Category: Faith Fix

Question: In Joshua 2:2-24 is the account of Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute that helps Israelite spies escape Jericho. I have noticed for myself when stepping out, following God’s leading into something, that the least likely candidates are helping, almost unknowingly assisting in His plan. Those who I even thought likely to be opposition. Are there any other accounts in the Bible like this? Can and should we be expecting God to move on the hearts of unbelievers, the unlikely candidates even the opposition to assist us in what God is leading us in, calling us to?

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NASB)

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.

“Can and should we be expecting God to move on the hearts of unbelievers, the unlikely candidates even the opposition, to assist us in what God is leading us in, calling us to?” We should absolutely be expecting God to move, and leave it right there. I have found too many times as I have tried to figure out which way God would work or in what method He would utilize to get something done, that He rarely takes my suggestions! I am always surprised.

I am convinced that the Lord will use just about anyone willing to accomplish His plan, whether they know it or not. Now, so we understand, God is not forcing anyone to do anything, only the devil does that. But the Lord knows who will listen and what they will listen to, and He will work within that willingness.

In the Old Testament we see God use a donkey to correct Balaam. He used Pharaoh to fulfill His plan, the daughter of Pharaoh to rescue Moses, and in Isaiah He used people “of a strange tongue” to bring judgement on His people just to name a few. He used nonbelievers to help Joseph rise to prominence in yet another example. In short, God will use anyone who is willing if it fits what He wants to do.

So with this knowledge, let me ask a question. What does this say to believers? If God is willing to use those who have no covenant and will even bless them for listening, how much more should His children expect to be used? And furthermore, knowing He will use even an unbeliever for His plan, if we are in His plan we can have more surety that He will come through for us in ways we can’t possibly imagine!

The faithful child of God can rest knowing that for any issue that could possibly arise, God has methods and ways we could never possibly know to accomplish what He wants to do. If we are part of what God wants to do them we can not just embrace, but rejoice in the fact that our Father gets things done. Whether believers, non-believers, animals or inanimate objects such as rocks, God is always more than able! What a mighty God we serve!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff 

QUESTION: It seems that times in the word of faith “camp” or various charismatics circles, the ministers have been called up to heaven, visited by Jesus Himself, have grand visions etc. I have a few questions concerning this: 1. Why are no other pastors having these experiences ? 2. Are many of these fabricated, exaggerated, or misrepresented or do you believe they’re truthful experiences? 3. How can you sort out who is telling the truth and who is misrepresenting – all while keeping your own heart soft and not jaded… or judgemental 

This is a great question and in some way I have been studying on this a lot lately and I believe I can speak about it. The first thing we need to ask is, are these legitimate or not? I believe that supernatural experiences can and should be something Christian’s have. However it will look different for each person. That said, let’s get to your questions.

First, why aren’t other pastors having these experiences? To this I want to say a few things. It’s not just for pastors or ministers to have experience, so what we need to ask is why aren’t more people in general? For legitimate experiences I believe with all my heart that God visits people on a few criteria. We must understand that it is only by His will. 1 Corinthians 12:11 (NASB) says, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. Experience with God can only happen on His terms, we can never make it happen. 

Another side of this is something I also believe with all my heart, is that God will not visit people who are not open to spiritual things. Hebrews 11:6 (NASB) says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a REWARDER OF THOSE who seek Him.” He rewards the hungry, not the critical. People who are closed minded, like people in some denominations that outright reject spiritual experiences, will likely never have them. Remember Jesus said not to cast pearls before swine? That is not as much an insult as it is the idea that those who will only reject or take lightly spiritual things are not worthy of them. 1 Thessalonians 5:20 warns believers not to despise prophecy, or think lightly of it. If we despise it, we will likely not be blessed with it.

Secondly, as whether these experiences are true or not, I’d say maybe. Early on in my walk I had been burned in some overly experiential churches. As a result, I wanted little to do with any kind of charismatic church. When I came to Family Church, I had no idea of the beliefs. I loved how they put the Word first and I learned so much. As I started learning about spiritual things I got more and more intrigued. I remember having a hard time with the laying on of hands. Then one day the Lord helped me with this. 

