Why Be Baptized…

Water-BaptismI believe that a soul, if they have truly repented of their sins and come to faith in Christ for salvation, in compliance with biblical teaching, must be baptized as a testimony of their salvation. I do not believe that baptism is a source or means of salvation, but that baptism instead is a testimony of so great salvation that God has wrought in the life of an individual. Now, there has been a lot of controversy over the years as to methodology of baptism, and this article will not walk into that controversy. Instead, whether it is in the triune formula or in the Jesus name formula, when a soul is baptized, that soul is coming into a depth of spiritual growth and relationship with God that many today are being robbed of.

And Peter answered them, Repent (change your views and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise [of the Holy Spirit] is to and for you and your children, and to and for all that are far away, [even] to and for as many as the Lord our God invites and bids to come to Himself.  And [Peter] solemnly and earnestly witnessed (testified) and admonished (exhorted) with much more continuous speaking and warned (reproved, advised, encouraged) them, saying, Be saved from this crooked (perverse, wicked, unjust) generation. Therefore those who accepted and welcomed his message were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. (Acts 2:38-41 AMP)

On the Day of Pentecost, when Peter stood for the first time and preached the Gospel message, the peoples’ hearts were cut spiritually, revealing their spiritual condition. They cried out in desperation about what to do. They did not know. They stood guilty of the blood of Christ, and had to make things right. Peter told them three things: 1) to repent of their sins and turn to Christ alone for their salvation, 2) to be baptized because of the forgiveness of their sins that they had received, and 3) receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The best way to sum these up is as this: a call, a command, and a promise. Yes, despite what so many teach today, baptism is indeed a commandment for all biblical believers to be obedient to.

Now, that right there would be enough for any believer to take part in. The knowledge that the Bible repeats the commandment to be baptized would be more than sufficient for any convert to be obedient. But, as with all things, God goes further and attached further blessings and promises to the commandment of water baptism, and these blessings and promises are such wonders that many believers have been robbed of.

WHAT SHALL we say [to all this]? Are we to remain in sin in order that God’s grace (favor and mercy) may multiply and overflow? Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? Are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious [power] of the Father, so we too might [habitually] live and behave in newness of life. For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be [one with Him in sharing] His resurrection [by a new life lived for God]. We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin. For when a man dies, he is freed (loosed, delivered) from [the power of] sin [among men]. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, Because we know that Christ (the Anointed One), being once raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has power over Him. (Romans 6:1-9 AMP)

The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Romans, spoke wondrously of the spiritual blessings of water baptism. He identifies water baptism as our taking part in the death and resurrection of Christ. we are buried with Christ in the waters of baptism, and are raised to newness of life as Christ was also raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit. We are identifying with the fact that we have been made dead to sin, dead to the world, dead to flesh, and dead to each and every thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God and His Word. We are identifying with what Christ has done for us and in us, making us dead to the things which nailed Christ to the Cross, our sins and our transgressions, every thought, word, and deed that is contrary to the commandments of God.

I see so many believers in the world today struggling with their sin. They have no idea that when they enter the waters of baptism, that God has ordained this to be a weapon in their spiritual arsenal against the sin that so many deal with. We are taking the identity of Christ’s finished work. We are not earning or meriting the finished work of Christ’s application on our lives, but instead are identifying with that work. And, as we come out of the waters, we are also testifying to the finished work, that as Christ came out of the tomb victorious over sin and death, so we also partake in Christ’s victory. we are testifying to the fact that we have been made partakers of Christ’s finished work of death, burial, and resurrection to newness of life, and victory over sin, death, Hell, and the grave.

For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature]. And you are in Him, made full and having come to fullness of life [in Christ you too are filled with the Godhead--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--and reach full spiritual stature]. And He is the Head of all rule and authority [of every angelic principality and power]. In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but in a [spiritual] circumcision [performed by] Christ by stripping off the body of the flesh (the whole corrupt, carnal nature with its passions and lusts). [Thus you were circumcised when] you were buried with Him in [your] baptism, in which you were also raised with Him [to a new life] through [your] faith in the working of God [as displayed] when He raised Him up from the dead. And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions, (Colossians 2:9-13 AMP)

The waters of baptism not only testify to our taking part of the finished work of Christ, but also has another spiritual aspect, one that is seldom discussed from behind the pulpit. This aspect is intricately entwined with the first point above, of our testifying to taking part in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. When we are baptized, we are signing our portion of the covenant that we have entered into through and in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are spiritually circumcised without hands, performed and finished through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, as we are baptized in the authority of the name of Jesus Christ.

