUR way

Often times we confuse “praying earnestly/diligently “ with “persuading God”. But there is a difference between “bringing our requests to God” and “trying to persuading God to do our will.” The New Bible Commentary aptly states, “…prayer is not an attempt to persuade God to do our will; rather it is an activity in which believing children approach their heavenly Father in a sincere endeavor to place themselves in the line of His will.”7When you switch the focus from you to God, you will experience His grace. Because what changes through prayer is not the “mind” of God but what changes through prayer is our mind and heart. Most of the time we get into disappointment and confusion when we don’t want to be change but We want God to change his mind about our situation. There is a prayer quote that I like very much, which says; “Our prayers must mean something to us if they are to mean anything to God” I think that is absolutely true. Prayer is not “God, you have to do this” or “God, you better do this before my life ruined” but it is acknowledging that He is in control and we trusting Him that He knows and do what is best according to His will (Romans 8:26-27, NIV). However, when a believer prays for help, that help will be given. This is absolutely true. But not rely on mystical powers of our words as the Word of Faith Movement teachers think. “Effective prayer is, as John said, asking in God’s will (John 15:7). Prayer is not a means by which we get our will done in heaven. Rather, it is a means by which God gets his will done on earth.”8

Prayer doesn’t require a certain formula

Prayer is exciting and powerful when it comes from within. Don’t make prayer a lecture. Prayer is neither to inform nor to impress. Prayer is having conversation with God. He doesn’t care about the words; He cares about your sincerity and the motive in your heart. God is not into making “things” complicated. He doesn’t lay down a complicated set of criteria before he’ll listen to us. He is eagerly awaited to hear us and to have conversation with us. Through prayer our job is not to impress or persuade God. We are not lawyers in courtrooms. As some one said, “God is bigger than you, so don’t go bossing God around.” Prayer is having an intimate relationship or communication with God who loves you and wants to have fellowship with you. Prayer is simple. Don’t make it complicated.

Eyob B Kassa

July 17, 2011

End Notes:

1 Edward H. SchroederLord. Teach us to Pray, printed in Nexus, Vol. 2:1 (Nov. 1961).

2 Barnes’ Notes on the Bible. Notes on the Bible by Albert Barnes [1834]. Luke 11

3 Morries, Derek. Walking with Jesus- part 6. The disciple’s prayer

4 Philip Yancey. Prayer, does it make any difference?

5 R. C. Sproul. Praying to Our Father. Renewing Your Mind

6 C. H. Spurgeon: Prayer Found in the Heart. January 16th, 1876

7 New Bible Commentary. G. J. Wenham, J. A. Motyer, D. A. Carson and R. T. France. 21^st century edition. 1994. Inter-Varsity Press

8 Norman L. Geisler, Creating God in the Image of Man? (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1997) 86

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting…

Sound familiar?

What are you waiting for today? How do you feel about waiting—love it? Hate it? … No matter what your answer is I can tell you this; waiting is an unavoidable part of human life, and it is painful. Nobody likes to wait; it is not entertaining at all! Waiting is exhausting. It is not relaxing. But, you know the good part? Waiting is not life itself.

“We never live; we are always in the expectation of living” said Voltaire

If there is one thing most people hate to do these days, it is to wait. We want everything to be faster, better, and cheaper. “I hate this waiting,” said my friend in our recent conversation “it make me sick.” We DO live in a “short attention span world” these days, right? I guess so!

However, day after day, we find ourselves having to wait – in traffic, in checkout lines, in doctor office, at school, at the bus station, etc etc. Life is full of opportunities to wait. We wait for a phone call, we wait for an answer, we wait for one single visit or one single ”shot”…whatever that means….we go through our lives waiting and waiting…until the  next big thing.etc etc., everywhere … anywhere… No matter how much we hate waiting, we always end up sitting and waiting somewhere for something or somewhere for someone. Isn’t it ironic? I think it is.

Recently I read an article on Psych Central by Gretchen Rubin of The Happiness Project. The article called 8 Reasons Why Waiting in Lines Drives Us Crazy and it referenced an article called The Psychology of Waiting Lines by David H. Maister. Well, the article aimed at a different setting, but I found out that no matter where we are waiting, no matter who we are waiting, “waiting is painful as well as challenging” at least for many of us.

I got to be honest with you here though. Waiting, I’m not good at it. In fact, I hate to wait. I am really bad at waiting for anything.  That is too bad, right? Tell me about it! And at the end of the day I still end up at square one because I just wasn’t patient enough. But now I am just going to wait for God…… He knows be better than anyone. So, I’ll wait patiently!  Yes, it is not easy most of the times. Sometimes I find myself arguing with God, saying, “…God I have been waiting for this so l-o-n-g…! Can’t you see it? How many more hours, days, weeks, years… want me to wait? Don’t you think you are not moving ‘fast enough’?”

And whenever I find myself in such kind of “conditions” or “situations” I feel like God saying “Patience… just be Patient.”

“Hello! Look who’s talking now?”

 My question is” God, hmmm… how long God?”

And He always says, “wait!”  And here I am today, anxiously waiting, and waiting…

What are you waiting for today? Are you waiting for the Lord? Have you ever wondered why you’re waiting so long?

I think knowing why we hate to wait is very helpful. But most us of even hate to wait to find out why we hate to wait. Because; we are living in a rather impatient society (not to blame society), and we are so used to everything moving at break-neck speed, we want everything now, immediately, or instantly. Perhaps there are many reasons for our impatience. But in most cases, it has a direct relation to our perception about everything. Everything? Yes!

But I want you to understand that waiting on God is different for some basic reasons.

God’s timing is different than our own.

There is a fullness of the time in respect of every Divine movement. As someone said it once, “There is no frenetic hurrying in heaven, only calculated purpose.” The concept of God’s timing is more than the “concept of time” because time is for us not for Him. Waiting on God is about being with Him, and that is why the question of time is outside His zone. God does not calculate time the way we do. But as the Bible tells us that God makes all things perfect in His time. I think so of make such a common mistake that we know what we want but we miss God’s timing in carrying it out. God’s timing is different that ours. ‘Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him’ (Ps 37:7). “God is the God of time as well as of timing.”

Waiting time may be a “grueling process” but it is a time of blessing.

Wait a minute here! Blessing? Oh really? Yes! It is a time of blessing and refreshment. Often time, we compare waiting time to stagnation. But waiting time is a season of learning, maturing and blessing. When we face situations which we don’t understand, or when we encounter obstacles which we were not expecting, it is easy to give up and lose sight of God’s purposes. But it is a time of learning how to give up on our will and a time of receiving “new” insight, perception, revelation, understanding and wisdom about ourselves, God, and life itself.

Why is waiting so very important? Read Psalm 62:1 & 2 and 5 & 6; ‘My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my Rock and my Salvation, my Defense and my Fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. My soul, wait in silence only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation is from Him. He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress; I shall not be moved’. Waiting on God may be a “grueling process” but it is a time of transformation and maturity. Isaiah 40:28 –31 says “… But those who wait for the Lord shall change and renew their strength; they shall lift their wings and
mount up close to God as eagles mount up to the sun; they shall run and not get tired, they shall walk and not become weary’.

Waiting on God is not idle nor passive, but is an act of Trust, Hope and a time of Worship  

Waiting seems to be a long period of inactivity with no definite end point but “God is not idle in His house” and so we do. I hope you realized by now that waiting is an action verb. It is not only a time God is working with us but we are working within us too. Waiting gives us an opportunity to seek God diligently in prayer and studying
His word, it is a time of self-examination, and it is a time of preparation for what God is going to do in our lives. Time spent with God is not a wasted time unless we make it a waste of time. It is a character development time. Yes, it is not an easy season but it is a time we are “soaking in the presence of God” rather than distracted and get confused with other things.

My friend, if you are in a “waiting season” God is preparing you as a testimony of His greatness, so work with Him. God will not take you out of it! He will take you through. Your job is to trust Him do His work in your life, hope for His best in your life and Worship Him no matter what. “The ability to wait on the Lord stems from being confident and focused on who God is and in what God is doing.”