He encouraged me to look at my pastor. See, after being there for five years, I had learned in that time that I could trust my pastor in these things. I finally said, if he embraces it, knowing he is sincere and knowledgeable giving himself to the Word, then I can too. I did and life has never been the same. I said all that to say this, learn who to trust and trust them in what you can trust them in. Have I ever seen things different than my pastor? Certainly! However, I know his character and there are things I don’t even need to question because of that. I don’t listen to everyone who has experience, but I do with those who have proven character. Even if they aren’t a minister! 

Now onto the third question, how do you know who’s legit without being judgy (my rephrase)? I’m going to say something that may shock you. You better be judgy! Notice I didn’t say critical. There’s a difference. A scripture that has changed my life is 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NASB). “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.” Read that a few times and recall it every time something doesn’t sit right with you! God has not given us a brain to forget it and a conscience to ignore it! Remember, God said renew your mind, not throw it out. If something doesn’t sit right with you start asking questions. First of yourself, then of others you trust. 

Ask yourself, am I being overly critical or is my concern legitimate? If you truly don’t believe you’re being critical ask the Lord to help you and stay humble (willing to be wrong). Ask people you trust and don’t stop asking until you find peace. I have this policy. If I ask people (like my leaders) a question about something and they can’t or won’t answer it, I have validation for not being settled. However, I make it my absolute goal to be honorable and humble in what and how I ask. I’m always open to being wrong. In fact, I usually go to that first. 

I have found something very interesting. If I am concerned about something, usually there are others that have had the same concern. I can’t tell you how many times I have taken a concern about something spiritual to my pastor and he has seen the same issue. That speaks volumes. Any organization that won’t allow or dodges questions is a cult. Some groups can be cult like without being a full blown cult. That’s still wrong.

In the New Testament we are told to follow two things. We follow the Truth, that is God’s Word. Secondly, we follow the Spirit, working through our conscience as it aligns with God’s word. Going to Heaven and other experiences may happen but it is my doubt that someone does this all the time. You don’t need intense experiences to be spiritual, you simply need to follow His Spirit. Where He leads will always bear fruit! 

By the way, there’s so many great discussions that could and should be had from this Faith Fix. Not based on what I said, but based on the content itself.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff 

Proverbs 1:1 says the plans of the heart belong to man but the answer of the tongue from the Lord. What does it mean that the answer of the tongue is from the Lord?

We have to remember while reading Proverbs that it’s wisdom scripture. Often what you’ll see is wisdom and guidance for a true godly life. Look at the very beginning of the book:

Proverbs 1:1-3

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

To know wisdom and instruction,

To discern the sayings of understanding,

To receive instruction in wise behavior,

Righteousness, justice and equity;

With this, we can understand that the intent of this book was for us to receive instructions in living wisely, with godly wisdom. Try to keep this in mind while reading in this book of the Bible. 

Proverbs 16:1

The plans of the heart belong to man,

But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

If you look at the whole of this passage of scripture you’ll see that it is comparing and contrasting those who are upright and those who are not. For instance, you’ll see a few verses later that man planning his own path is contrasted with the Lord ordering his steps.  We could also compare Proverbs 16:1 with Proverbs 19:21, which says, “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the LORD will stand.” 

Let’s look at Proverbs 16:1-2 in the Amplified Bible, “The plans of the mind and orderly thinking belong to man, but from the Lord comes the [wise] answer of the tongue. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits (the thoughts and intents of the heart).” Now, hopefully just seeing the scripture illuminated more here we can already start to gain clearer understanding. 

You see, man (mankind) has a tendency to plan and plan and plan and never seek whether or not it’s God’s plan or their own. Notice that in this Amplified version the word heart has been exchanged for the word mind. This means that man comes up with plans in their mind, but the real answer or we could say the wise answer is from the Lord. Remember Proverbs 3:5-6? “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Look also at Psalms 25:8, “Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.” How about Proverbs 14:12?

“There is a way which seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death.” 

From the Lord’s tongue comes the wise answer to our lives. God’s way is the only way that truly works. The answer is the answer of His tongue. 

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

In I Corinthians 11:29-30 it refers to eating in an “unworthy manner”. What is a worthy manner?

When I was in college to become a teacher I was encouraged to present my student expectations in the positive instead of the negative. For instance, instead of saying don’t do this or don’t do that, I was told to say do this or do that. I think there’s merit to that concept. So for this Faith Fix, instead of looking at what it means to drink in an unworthy manner let’s look at what it means to eat and drink worthily. 

This passage of scripture isn’t about food at all. It’s about communion. And it’s not about the ritual of communion as seen in churches, but about what it means to have true communion with our Lord. Let’s read the scriptures in question, 1 Corinthians 11:29-30, in context of some previous verses. 

1 Corinthians 11:23-30

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.

When Jesus died for us, bloodshed and broken body, He did so in order for us to die to our sinful nature and live as born again, new creatures. He broke His body so ours could be made right. Think about that. Look at 1 Peter 2:24, “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” Jesus died that we may live to righteousness. Righteousness is the state of him who is as he ought to be, the condition acceptable to God. In 1 Corinthians 11:28 we see  powerful instruction to, “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” This is not in word alone, but in the way we live our lives. In order to live worthily of the payment Jesus paid, we must live as God intended us to live, according to His Word, doers of His Word, not hearers only. (James 1:22) 

Look also at 1 John 2:5-6, “…whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” The proof that we are eating and drinking worthily is proven in how we live. Do we live like Jesus paid for us to live differently? Do we live like salvation means something to us? 

Recently, the Lord revealed to me something very precious and sobering as I was into the Epistles (the books of the Bible that were letters of instruction to New Testament churches.) a reoccurring theme of instruction is revealed, that we are to be the light and bring the light to a dark world. This is how we drink worthily! Remember Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Now skip to Ephesians 5:8, “for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light.” 

Stay worthy of the blood and broken body of Jesus and of His salvation by living like He intended you to live. You don’t have to be perfect,  but continually being perfected. I’ll leave you with great wisdom found in Philippians 3:12, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée 

In Matthew 12:30-32 it says whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come… (ESV). Basically, I’m asking two questions here: 1. How does speaking against the one not effect the other?! 2. What are the roles of the Trinity: the Father? The Son? The Holy Spirit?

It is always important when trying to understand scripture to also try and understand what is going on in context. Though the Bible is written for us, it was not written to us. The Bible is a collection of works written to and for people for the purpose of understanding our relationship to God.

That said, whenever we see Jesus talking it is in relation to what was going on around Him. He quite literally was manifesting the will of God for humanity on the earth. Jesus, while He was here, had come as the Jews’ messiah. He performed the miracles as proof to who He was, usually fulfilling what was written about this messiah. 

Now, the Jews, and particularly the Jewish leaders (Pharisees) rejected Him at every turn, at times even admitting to knowing that He was doing the works of God. This opened the doors for the gentiles (all non-Jewish people) to have right to this salvation. When we get to the scriptures in question, we see something pretty evil happen.

These people were not just simply speaking bad about God. They were in fact recognizing the miracles, but then attributing them to the devil. They were declaring the works of God as the works of satan, and doing it for the purpose of rejecting Jesus and leading people astray. They didn’t want to lose their positions as the leaders and they didn’t want their works to be exposed.

So why is this blasphemy worse? Because the Holy Spirit is vehicle he by which mankind comes to the cross. What I mean is, Jesus died for us but we cannot receive that unless we receive the conviction of the Holy Spirit. To reject the work of the Holy Spirit is to reject the very One that leads us through the door of salvation. These weren’t people who didn’t know any better, these people were willfully rejecting what God was manifesting in front of them.

When Jesus was here He did the things He did, not because He was God, but empowered by the Holy Spirit. Acts 10:38 (NASB) says about Him, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, HOW GOD ANOINTED HIM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” Even to His resurrection as seen in Romans 8:11, the Holy Spirit empowered Him unto resurrection. The Holy Spirit IS the work of God.

