ephesians 2:1-5

yo, anyone who knows me well can let you know how i love the doctrine of Total Deprivaty. Sounds a little strange ya, but without it we would never see our need for a Savior. check it, Eph. 2:1-5 "And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked accordig to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who no works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)

Wow... weighty subject but a good subject. Look, mans deprivaty is something real and something we all must face when we come to the cross. When we see our sinfulness, and our vileness, that just magnifies the grace, and love of God, That though we are still this disguisting He takes it upon Himself to come down to cleanse us. Ok, Paul here in this text is letting us know that we were no different from those who walk in the desires of the flesh, or follow the world, because we were once in that same mindset and if it were not for the grace of God calling us and opening our eyes we would still be with them. One thing that the text says is that we were dead! we unable to respond to God beckoning call. Many people like to say, "ya, I'm saved because I CHOSE to accept God..." I'm always like "really? you chose?" Christ says that you can not come to the Father but through me, and you can not come to me unless the Father draws you. So its not that you chose God, but that God chose you. We were dead! a corpse in the grave, and God reached down because of His grace and love and has given us life. So, when we see that we are no different then the person next to us, what compelled God to save us, why are we called? why are we not like the rest, but instead the grace of God has open our eyes? I would say to make the glory, and supremacy of God shine fourth. The Lord uses the weak things of this world to put to shame the strong, and the foolish to shame the wise, and this is what He has done with us. Now, i know some people dont like to be called fools or weak, but that is what we are and when we realize that it brings us to humble ourselves before a great and merciful God and as the scripture says God exalts the humble but strikes down the proud. That is why God chose us wicked, dead, sinful, disobedient, lustful men and women, to make His name glorious, and in that we get the benefit or priveledge to spend eternity with Him. As one of my favorite Hymns says "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God i love, here's my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above." we must recognize that left to our own nature, and desires, we would run towards the lake made of fire, but through Gods grace, and Christ's atoning death, we now fling ourselves to the Fount of Living Water, Christ. Also, as the hymn said, it is God that takes our hearts, and seals it, we do not maintain our salvation, no, as philippians 1:6 says "being confident of this very thing, that He who begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." So even our eternal security is found in Christ. Well, i think this is all i have to say for now, i pray that this is edifying to the body, and brings glory to the God of all creation. Amen

Eshon Burgundy. this dude is sick!

little blog on the book of acts.

yo, what up fam? well, i just started reading the book of acts yesterday, stopped at chapter 10, but ch.4:29-37 really just brought joy to my heart, and also some pain. Joy, because i love how selfless and how giving and loving the people were. V.32 said that the people were of one heart and one soul. They shared the same passion which was loving Christ, exalting His name, and as a body of believers they cared for each other.Also in V.34 it says that none of them lacked anything. Man, thats sick! Now, we live in a culture where you have to look out for number 1 (you); the church shows that as a body, as the bride of Christ, we care for each other, if your in need we will help you lack nothing. Now, i dont think the scripture meant, "yo, if your lacking a bently and a mansion, we will help you get those things," but i think it means with both physical things, like food, shelter, clothing, etc. and spiriturally, learning about Christ, and being fed spiritually by the preaching of the word. The reason why i felt pain was for 2 reasons, one, because of my prideful heart, convicted to the core fam. I am not one to ask for help, for anything, and i have been told i have a prideful heart, and even my pastors and elders have offerd help when i need it, but i tend to refuse because i was brought up in a "dont ask anyone for help because that shows your weak," kind of mentality. Reading this showed me that when i am in need, again not selfish need or worldly need, but in true need, like finacially i cant do something that is edifying the church, or something on those lines, that i can go to the church and ask for help. Humility! is what this has shown me, beautiful, and loving humility. Another reason i had pain in my heart and soul is because i feel like we, as a church in whole, have not been doing this. We need to be able to help one other, not grudgenly, but lovingly. The people did not sell all their possessions and say "This stinks, i dont wanna do this, but let me just slap on a smile and do it because it will make God happy." No! They were of one heart, and one soul, and i am pretty sure they did this out of love for one another. But!!! we see in chapter 5 a couple who sold their possessions but held back some of it for themselves and they both died. Peter says in V.4 of chapter 5 that "you have not lied to men, but to God." This shows selfishness, and deceit by the couple and a heart that was probably not in one mind and one soul. What i am trying to get at, and there is so much in this text and i have little time, is that we, as a body of believers and as the bride of Christ need to keep this in mind, to love each other and to help each other at all times. To make sure that our fellow brethren do not lack anything, like shelter, or food, or clothing, etc. and also spiritually, to help those that are young in the faith to grow in there walk with Christ. Also, to be humble, not to be ashamed to ask for help from the church, because that is one of there purposes, to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to help the other members of the body. Be humble, those who walk in meekness and humility truly please the Lord.