Someone said once, “Waiting is the DNA of faith.” This may not be a perfect message for most of us who live in an “instant gratification culture” in which everything is about NOW! But life should not be like that. Waiting on God is hard, no doubt about it. Nothing tries our faith like waiting on God. But when we exercise our faith by turning our needs to Him, He will surely direct our steps. God is a rewarder of those who wait for Him. When we focus so much on what we waiting for, our anxiety rises up. We experience no peace, but restlessness. Waiting is not wasted; it is a part of the faith journey. Waiting is not wasted because we wait in faith, we wait in hope and we wait

Use waiting to grow closer to God. View your waiting time as a season of growth and development and you’re your “big moment” comes, you’ll find you’ll be that much more ready, and matured enough for your moment on the stage. “To wait is not merely to remain impassive. It is to expect–to look for with patience, and also with submission. It is to long for, but not impatiently; to look for, but not to fret at the delay; to watch for, but not restlessly; to feel that if he does not come, we will acquiesce, and yet to refuse to let the mind acquiesce in the feeling that he will not come.” – Dr. A.B. Davidson, Waiting on God (quoted in The Hidden Life of Prayer by David McIntyre) I originally read this quote here.

“Be waiting for the Lord, and keep his way; and you will be lifted up, and have the land for your heritage: when the evil-doers are cut off, you will see it.” Psalms 37:34

Psa. 27:14 “Wait for the Lord; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord”

Eyob B Kassa

June 13, 2011

God’s provision always exceeds our expectation!

No matter what you think He is, God is the master of surprises. He doesn’t need “favorable circumstances” and “appropriate conditions” to fulfill his promises. When God says, “This valley of ditches will be filled with water” we may expect a wind or rain. However, beyond our “natural limitaions” God will do what he said he will do and He needs nothing because He himself is the source. He is self-sufficient, which means God doesn’t need anything because he is perfect. In fact, it is on God alone that everything in the universe depends for its existence (see Acts 17: 25; Col. 1: 16, 17; Rom. 1: 36; Heb. 11:3; 2 Cor. 4:6; Rev. 4:11)

He made a way through the sea. He provided Manna in the desert. He provides peace in sobering circumstances, a shelter in a stormy situation, strength in the time fear, comfort in the time of grief, etc. God cannot be micromanaged. His plan exceeds our anticipation, vision, and understanding. His thoughts and ways for us are higher than we think. Because God is beyond human comprehension. He always provides for his children. He always meets his children’s needs at the right time and the right place. He is Jehovah – Jireh: the
Lord Who will see to it that our every need is meet. He knows our need because He sees in advance and meets our need just the right time. (Read Matthew 6:31-32, Matthew 7:11 and Philippians 4:19 too)

Obedience leads to provision!

God will never ask us to do something unless He provides a way. God never puts us in a situation that he has not already given us the ability to handle. When God wants to do something in your life, He doesn’t require your ability but availability. He doesn’t look at your ability but readiness and willingness. Your availability to walk in obedience and faith into what He about to accomplish in you is a key in your journey to Moriah. When Abraham rose up early that morning as we read in Genesis 22: 5 and packed for the journey to Moriah, the journey he about to start wasn’t easy. God had asked him to do an unthinkable thing and illogical! But Abraham did not wondering, or questioning. He believed God and trusts him in faith that God would provide. God wanted to see if Abraham would obey Him even though he could not understand why or unthinkable or unreasonable. God Provides Through our Obedience! The only way to experience all that God has for us is to walk in complete obedience.

God Provides at Just the Right Time!

Sometimes when we are overwhelmed by “difficult situation” we want God carrying out his plans “on time.” But, the reality of God’s providence reveals the difference between our thoughts and His (Isa. 55: 8-9) and our concept the “right time” and His “appointed time.” I believe in God’s miraculous provision all the times.
However, because He didn’t provide “as we want Him to do” doesn’t mean He doesn’t care. “God is never late, and he’s never early. He’s always right on time.”

God is never too late. We may wait too late sometimes but not God because there is no “too late” with God. He is always right on time. For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.”
God always provides. God is working according to His own time schedule – not ours. His provision is always on time, but when we confuse our inability to wait patiently with his ability to provide there is always a problem. The expression “they that wait upon the LORD” (Isa. 40:31) implies that a Christian should be willing to allow God to decide the terms because God provides at just the right time.

Where in your life do you stand in need of provision from the Lord?

We worship an awesome God. Our God abundantly provides for us physically and spiritually. Not always when we want and not always how we want — but God provides. His provision is a reflection of His love and care for His children. His name is Jehovah- Jireh- the God who provide, in other words, on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided! – Nothing to worry about!

God’s provision is not partial provision, but it is a complete provision. And He gives us every provision that we need so that we may walk (live) in the very character of himself. In other words, through His provision there comes glory and honor. He said, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Psalm 50:15 He created us for his glory and he provides for our benefit. Not superficial but the true knowledge of God brings provision. God’s provision brings glory.

Friends, I have no idea what you are going through right now, but whatever you are going through, I want to encourage you with the word of God today. I am not going to tell you that all your problems, tribulations, trials, etc., you are experiencing right now will be solved right away, but I know God provision exceeds your expectations. God says in Philippians 4: 19 “ I will…” not might, or think about, but He says, “I will.” That means not only “He is going to do it, but already took care of it.” And He says, “ I will meet all your needs” that means EVERYTHING!

“Jehovah who created all things is equal to every emergency; heaven and earth are at the disposal of Him who made them, therefore let be very joyful in our infinite helper.” Charles Spurgeon

Be blessed and encouraged in Jesus name; Amen!

Eyob B Kassa

June 2, 2011

Starting from the early church there is a constant battle between the “theocentric theology and an anthropocentric theology” for almost 2,000 years now. In fact, in recent decades, the deception of false teachings received a huge credibility within the church and millions of innocent believers accept and proclaim it without realizing what is wrong with it. I don’t think it is really surprising that these false teachings bombarded millions of unsuspecting christians since that is the true nature of such teachings, but what is astonishing and scary in my opinion is, lack of discernment from Christians and leaders who embraced and give recognition without studying the nature of such teachings. One of these false teachings that have given recognition in the heart and mind of so many believers is the so-called “The Word of Faith-Movement.”

This article was written for two reasons. First, I personally believe that the Ethiopian Christian Churches are in danger of this false teaching. A lot of innocent Ethiopian Christians are embracing the teaching of this false doctrine in one way or another without recognizing the danger. Second, this article was written after I watched a video of a certain individual, Ato Hailu Yohannes on Rise and Shine Show, taught on some controversial issues. I believe it is a wake up call mainly for Ethiopian Christian Churches and Christians here in North America as well as all over the world.

In this article, I will also try to discuss some “key points” that the word of faith-movement teaches and what the scripture says on some particular issue. In this article, I just touched the “piece of and iceberg.” Maybe there will be a follow up post with more insight, but I am very hopeful that a lot of other true brothers and sisters will join the battle.

This article doesn’t reflect my local church’s position on the issue as well as any denominations that I have relationship with. It is a personal stand on what the scripture says.

Before I go any further, I would like to say thank you to few friends of mine who gave me their honest advice and comments concerning this particular paper. Thank you Bisrat Geletu and Eyoas Taye for your honest comments and encouragement.

First thing First

Before I begin to discuss the sheer heresy of the faith movement, I would like my readers to understand that I have no personal intention to propagate hatred towards  Ato. Hailu Yohannes, his ministry, or any one who adhere to this false teaching among Christians. However, after watching what Ato. Hailu said on the following video blog, I couldn’t be quite for two reasons. First, as I mentioned it before, I have no personal problem with the person or with his “ministry” but the truth about this dangerous teaching among Ethiopian Evangelical Churches must be exposed. Secondly, even though numerous articles and books have already been published against such teaching, many people are still follow the teaching of these heretic and plagiarist teachers without a clear knowledge of what it is all about.

I know and I believe many devoted believers share similar concerns and disagreement with the faith movement teaching as I do.Yet, many keep their views to themselves because of fear or any other reasons.
Unlike to other people I do believe that the fear and silence on this issue directly hurt many innocent believers and the true doctrine of the church.

I personally do also believe maintaining or guarding the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is each and every believer’s responsibility as Paul strongly urges the young evangelist Timothy about false doctrine, and false knowledge in (2 Timo 1: 5; 3: 15).
What is a false doctrine or false knowledge? No matter who preach or teach, a false doctrine is any teaching, doctrine, or knowledge that is contrary or against to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Every teaching that can be traced directly to the cultic teachings of New Thought metaphysics, including the theology of the Faith movement, pseudo-Christian cults as Religious Science, Christian Science, and the Unity School of Christianity, etc., despite its appearance to be Christian, uses the same terminology, or uses evangelical methodology is a false doctrine, and false knowledge; which is heretical in nature and the doctrine of demons.

Pure doctrine – does it really matter? Absolutely! As we have seen through out history, the devil has been working tirelessly to destroy the sound doctrine of Christianity. And this sound doctrine of God’s word is still under attack not only from outside the church but inside too. The gospel according to the faith movement distorts the biblical concepts of faith and covenant; it brought so much confusion, disgrace, and blasphemy into Christianity.