A simple way (if there is one) to understand the Trinity would be like this: the Father is the destination, the Son is the way, and the Holy Spirit is the vehicle from one to the other. The Destination and the Way are always present, but for one to reject the Vehicle to get there, they refuse it all. To attribute the power of God for salvation to the devil for the purpose of misleading people is the ultimate rejection. 

The best explanation I ever heard for the Trinity was given to me from my grandmother. She said to me, “Think of water. Each state of water, liquid, gas, or solid are very different but they are still the same.” I like that. When it comes to what Each does, it really isn’t separate from One another. They are as much a part of Each other as They are individually. Each also has taken part in salvation of mankind and still does. God the Father, separated from us sent God the Son Who saved us and sent God the Holy Spirit Who leads man back to the Father through the Door that the Son became. 

The key thing in all this to remember is mankind never misses God because a lack of what He has done but from simple refusal of it. Man never remains unsaved because salvation is too hard but because what they accept or reject in life determines what they ultimately end up with. The lesson in all this is to not refuse God while He is near. Our own pride can keep us from God, but that’s the way it’s always been.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff 

What’s the difference between salvation and grace? 

Ephesians 2:8 (NASB)

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.

To make this real simple, salvation is the what, and grace is the how. I could leave it here but I think it’s important, in fact very important, to understand what they both are. Salvation and grace are often misunderstood biblical terms and yet they are maybe two of the most important for us to know. Jesus said that biblical knowledge sets us free and that no less applies here. 

The word salvation is the language equivalent of a multivitamin. It isn’t just simply any one thing, but many wrapped up together. The word literally means deliverance, preservation, and safety. It applies as the present possession of Christians as well as to a guarantee of our future salvation. It does not just simply mean “saved”. Yes salvation is an awesome thing and when we have true understanding of it and what it entails, our faith grows to an unstoppable place!

Salvation is something that humanity desperately needed as well as still needs. We as humans were utterly lost and utterly hopeless. So how on earth could people who were so lost, so incapable, so desperate ever possibly get saved? That is where grace comes in. When Ephesians says we were saved by grace what it really is saying is, grace is the thing that opened the door to salvations possibility. To put it simply, grace is the ability to obtain what is not earned or even deserved. Grace is the force that proceeded from God’s mercy. When the Bible declares by “grace we are saved”, it is a reminder to us that there was nothing we could do to bring it about. That however does not mean that we do nothing for it. 

I can extend grace to a person who refuses what that grace supplies. We have a growing epidemic of homelessness in our nation. Many times, this happens at no fault of the individual but in many situations I have experienced the fact that it can be simply by their choice. There are troubles that can happen as result of not making choices. I have witnessed reaching out to someone to help them only to have them refuse because the acceptance of help meant a change in direction. Since the person (for whatever reason) did not want a change, they chose to refuse the help. It’s like someone who get cancer from smoking yet won’t stop smoking. Sure, they don’t want cancer, but if you don’t eliminate the cause you eliminate the possibility for help.

This happens so much more than you know. I present the truth to people several times every week and have done so for almost a decade. I cannot tell you how many times I have presented a persons help only to have them refuse because it meant going in a different way. Some “try” for a time only to stop because they want to return to their old life. The troubles they faced in life were the direct result of their old life but that doesn’t matter to them. It’s the same as someone saying I’m tired of being cold outside but I don’t want to come into shelter.

This is why God hates complaining. More often than not complaining has nothing to do with what a person can’t do but rather what they won’t do. Romans 8:32 (NASB) says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” For the Christian believer this is truth which is the epitome of God’s grace toward all who would believe. If there’s no good thing He will withhold (Psalm 84:11) then what would one ever have a reason to complain for?

The amazing thing about grace and salvation is this, grace provides salvation which opens the door for continual and active grace, which constantly brings us toward salvation. This is the love of God in a nutshell! He set up a system of perpetual security if we would only choose to partake. The winter season is upon and it’s cold outside, but God has provided safety and shelter if we would only be willing to come in!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff