Category: Faith Fix

Eunuchs Explained (ATP)

What does eunuch mean in Matthew 19:11-12 and what exactly is Jesus’ answer to the Disciples’ question in verse 10? 

In Deuteronomy 24 the law of Moses permits divorce if a husband finds uncleanness in his wife. When Jesus went about preaching the gospel, the Pharisees, the religious zealots of the day tried to test Him asking about whether it is lawful to divorce. We see His response in Matthew 19:8, “He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” He proceeds to give just cause for divorce and the disciples overhearing Him, asked wouldn’t it be better not to marry at all? Then we come to the scriptures from the original question in Matthew 19:11-12, “But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given: For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”

Jesus responded by saying not all men could handle abstaining from marriage because most men desire sexual intimacy. (1 Cor 7:9) Jesus distinguished between most men and those called to be Eunuchs.

The term literally means: a bed keeper, bed guard, superintendent of the bedchamber. Through scripture in many contexts, this term means a chief official, but in this scripture it refers to a man who has been incapacitated for bearing children. These men could be used as bed keepers or guards over the wives of the monarchs. Eunuchs held the position looking after the wives or the in-home affairs of the palace. They were made Eunuchs by men, essentially being castrated so they couldn’t take the wives they were looking after. Jesus refers to this concept, mentioning some were forced to be Eunuchs by men. If you can imagine Joseph in scripture, and how Pharaoh’s wife offered herself to him, you could see why these rulers would have wanted the men looking after their wives to be made Eunuchs. Thankfully Joseph was man enough to run, being that he wasn’t a Eunuch!

Others were born with some sort of incapacity to bear children. As far as being born Eunuchs, there is false doctrine going around that says homosexuals are just modern day Eunuchs, born that way. This is not so. When the word refers to some who are born Eunuchs it means incapacitated for child bearing such as in the event of birth deformities. The Word is very clear that God is not an author of confusion and that God’s intention was for men to mate with women, nothing else. That is why Jesus said the concept and acceptance of divorce wasn’t originally allowed. God’s intention was one man and one woman from the beginning.

Now let’s talk about those who have chosen to be Eunuchs. These are those who have conquered sexual impulses by the power of self-consecration to a higher life. A good example of this was the Apostle Paul. (1 Cor. 7) Paul was so committed to the call of the Lord that he refused to be distracted with the affairs of the home. He had a much different call than most Christians have had, being used to bring the gospel to the gentiles, to write more than half of the New Testament, to go through the trials and imprisonments to bring the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. Having a wife would have hindered the plan of God for his life.

We must remember, without the fall of mankind, there would have been no need for the salvation of the world, or for preaching the gospel. But of course, there’s great need for it now, as God is not willing that any should perish. This is why Jesus said, “He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.” Jesus was at the same time trying to get the disciples to understand that if you have sexual desires that you can’t suppress it is better to marry, than to fall in sin.

It is a supernatural grace given to man in order to be able to put down the flesh in such a way. Most men will never be able to do this. We can’t just choose to be Eunuchs. There must be a purpose and a higher call.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Renée

The True Outpouring (ATP)

There’s a common belief among Christianity today that God no longer speaks through prophets, dreams, or visions because we have the Bible. The assumption is that since He can speak through the Bible there is no longer a need for prophecies, dreams, or visions. In Joel 2:28 it says, “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” When it says “shall pour out My Spirit on all flesh” is that referring to after Christ returns to heaven and the Holy Spirit is sent to earth to live within a person who accepts Jesus as their Savior? If so, then is this verse saying that after a person gets saved, some will be able to prophesy, dream dreams and/or see visions?

To break this down let’s look at the first part, does God still speak through prophets, dreams and visions? People who claim no to this generally deny the outward signs, the gifts of the Spirit, and speaking in tongues. They often claim that these things have “passed away”. The problem with this claim is that it is never found in scripture.

Sometimes they will point to a few obscure scriptures like 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 which reads, “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.” They claim that the Bible is that which is perfect. The issue I have with this first is that, that which is perfect has not come! Am I saying the Bible is not perfect? Of course not! The Bible is perfect for us to learn but we are certainly not perfected in truth yet. If we were, there would be no need for us to have the Holy Spirit. Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christian denominations? The perfected knowledge of God has not been fulfilled and so neither have the other things listed.