Before I start discussing the metaphysical doctrine of The Word Faith Movement, which is also known as “Positive Confession” or “Name it and Claim it” theology, I would like you to watch and listen to one of the videos of Hailu Yohannes on Rise and Shine Show. Though Hailu claims his teachings and doctrinal bases are similar to the rest of evangelical churches, it is the exact replica of the deviant and unbiblical theology of The Word Faith Movement in Amharic.

THEAM, SCAM AND STYLE

What is reality?

Since most followers of this false teaching are in a state of spiritual delusion, they are absolutely in the conscious forms of denial, because delusion is the distorted perception of reality. They are in a total unrealistic view of what is real and what is not. The conscious denial is also exist in a spiritual  situation that conceive and convince a belief system that everything is right when the whole thing is wrong. But, what they don’t understand is conscious denial is crippling. Even though there are many reasons that people deny what is real,
the main reason is to escape from the truth. They do this by claiming that the ultimate and absolute truth is already embodied in their doctrine and that there is neither truth nor certitude outside of it. For them reality is experience not the word of God. According to Hailu and those “faith” teachers, pain, suffering, poverty is not real. But my question is if pain and other symptoms are not real then Paul’s chronic illness, or Timothy’s
stomach problem weren’t real? If pain is not real why Jesus wept in John 11:35? If pain is not real so is sin, because pain and suffering are the result of sin. And if sin (or all it’s effects) is not real then the coming and death of Jesus has no meaning at all, it’s not even real. According to Hailu’s teaching when Jesus underwent
great emotional stress from being abandoned by his friends, and when he gone through the thought of humiliation and a cruel death by crucifixion, that he produced bloodied beads of sweat, he should have speak “faith words” not negative words like “I am thirsty in John 19: 28” or “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? in Matthew 27:46  ” According to Ato Hailu and the so-called faith teachers Jesus should have confessed positive words from the Old Testament not Psalm 22 while he was on the cross or he must had a weak faith, ha?! Well, it is not surprising how deep this denial goes back into history to mid of 1800’ of Phineas P. Quimby, his associate and founder of Christian Science Mary Baker Eddy and Essek W. Kenyon, who is considered to be the Father of the Word-Faith Movement teachings. In one of Kenyon writings, he said, “it is wrong for us to have sickness and disease in our body when god laid those diseases on Jesus.”1

According to Faith-Word preachers believers suffer from sickness, is because they do not have enough faith, or to use Ato Hailu’s terminology, they must be “body oriented.” Let me give you few examples from the scripture that shows believers can be sick as long as they are in this body (oh I forgot, they (those who claim to be faith teachers) are “spirit beings” or “little gods”!), but look what the scripture says in James 5: 14; 2 Timo 4: 20; Phil. 2: 27; 1 Timo. 5: 23; etc.

Denying will not change facts. Sickness is not always an indication of little faith, lack of faith or sin. To hold that suffering in any of its forms is the result of lack of faith, or negative confession is contrary to the scripture and examples of many faithful believers who suffered greatly.

FACT AND REALITY according to The Word-Faith Movement teaching

To understand the meaning of fact and reality according to word-faith movement, it is good to listen to Ato Hailu’s answer to the question of “what is reality to you?” on the above video link. According to the faith movement doctrine, reality is what the person visualizes in his/her mind, which become into existence through positive confession. K. Hagin said, “if a believer wants to be successful over their circumstances they must confess, and confess positively. In doing so, faith’s confession creates a positive reality.”2 This must be some kind of magic or voodoo.

As his predecessors emphasized, matter has no life, hence it has no real existence.” The concept of what reality
is according to faith-movement is a direct replica of a second-century Gnostic idea. According to faith-movement, as well as dualistic view, the physical environment is not only inferior to the “spiritual” but has no reality by itself. The ancient Gnostics believed that man was spirit trapped in a physical body. This is what some of the modern day counterparts of Gnosticism says, “you are spirit but you live in a physical body”3 and Hagain also said, “the real man is the spirit. The spirit operates through the soul; the intellect, sensibilities, and will. And the soul operates through the body. The real you (your spirit) and your soul lives in a physical body.”4 But denying physical symptoms (including the physical realm) is very dangerous and deadly.5 And this is what leads this cult and its adherers to the other extreme and says the physical death of Christ on the cross cannot end out spiritual separation from God. Even Copland bluntly states ‘when Christ’s blood was poured out, it did not atone’. Jesus had to die spiritually and become sin. That is, He had to take on the nature of Satan. Benny Hinn says, “Jesus Christ knew the only way He would stop Satan is by becoming one in nature with him. You say, ‘what did you say? What blasphemy is this?’ No, you hear this! He did not take my sin; He became my sin. Sin is the nature of hell. Sin is what made Satan . . . Jesus said, ‘I’ll be sin! I’ll go to the lowest place! I’ll go to the origin of it!’ . . . Think about this: He became death; so dying man can live. He became sin, so sinners can be righteous in Him. He became one with the nature of Satan, so all those who had the nature of Satan can partake of the nature of God.”6

Faith teachers claim scriptural support for Christ’s spiritual death in 2 Cor. 5:21, which reads “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Kenyon supports the physical and spiritual deaths of Christ by using Isa. 53:9 which states “He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death.” According to Kenyon, the Hebrew word for “death” here is plural, thus Jesus must have died more than one death. 1 Peter 3:18 is also used as support of this spiritual death doctrine.

Frederick K.C. Price writes: “Do you think that the punishment for our sin was to die on the cross? If that were the case, the two thieves could have paid your price. No, the punishment was to go into hell itself and to serve time in hell separated from God . . . . Satan and all the demons of hell thought that they had Him bound and they threw a net over Jesus and they dragged Him down to the very pit of hell itself to serve our sentence”7 To support this doctrine Biblically, Kenneth Hagin uses Acts 13:13. The passage reads, “God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm:’ You are My Son, Today I have begotten You‘” (KJV; emphasis mine). Of this passage Hagin writes, “God in Heaven said, ‘It is enough.’ Then he raised Him up. He brought His spirit and soul up out of hell-He raised His body up from the grave-and He said, ‘Thou are my son, THIS DAY have I begotten thee.’”8

So according to Hagin, Acts 13:33 proves that Jesus was not God’s son until after God raised Him from hell. Hagin also uses Acts 2:27 to support his claim about Jesus entering hell. This passage is a quote from Ps. 16:10 and reads “For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption”. This allegedly, is evidence that Jesus’ soul must have been in hell at some point and that God promised to not leave Him there. So, according to Ato Hailu and his delusive faith-teachers our salvation was not won on the cross, but in hell. It was in hell that Christ was tortured for our transgression by Satan and his horde of demons. In fact, way before the so-called faith-movement cult, the theory that Christ was a ransom paid to the Devil was taught as early as A.D. 230 by Origen and more emphatically by Gregory of Nyssa A.D. 370. This doctrine however was always met with the strongest opposition and denial by theologians such as Athanasius A.D. 370; and Gregory of Nazianzum A.D. 390. Never did it become the official and accepted view of the Church.

Now let’s look what the scripture says about this distorted teaching:

• The apostle Paul said, “God forbid that I should glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Gal. 6:14). He did not talk or preach about the mythical spiritual death of Christ, nor did he
  ever speak of a glorious redemption that has been completed in hell.
• In response to 1 Peter 3:18 being used to prove that Christ died spiritually, the text says absolutely nothing about a spiritual death. In fact it clearly says, “Put to death in the body,” indicating that Jesus’ sacrifice was physical.
• I think it is very important to see also Paul’s letter to the Philippians. In the second chapter he says, “…Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore also God highly exalted Him . . .” Philippians 2: 5-9. According to this text, Paul did not
  mentioned of Jesus suffering spiritual death or experiencing a change in nature.
• Concerning 2 Corinthians 5:21, the word “sin” is used as an abstract noun. What actually happened was he become “likeness” or “taking the rap” for us and bore the sins of all mankind on the cross (Isaiah 53: 12, Romans 8:3). However, he did not become defiled with mankind’s sinfulness. If that is the case, then Jesus himself was in need of a savior from his sinfulness! His words, “it is finished” does not mean he had to stay three days and nights in hell before he went to the throne as K. Copeland and his clones thinks. As the words clearly shows, the word “it is finished” “tetelistai” in Greek means “ fulfilled”, “completed” or “paid in full” it doesn’t mean “it has just begun”. And look what Jesus said in Luke 23: 46 “Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit.” As this text clearly shows, there is no indication that Jesus submitted his spirit to Satan in hell. Paul or none of the apostles taught the “redemption work” that Christ achieved in hell. The meaning of the expression “made to be sin for us” is inconsistent, not only with the testimony which the Scriptures elsewhere bear to His immaculate holiness, but with the express statement in the adjoining clause, that “He knew no sin.”9
• The other interesting passage for these false-teachers is Galatians 3: 13 in which Paul says “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is
  everyone who hangs on a tree . . .” I believe this verse should be looked parallel to 2 Cor 5: 21. The main point of Galatians is justification by faith – the blessing of Abraham is justification by faith (salvation). Paul did not say anything about healing or wealth for believers. In the context of what Paul was saying, the blessing that comes with the lifting of the curse is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Look at v.14) and for Abraham; the blessing is not riches or health but righteousness (Read v.6). Concerning sickness and disease and where they come from I encourage you to read the following texts and make your own judgment (Deu.28: vv.20-22, 24-25, 7-28, 5-36, 9-61, 4-65, 68; cf.v.63; Num.12: 10 and 2 Cor.12: 7). As you can clearly see on the video, Hailu was in a state of vivid denial as his predecessors whom he chose to call “my spiritual fathers” who specialize in a metaphysical healing and mesmerism. These people are clearly believed that sin, sickness, and disease exist only in the mind.10  P. P. Quimby, for example said, “If I believe I am sick, I am sick, for my feelings are my sickness, and my sickness is my belief, and my belief is in my mind. Therefore all disease is in my mind or belief.”11 Unless the person is suffering from “denial awareness” this type of denial is not only unscriptural but also very dangerous. I think it is good to remember what Hagin claims at one point. Hagin claims that if he had a headache, he would not tell anyone; and if someone should ask him how he was feeling he would reply, “I’m fine thank you.”12 To deny such kinds of symptoms is not only dangerous but it is hypocrisy. Paul, who did so many healings was open about his and his closest friends sickness, Gal. 4:13-15; 2 Cor. 12:7- 9; 1 Tim. 5:23; 2 Tim. 4:20; Phil. 3:25-27).

The faith of God concept according to the Faith-Movement theology

Though there are various views of faith held by faith-movement teachers, as Ato Hailu said they talk about faith tirelessly not because it is essential to understand the spiritual truth but for many of this cult leader and their deluded followers faith works like a mighty force. It is like a “magic maker.” With enough faith, one can get almost anything they want—health, wealth, and success, just name it and claim it in the name of “faith” and it will be yours.13 Here is what Copeland said, “Faith is a force. It is a tangible force. It is a conducive force.”14
This is what he meant when Ato Hailu said, “ I am a faith teacher” during his interview at the show. He clearly categorized himself and revealed his belief-system with endless legions of Faith clergies who are the direct descendents of the first century version of Gnosticism with a practice metaphysical philosophy and mixture of eastern religions. Copeland affirms “God cannot do anything for you apart or separate from faith,”15 for “faith is God’s source of power.”16 Moreover, “everything that you’re able to see or touch, anything that you can feel, anything that’s perceptive to the five physical senses, was originally the faith of God, and was born in the
substance of God’s faith.”17

First of all, the concept of faith as a creative force is metaphysical. There is no question about that. They are considering faith to be an impersonal force that can be exerted by unbelievers as well as believers and the very core idea behind is that human beings have the power to create anything out of nothing, which only God can do or which only attributed to God. I hope you can see what they are saying here too. Now the text they are based on is Hebrew 11: 1 which says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The faith teachers hold a position that revealed not only their cultic standpoint but also treat God like an impersonal “force” that can be operated by the use of laws – laws which even he himself has to obey in order to create and operate in His own universe. They say, When Jesus said in Mark 11:22 “Have faith in God,” the literal connotation of the expression is: “Have the faith of God.” or “Have the God-kind of faith; the supernatural faith that God applies. This implies that you can apply the same principles as God did throughout the scriptures and be guaranteed the same results. Listen to what K. Copeland said, “faith is God’s source of power…God used words when He created the heaven and the earth…Each time God spoke, He released His faith—the creative power to bring His words to pass.”18 Now ask yourself these questions, Why God needs faith in order to create or operate? Isn’t He God after all? If God needed faith to create the world, whom did He place this faith in? Or what did He place His faith on? Logically you place your faith on something greater, outside yourself. Faith according to the scripture defined as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Does God “hope”? Or does He declare and it comes to pass? Is there anything God does not see? That He has to envision them somehow happening in the future? Or did He in fact create all things? And knows the past, present and future? And even works all things together to bring about His will and purpose? Isn’t God by definition all knowing, all-powerful and all present? Insinuating that He has ever had the need to have faith is to
suggest that He is deficient and lacking in absolute authority to carry out any action at any time as He wishes  – that He depended on faith (in who or what is another question) to accomplish His purpose? In order to show how the claims of this cult are wrong philosophically as well as exegetically it is good how translations render Hebrew 11: 1. For example, the Amplified Bible says: NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the
title-deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality—faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses. Neither the original Greek text nor any of the modern translations support Ato Hailu’s or his predecessors’ understanding of faith. Faith, the Greek word, Pistis means persuasion or conviction and Substance (Gr. Hupostasis) is a compound of two Greek words hupo and histemi; which means what is placed under, foundation or support), i.e. faith is what we “stand upon”
(Gr. stasis). It is a foundation for something to stand on; our foundation of faith is God himself and His Word/ his promises. Faith is always object oriented: Faith in God not faith of God. Faith is not a force that allows us to
get whatever that we want. It is not something that we generate every time we want to satisfy our desire. Yes, as the New Testament explicitly says, it is impossible to please God without faith. In fact, faith is a fundamental tool to accomplish what Jesus called us to do. But on the other hand, improper understanding of faith which is among the faith-movement teaching which says faith is a metaphysical force of the mind, i.e if we could channel my thought in a positive way or mind-frame then something magical is going to happen. This absurd. Faith is not magical. It is trusting God, it is being sure, or confident of God and His promises. The problem with most of the faith and confession taught today is that it teaches to have faith in faith and faith in confession, rather than faith in God. It is not against the teaching of the apostles but it is a blasphemous to use faith as a force in
which a person can summon up a power within to achieve wealth, health, and personal success. Faith is neither blind optimism nor believing in opposition to factual evidence or reason as Ato Hailu and his faith-movement teachers preaches. Faith is nothing but the confidence and assurance that we have in the person of God. Faith does not force us to believe something irrational; rather it allows us to hold true to what is true. Faith is
our response to God, but it is not just an intellectual response to a set of truths. Faith is not denying reality but it is discovering reality. It is affirming the truth of a situation but entrusting oneself to God. Denying reality called ignorance. For biblical Christians – reality matter. The problem with faith-movement teachers is on one hand they intellectualize faith but on the other hand they are in a total denial of reality.

As anyone can imagine, the teachings of the faith-movement looks very attractive and convincing but theologically and even logically a mess and it’s the doctrine of demons. Faith is not denying reality. Of course,
faith surpasses reason, knowledge or doubt but it is not unreasonable. Faith is not a way of manipulating God and the universe. Read what Frederick K.C. Price said once, “Now this is a shocker! But God has to be given
permission to work in this earth realm on behalf of man. Yes! You are in control! So if man has control, who no
longer has it? God…. When God gave Adam dominion that meant God no longer had dominion. So, God cannot do anything on this earth unless we let Him or give Him permission through prayer.”19

Now it is very clear that when they say faith is everything and it is a force, there is not much room that is left for God to be a sovereign God because defiantly he is bound by spiritual regulations and faith principles and it is most definitely up to us to control, manipulate and force God to act. The concept that we can manipulate God to give us the ‘good things’ of life originates in concepts, which are occultism. All the examples, which we have considered, the heroes of faith within the Old and New Testament did not use ‘positive confession’ rather; they recognized God as supremely sovereign and all-powerful and held absolutely no demanding words and
actions of human beings placing God in a position in which He is required to act to conform to any of their wishes whatsoever. Read for example 2 Corinthians 12: 7- 10. As these delusional teachers thinks and teaches God is not obligated by our words whatsoever. He is God we are his people. He is the creator, the Lord, the almighty, etc we are NOT!

Now the question is if faith is a law and God is made of faith, what does this make God?