Well i hope that this has edified those of you whom have read it and works in your hearts. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you always. Amen.

right now, im just thinking about Christ, and i feel like writting a little rap, so if its a little sloppy sorry, but i just feel lyrical at this moment. ok, here i go!

I dont preach the Gospel with eloquent speech,
Oh GOD make me weak so that Your strength will increase,
I need Your grace to cover me like an old navy fleece,
Lord break this heart of stone, piece by piece,
With everyone that i meet, it is peace that i seek,
To be humble and meek is what You teach,
I heard You speack, "it is finish!"
And So I preach, "HE is Risen!!!"
Forgiven by the decision of Him who's dressed in linen,
A covenant was made before the beginning.
That You would send down the Son on account of mans rebellion,
wrapped in flesh, live a perfect life, die and on the third day ascension,
This word play i dont use it in the worlds way,
But to exalt the Lamb without demand but out of reverence,
In every sentence i want His ressurection to be presented,
God's goodness should lead men to repentance,
Yet His prolonged wrath has people living in ignorance.
How could they believe if they have not heard?
And how can they hear unless someone preaches?
And how can one preach without being sent?
lets preach every moment about the Christ atonement,
And war against flesh, and satan, and all the unseen opponents.
May the Lamb that was slain recieve the reward,
Till the day that He comes, Lets exalt the Lord!

He bought you to set you free

Dead in adam, alive in Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:21 and 22 "For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive."

In adam all died, all men and women are born dead in sin, and have no way to merit there own salvation. The truth is, if anyone of us were put in the situation that adam was in, we all would remove ourselves from Gods authority and follow our desire. By man came death. By adam sinning and eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, all man experienced death and now is dead. There is nothing that we can do, nothing at all, this is our state when we enter the world, dead. Spiritually blind, def, mute, dead! have you ever thought of yourself being dead? like if someone were to speak to you, or nudge you, that you would not feel any of that, so then how are we to be made alive? By works, how can a dead man work? if we are dead then we can not even move, how much more can we actually work? No, not by work, but by God. God is the one who,from eternity past, chose those who would be apart of His bride and be found in the Lambs book of life. God had to send down Christ, and Christ had to die so that the wrath of God may be satisfied, and the Father had to raise the Son from the dead so that all would know that He was a perfect sacrifice, and Christ had to return to the Father so that the Holy Spirit may come down and indwell believers so that we may bear fruit pleasing to God. By Man also came the ressurection of the dead! Man had beef with God, and only man can atone for mans sin, but man isnt perfect, and God only accepts a perfect sacrifice. So, Jesus Christ, the Perfect Son of God, Had to become man, to atone for mans sin. That is the only way that "by Man also came the ressurection of the dead" be in this text. If God wrapped Himself in human flesh, live a perfect and sinless life, offer Himself as a Lamb without spot or blemish to God, and satisfy His just and righteous wrath. for in adam all died,even so in Christ all shall be made alive. Ok, as the bible said, all man is found in adam, we are all adams offspring, but only a few are Christ offspring. When Jesus spoke to nicodemus, He spoke of being born from above, or born again. We MUST be born again, because our fisrt birth, which we are found in adam brings death, But for Christian the second birth or being born again, means that we are birthed in Spirit and truth, by faith we are found in Christ and now alive.

The Widow's Oil

2 Kings 4:1-7


Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves." Elisha said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. "And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full." So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. When the vessels were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not one vessel more." And the oil stopped. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest."

Last night at our church, we watched a video that had to do with this text, and it was mainly focused on God's provision, and how He truly is our provider. I am not trying to take away from that truth, because the Lord is truly the entire earths provider, even if the unsaved see it or not. I am focusing on the spiritual, cross side of it. When i was reading this, and watching the video, i could not stop thinking about the debt that we owed to God, and that is an amount no man can pay. With this women, in this event that we are priveleged to have in the scriptures, we see that she was in a debt that she couldnt pay, and if she didnt pay it she would spend her entire life trying to pay back her debtor to have her sons returned to her. But God, through the prophet elisha, provided a way for her to earn money and not only pay her husbands debt, but also live on the money she will continue to make off the oil. Again, i love how this points to the sacrifice of Christ, may i take some time to show ya'll? aight... thanks. ok, we all are in debt to God, all of us; and none of us can pay Him with anything our hands can provide. And if we do not give our lives to Christ then we will remain slaves, to sin. And our entire lives we will continue to serve our master, sin. But, God through His Son provides a way that sinners may be saved and have life, and not just life here on earth, but eternal life, in the sight of the Father. Through adams sin, we all became debtors to God, but through God's only begotten Son, dying on the cross, His sacrifice payed the debt that we owed to God, and now we live off the unceasing grace that God pours out to His kids, we dont need to go back into bondage to the sin we once served because that debt was paid in full. Now the women entered a debt because her husband, and God, through elisha, provided a way that she could pay the debtors and live off the rest, so she didnt need be a slave for those men she once owed, but live free off the oil that was provided to her by God. Now do you see what i see? aint that crazy how God does that in His text. Its crazy man, it just rocks me to the core! Another thing that we have in common with this women, is our hopelessness. When God opens our eyes to the truth of the Gospel, we are left hopeless, with no way to earn salvation; but as this women ran to a godly man, elisha, we run to the God Man, Jesus Christ, and fall at the feet of the cross and with a broken heart of stone, eyes full of tears, and we see God as wonderful, merciful Savior. well, i hope ya'll enjoyed my little insight. i pray that this is edifying to the church, and that most of all the glory of God is revealed and shown. Grace and peace fam. amen!

Piper on the prosperity gospel

Set your mind on things above, where Christ is!

Colossians 3:1-3

"if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God"

yo, i love this verse. It is just plain sick... lets chop it up a bit.

Ok, paul starts this off with a statement; "if then..." "if then, colossian church" "if then christian of the 21th century..." "IF THEN!" if you truly are saved, if you truly are what you claim to be, if you "were raised with Christ" then seek. " SEEK! those things which are above, where Christ is." Many times when we claim to be something we more than likely follow through with what we believe, but why is it that when it comes to Christianity we do the total opposite. If you meet a person and he weights about 300lbs, out of shape, and heavy breathing from walking 3 steps and tells you i am an olympic swimmer, would you believe him? more than likely not, but if a person, lean, and healthy and wearing medals on his chest comes to you and says, "im an olympic swimmer." ofcourse you'd believe him, he has proof, and lives it out. Now why do most american Christians say they love God and live like the devil himself? WHY? Christian, i tell you, i you say you are a Christian, and that you love God, then you are claiming to be raised with Christ, and if you claim this then paul says, " seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above." Set, or Fix, or never take your eyes off, or stay focused on, Set your eyes on things above, is our call in this text. we are to look to Christ and never look away. I am reminded at times when Jesus is walking on water and peter goes out with Him and everytime He takes His gaze of He sinks, but when His gaze is fixed on Christ he walks on water. We must take our eyes off of the world and the things that consume our thoughts, and actions, and our lives, and Set our LIFE on the things above, on HIM above, sitting on the right hand of God, and strive, run, and endure for Him, because He will keep us (philippians 1:6), glory be to God. "Not on things on the earth."why not fix our eyes on things on earth, or live our lives to things our earth? Like world peace, or helping animals, or working to supply for our families, why not live for those things? Because then you will make that your god, and God is a jealous God, and He tells us, do not have any other God's before me, and if we do we will be casted into hell and His just and righteous wrath and anger will be poured out on you. The things of this world perish, love fades, cars and things rust, items get lost, and if they dont, then we die and can not take that with us. But if we set our eyes on the things where Christ is sitting, then that will never perish. Living for Christ, for God, has more of a reward and more joy then if you were a billionaire since the day of your youth til the day you died. No thing is better than the reward, and joy that if found in living for the Glory of God. last thing... "for you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Oh how great is this! we died!!! we are dead to this world. This world no longer brings us joy, but we long to be with our Lord, this world no longer makes us smile, but weep for the souls that are being deceived. Oh but we christian, oh we are dead to the world, but alive in Christ, we are hidden with Christ in God. I love this line from before the throne of God above that says "Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea, a GREAT HIGH PRIEST who's name is Love, and forever pleads for me. My name is graven on His hands, my name is written on Heart, i know that while in heaven He stands,no tongue can bid me thence depart." Oh how precious those words are. We have a great High Priest, and as long as we are hidden with Him in God, no man, no angel, no demon, no thing can bid us thence depart. GLORY TO GOD!!! that alone should enthrall us to set our lives on the things above, to live a life glorifying to God, and to strip away all the things of the world that weights us down and cling to the beautiful blood drenched cross of our Savior. Oh Christian, live a life worthy of the calling that you have recieved. Live a life at the feet of the throne of Grace and in the bossom of the Lord. I pray that this is edifying to the bride of Christ and that we all repent and fall back, and live to bring glory to God in every area of our lives. Grace and Peace, amen.