Also read in Ephesians 4:11 about the ministry offices, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers and their job assignment in vs 13. Is the church in unity concerning faith or the knowledge of the Son of God? How many Christians are you aware of that match that word there, perfect? I haven’t met a perfected one yet! Now I will refer back to 1 Corinthians 13:9, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part.” Until we are perfected this is exactly what we do, we know and prophesy in part.

As far as the scripture in Joel, I think what was being declared is exactly what Peter declared starting in Act 2:14 and throughout the rest of that sermon. This is a part of the operation of the Holy Spirit. These were the things we were going to see. There will be no need of these things after Christ returns. That’s when perfect will have come. However, until He returns there is great need for prophecy. I would say quite assuredly that the church today has less revelation about God then the early church did and that has been true throughout most of the last 2000+ years, despite having the written Word. If there were ever a need for Spiritual gifts, it would be today, in the last of the last days.

Now of course there are many scriptures I could discuss in support of what I’m saying but I don’t have near enough space here. For a few quick examples, read John chapters 14-16 where there is a great deal concerning what the Holy Ghost will do. Consider Acts 2:39 which says, “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Read I Corinthians 12-14. Notice the love chapter (chapter 13), which no one denies is about us  today, is sandwiched between two full chapters about manifestations of the Holy Ghost in the church. There are tons of other scriptures but I think you get the point.

I am not saying that these don’t need to be studied and taught and learned. I also am not saying everyone should go out and start prophesying over people, that’s dangerous. This is why a good, whole Bible teaching church is so important. This is why it’s important to be submitted under people who are proven in these areas, just like the Apostles and disciples were. God gave us the scriptures and His Spirit to learn His will. If we are closed off to something simply because we don’t fully understand it, we will miss what God has for us.

In closing I want to say this, some erroneously claim that if God wants us to have those gifts or abilities, He will just put it on us. Nothing comes to man from God unless man first desires it. Rejection is the opposite of desire and starts when we refuse to learn. First desire to learn, and God will make things manifest as He desires in and around your life. I will assure you though, in all those people or denominations that claim these things have passed away, for them they certainly have. They will never see the power of God. In John 11:40, Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” He was also implying that without belief in His power, you will not see it. I ask you all, will you see it?

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Not Hats, Hearts (ATP)

Is it disrespectful for a man to wear a baseball style hat in Church?

1 Corinthians 11:4-5

Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved.

To my knowledge, and I may be wrong, these are the only New Testament scriptures on the subject. At the very least, if there are more there are very few. I would start off by saying that we never build doctrine based on one or obscure scriptures. I can securely say that this is not a doctrine that God cares a lot about. So in order to answer this I will have to rely on my knowledge of God’s character. Is it wrong for a man to wear a hat and a woman not to? My answer is… wait for it… it all depends.

I don’t believe the principle of these scriptures is dealing with the heart of God but rather the heart of man. I don’t believe that these are dealing with instruction on headwear at all. These scriptures are dealing with authority structure and honoring that, but we must also keep in mind that here specifically, Paul was dealing with cultural ordinances not specific direction from God.

Culture is the key. There were many aspects of biblical culture we do not adhere to today. It is true, there are some fanatics who dwell on stuff like this but the Bible simply does not give clear incite into these things. I would suspect that this is because it’s not what God really cares about. So you may wonder, why mention it at all? We have to keep in mind that though scripture is for us, they were also letters written to specific people and specific times. Paul was actually writing to the the Corinthians about stuff they were actually dealing with in their church and culture.

We know cultures change and that’s not necessarily bad. There are Christians in Africa that live very different from you or I. That doesn’t mean they or we are wrong, we are just different. Even in America things are vastly different than they were 50 years ago. There was a time when men wouldn’t even leave the house without a tie or a hat on. In of themselves cultural aspects of society are neither good nor bad. In Matthew 6:25 Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

I love what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” He is not advocating, as some would claim, that it’s ok to drop your moral standards and sin freely, but to be considerate and sensitive to the people you are ministering to. I wear a suit when I preach to bring honor to my Heavenly Father because that is honorable in our culture. However if Jesus called me to preach on a beach in Fiji (Jesus please!), I would probably not.