“Now you are gods!” – the doctrine of man according to the faith movement

Man, according to the faith movement doctrine is a physical manifestation of God. As one of the leaders of this metaphysical cult mentioned at one point, “Adam was created in God’s own image and likeness, a spirit-being…[and] takes on the nature of his spiritual father or lord.”20 Copeland also said, “If you stood Adam upside God, they look just exactly alike….If you stood Jesus and Adam side-by-side, they would look and act and sound exactly alike….The image is that they look just alike, but the likeness is that they act alike and they are alike….All of God’s attributes, all of God’s authority, all of God’s faith, all of God’s ability was invested in that man.”21

Now think about that for a moment. First they will tell you that your word has a capacity to create anything that you want, contains a God kind of power to bring something into reality—Just like God himself, and next they say, the how. Because you are god yourself! Or as Copeland says, “Well, now, you don’t have a human, do
you? No, you are one. You don’t have a God in you. You are one.”22 “I am a little God! Said Paul Crouch, Critics, be gone!”23 Now this is what Creflo Dollar said, “And if God produces man and everything produces after its own kind…if horses get together they produce what? If dogs get together they produce what? If cats get together they produce what? But if the Godhead gets together and says, ‘let us make man’ then what are they producing? They are producing gods … You are gods because you came from God and you are gods, you are not just human…”24

Let’s look at the scripture they used to support this crazy idea:

1. Then God said, “let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” so God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Gen. 1: 26-27)
2. Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’”? (John 10: 34) The words quoted by Jesus in John 10:34 are from Psalm 82:6.  The pertinent section reads as follows: I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High. Nevertheless you will die like men And fall like any one of the princes.”
3. …By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2Peter 1:4)

I don’t think the crazy claims of this cult surprised anyone who is a true believer of Jesus Christ. This is clearly what is going to happen to anyone who is very obsessed with power, force and fascinated with insane ideas of authority and dominion. The desire to become like God was in the devil’s mind before he thrown out of the presence of God, Lucifer said: “I will be like the Most High…”(Isaiah 14:12-14). Satan’s primary goal is not creating doubt and fear in the heart and mind of people, but to convince them his very own idea of to be like God. This is not the New Age idea. This is not the faith-movement teaching. This was the idea of the devil himself. This false teachers are not better or different from their master himself. Read what the devil said to Adam and Eve, do you see any difference? He told them (Adam and Eve) “… your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Gen 3:3-5. Here is the deceiving part. The devil promised Adam and Eve that when  you eat the fruit, you will have the ability to differentiate the good and evil, his modern day followers promised you prosperity, good health and financial prosperity. This is not a new trick my friends. It has been in the garden long before everything turned into a mess. My friends, when you turned against God you are not going to be god, you totally separated from God. Read what Kenneth Hagin has said, “man…was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in God’s presence without any consciousness of inferiority…. He made us the same class of being that He is Himself…. He lived on terms equal with God…. The believer is called Christ, that’s who we are; we’re Christ.”25 Morris Cerillo also said “the whole purpose of God was to reproduce Himself. …you’re not looking at Morris Cerillo, you’re looking at God, you’re looking at Jesus.”26 

Now let’s say what the scripture says about man, you and me:

1. Genesis 1: 26:  Having the “image” or “likeness” of God sets man apart from the rest of God’s creation. Man was not created in the likeness of any creature that created before him, but in the likeness of his creator, “yet still between God and man there is an infinite distance”. The Hebrew word for “likeness” (_demuth_) simply means similarity or resemblance, not identity. God is a Spirit (John 4: 24), infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Adam was created in the image and likeness of God shows, he was God’s absolute, unique, paramount creation that reflect the spiritual being of God but doesn’t mean an exact duplicate with the same essence and attributes. (Read Isaiah 43: 10 “Before me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after me.” And Jeremiah 10: 6-10 “No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.” Unlike the faith-preachers, the true messengers of God Paul and Barnabas rejected the claims of the Lycaonians in Acts 14: 11-15 completely by saying “Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these
worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.” The Latin Vulgate renders it, “We are mortal like yourselves.” God creates human beings in his image means they share in a finite and imperfect way, God’s attributes such as rationality and morality. Within this attributes humans can have the capacity to enjoy the fellowship and relationship with God, each other and carry out their assignment to take care of his creation. However, they never had and never will his infinite attributes fully, they remain solely his forever. Amen!

I think every believer understand that each man and woman created with three distinct components (Read Genesis 1: 26-27) “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and [I pray God] your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Thessalonians 5:23. This shows us that we are created with both material and immaterial parts. The material is clearly visible and tangible which is your body and can exist as long as you live as a person. The immaterial part of a person, which is invisible, is your soul and spirit. When you look at the literal Greek the verse in 1 Thessalonians 5: 23 reads that “And the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and your whole [being]; the spirit and the soul and the body be
kept blameless in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is very, very important here to look how Paul describes our distinctive nature yet he described man as one being. The whole person is composed of three distinctive parts yet he/she is one, “the spirit and the soul and the body.” Each part is preceded by the definite article, and each part is also connected by the conjunction and (in Greek, kai). The Bible Answer Man’s
contention that the Greek word kai can in this case be translated “even” is fallacious, for this would make all the parts equal to each other.  According to 1 Thessalonians 5:23, a person is wholly sanctified by the spirit and the
soul and the body being kept. From this it can be seen that the whole person comprises these three parts nothing less nothing more. The human spirit can be said to have three main functions. These three functions are conscience (Rom. 9:1; 8:16), intuition (Mark 2:8), and communion (John 4:24). The soul is the seat of the human personality. The ingredients, which make us human beings, belong to the soul. The intellect, thought, ideals, love, emotion, understanding, decision, choice, and other like qualities are all associated with the soul. The three main functions of the soul are the will (Job 7:15), the mind (Lam. 3:20, RSV), and the emotion (2 Sam. 5:8; Deut. 6:5). From the beginning as Genesis 2:7 tells us that in Adam, his spirit, soul and body were perfectly blended together—his soul being the unifying factor. In other words, his soul was not only in communication with his body, it was also in perfect communication with his spirit. There is no indication that he was created as “god” but until he sinned against God his “spirit” was the dominant force over man’s soul and, thus, his body. He was body, soul and spirit. Taking the biblical text like Genesis 1: 26 to such an extreme is always dangerous. Yes, the human body is an incredible wonder! Man is neither a spirit being nor merely a physical being as well. Both are intricately intertwined to make us the person we are. God created with three characteristics or attributes (features) that are also found in God.

One: God gave man a mind (spirit), so that he could know God.

Two: God gave man a heart (emotions), so that he could love God.

Three: God gave man a will (freedom of choice), so that he could obey God.

Just as God is the possessor of a mind, and a heart, and a will, so God placed in the soul of man a mind, a heart, and a will. But, this doesn’t mean man has equal attributes with God in all wisdom, power and knowledge. Never! God doesn’t want man to be like the rest of his creation. But he created him in such unique way from the rest of his creation and gave him a spirit that has the possibility of enjoying a meaningful relationship and lives in harmony. God never had a plan to create other “gods” in his universe. Read what Isaiah 43: 10 says, “‘you are my witnesses,’ says the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me’”.

1. “There is no one like Yahweh our God.” Exodus 8:10
2. “I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man.”—Hosea 11:9.
3. “Yahweh, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.” Deuteronomy 4:39
4. 2 Samuel 7:22: “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.”
5. Isaiah 44:24: “This is what the Lord says — your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.”: “This is what the Lord says — your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.”
6. Jude 25: “To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

I can keep on going with the list but as the scripture clearly shows us:

• God is immutable in His essence: There never was a time when He was not; there never will come a time when He shall cease to be. God has neither evolved, grown, nor improved. All that He is today, He has ever been, and ever will be. “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal. 3:6) is His own unqualified affirmation.
• God is immutable in His attributes: Whatever the attributes of God were before the universe was called into existence, they are precisely the same now, and will remain so forever. Necessarily so; for they are the very perfections, the essential qualities of His being. Semper idem (always the same) is written across every one of them. His power is unabated, His wisdom undiminished, His holiness unsullied. The attributes of God can no more change than Deity can cease to be. His veracity is immutable, for His Word is “forever settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89). His love is eternal: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3) and “Having loved His own which were in the world,
  He loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). His mercy ceases not, for it is “everlasting” (Ps. 100:5).
• God is immutable in His counsel: His will never varies. When speaking of Himself. God frequently accommodates His language to our limited capacities. He describes Himself as clothed with bodily members, as eyes, ears, hands, etc. He speaks of Himself as “waking” (Ps. 78:65), as “rising early” (Jer. 7:13); yet He neither slumbers nor sleeps. When He institutes a change in His dealings with men, He describes His course of conduct as “repenting.”

God is not man and man was not and cannot be God or god in any form or shapes. By nature we are nothing, as we came from nothing. As a matter of fact we are entirely dependent on the Creator for every breath we draw (Ps. 66:9). The realization of this ought to make us lie down under a sense of our own nothingness in the presence of Him, read Acts 17: 28 “in whom we live and move, and have our being”.  Actually, not only we are nothing without him, the truth is God doesn’t need us but we desperately need him and all spirituality should start from that point. The scripture clearly teaches us that all our desire to be like him or be in control over everything is coming from our fallen nature, our phony independence, and our obsessive need to be in control. But the fact is we aren’t in control of a single thing in this massive universe and we weren’t ever in control, not even when we thought we were.

In order to show how far this heretic teaching goes let me give you an example from Copeland’s teaching. He said, “God is not God as someone very much like you and me…. A being that stands somewhere around 6′ 2,” 6′ 3,” that weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, little better, [and] has a [hand] span nine inches across” as Copeland said.27 The Bible never intended to convey the notion that God has physical features like His human creation. Anthropomorphic descriptions were simply meant to help us understand and relate to our Maker. Jesus declared, “God is spirit” (John 4:24), not a spirit being with a body (cf. Deut. 4:12). The Creator is, after all, “God, and not man” (Hos. 11:9). Man is unique from the rest of Creation, but is not divine. He was created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27; 9:6), but bearing God’s image does not make him a “little god.” Actually any worth we have to God is worth that he gives to us. Any value we think is because he values us, not because of anything in us. Anything contrary to this truth is from the devil himself.

2. Ps. 82:6-8:  ‘I said, ‘you are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.’ The biblical application of this verse was addressed to the judges of Israel they were called gods not because they were divine but because they represented the true and only God when they judged the people. The word for God that is used here is elohim, which can mean rulers, (not Yahweh elohim used only for the one God). The word for Judges is found in Ex.21:22; 22:8-9 it is ha elohim (other scriptures of how the acted Deut.1:16;16:18; 25:1; 2 Sam.11:7). The judges in Psalm 82 do not “make themselves” gods, but rather God gives the divine title to them, on the basis of their commission. Ye are gods (theoi este). Another direct quotation after eipa but without hoti. The judges of Israel abused their office and God is represented in Ps 82:6 as calling them “gods” (theoi, elohim) because they were God’s representatives. See the same use of elohim in Ex 21:6; Ex 22:9, Ex 22:28. Jesus meets the rabbis on their own ground in a thoroughly Jewish way.

3. 2 Peter 1:4: I want you to understand here that Peter was addressing the concept of “becoming partakers of the ‘divine nature’ ” with such a Platonic language to his formerly pagan Hellenistic readers but in a new Christian way. In a Hellenistic view, human spirits were part of the divine but in the amidst of the material matrix of life these spirits have lost consciousness of their divinity and the whole purpose of their soul search through their religion and philosophy was to recover that consciousness of being one with God. Ok, having this in the back of your mind, when you see 2 Peter 1:4 Peter’s statement, it indicates that his former Hellenistic listeners neither possessed nor participated in the divinity in a mythical preexistent state of being one with God which of course was also among the New Apostolic Reformation and Latter Rain movements, and today’s New Age/New Spiritualists. Note that Peter did not say that we have the divine nature, he said we participate in the divine nature, from which we should infer that we experience some of God’s qualities but not all of them now. But Christ’s dwelling in believers is spiritual, it is not substantial. It is a union and communion accomplished by the Holy Spirit Who sovereignty incorporates God’s presence, not essence, in each of us. Regardless of the some “christian sect’s” teaching of Theosis, also called apotheosis, divinization, and deification, in the Greek the phrase which says “become sharers in the divine nature” (genesthe theias koinonoi phuseos) we can clearly see two important points. Frist, we do not take or receive, we get a “share” of the divine nature and secondly, Peter’s focus is on our “future ability to not sin”.  In other words, the trait we will receive through the “great and precious promises” is the divine quality of not having to fall to these desires but not a promise that change our nature as human beings (creation) and make us divine (creator). Taking this text out of the context and say, we are gods is typically wrong and repeating the teaching of deification in the history of Christendom like Irenaeus and Athanasius who said, “God became man in order that man might become god.” The scripture says we are partakers of the divine nature. But we are not God. We will never be. There is only one God and there is none like him.

Deception in the Church — Final thoughts

The so-called The Word-Faith movement is a combination of spirituality, superstition, eastern mysticism, philosophy and psychology. Once the devil himself was the source of this heretical frame of mind, and now the faith-movement. Their teaching and cultic practices basically appeals to man’s ego for power, authority and
divinity which was promised to Eve and Adam by the devil himself in the Garden of Eden. There are many reasons why the faith teachers reject the basic teaching of biblical Christianity, but their main reason is to spread the original lie of the devil, which was “you shall be like God.” These people use different mechanisms, like social-net works, books, TV, Radio, and various types of communication channels to spread this lie, which was with the devil before and now in the name Christianity, using Christian terminologies, and Christian evangelistic methods. Their cultic teaching and twisted doctrine is spreading like a cancer in a Christian churches through out the world. The danger of this dangerous false teaching affect not only the people who control the pulpits but “ordinary” members too. And I am very much concerned about the Ethiopian Evangelical Churches and Christians who are influenced by this heretic teaching and practices here in North America and all over the world. I tried to mention just a few of their twisted teachings that exalt man to a God status and reduce God to man’s status. I believe understanding the doctrine of faith-movement is very important because it spread in different ways into the mind and belief of many innocent Christians. Their messages are very attractive because they love to talk about health, wealth, and positive confession using psychologically proven but theologically wrong mechanisms to manipulate innocent believers. They used clear scripture passages and twisted them to establish their cultic philosophy. It is a system of thinking that is alien to the biblical or apostolic teaching. It is a new system of scheme that manipulate people and leads into an endless treadmill of spiritual blindness to the extent of glorifying man as little god. I believe, it is each and every Christian’s responsibility to expose the error of this cult by any means necessary because the terrible effect of this hearsay which can have an eternal effect.

Eyob B Kassa

April 22, 2011

ENDNOTE

1. E. W. Kenyon, “Jesus The Healer”, Page 44. D.R. McConnell, A Different Gospel, Page 149

2. K.E. Hagin, How to Turn Your Faith Loose (Tulsa: Faith Library Publications, 1979),23.

3. F. K. C. Price, High Finance, p. 55.

4. K. E. Hagin, Redeemed From Poverty, Sickness, and Death (Rhema Bible Church, AKA Kennneth Hagin Ministries Inc., 1983) p. 25

5. Robert Jackson, Prosperity theology and the faith movement, p. 20

6. Benny Hinn, “Benny Hinn” program on TBN (15 December 1990); quoted in Hanegraaff, 155-6.

7. Frederick K.C. Price, Ever Increasing Faith Messenger (June 1980); quoted in Hanegraaff, 163.

8. Kenneth E Hagin, The Name of Jesus (Tulsa: RHEMA Bible Church, 1979), 33

9. Crawford, Thomas J.  The Doctrine of Holy Scripture Respecting the Atonement.  Grand Rapids, Michigan:  Baker Book House, 1954

10. Todd Ehrenborg, Mind Sciences (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), p. 8

11. Phineas Quimby, The Quimby Manuscripts, ed. By Haratio W. Dresser (New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, 1961 [orig. 1859]), 186 as cited in Christianity in Crisis, Hank Hanegraaff (Eugene, OR: Harvest House
Publishers, 1993), p. 247

12. K.E. Hagin, “Words” (Tulsa: Kenneth Hagin Ministries, 1979), 10.

13. Immutable Word Ministries (“…the word of our God stands forever.”) 2010. www. faith-defenders.com/…/a-primer-on-the-word-of-faithpositive-confession- movement

14. Copeland, The Force of Faith, p.113)

15. Kenneth Copeland, Freedom from Fear (Fort Worth: KCP Publications, 1983), 11.

16. Ibid., 12.

17. Kenneth Copeland, Spirit, Soul and Body I (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1985, audiotape #01-0601), side 1.

18. K. Copeland, “Freedom From Fear”, Pages 11-12; “The Power of The Tongue”, P. 4

19. Prayer: Do You Know What Prayer Is. … and How to Pray? The Word Study Bible, p. 1178

20. Kenneth Copeland, Our Covenant with God (Fort Worth: KCP Publications, 1987), 7-8.

21. Kenneth Copeland, Authority of the Believer IV (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1987, audiotape #01-0304), side 1.

22. The Force of Love, cassette tape

23. Paul Crouch, Praise the Lord, Trinity Broadcasting Network, July 7, 1986

24. Creflo Dollar, “Made After His Kind”, September 15, 2002

25. K. Hagin, Zoe: The God Kind of Life, pp. 35-36, 41

26. Morris Cerillo, The End Time Manifestation of the Sons of God, Audio Tape 1, Sides 1 &;2

27. Copeland, Spirit, Soul and Body I, side 1.

Have you ever seen a bumper sticker that reads, “don’t follow me –I am lost too”? I hope some of you did.

Bumper stickers though they are simple and cheap, they are the best way to get exposure, to share a specific view or opinion of something, or to make people think. They are very effective promotional tools. The images and messages that they carry can be very funny, crazy but in most cases they are thought provoking. I like most of the stickers that I read at different times. But there are some bumper stickers that I particularly dislike for example “My dog is smarter than your honor student”, or “My kid beat up your honor student”, I cannot stand that.

Today, driving down the road, I saw this particular bumper sticker on one car, which says “Don’t follow me-I am lost too!” You may say, so what’s up with that? Just give me a minute. Since everything generates question in my head, from the moment I read that sticker, one question keep on coming over and over into my mind, and the question was “do I know whom I follow?”

“Do I really understand what it means to follow Jesus? Whom do I follow today with my decision, choice, and everything? Am I after the leader Jesus or I am following followers?”

And you can imagine that question brought a serious questions into my life, “do I follow Jesus closely enough to hear him say with my own ears? And if I say, I’m following Jesus, why should I follow him?”

Back to the real issue… 

Am I following Jesus? What does it mean to follow Jesus? Well, it sounds a simple question but it’s not. If I ask you today, whether you are following Jesus or not, most of you would say, “of course I do. I attend church regularly. Pray, read my bible, etc.” But, is that what makes you a follower of Jesus?

Now let’s look Matthew 4:18-22, and Matthew 9:9. In both texts Jesus said, “follow me” and their response was “yes Lord.” In Matthew 16: 24 Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Jesus said, “Come, follow me!” This sounds simple, right? But, let’s see what does really mean following Jesus.

First, following Jesus is a personal commitment.

When Jesus calls you to follow him, he doesn’t become part of your life but He becomes your life (Col 3:3-4, Lk 20:38, Heb 2:11). When you “decide” to be a follower of Jesus you are not joining a club or a movement. You are following, or joining a person.  Following Jesus is not about membership. It is not performing a certain religious duty, or following a certain religious guru either. Following Jesus is  a personal response to a radical shift of life with the person himself. Jesus said, “If you abide in me you will be my disciples” John 8: 31(emphasis mine). Following Jesus is a personal decision that you yourself have to make not some body else. You cannot follow Jesus for long unless you are in Christ, abiding in him. The call to follow Jesus is personal and intimate. He is going to be The Lord, the reason, and the center of our life. You cannot say, “I like Jesus but I don’t like his principles”. You cannot say,”I like him, it is good to have him in my life, … but I don’t want him go overboard, and try to impact my way of life, my life style, my thinking…. because all these are My Stuff!” Let me tell you this today, that doesn’t work! If you want to be a follower of Jesus, you have to submit his Lordship. He has to get a total access into every areas of your life— not only that, You have to make him THE LORD in your life and You have to make him YOUR LIFE.

Second, following Jesus is costly.

Following Jesus is quite uncomfortable and it is quite different making a life-style adjustment or enhancement. He doesn’t offer you wealth, health, comfort or earthly possession or fame, He just say if you’re coming with me you’re going to be rejected by the world. When someone said to him, “I will follow You wherever You go,” But  Jesus’ response was very radical and uncomfortable. He said  to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Luke 9:57-58 ; see Matthew 8:19-20).  In other words, if you expect something by being a follower you are wrong. Or as William Barclay comments on this account in Matthew 8:19-20,“Before you follow me—think what you are doing. Before you follow me—count the cost. Jesus did not want followers who were swept away by a moment of emotion,…He did not want men who were carried away by a tide of mere feeling, which quickly flowed and just as quickly ebbed. He wanted men who knew what they were doing. He talked about taking up a cross (Matthew 10:38). He talked about setting himself above the dearest relationships in life (Luke 14:26); he talked about giving away everything to the poor (Matthew 19:21).”

Third, following Jesus is a call of death to self.

Jesus said in Luke 9: 23 “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Following Jesus is a radical call, which is urgent and uncompromising by nature. One of our (human)greatest challenges is to give up our autonomy and personal advancement. To be a follower of Jesus you must no longer be a person who lives under the influence of what you think, feel, and want. You can no longer be a person who lives for yourself. You must die to your own thoughts, emotions, and desires. You must take your wants and desires down under the throne and place Jesus and His will as the governing power of your life. Read Rom. 12:1,2; Matt. 6:33; Luke 14:25-33; 2 Cor. 5:14,15. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a great theologian and man of God said, “to deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only Him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us.”

Fourth, following Jesus is a call to live an authentic life.

Ok, what do I mean by that? Let’s read Hebrews 13:5-6, which says “Let your conversation (manner of life) be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Living an authentic Christian life means living up to the standard and teaching of Jesus Christ. Authenticity is about living not resembling. Authenticity is about transparency. Authentic Christians are transparent. Living a Christian life is not about reading your bible once in a while, praying when you can or when you want something from God, going to church, not cursing or doing something “bad”, or dressing, walking, talking a certain way. Living a Christian life is displaying the true image of God in your life.

Fifth, following Jesus is a call to Calvary.

As we saw earlier, Jesus said, “if you want to come after me, take up your cross and follow me” Mark 8:34-35 (NIV). Now you can imagine how this is a very uncomfortable call, which is radical and significantly clear out the possibility of an easy life. Death is your destiny. You are not going to put on his cross, but you are going to take up your own cross and follow his footstep. And I guarantee you, Jesus’ footsteps started as a path of humility, obedience, and then goes to sacrifice and suffering; yet this same path brought Him to glory. The cross doesn’t diminish the joy and the glory, but it glorifies the way to glory. It may not  mean the physical death sometimes, but it is a symbol to a radical change of life. Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20, NIV). It is only the cross ends the old life, the old pattern, the old mind-set and replace it with a Christ-centered life and mind-set. The call to be a disciple of Jesus involves the ultimate truth - the Cross. Take away the cross from the call then you end up with Christless Christianity. We all are called to follow with complete obedience, to costly sacrifice, with selfless servant-hood. As Henery Blackaby said in his book, experiencing the cross, “the cross isn’t a doctrine to be discussed, but a fact to be experienced.” And note what Luke says in v.23  ”take up your cross daily” (Luke 9:23). Why daily? It is very simple, as long as we live in this body and world, the old sinful selfish nature must be go on dying daily or continuously, read what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: 31.

Today, I encourage you to ask yourself these questions, “am I really following Jesus? What about the cross?Denying self? Or living a life that authentic? Do I really understand the cost?” Following Christ is not easy, it is easy expensive. Following Christ requires accepting the call, denying the self, living authentic life and following him up to the cross.

You and I may choose to continue “business as usual” in our life and try to redefine Christianity or being a follower of Jesus, but one day we are going to face with the crucial reality of our true call as followers of Jesus. Jesus said in John 12:24 (NIV) “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Whom do you follow today? Jesus? Really? Why?

Eyob B Kassa

April 20, 2011

There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaims by Satan. (Clive Staples) C. S. Lewis

Whether you believe it or not, the moment you came to Christ you are at war. You are at war with the devil or spiritual forces. You are in the midst of conflict whether you acknowledge it or not. There is an invisible battle just as real as the visible world. This is what the apostle Paul says in Ephesians 6: 12 “For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.” In other words, there is a spiritual battle, which is very real that being waged by the devil and his army on those who love God and live for him. There is no such thing called “safe zone” where you can hide or be a bystander. So, get that right now!

There is a war that is going on, and you are called into a battle zone. The battle is not with flesh and blood, in other words, it is a spiritual battle with unseen spiritual forces within the unseen realm. It is not a battle of man against man. It is an invisible warfare in the spirit realm and is waged within every person. And, victory in this war comes from understanding the nature of your enemy, the tactical maneuvers, as well as the nature of your weapons.

THE INVISIBLE WAR

The spiritual war is invisible by nature. You cannot see it with your physical eyes, but it is just as real as the natural world in which you live. Because the nature of the spiritual war is just spiritual it must be understood with the spiritual mind. In other words, it is necessary to use “spiritual discernment” to understand spiritual things.

The nature of the spiritual battle is multidimensional, which means it is fought in different dimension. When you became a Christian, war has already been declared against you whether you like it or not. Your choice now is whether you want to be trampled by the enemy or learn to fight and win. But I can assure you that ignoring or rejecting the warfare is much worse as engaged in a wrong warfare. Spiritual warfare never ceases and no one is exempt from it. So, its better be ready, understand and involve!

