Sermon Notes & Videos
2022-11-25 | Joshua 12-15 | The Promise Remains
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Why do you call me Lord and not do things that I say? It’s a great question! In modern vernacular we might even call it a reality check. And they can range quite a bit, these reality checks, from reality check and friendly nudges to harsh warnings and hostile shoves. It all depends on you. Are you receiving the message? Is reality getting through to you?
Now, there is a word that needs some clarification—reality. We can’t just assume. I mean, maybe we could at another time in history. But in a universe in which we cannot even distinguish between a man and a woman, I can’t safely assume anything. Reality should be simple to define, but it isn’t. Reality has become relative. Now, if there was EVER an oxymoron it is that…reality is relative.
Relative: existing or possessing a specified characteristic only in comparison to something else; not absolute; a fair degree of; comparative, qualified, modified… Impossible! Reality CANNOT be some degree of something. Reality is absolute. Reality is truth.
So, I will again ask; is reality getting through to you? Is absolute truth getting through? Well, when it is not, we get gentle reminders, and if we still remain dense we get disturbing and uncomfortable reminders. Then, at some point we must pick a side —definitively. The Master has gone away, but blessed is the servant whom his Master finds doing what he is supposed to be doing when the Master returns. Oh, and if you didn’t catch that, what the Master expects you to do is the ONLY reality that matters! But, there is ANOTHER reality you should wholly avoid, not another as if there is an alternative truth, but another as in the other side of the same coin.
Yes, the Master has gone away and is returning soon. One reality is this; “Blessed is the servant whom his Master finds doing what he is supposed to be doing when the Master returns.“ And the “alternate reality?” “Cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites!” Can we all agree that you’d be better off letting those mild nudges that sometimes become brutal shoves do a work in you. Why? Because the “alternate reality” is sharper than a two edged sword and it will shred you to ribbons!
2022-11-18 | Joshua 9-11 | A Relaxed Voice
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I could not think of a better way to introduce this subject than to pepper you with a spray of soundbites. Generally I am against Christian one-hit-wonders, or should I say one-verse-wonders? But, this compilation of platinum singles really amalgamated like a precision missile strike.
Why have you deceived us? Because you did not ask counsel of the Lord. You fight and war, yet you do not have because you do not ask; you ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss. Then Joshua spoke to the Lord; ‘sun, stand still,’ and the Lord heeded the voice of a man. Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had said; then the land rested from war. We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. Come to Me and I will give you rest. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us; and whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. You will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Peace, be still! And the wind ceased. And most inspiring of all: “Lazarus, come forth! Loose him from those graveclothes, and let him go.” After that barrage you might be left wondering, “Who is foolish enough to not ask? And who is stubborn enough to not follow the strict guidelines of asking? In other words, what parameters ensure that asking is met with a favorable response?
The Bible is replete with examples of natural phenomena set on a collision course with the supernatural. Mountains get tossed into the sea; oceans separate; raging rivers hit invisible barriers; gale force winds cease; and the sun stands still in the sky, motionless, at the sound of a man’s voice. How does this happen? And could you duplicate such cataclysmic authority? Maybe you can and maybe you can’t, but one thing is for sure, you can’t unless you ask. So, we are left with just two options: do not ask the counsel of the Lord, or speak to the Lord and witness the sun stand still! I don’t know about you, but I will simply ask these two questions again.
“Who is foolish enough to not ask?” And, “Who is stubborn enough to not follow the strict guidelines of asking?” Oh, and when you do get around to asking, do it with a relaxed voice!
2022-11-11 | Joshua 7-8 | Et tu, Joshua?
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Friends don’t do that. It’s one of those labels that has been used and abused, like love. I love my car; I love my job; I love my house; I love my dog; I love football, etc. And, I have a friend; I know a friend; I can introduce you to a friend; my friend online, etc. Every acquaintance in your social circle is your friend? And every contact in your device is a friend? And every social media follower or followed… are friends? Guess what? They are NOT your friends.
Friendship is so deep, so intimate, so binding, that it alone sits next to love on our journey to divine-likeness. God is love; Y’shua said that. And here we have the path to that love. To your faith add virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and brotherly kindness. Only then do we arrive at love, His divine nature. Did you catch it? Brotherly kindness is friendship; and you must add friendship to godliness before you can love! Friends know one another, understand one another, trust one another, believe in one another, and are faithful to one another. Friendship describes a closeness so close that it would surrender itself for another. As such, you might now agree that you don’t have any friends on your social media platforms; you aren’t following actual friends in your “friend list.” Neither are you being followed by friends! Maybe you have a friend or two in your thousands of device contacts, maybe, but that’s about it.
All this, and yet Y’shua calls us friends. Abraham was called God’s friend; Moses too was a friend of God. That is some pretty exclusive company. Y’shua kept Peter, James and John in His inner circle. That is why they alone were on the mountain with Him when He revealed what the future held for mankind; very exclusive company! All such deep intimacy, and still Y’shua includes us in His inner circle; He calls us friends.
And if friendship is such an exclusive binding relationship, how much does it hurt when a friend betrays you? How painful is it when the one who should know you best forgets who you are, has a lapse in memory about your history together, loses trust in you, or purposely separates from you? It’s an awful thing to slip into the endless list of those “friended” online, those who don’t really know you—those who NEVER knew you.
Joshua had an extensive history with Yahweh. He was there for it all. He stood by Moses’ side. He spied out the land and returned with the good report. He witnessed every indescribable miracle during Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, and every supernatural provision in the wilderness. He was the single man anointed to carry the torch into the promised land, and through him God orchestrated holding back the flood waters of the Jordan, so His people could pass over on dry ground. Joshua certainly had a victorious entry! The walls of Jericho had fallen and he was on the way to Israel’s next conquest.
Then, there was one small setback and Joshua goes completely sideways! He sinks right to the bottom and joins the faceless list of those who have no history with God; he goes utterly blank. It feels like an absolute betrayal and Yahweh will have NO part of it. “Get up Joshua, and stop your sniveling! Of all people, you should know better. We have an extensive history together! How can you forget My personal guarantee? ‘Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.’ Plus, you know very well how much I hate whining.
Grumbling and complaining will get you nothing but a giant slap down. Get up, pull up your pants and be a big boy. Figure out what went wrong and fix it, or I will. Oh, and if I have to do it, it will be much, much worse for everyone!”
2022-11-04 | Joshua 5-6 | Spiritual Violence
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I have no doubt that the words themselves will invoke strong emotions, and you may not like them. They often settle in your soul in a certain place, very likely in the location reserved for where negative feelings go to dwell. The words are ‘violence’ and ‘violent.’ ‘Violence’ describes a type of behavior, often involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or even kill. It is an unpleasant or destructive force used for intimidation, oftentimes unlawful. Synonyms that describe ‘violent’ include brutal, savage, cruel, sadistic, barbarous, murderous, bloodthirsty, ruthless, inhumane, heartless, and merciless. These certainly reside in the home reserved for negative emotions. Even its antonyms prove where violence undoubtedly lives in your soul: gentleness, kindness, and mildness.
Today, I will also include a few other thoughts to help add to your frame of reference. I wish to reframe violence in your mind, not to eliminate the above, just add to it. And, I’ll use this bible passage to show both sides of the violence coin, how it’s actually a double-edged sword. “THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERS VIOLENCE, AND THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE.” How I defined it above certainly conveys the proper understanding of “violence” in this verse; the kingdom of heaven is being violated by destructive forces. But “the violent”, who take it by force, is something different. It best describes the necessary actions of spiritually violent men who MUST use violence to fiercely defend the kingdom against destructive forces, those who also wrestle ferociously to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth. Yes, proper descriptors for these men live in positive emotions territory. Think ferocious, intense, vehement, fervent, ardent, zealous, and fierce. Spiritually fierce men defend the kingdom; ferocious men take the kingdom by force. These warriors protect the kingdom and then overtake it!
How? The Scripture says… by force! What kind of force? It’s not what you think. It’s not brute force. It’s not physical force. It is spiritual force! Sure, at times it appears like fire from heaven; but other times it overcomes the unlawful violence against the kingdom by turning the other cheek. And then there is the intense violence of meekness, the most ferocious spiritual force of all. This is the power to do nothing when you have the power to do everything.
2022-10-28 | Joshua 1-4 | Baptism on Dry Ground
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A herald is going out to the Church calling all Christians to radical, grace-empowered, faith-based obedience—obedience to God that will overtake every aspect of your life. The time has come to answer this mysterious prophetic question. What will it take to become perfect, to reach the stature and fullness of Christ? Asked another way: how will Christ become fully formed in you?
Unraveling this mystery has been a problem avoided for centuries—and when any attempt is made to solve it, the most common solution is death. We must literally die to become like Christ! We have become convinced that the only way to reach Paul’s lofty goal, “Imitate me as I Imitate Christ,” to emulate the perfect life of Christ, is to die. That strange doctrine alone is responsible for more Christians living excuse-filled lives than any other. In other words, being alive is the perfect excuse to sin. This has become ingrained into Christian thinking; “Why even consider Christlike perfection when I have the perfect excuse to remain imperfect? Since sin is a forgone conclusion, while I live and breathe, I can’t be expected or responsible to truly become like Christ. There is no practical plan for humanity to exercise complete power over sin on this side of eternity. There’s no way for me to stop sinning until I’m dead. Therefore, to become like Jesus is reserved for the afterlife, or more precisely, it is an after-death experience.”
King David did something 3000 years ago that few other men in history would dare to do. His approach should shed some light on God’s heart to change those erroneous assumptions about sin! Maybe there is an actual plan for humans to achieve what Christ commanded. “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” What did David do? He anticipated what God desired and was bold enough to declare it out loud, before we see any evidence that God told him to do so! Might we do the same?
Let’s get personal! What could you accomplish for God if you could foresee His divine plan—in advance, and if you were willing to act on that plan, regardless of how crazy it might seem or how risky it might be? You see, something else happened once David proved he was willing. It was astonishing, and it would not have happened otherwise. God downloaded the blueprints of His plan to the king! Might He do the same for you?
This year we will answer many questions, as we examine the magnificent prophetic framework of the Bible. As we download God’s blueprints and decode His plan, we will learn to decipher the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven—Christlikeness heading the top of our list. On our voyage to the edge of the promised land, we have thus far journeyed from captivity, through the wilderness, and now we find ourselves standing on the bank of the Jordan. It is time to cross over into your inheritance.
What is Christianity’s ultimate inheritance, its promised land? And, what will it take for you to cross your Jordan? It’s going to take unshakable faith, the faith of a giant slayer with the heart of David, infused with grace and moved by the Holy Spirit. Are you willing to proclaim the unthinkable with the faith of a man after God’s own heart? What you will uncover is the secret that holds back the waters. Then, you can step into the river and cross over on dry ground!
You must, at this moment in history, consider your duty and calling. What is your job description in the prophetic journey of mankind? What is your role in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth? For 2000 years we’ve prayed, “On earth as it is in heaven.” But now, the time is urgent… “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” You are about to be revealed!
What is Christianity’s promised land? It’s Christlikeness; it’s that on this side of the grave you no longer live in your body, but Christ lives in you, the hope of glory. And that at some prophetic moment in time, it will be the fullness of Christ in you—perfection. That is the promised land and that is where we are going.
Come–let’s go on a journey together to unlock extraordinary mysteries. Discover that the impossible is possible. Step into the dry riverbed and walk over to your ultimate destiny. Then, take part in the most exciting events the world has ever known. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.“
2022-2023 | Reading Schedule | The Year of Holiness
“‘When you come into the land, and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. Three years it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. And in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:23-25 NKJV
It’s been three years… We are not going back to Genesis. We have three years behind us “in the land.” This year’s fruit (year four) will be our holiness for Yahweh (Be holy! Lev. 19-20 & I Peter 1:16)! Next year we will eat the increase of that fruit of holiness (Eph. 3:20). Strap in!