The heart is all God really ever cared about. What I mean by heart is, why are you doing what you are doing. If a guy walked into my church for the first time with a baseball cap, I would be ticked if someone in my congregation said anything about it at all. Now if it were a ten gallon hat and half the church couldn’t see, this is a little different. I’m not going to lose a potential church member because they want to wear a hat!

I do want to speak about honor though. When I first came to the church, I looked much different than I do today. I shaved my head bald, had earrings, wore cut up jeans and flip flops, and stunk of a hangover. I’m very glad no one looked down on me. Instead I was made to feel loved and welcomed. No one ever said anything about it. As I grew in the Lord, sitting and hearing the Word, God started speaking to me about how I looked and what I wore. I found myself not comfortable in the same clothes or doing the same things. God pricked my heart and I changed.

God will lead us to change things about us though I am not saying specific clothing is more or less godly. He will tell us individually what He desires in us. What He leads me on may not be the same across the board, but it will affect what I do. Paul became what was needed to reach and win the lost. I find myself much more conservative now, but then again, I couldn’t see myself pastoring then. A pastor should not look wild, they should be respectable and palatable in general.

Should we wear earrings or hats or certain clothes? I don’t think it matters if it doesn’t matter. I love the direction given to the Romans in Romans 14:13 “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.” In all we do, let’s be considerate of others, with a desire to win them to the Lord and help them grow in that relationship. That is what God really cares about, not about hats, but about hearts!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

Faith Fix: Clean It Up! (ATP)

Last night I was watching a documentary on Tsunamis and as I was sitting there, the thought of God creating the earth led to “Why would He create something so very devastating to humans? ”

Isaiah 24:20

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,
And shall totter like a hut;
Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
And it will fall, and not rise again.

Questions like these are not uncommon for believers and unbelievers alike. In fact, many opposed to our faith point to things like natural disasters, diseases, and evil to try and prove that either God is not good or that He doesn’t exist at all. Every believer at some time or another has asked the same question, “How could a loving God do such things?”

The answer to this is not a difficult one but lies wholly within our understanding of who God is. The fact is that many believers don’t really understand God and I actually blame this on the religious leaders. Often, because the leaders don’t understand Him either, falsities have been taught in the name of religion. Psalms 118:1 says, “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” So the Bible plainly declares God is good. Does this mean that His definition of good is different than ours? Not if your definition of good is good! Good is good, it is not relative.

What we need to understand is that creation is quite different in what it is from what it was made to be. We see in Genesis 1 that the first things God did, commonly referred to as the creation account, was bring order to all things. He set boundaries and put things in place and then placed His man in the midst of it for a purpose. In Genesis 2:15 we are told, “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” The word keep means to guard or protect. Perhaps one of the most widely forgotten purposes of mankind on the earth was that we were made to have authority over it and keep God’s order. Essentially, man was made to be caretaker of the earth.

Well, we all know what happened. Man sinned and relinquished that authority over to the devil. Yes, it was man that gave the devil his power! One of the last things that Jesus said to His followers was, (my paraphrase) “I have overcome, I give you back authority. Go have it!” Man still fails to see this, though that is for another time. God created things to work a certain way, gave man guidelines to know how it works, then left man to it. When man failed in this area, corruption entered the whole earth. The earth we live in today is the result of thousands of years of corruption. Think about a city that gets corrupt politicians. In just a few years a beautiful city can become a horrible place. Now imagine that corruption on a widespread and deeply spiritual level.

God did not create humans in sickness and disease or the earth to be so either. He created both with perfection in mind. This is the reason God always did and still does warn mankind about sin. Sins effects on all things is way more devastating than one could even imagine. God’s warning of sin is not because it’s something He just doesn’t like, but because He knows sin corrupts. Contrary to popular beliefs, God is not in Heaven like some divine puppet master pulling strings either. He left the earth to be managed by its managers. This is so hard for religious people to get but even Jesus addresses this. Mark 13:34 says speaking of the way things are in relation to God’s control, “It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.” God is not in control! If He is, He is doing a terrible job!