And the closer we get to the end, the more intense the battle will be. The spiritual war, which is of course the invisible war, is a highly organized and its headquarter is in heavenliness (Ephesians 6:12; Daniel 10). In order to understand this, let’s look at Ephesians 6: 12 once again:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Principalities: These principalities are ruling devil spirits possessing executive authority or governmental rule. A principality is the territory or jurisdiction of a prince. Satan has placed a prince over each principality. In Matthew 12:24, the devil is called ”Beelzebub” meaning lord of the dwelling, in which these wicked spirits are subject to and operate under Satan’s dominion.

Powers and rulers of darkness of this world: The Greek word for “powers” is exousia which means derived or conferred authority, the warrant or right to do something, or delegated influences of control. These two categories of demons are at work in the social, political, and cultural systems of the world.

Spiritual wickedness in high places: The Greek word for wickedness is ponēria and means depravity and particularly in the sense of malice and mischief, plots, sins, and iniquity (Strong’s Gk. Dict.). High places in the Old Testament were where worship was carried on. This is how Satan works in the religious structures of the world.

The invisible war started in Heaven with an angel named Lucifer who was originally a beautiful angel created by God and was part of the Kingdom of God, read Isaiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:12-19.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE – OUR WEAPONS

Understanding our weapons in the spiritual battle is almost half a victory over the enemy. There is no room for being passive in this battle we are in. If the battle is spiritual, and our weapons cannot be physical. Our weapons in this battle are spiritual. As you know weapons are used both offensively and defensively. That is why Paul encourages us to put on “the full armor of God,” so that in doing such we will, “be able to resist in the evil day” (Ephesians 6:13). Having these in mind let’s examine each piece of armor that Paul mention in Ephesians 6:10: 18:

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

1. Belt of Truth: Satan is said to be the “father of lies” John 8:44. There is no truth in him whatsoever. He hates truth and does all he can to create doubt upon it (read Gen 3:1). God’s Word tells us that Satan is a murderer, a deceiver (Revelation 12:9), a liar (John 8:44), and a destroyer (Psalms 17:4), but he can change himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). The demons can do it too. That’s why God tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 to “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The devil’s first attack is always on the truth. As the belt gathers together the solder’s tunic so is truth. Truth is what holds us in the relationship we have with God. If there is no belt there is no active mobility during the fight. If there is no truth that hold us in our relationship with God, everything is meaningless. Having a belt is significant to any solder during his/her combat. The Matthew Henry Commentary says the belt “girds on [secures] all the other pieces of our armor.” No matter how the soldier moved about if the belt is on its place, everything will be in place no matter how tough the battle is. The truth here refers to the word of God, the scripture (John 17:17). Wearing the belt or having the truth means putting God’s word into practice in our lives. It is the word of God, which is the truth, keeps us close to God, gives us understanding of his will, and sets us free from any bondage. It is through the light of the true word of God we can dislodge the lies of Satan, not by human reasoning or expereince. The truth of our foundation is the truth of who we are in Jesus Christ.
2. Breastplate of Righteousness: As you can imagine the purpose of breastplate is to provided protection for the vital internal organs like the heart, lungs and so on. Without a breastplate, a soldier would be asking for death. For a Christian the significance of a breastplate is two-fold; first, putting on the breastplate signifies my righteousness is not from us, rather, it is the righteousness of Christ, imputed by God and received by faith Isaiah 64:6; 2 Corinthians 5:21, which guards our hearts against the accusations, charges and attacks from Satan. Secondly, without the breastplate of righteousness we are worthless and hopeless. The devil not only attacks the truth in us but also with impurity and condemnation. The devil not only wants to get into your mind and twist the truth but get into your heart and destroys your purity and righteousness. To be righteous means to have a right standing with God, being justified and free from any condemnation. God imputes our righteousness; it is not earned but given.  Through the death of Christ our sins washed away, that is the justification, which let’s us stand righteous before God. As the result the Holy Spirit within us now gives us the life and power to live above sin. He imparts in us godly living.
3. Gospel Footwear:  For the Roman soldier of Paul’s day, shoes held an important place. Without proper footwear, any soldier could not do battle. Satan has many obstacles and set traps in the way to hinder our advance. For a Christian this has two meanings: the first one is, part of our Christian life is to share the gospel. To share the gospel of Jesus Christ we need to be prepared well, 1 Pet 3: 15 and 2 Timo 2:15 and know the gospel. What Paul encourages us today is to put the gospel of Jesus in our day-to-day walking. Paul is not talking about our cozy and warm shoes here, but as a soldier who is ready for action, we need to wear a soldier-boot that is strong and firmly suited. I want you to look an amazing comparison in this text, war and peace. You see peace is not the absence of war, but peace is a state of solidity and stability in a life that is lived out in the knowledge and reality of the gospel of peace even in the midst of war. Remember the metaphor of a house that is build on the rock in Matthew 7: 24-25. If Jesus is the rock that your life is built on, no matter what storm comes into your life, you will stand. The house on the rock pictures a life founded on a proper relationship to Christ (16:18; 1 Cor. 10:4; 1 Pet. 2:4-8).
4. The Shield of Faith: We need to look at two important points here in  v. 16; the shield of faith and Satan’s incoming warheads, which the scripture refers as “fiery darts”. I think we have to understand the biblical concept of faith first to understand what the apostle Paul is saying here in v. 16. The biblical concept of faith is the complete amount of confidence or trust that is irrefutable and real, read HEB.11: 6.So, faith is different from learning, empiricism and rationalism. Faith is not a human effort or strength (Ephesians 2:8). Faith is a gift of God, which is absolutely grounded on the truth, and promises of the word of God. But such faith is also active and alive. Why a shield associated with faith? It very simple because it is your faith that gives you strength and protects and guard you. Not only the size or amount of it but the assurance and strength of it. Faith is the foundation. It is faith that holds everything; Faith strengthens (Phil. 4:13), stabilizes Eph. 6, justifies Rom. 5:1, and saves Eph. 2: 8-9 and so on. Secondly, “flaming darts of the evil one” are the schemes and stratagems of Satan. These “flaming arrows” comes in various forms including evil or filthy thoughts, lustful imaginations, unforgiving attitudes, etc.
5. The helmet of salvation: The purpose of a helmet is to protect the head from any attacks. It is also a form of security. The helmet worn by Roman soldiers at that time was made of metal and designed to protect the head, face and neck without blocking their vision. Any injury that is particularly aimed at the head can debilitate the person’s function as a normal person. Paul also used this metaphor in 1 Thessalonians 5: 8. In the ancient times, people used different types of daggers to inflict a fatal blow in hand-to-hand combat or so. The word “helmet” in Greek is taken from the Greek word perkephalaia, and it is a compound of the words peri and kephale. The word peri means around, and the word kephale is the Greek word for the head. And it is only the helmet that protected them from any attack that rose against their heads. Now what is the connection of the helmet and our salvation? Well, salvation is a gift of God but it is also an ongoing process. From the moment we saved through faith in Jesus Christ, we are going through the process of justification, sanctification and glorification. As John MacArthur said once, “Salvation has happened to you, it is happening to you, and it will happen to you.” Our salvation, like the helmet, is not something we put down and relax and say, “I am saved, I am ok” no! It is a gift, a possession that is always under attack. You need to make sure protecting your head because your mind is the prime target of the devil.
6. The sword of the Spirit: The word of God is incredibly powerful and effective in the spiritual battle we have. Jesus Christ is the best example that we have in the scripture when we come to using the word of God against the devil(Matthew 4: 10). It is the word of God that has an offensive capacity against the devil. It has the ability to cut through every defense that the enemy has (Hebrew 4: 12). Unlike all other pieces of the armor of God, which are solely defensive, the sword is uniquely suited for both defensive and offensive roles.

As I mentioned it earlier if you are a follower of Christ you are in a battle, and this battle is spiritual and real. You are called to engage with an invisible battle just as real as the visible world. And the battle is not for some specific groups of people or ministers; it is for every believer of Jesus Christ. The devil and his spiritual army is active and have no other plan but to steal, kill and destroy you and your life in every dimension.

Our spiritual battle involve the devil (1 Peter 5:8) the world (1 John 2: 15-17) and the sinful nature (1 Peter 2:11). The devil is seeking to devour and the world and our sinful nature seeks to enslave and engulf us, but it’s our job and responsibility stand against the schemes of the devil and put on the whole armor of God which will help us take our stand against the devil’s schemes.The question is how much do you know about your enemy? Do you know about your spiritual weapons? How much are you ready? You are in a heat of battle, so pick up your weapon and fight!

See you in the victory land!!!

Eyob B Kassa

April 18, 2011