Category: Faith Fix

In John chapter 6 Jesus says at least 4 different times that you must believe in, cleave to and trust in and rely on Him and you will have eternal life. Later in the chapter He changes it to he who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life , John 6:54.  Before the end of chapter 6 many of His disciples have left and no longer accompany Him.  What does John 6:54 mean?

John 6:54 (NASB)

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Well obviously Jesus is referring to the New Testament practice of cannibalism. Ok, I’m joking, but Jesus did say some interesting things didn’t He? His disciples actually questioned Him on that too, “You say things hard to understand.” Jesus had purpose for saying things hard to understand, and sometimes still does.

Jesus had great purpose in being here, and it wasn’t what many think. Jesus didn’t come to live, but to die. Everything He did while He was here was pointing to that place. He certainly explained many truths to His followers but most of what He was doing could not be understood until after. I’m going to say something that might shock you but it wasn’t as important to follow Jesus while He was here as it was after He left. Surely those with Him were blessed. But being with Jesus in life didn’t make the difference, being with Him in death did. Let me explain.

Judas was with Jesus in life yet he left Him at death, as did Peter. Peter was restored, Judas however was not. Judas surely could have been. Some people will say but Judas betrayed Him. This is true, but the Bible tells us we all have. Romans 3:10-12 (NASB) says, “as it is written,

‘THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.’” Judas could have been restored had he desired to be. 

What is happening in John 6:54? Jesus is pointing to what is called the last supper, which is the beginning of what we now practice called communion. In 1 Corinthians 11:26 (NASB) it says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” One cannot have faith in Christ apart from partaking of His body. To eat of His flesh and to drink if His blood is to believe in who He was and what He did. When we take communion we reflect on that and what we are doing in relation to it. 

When we see people leave Jesus at the end of John 6, it’s because they didn’t understand. They, however, didn’t need to. Their redemption was not Christ here, but Christ in the Cross. This was also looking to the future. If people truly understood what He was doing, everyone would come to Him. There are many reasons why people reject Him, but ignorance is at the top. I am convinced there are those that left Him in that time that came back after His resurrection. Just as there are those today that will come to Him, that had never known the truth before.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff 

Question: Lately my heart has been so incredibly heavy. The words from 1 Cor 6:9-10 play over and over in my head… specifically “drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God”. So many of my family members and friends, even those who love the Lord, are caught up in this lifestyle. God is all righteous and His Word is the highest standard. Where does mercy come into play for those who love and adamantly try to serve the Lord but see no fault in substance use? Many churches don’t even touch this subject, or drink right along side their congregants. Are people drinking themselves right into Hell or will they just experience destruction here on earth and their souls be saved? 

Boy, this is a hotly debated topic in the body of Christ! To drink or not to drink, that is the question! As always I like to try and point to what the Word says and not what it does not say. In part, however, our understanding of the Word will always be affected by our motives. I believe motives is one of the greatest reasons for this debate. 

As a pastor, whenever I mention drinking in the pulpit, I tend never to do it from a positive light. This is not because I am on a soapbox, trying to force my opinions on other people. It actually comes from common sense. I often present this point in the debate on drinking. Show me where drinking, especially in this society, has ever been a positive thing. Ask any doctor about drinking liquor or beer and the effects of it. How many times have peoples’ lives been ruined by drunk driving, domestic abuse, or the various other issues that accompany drinking? Our society is literally plagued by the abuse of alcohol and yet still so many people partake of it. The question is why and the answer is because of their motives. They want to. If someone wants to do something they will justify it anyway they can.

When people argue that drinking alcohol is OK according to the Bible, they are actually being misleading. First of all, the Bible does not advocate for the drinking of alcohol. The only thing that could be argued, possibly, is that the Bible okays the usage of wine. No where in scripture do you see any righteous person advocating drunken parties, drinking to excess, or even casual usage of alcohol. In fact, the Bible CLEARLY tells us that excessive usage of alcohol called drunkenness is specifically prohibited. Anybody who says otherwise is simply ignoring scripture.