Our baptism is, in this aspect, the signing of our part of the New Covenant. We are publicly and openly acknowledging that we have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repenting of our sins and trusting in Him alone for our salvation. We are acknowledging with an open and faithful heart that Christ is our Lord, and is he has stripped off the corruptness and carnal nature of our old lives, and have been made new creatures in Him. This beautiful and wonderful ordinance of the church is such a powerful testimony of the finished work of Christ that we have accepted into our lives. It’s a testimony of the fact that we have went from darkness to light, from lost to saint, from outside of Christ to accepted in the beloved. It’s also a testimony of what Christ has done in us, circumcising our heart of the foreskin of sin and flesh, and having given us a brand-new heart in Him.

I could continue on for days and weeks discussing the importance of why believers should be baptized. This could be turned into a book almost concerning this entire issue. However, due to the sake of time and not wanting to retire you with a long and intensive study, let me just admonish you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to obedient to the commandment given in Scripture for every believer to be baptized. Take the time to strengthen yourself in your faith in Christ, and be obedient to the Word of God, and be baptized today.

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Healing Is The Children’s Bread

BreadFor years, I have heard this saying among many prophetic and healing ministries, that healing is the children’s bread. Admittedly, I had searched the scriptures to find where this teaching was. And the events of my own recent life have made looking for this scriptural teaching more important than ever. You see, my own Grandmother has been in the hospital since Monday with pneumonia, and early this morning she was put back in IMCU with a low blood count. So, in times of sickness among family, it is imperative that we know and understand the promises of God for our healing, and then stand upon those promises. Healing is a promise from God, and it is a promise in which I openly choose to stand upon for not just myself, but for my family as well as all those I lay hands and pray for.

Isaiah 53:5 is a scripture the Holy Spirit led me to earlier this week as the promises of healing were laid upon my heart, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” This prophetic teaching about the coming of Messiah is more than just a word about what Christ would do, but is instead is a promise to all who believe. When Christ suffered prior to His death on the Cross, they tied Him to a stake and whipped Him 39 times with a cat of nine tails, a Roman style of punishment that was excruciating and could easily kill a man. The Lord then reminded me of an old teaching I had heard many years ago, that each stripe Jesus took upon His back was in reference to the 39 major disease lines that affect humanity today. I do not know if this is true or not, but since the Spirit laid such upon my heart, I will hold fast to this.

Jesus bore the price in His Body for our healing. Healing is a promise to the believer. Now, the healing can come in a form of supernatural healing, where God immediately removes a sickness, or it can come through medical means as well. Let’s face it, if God does not give wisdom to doctors, they could not take care of us. But, I personally believe and know that God can and does heal supernaturally, and that healing is indeed the children’s bread.

And behold, a woman who was a Canaanite from that district came out and, with a [loud, troublesomely urgent] cry, begged, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is miserably and distressingly and cruelly possessed by a demon! But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came and, kneeling, worshiped Him and kept praying, Lord, help me! And He answered, It is not right (proper, becoming, or fair) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs. She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little pups (little whelps) eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters’ table. Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you wish. And her daughter was cured from that moment. (Matthew 15:22-28 AMP)

When the Canaanite woman came to Jesus for her daughter to be healed, Jesus taught us a very powerful promise. Though this woman was outside the Mosaic covenant, she still received the crumbs of bread from the Master’s Table. Jesus taught that healing was bread for this children of promise. The Apostle Paul teaches us in Galatians 3:26-29, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many [of you] as were baptized into Christ [into a spiritual union and communion with Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah] have put on (clothed yourselves with) Christ. There is [now no distinction] neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ [are in Him Who is Abraham's Seed], then you are Abraham’s offspring and [spiritual] heirs according to promise.” You see, we are the children of promise because we are in Christ through faith. Because of this, every promise that Christ purchased through His suffering and death is ours, yours and mine.

2Corinthians 1:20 teaches us that the promises of God are so for all believers, and always have been, “For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.” God’s promises have not ceased for the children of God, and as such, they are for us today! Healing is the children’s bread today! It is for us, and everyone whom we pray for, we are sharing the Bread of the Master’s table with them. Healing and the supernatural are not things of the past, but are Yes and we say Amen to them today!

HALLELUJAH! PRAISE YHWH! PRAISE JESUS!

Today, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, reach up to the Master’s Table and take freely of the Bread of Healing that we have been given. Eat freely of this promise, for it is yours and mine, and share this with those around you. Partake freely, for in so doing the Father is pleased. Today, be healed in Jesus’ name!

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Ending Gender Bias In Worship

I am so honored to be a part of a wonderful church, and be in fellowship with men and women who worship God freely and purely, not out of flesh, but in the Spirit and in truth. One real big point in our worship is the fact that there is no real gender bias in our worship that both male and females dance before the Lord, use banners and flags in worship, and are extreme in their submission to the things of God in Praise and Worship. One brother in particular, named Alex, is an absolutely incredible worshipper with the flags and banners, and I have complimented him many times in his dedication to worship and the beauty of his worship before the Lord. Unfortunately, in much of what we would call traditional Pentecost, such acts of worship would be reserved solely for the female worshippers, and such acts would be considered too feminine for the men to take part in.

The truth is, until one is truly free to worship God, one is not truly free to worship. The time has come for us to eliminate these gender bias mindsets of worship, and as God has given gifts to men and women, eliminate gender bias in worship once and for all. When one comes to worship at VCCHouston, you will notice men and women dancing in the Spirit, trembling under the power, laughing uncontrollably under the anointing as His joy is poured out in abundance. You will see singers mixed, and will see the worshippers mixed, because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom/liberty (2Corinthians 3:17). It is when the worship is truly free, that when all can worship as God has blessed them and led them, that the Spirit truly has free reign in the services. And, this free reign is one of the birthing positions of a true move of God in the service.

It is not until we learn and understand that the worship we bear witness to in such services is in order, and is in alignment with the will of God, that we would see a breakthrough atmosphere in our praise and worship services. The truth is, we have too much of a stranglehold in old time Pentecost when it comes to worship, even when it comes to length of time for the music worship, and especially in the arena of gender roles in worship. We will give God an hour to move in the music, with the women alone dancing and waving the banners, and then the leader will cut it off, and stop the move dead in its tracks. And then we wonder why is it we have to pump and prime when the Word is preached in most of these churches. This is just one of the sources of that problem.

Let me take you back to the Old Testament, where many of our worship experiences get their footing. In the Temple, the Levites were the ones in charge of both the service of the Temple, as well as participants in the worship of God. And those who did so in the Temple were all men. There were no women allowed to do service in the Temple. So, before the temple, the same was in effect. While there were women who worshipped, men were the primary ones who did worship before the Lord. When the banners were used, it was the Levitical men who would raise and wave the banners. It was only in modern times that we relegated such worship to ‘appear feminine’. The fact is, my brother who worships in this manner does so with beauty and grace, and when this worship is going on, all I really experience is the presence of God in the worship.

In closing, allow me to be real. All these strangleholds that have been placed on our worship are nothing more than control, and God is not going to be controlled. Instead of us trying to be the focus of how the worship should take place, let us allow God’s instruments to play as He sees fit to play them for His glory. Let’s put away the preconceived ideas of worship and what we are supposed to do, and allow God to get Him some glory by doing what He leads and calls us to do.

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You Are A Destined Believer

Too many believers are living way below the spiritual poverty line. They are walking in a powerless, impotent, and utterly useless Christianity. Many have been led to believe that such things as supernatural signs and wonders are things of the past, and that those things which the Bible records God working sovereignly do not occur today. Because of this, many are not living their spiritual destinies in Christ, because the believer without power is a believer not living the full supernatural life in Christ.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God's] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people; once you were unpitied, but now you are pitied and have received mercy. Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves properly (honorably, righteously) among the Gentiles, so that, although they may slander you as evildoers, [yet] they may by witnessing your good deeds [come to] glorify God in the day of inspection [when God shall look upon you wanderers as a pastor or shepherd looks over his flock]. (1 Peter 2:9-12 AMP)

Too many people have lived away from their destiny, because they are living away from the power of God. They may have a good walk and talk, but there is no power behind their lives. They live in a religious quagmire that makes them think they can live in the power of their own made up mind, and be good people, and that is all that is required of them. But, the words of Jesus in John 14:12 very much contradicts the notion of a Christianity that is without the supernatural, “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.”

You are a destined believer, a believer destined to live and operate in the 3rd heavenly realm of the supernatural, with amazing signs & wonders following you are you proclaim the Good News. It is the destiny of each and every true believer in Jesus Christ to continue the finished work of Christ as laid out by Jesus in Mark 16:17-18, “And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well.” This is our destiny here on earth as Ambassadors of our Abba Father while here, to be supernatural witnesses.

Please understand that I am not going to doubt the salvation of those who do not believe in the continued supernatural working of God in signs and wonders. These are brethren in Christ, and I have absolutely no doubt about this. In fact, their doubt causes me to love them that much more, because I want them to have what I have received and experience. I believe that such believers are living way, way below their spiritual destiny. They are walking with His name, but are not exercising the faith as they are called to do. But, as I learned, Abba Father has a way of taking the plain and making it supernatural, and awaking the believer to see the supernatural, and living in it!

Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]– To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it). (Ephesians 3:20-21 AMP)

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The Tithing Lie

It is a well known fact that I am a staunch adversary of one of the most corrupt and spiritually dangerous doctrines involved in the Church today, and that is the tithing doctrine. I am unashamedly unapologetic about this lie that is propagated by money hungry preachers and is believed by those who have not taken the time to study what they claim to believe seriously in the light of the scriptures. The fact is, everything, and I do mean everything, that is taught in the majority of churches about tithing is simply false, and in some cases, because the preachers know it to be false, can be classified as a flat out lie.

I shall never forget the day in which the deceitfulness of some in the ministry was revealed to me first hand. I was in a heated discussion with an older minister over the issue of tithing, and I admit that I was openly refuting all his arguments. Finally, another preacher came into the discussion when I questioned why the tithe lie was still being preached even after they knew it was unbiblical. The answer shocked me, because the man (I refuse to call someone who knowingly deceives the flock of God and preacher) claimed that because I was not a pastor, I did not understand. The truth is, yes, I do understand, that it is control over the flock of God, being on a throne of their own making, and not being biblical about the giving. These so-called Apostolic ministers I dealt with back then banned me from all further discussion because I showed that false elder that his doctrine and practice about making the tithe mandatory was a lie.

Another incident involved a church that has since closed that I was a minister of. I was taking people back and forth to church regularly, using my then extended cab pickup, and was also preaching. The pastor pulled me to the side and confronted me that I was not paying tithes, and that I was not giving as much as others in the Church. That was the beginning of my eyes being opened about the tithe, because when so-called preachers who talk about tithing, they would say that we, as believers, must pay tithes.

Pay tithes?! Are you kidding me?! There is absolutely no scripture for the Church paying tithes under the New Covenant! In fact, under the Law of Moses, not everyone paid tithes either. It was not money, but was always agricultural, and only those who raise crops, livestock, or fished would bring their tithes for the Levites, since this was how the Levites provided for the food of their families. Now, how in the world can a man who claims to study the Bible continue to promote tithing as mandatory, when it was never mandatory for the entirety of Israel, only those who were agricultural based in their lifestyle.

And, what is worse is that so many people have been spiritually brainwashed into believing they have to pay this levitical tax, a tax that is no where in scripture, and was invented by Roman Catholicism, not by the early Apostolic church. It was invented in at the Council of Tours in 567, repeated again at the Council of Macon in 585, made official by Pope Adrian I in 787. Before that time, the issue of tithing was not an issue. It was only when the Roman Catholic Church wanted to build their grand cathedrals and monasteries that the tithe was invented, and not before.

Let’s see exactly what the New Testament teaches us about our giving…

[Remember] this: he who sows sparingly and grudgingly will also reap sparingly and grudgingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to someone] will also reap generously and with blessings. Let each one [give] as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver [whose heart is in his giving]. (2 Corinthians 9:6-7 AMP)

There is a night and day difference between what many churches teach and what the Bible teaches in the realm of financial support. The Apostle Paul says that our giving is to be as the Lord lays on our heart, not according to some manmade dogma with religious paint on it. Freewill, cheerful, and liberal giving is what God wants, not this manmade levitical fraud that has been passed down for centuries.

Do I need to give another scripture about this? Nope, not when this one speaks absolutely clearly against tithing and for freewill giving as unto the Lord. So, the choice is yours, to keep believing the lie, or start believing what the Bible says, and in so doing be liberated from the lies and guilt that has no place on a believer.

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