What I mean is not to say that He is powerless. When necessary He visits the human race and cleans things up. In fact, He will visit as often as His people call on Him. Really, God is still waiting for His people to take their place. So why would He let things continue so out of whack? Well, He won’t forever. He is waiting for the maximum number of people to come to Him. James 5:7 says, “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.” The precious fruit of the earth is the human race coming to know Him.

The Bible is clear, Jesus Himself talked about it. As the earth gets closer to the end sin will become increasingly unbearable. There is a direct correlation to the evil on the earth and the increase of natural disasters. The earth and life as we know it will be continually changed until eventually, He removes His church and brings judgement upon the earth. This is what is referred to as the Great Tribulation.

To end this on a good note, I want to remind us that God will ALWAYS protect His people. He gave us the Holy Spirit to be able to know where to go and what to do. If we learn to follow Him, to use our authority, and stand in faith, no disasters will come near us. God will always protect His people who call out to and trust in Him.

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

When Is Enough, Enough? (ATP)

Is it wrong to give up on a friend that you have been trying so hard to help?  It seems like they just do not want it.  I know it is our job to help people get saved. When is enough, enough?

Great question, when is enough, enough? The heart of every born again believer should be to help see as many people come to Jesus as they possibly can. Sometimes the most frustrating thing is witnessing to people, only to have them reject you time and time again. Many of us have been there, many times.

The first thing to remember is that we do not get anyone saved, that is solely the job of the Holy Spirit. Jesus paid for the right to be saved but we are told in John 16:8, that the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts people of sin. That’s not our job! Before we determine when to give up, we should make sure we’ve first done our part. There is not a spelled out process to leading someone to the Lord. Sure there is a process but it is not something you can write down in steps, it must come from the heart.

As with all things in our walk we have to start with the most important reason for getting someone saved. This reason should be love. I’m not talking about just because you affectionately love them, but true Biblical Godlike love. After all, we were not saved because God felt anything. On the contrary the Bible says, “While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” He had no natural affection but was moved by His love.

1 Corinthians 13 is the great love chapter. In it we find the very principles of true Godly love. Though I’m not going to hit all points of love, we should all familiarize ourselves with these scriptures for they are the very foundation of all we do and all we are as Christians. I do want to focus on a few aspects of it, though. Love is patient, kind, and long-suffering. These should be clear attributes of our personality whenever we are trying to help someone find the Lord. Notice the first word, patient. To help someone find the truth we must first realize that they do not know the truth.

Especially if they are older, they have spent a significant amount of time without the truth. This fact alone will tell us conversion will probably not be instantaneous. We also have to understand that a “religious” background doesn’t necessarily mean anything either. Patience therefore is imperative on the part of the believer witnessing. The reason kindness is so important is because this is something by and large that the world doesn’t understand and what I mean is understand over time. It’s easy to be kind for a moment but what about as you patiently talk with someone over months or years and they still reject you? See, though we may think they are being obstinate, the truth is they know that it’s not enjoyable to be rejected. When someone is rejected for a long time and yet their kindness never changes, this speaks volumes to those people. People can be moved at the realization that though they’ve rejected you so much, your love and gentleness doesn’t cease. We suffer long with people because of this. That is exactly what being Christlike is.

When to give up has layers too. If a person flat rejects it and gets mad that you even mention it, you probably need to stop. However, if I feel there is still some sort of open door I will still approach it, but do so gently. Christians, we MUST be self aware. Possibly one of the biggest problems with our sweet people is that we lack self awareness. Once I was witnessing to a few people at work. I was getting pretty proud of myself for my elaborate dissertations to what I was sure was a captive audience. I witnessed for quite a while before I realized that one who listened so intently was just waiting for me to do something they needed. They didn’t appreciate the lecture of my faith, but quite the opposite, they were ticked! I wasn’t self aware at all!

The key to witnessing is following the Holy Spirit. The Bible says in 1 John 2:20 that we have an unction and we know all things and in Colossians 3:15, to let the peace of God rule in your hearts. One version says, “Act as umpire continually.” Self awareness and awareness of God’s Spirit will ensure we don’t get out of line. I know a man who goes to the beach and awkwardly walks up to people and gives them weird pieces of paper with obscure scriptures about things they won’t understand, while telling them they are going to hell. How many people do you think are drawn in by this method? As a Christian who proclaims Christ, this makes me uncomfortable!

So when do you give up? When they either flat out reject you, or you realize they just couldn’t  care less. Be self aware, be Spirit aware, and follow the peace in your heart. Forcing our way in never works. If God wouldn’t do it, we shouldn’t either. I want to end with this final principle. If we are witnessing to someone continually we should be praying for them as well. Pray for their eyes to be opened and command satan to take his hands off them. Also, you must remember, not all people we witness to will take us up on our offering. In fact, most will not but this should not deter us from finding the ones who will!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff

I’ve been wondering for a long time about Matthew 16:24. That’s where Jesus says to His 12, if any man would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. He’s talking about the cross but he hasn’t even been to the cross yet. How did they know what he meant? And what is the cross that we are supposed to take up?

This is a great question and one that confuses many people for various reasons. Questions like this are why I know the Lord had me change our Faith Fix devotional to this format!

The first thing to understand here is that all the Gospels were written after Jesus had lived, died, and been resurrected. Though we often see “words of Christ in red,” this can be confusing. Some of these things could have been direct quotations or they could have been how the disciples remembered it. For some time I’ve thought that the emphasis on red letters in scripture can be misleading as they are no more the Word of God than the rest of scripture. ALL SCRIPTURE was written by man, inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16). Too often people in general focus on what is written in red thinking somehow that is more Holy. This is a fallacy that keeps people from embracing the whole truth. The whole Bible is the whole counsel of God!

That said, even if Jesus had said those words exactly, the people of that time could still have understanding. Jesus was not the only, the first, nor the last person to be executed on a cross. The crucifixion was a common method of execution for the Romans. Though His death would have certainly been worse, no one else took the weight of the sin of the world upon them for example, many people died publicly by crucifixion. This leads into the next point, “How is this applicable to us?”

Let’s look at this similarly in another Gospel. I might add here, this shows the absolute genius of God! Ever wonder why there are four different Gospels with variation in wording? This is because God used the point of view from several people (one by the way who wasn’t even there) to bring about the glory of His truth! That would be a great Faith Fix question for another time should someone ask it! There’s a lot in that, but perhaps another time.

Let’s go back to this other Gospel. As told in Luke 9:23, “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’” Let me bring to your attention the words, “…take up his cross DAILY.” Obviously one cannot be continually crucified, so God must be saying something else. The point to what Jesus is telling them and us is, we all are called to serve Him according to His plan. His plan will require us to crucify some things. Remember Galatians 5:24 where Paul says, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

In reality, this crucifixion is very similar to circumcision which is to be of the heart. It is true, there are some people that are called to be martyrs for Christ. That said, not all who die because they are Christians are true martyrs (maybe another Faith Fix another time, should somebody ask!). I believe that those called to be martyrs are given the grace to do so, just look at Stephen.

We must take up our cross and follow Jesus! To do so means to sell out to God and His plan, sacrificing ourselves (consecrating our hearts), to His plan. It may mean we don’t do the things we desire in order to fulfill His calling. I never desired in my flesh to pastor. I would prefer in my natural life not to live holy at all, but God’s plan for me is so much greater and I love Him too much to live as I did. So I follow Him and when the weekends are here and I want to be doing what I want, I pick up my cross. When people attack me while I’m trying to help them, I pick up my cross. I say these things as a Christian not as a pastor.

What Jesus is telling us all is that though He desires to bless us, though His plans for us are great, there will always be an aspect of crucifying the flesh. Are you willing to pick up your cross and follow Him, or is your life too important to you? Jesus said that whoever loves his life will lose it. He also said, “I lay down my life willingly.” What would Jesus do? If we desire to be like Jesus, we must embrace our cross, whatever that may be!

Please remember, we answer Faith Fix questions as though they were asked generally. In the answer we are never implying that the one who has asked them is wrong, off, or doing badly. This is why we keep them anonymous. The questions and answers are always meant to stir the faith of believers!

Be Blessed,

Pastor Jeff