Now, I know some good Christians, who after having done extensive study of the Word, and have sought the Lord, and have sought spiritual counsel, have felt justified to partake of a little wine, for their health sake on occasion. They have never had and do not have a problem with drugs or alcohol and it is on a very limited basis. I am not in the place of judging that, and I certainly don’t think they are going to hell. However, most people would never have any idea they are doing it. Are they wrong? That’s between them and God.

The truth is most Christians that are trying to argue for the consumption of alcohol are not doing it from that perspective. They are typically people who are trying to justify doing somethings that the Bible clearly tells them they shouldn’t. People who are going and getting packs of beer, or wanting to drink with their friends and family are not supported by scripture. They will quote scriptures like when Paul told Timothy to, “drink a little wine for his stomach sake” but the truth is, this is not what they are doing. They are manipulating the Word in order that they may sin.

I know that may seem harsh, but sometimes people just need to hear it said clearly. One thing that people have gone to as good reasons for drinking is its health benefits. The truth is, there probably aren’t any. A few years ago it came out that the studies that were done on the health benefits of drinking were all funded by the alcohol industry. To me that sounds a little bit like a conflict of interest. I am not saying that wine does not have some good properties but certainly you can’t say the same really about any other kind of alcohol for the purpose of human consumption. There is a truth that before modern medicine some liquors were used for pain killers for surgeries and things of the like, to which I don’t have an issue with that because that was what was medicinal at the time. However, that too is not the same as bellying up to a bar and/or knocking back a few.

The Bible warns in many places about the effects of alcohol. Proverbs 20:1 (NASB) says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.” Noah got in trouble with alcohol. Ephesians 5:18 says specifically not to be drunk and sobriety believe it or not can be seen in the fruits of the Spirit (self-control in Galatians 5:23). But even with that, what about the warnings about drunkenness? Of course the scriptures you mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 but also in Galatians 5:21 (NASB). “Envying, DRUNKENNESS, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, THAT THOSE WHO PRACTICE SUCH THINGS WILL NOT INHERIT the kingdom of God.” 

My take away is this, if it could possibly take me to hell, then why on earth would I want to even get close to it? Too many Christians live, towing the line and as much as it’s up to me or in my knowledge, I want to stay far away from it. In closing, I will say that if a person struggles with alcoholism, it doesn’t mean that they will necessarily go to hell. I have great, compassion for people who struggle with addictions. But again, this is not the same as people who willfully choose to partake of things, ignoring the truth in order to do so.. When the Bible is talking about drunkards, these are the type of people it is referring to. As Christians, we have a responsibility to know the truth, accept the truth, and endeavor to live by the truth. If we refuse, then we are in the wrong.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Question: What do you think churches should talk more about, but don’t?

This here is a very interesting question. It’s actually one that I ask myself often. It’s also one that people talk about often. There will be critics out there who pointed churches, and say you’re not teaching this or you’re not teaching that. It would be easy for me to jump on that bandwagon, and to be honest, I have probably done so too many times. Let’s turn to the Word though and see what it says.

There is quite a bit in Scripture that is talked about as pertains to pastors, sometimes called bishops, and or elders. These are people who God has equipped to feed His sheep. Sometimes referred to as gifts, but I think that can be misleading. If I were to look at it wrong, I would say I am gifted to do this or that. The truth is, the gift is for the people, the minister is simply a vessel. Recently, while my wife and I were traveling, we were stopped at a railroad crossing as we waited for a train to pass. It took quite a while for this train to pass, and I was a little bit annoyed as most people probably would be. As I sit here, now,  I smile as my annoyance becomes an example. That train had many different kinds of train cars with what I am assuming must’ve been a lot of different kinds of cargo. The cargo was what mattered not the train. The train was important as long as it was carrying the cargo, but it was the cargo that made the train important. The same thing goes with the gifts in the body of Christ.

What we partake of when we come to church is the gifts that God has placed among us however they will manifest. When it comes to the preaching, a very specific gift, there is much instruction on it.  2 Timothy 4:1-4 (NASB) says, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” Jesus instructed Peter, “If you love Me, feed My sheep.” We as pastors are called to feed God’s people with the Word. When you are feeding people, you seek out what they need. Before I prepare any sermon I seek the Lord, “Father, what do your people need.” Sure sometimes I just know, but I still seek Him as well.

I say all that because each church has different needs but all of their answers revolve around the Word. With that understanding, what should be taught in churches can vary at different times. Sometimes there is a need for more emphasis in one area than another, depending on where the church is, what the people are going through, and what’s happening in society as a whole. Different people are bound by different things and so their needs can vary quite greatly. In the book of Revelation, chapters two and three, we see the letters to the seven churches of Asia minor. Each message pertains specifically to each church, and it seems as though they had their strengths and weaknesses.

As a whole, to answer your question more specifically, I think that the most important thing to teach is what we are commanded to teach by Jesus Himself, and that is the Gospel. To understand what the Gospel is is very basic, it literally means good news. The good news of Jesus Christ is that we were lost sinners, without any hope, and Jesus came and saved us and brought us back to God. I believe that every Christian should have a firm understanding of this and know how to share that with everybody. There are a lot of doctrines that are important, but this is the greatest need in every place. Sure there are times when we will share things that are less important in churches, but we have to keep what’s most important at the top of the list.

The aspects of our faith are incredibly important for us to understand, but I have seen that the foundations of our faith, the simplicity of the message of the Cross, seems to be lost on too many people. Many Christians have been so consumed with self-help that they have forgotten that we have been commanded to take love and truth to the world. Too many of God’s people are so focused on what they know that they cannot relate to those who know nothing about God. They are supposed to be the salt of the Earth and the light of His glory, and yet when dealing with the world, they leave bitterness in the mouths of unbelievers.

We need to teach truth, but we need to know how to do it in love. If we are not winning the lost, we are not fulfilling the most basic call of our entire faith. If the focus is on what we get, and what we want, we will miss every true opportunity of following Christ. With that said, there are many things that need to be taught to help people be equipped to share the gospel, and I believe that it is important for every leader, to seek God and get what is needed to be delivered in order to do so. Teaching people how to live godly, desiring His plan, is the greatest need in the Body of Christ. Though that can look different at times, if our focus always points back to Him, we can’t be that far off!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff 

What does Proverbs 9:7-8 mean? Is it just a warning for us so we aren’t surprised when we try and correct people? Is it saying don’t waste your time on scoffers because it doesn’t lead to anything good? 

Proverbs 9:7-8 (NASB)

He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, Reprove a wise man and he will love you.

Correcting people is a very interesting endeavor. Pastoring has taught me SO MUCH about it, although it doesn’t take being a pastor to understand. 

I think it is most helpful, when trying to be a good Christian to aspire to the life that Jesus led. Now when I say this I’m not telling people to focus on healing people, walking on water, or casting out demons. I am not saying that those things were not important, I’m saying they were not the point. They were an outflow of Jesus living in obedience to the Father. Jesus only did what He saw the Father do.

Jesus did not heal every person, and He did not minister to every person. This may be hard for some people to understand, or even take in, but the truth of the matter is, He did not. I often like to use the example of when He went to the Pool of Bethesda, and found the lame man there. We understand by the story that there were many people there who needed healing, and yet we also see in the story that He only approached one person and healed that one. Why is this important? It’s important for the same reason of why the pool was there in the first place, and why and how the healing’s took place there. It wasn’t about the healing but about connecting people to God.

All of that said, we can draw on this knowledge to understand why talking to a scoffer would be a waste of time. One of the ways that the Hebrew word for scoffer can be understood is “One who shows himself a mocker.” Somebody who refuses the truth, who just does not want the truth, and will do everything to fight the truth, cannot be helped by talking to them about the truth. The person that tries to help them will just find themselves frustrated, and probably even embarrassed. 

I actually have had this happen to me many times, but more specifically in defending the local church. During the time of Covid, we had some people lash out against us on social media. I decided that I would try to respond by being reasonable and explaining what we were doing, while maintaining our faith and our freedom to partake of it. The person I responded to, however, was not reasonable and they didn’t really care why we were doing what we were doing because they hated what we did anyways. Now they just figured that they had opportunity to be vocal about it. What I found myself doing was trying to correct a scoffer, and all that scoffer was going to do was mock us for what they didn’t understand.

Now, I shared what I shared at the beginning about Jesus and then the story for a very specific purpose. To tie it all together what we need to understand is this, not every person will be open to our faith, and so we must learn to be led by God‘s spirit to the ones who are. We have been given instruction to go into all the world and preach the gospel but that does not necessarily mean to each and every person. If that were the case, we would never get very far because there’s a lot of people in a short space of time. How much time would be wasted on people that never want to hear? I have found way more effect when we spend time with God and then go where He wants us to be, looking for those who want to hear. How can we know who they are you might wonder? You can never know in of yourself, but the Lord knows and if you are interested, He will show you.

The interesting thing is, He may surprise you. I had no idea of whether or not the woman who became my wife would want anything to do with God. She was raised an atheist, and I didn’t have much to offer her. Not knowing how I knew, I was drawn to her by God’s spirit. In time our relationship would truly glorify God, but I had no possible way of knowing this when she was a waitress bringing me my coffee.

The truths that are presented to us in these scriptures are that every person will not receive truth. Those who will are wise and those who won’t are not and it’s important for us to seek out them that will. It’s also important for us to recognize that when we are talking to somebody and they are just mocking us, it is not our place to continue. When we do so, we do it to our own frustration. 

Following God and living humbly will lead us to the people and places we need to be. There will be times when the Lord will lead us to a mocker for the purpose of being a witness to them at judgement. We should not however, make it a practice to just say everything to everyone. This is not an excuse to be lazy with our faith or to suppress it, but to be purposeful in His purpose as we walk it out.

Matthew 7:6 (NASB)

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff 

Question: How is a wife to encourage her husband to put it all in with God but not make it seem like a push? I long for my husband to lead our family spiritually like God told us he would.

First let’s address this part of your question, that God said your husband would lead your family spiritually. God didn’t say he would. God said a husband SHOULD but never promised any individual would. In fact, most husbands never will. This is why it’s so important that we marry an already faithful man of God. 2 Corinthians 6:14 tells us, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” Many Christians can see scriptures like this and still refuse to wait for the right spouse. Lust comes before  the will of God. All other positive characteristics are counted as superior qualifiers, all along never meeting the highest qualification for a spouse, that’s that they’ve thrown it all in with God. If a man doesn’t love Jesus more than he loves you, he’s not in the position to be a godly husband. 

Look at Ephesians 5:25-26, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.” The model for a husband’s love is Christ’s love for the church. If a man doesn’t get to know Christ, how could he love like Christ loved? The first qualification while picking a spouse is that he loves and serves the Lord, not in word alone, but in proven lifestyle and actions. I heard someone say this once and my vote is that it’s a sad story repeated that needs to change: “when a man wants a project he gets a car, but when a woman wants a project she gets a man.” 

It is important that we realize it’s better to be proactive than reactive. But for those already married, it’s not that simple. Look at the original intent for a wife, Genesis 2:18, “Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” A wife is meant to be a helpmate for her husband and included in that is encouragement, but how this looks varies from one situation to the next. 

I love this example my husband shares. Before we were married we were sitting next to each other at church filling out our tithing envelopes and he looked over at mine while he was sealing up his and realized how much more I was putting in even though I didn’t make even close to the paycheck he was bringing home. He says it convicted him. Notice I didn’t tell him to get it right but his heart was moved by seeing my sacrifice and this encouraged him to do better.  There are many other examples of this in my own marriage and in others within our church. Another faithful wife refused to skip church for any reason. She got committed and made sure her husband saw her put God first. It took a little while, but this demonstration of faithfulness was the avenue God used to bring him into the church, and more importantly, into the body of Christ.

A wife must be faithful to the Lord without waver. Unfortunately, many wives never commit to the Lord in their actions like they may in their words and so the husband has a way out so to speak. If you don’t go to church, he won’t either. If you allow the things of the world in your home, he’ll keep living like the world. A wife will sing praises to God in one breath and complain about her husband in the next. What do you think that’s saying to him? I could go on and on. 

So to answer your question, how does a wife encourage her husband to be faithful and to lead the home? It starts by demonstrating your own faithfulness. Pray for him. Love him, but love the Lord more and let him see this in you. If over time you have been living as faithfully as you know to do, and he still won’t get it, you may actually need to seek godly counsel for your particular situation. 

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée 

Question: Are all churches & denominations part of the same body of Christ?

Well, this could be a loaded question. Let’s start with scripture and build from there. 1 Corinthians 3:4-7 (NASB) says, “For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”

In these passages Paul was addressing the idea of what would be known as sectarianism which is essentially separating things into different sects according to teaching. Paul and Apollos were both ministers of the gospel but maybe they taught differently. Have you ever noticed this? One minister may be a preacher who gets up and spits and sputters, speaking loudly and directly. Another may be a teacher who is calm and monotone, giving a thousand different definitions and expounding on scripture for hours. Each has their place and each person has preferences. 

To give further example of this I want to talk about my experience. Growing up in the faith, God placed me with a teacher. He was a studier and he taught, line upon line, precept upon precept. It was very methodical and I dare say anyone with the ability to speak publicly could take his notes and teach people accordingly. There was another pastor I loved in our circles. He would preach, it was fun. If I had had my preference, I would have been in his church. Not that I did not like my pastor, just that I preferred the other’s methods of ministering. Later on, as I grew in the faith, I realized just why the Lord had put me where He did. I would not have gotten to where I was going if I had been in the wrong place. 

Now, you asked about denominations and I haven’t forgot, but I used all these as examples. Most widely accepted Christian denominations hold very similar beliefs in the things that matter for salvation. There is one God, manifested in three Persons, and Jesus the Son came to earth as a Man, lived and died without sin, and was raised to life again becoming the first resurrection to eternal life. The Bible is God’s revelation to mankind, is completely true and without error, and Jesus Christ is the only way to God. If that is the basis for a church’s belief system, then yes they are all part of the same Body. 

To understand why there are so many denominations we have to understand where they come from. People have a tendency after a while of growing stale, even good hearted believers. Over the centuries, God has moved on people to revive their spirit man when they are in this state. Each time He does, mankind has the habit of forming it into a “religion” and this is basically where denominations are born. They do it over the teaching of a person (like with Paul and Apollos) or they do it with a movement (which is often based on a man’s revelation). This isn’t entirely bad, but I do believe it should be recognized.

Our church is what is often referred to as nondenominational. The funny thing is, over the years, even nondenominational churches have become a denomination. In our desire to reject conformity to man, we have conformed to a nonconformist conformity formed, you guessed it, by man! It does not make us bad, maybe just confusing sometimes! There may be certain doctrines specifically that people think are important, however all Christian churches agree on the basics. The fundamental truths of Christians for salvation and access to God are the same in all true Christian churches. The other stuff typically has to do with how we walk that all out here on earth.

Although each denomination undoubtedly believes their way is best, we can recognize that there is need for all. The reason for this is because the Bible tells us clearly how to have salvation, but not how to have church, the type of building, or even specific rituals. The rest we go with based on our convictions of the Word, and try and respect another’s need to be led by the Holy Spirit for themselves. I fully believe that God will do things differently (yet within the bounds of scripture) for different people. Some people may be focused on one thing while another something else. This is acceptable to God because beyond salvation, every town, state, nation and persons have different needs. 

To sum this up, if what a church or denomination or a person believes is foundational Christianity, then absolutely, they are one Body just different parts of it. If however they reject the fundamental things that make one a Christian (a follower of Christ), they are not one even if they sort of resemble it. 

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff