Authentic Faith

Keeping it Real: The Seven Habits of Highly Hypocritical People

{Matthew 15:8-9} These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Hypocrite: one who pretends to be what he is not, acting the part of being close to God when in reality your heart is very far from Him. {Matt. 15:8} 

The Seven Habits
1. Making salvation as complicated as possible. {Matt. 23:13}
2. Getting what I need from people even if it hurts them. {Matt. 23:14-15}
  • To be indifferent to the impact our conduct has on others makes us a hypocrite. {James 3:1} 
3. Squirming my way out of a promise I don't want to keep. {Matt. 23:16-17}
  • If you give your word, keep it. If you make a promise, keep it. 
4. Making a big deal out of little things and ignoring the important things. {Matt. 23:23-24}
  • Justice: doing what's right. {Micah 6:8}  
  • Mercy: going a little easier on people. {James 2:13}
  • Faithfulness: keep going.  {Matt. 23:23-24}
5. Exhibiting laziness in all matters of the heart. {Matt. 23:25-26}
  • Being lazy in the matters of the heart means to be unwilling to expend your energy on things that matter the most.
  • Greed: I can't get enough {Matt. 23:25}
  • Self-indulgence: to have no restraint in the consumption of what I have. {Psalm 62:10}
  • We are who we are when no one can see us. That's the true you.
6. Looking good to others, no matter what the cost. {Matt. 23:27-28}
7. Pretending to be better than others, no matter what the evidence. {Matt. 23:29-36}
  • A lifetime of unrepented hypocrisy reveals that a person has never need truly born again. {Matt. 23:37-38} 

This is a sin everyone struggles with in different ways. You must discover for yourself how God wants you to deal with your own version of hypocrisy. Here is a challenge for the week. Identify one of the seven habits of hypocrisy that you struggle with and keep a special eye on it this week. See what God does! 

Wake Up Call to Your Generation

Colossians 3, Romans 6:1, Hebrews 1

People believe that self-righteousness is less of a sin than murder.

Colossians 1 & 2 focus on Jesus.

-Be nervous for those who have no fire for Christ. Just because you know a lot about someone doesn't mean you know them. Just because you know all the answers doesn't mean you're saved. We turn our focus onto the modification of our behaviors, rather than the Savior. We can know that if we fall we don't have to watch for lightning bolts. The life of your mind is important. Trash in, trash out. You conquer sin by focusing on Christ. The Bible focuses on Christ, we focus on the sin. The price of your rebellion has been paid in full.
-Fix your eyes on the things above and everything else will grow dim.
-Who wants crackers when there's stake?
-Put to death the things of below.
-Our energy should be focused on above so we can have the strength to push down that below. Build defenses where you know you're weak.

The gospel pushes us toward holiness and righteousness.

We can't talk about holiness and righteousness that are rooted in joy if you're not a believer.

Is there an internal desire and delight in you for Jesus?

We've got no shot at holiness and righteousness if we haven't been born again.

To grow in holiness, you set your eyes, your mind, and your heart on Christ.

To be conformed to a pattern of religion is not the same thing as being transformed by the Holy Spirit of God.

If intimacy with God, for you, hinges on your ability to manage your behavior you will never walk intimately with God.

The more you pursue Christ and know Him, the more you've transformed into His likeness.

Sin loses its grasp on our hearts when God is a greater delight than the things below.

Actively do two things:
    1. Actively grow in understanding of Jesus Christ and filling our lives with things that help that delight.
     2. Put to death that which is below.

If this is where the Enemy is going to get you and the flesh is going to draw you somewhere, act violently against those things.

Philippians 4:8, Galatians 2:20, Romans 8:1, 2 Corinthians 3:18

Who is Our Authority?

Everyone wants Jesus! 

 ... but not everyone knows Jesus. 

-If I were to introduce Jesus this is how I would do it:

Mark 1:14-33

After John was put into prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good  news of God. "The time has come,"he  said. "The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" 

- Notice here, Jesus's mission is stated in these few verses. He went into Galilee to proclaim his good news. Wouldn't it be amazing if we had the same motive, where we would GO and PROCLAIM the good news!

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come follow me," Jesus said. "and i will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed Him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.

-So much is said in these couple verses! 

- "How has the authority like that"!! 

No one ever just says, "Come Follow Me". . . It was also strange back then because most people choice who they wanted to follow. In this cause it was Jesus that called out! And surprisingly they drop EVERYTHING and followed Him! 

The reason I love this passage is because of how much authority Jesus portrays. As we go further into the chapter I will show you more passages that relate to his authority. 

Later on in the Chapter, Mark 1:21-28 

-I Love this passage because Jesus does the same as the other verses. Once Jesus arrived in Capernaum, he was preaching his good news. And hear this, as Jesus was talking the people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had great authority.  

There are many other instances where Jesus did the same thing. 

Mark 2:9-10

Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven", or to say, "Get up, take your mat and walk"? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . . . 

-Who his authority like that!?

Throughout this two passages that Pharisees were there watching, and in those breathe taking moments of healing and restoration, they hated Him! They despised Him.

-Whats so beautiful about this passage is that Jesus not only uses the power to heal, but also to forgive the paralyzed man. He binds two beautiful things into one! The forgiveness of sin and healing. 

What stood out about Jesus?

- His Love?

- His Wisdom?

- His Power? 

-Yes, those were and are correct, but that is not why they were amazed. 

. . . . It was his authority! 

This shows who he was. A person who came not to destroy the law, but to full fill it. He came to the sick and broken. He came to give joy to the mourning, healing to the broken,  and rest to the weary. 

Evolution Part 2

Thermodynamics and the Bible: The Two Laws Explained

1. Energy is conserved. All existing processes in nature simply change the energy from one form to another. In nature, energy is neither created nor destroyed.

*The first law speaks of a total creation, originally completed, and now sustained by God's power.

The First Law in Scripture:
"…all things were created through Him…" (PAST Tense! Not a continuing process!)
"…in Him all things consist" (Greek word for SUSTAIN; nothing is lost from it). Colossians 1:16-17 "…He made…upholding all things by the word of His power." Hebrews 1:2&3
"…by the word of God…the present heavens and earth…are reserved…kept in store…"  2 Peter 3:5&7
 "…He commanded…created…established them forever." Psalm 148: 5&6

2. Energy dissipates. As processes in nature occur, the total energy available is reduced to simpler forms. As it is used, it becomes less available. Part of what is used to produce something is always dissipated as radiation, friction or heat. Ultimately, without God's intervention, the entire universe will end up filled with useless, low-level heat energy.

*The second law speaks of the curse of decay and death, brought on by man's sin, and causing an overall degeneration in everything.

The Second Law in Scripture:
The "decay principle" is consistent with the entire Scripture in light of the curse in Eden.
"Even they will perish (the starry heavens), but Thou dost endure; and all of them will wear out like a garment…" Psalm 102:26
But , the Second Law was not intended originally for a creation that was "very good." "the whole creation groans and suffers…" Romans 8:22
Death and decay was obviously not intended to prevail as it does now. Nor will it dominate the eternal kingdom! It is not permanent. "…creation…will be set free from…the bondage of decay." Romans 8:21 "…no more curse…" Revelation 22:2 What does it mean?

 * The second law proves that there had to be a beginning point once in time, or else all creation would be dead by now. The universe cannot have an infinite past. 
 * The first law proves that a Designer must have created all that exists, because no process in nature creates anything out of nothing.

Other Points:
3. Random Chance produces all the complexity of living things.

Consider your body: Each cell has about 90 trillion bits of information in them. Your body is composed of about 100 trillion cells. Humans have about 20,000 different proteins making up all the organic structures. And these are composed of hundreds of different amino acids. The thought that just a few parts could even line up perfectly on their own (random chance) is absurd!

Exerpt from Dr Michael Denton's Book Evolution: A Theory in Crisis:

"The Complexity of the simplest known type of cell is so great that it is impossible to accept that such an object could have been thrown together suddenly by some freakish event. Such an occurrence would be indistinguishable from a miracle."

AND:
 4. Non-living Matter produced life? Really?



Related posts

Evolution Part 1

"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking in their own lusts and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming?' for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this, they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men." 
2 Peter 3:3-7

It's Driving Force—Willful Ignorance!

"Christianity has fought, still fights and will fight 'science' to the desperate end over evolution, because evolution destroys utterly and finally the very reason Jesus' earthly ministry was supposedly made necessary. Destroy Adam and Eve and the original sin, and in the sorry remains of the son of god. Take away the meaning of his death. If Jesus was not the redeemer who died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is nothing.
Christianity, if it is to survive, must have Adam and the original sin and the fall from grace, or it cannot have Jesus the redeemer who restores to those who believe what Adam's disobedience took away. What all this means is that Christianity cannot lose the Genesis account of creation…and get along. The battle must be waged, for Christianity is fighting for its very life."

Published by an American atheist periodical -AmericanAtheist (Feb 1978)

Does Theistic Evolution (the idea that God uses evolution to create the world) sound like something that God would use for creation? Does it sound like a lifestyle that can be accepted as truth and still be a believer?

The Roots of Evolutionary Faith

*Until the mid 1800s, science was largely rooted in Biblical Creation. What happened in the 19th Century?

A. Uniformitarianism- Charles Lyell (1830-33) 
 "Principles of Geology"- proposed that all our Earth's features can be explained in terms of present observable processes, which supposedly have always gone on in the past at the same rates as today. 

"The present is the key to the past." - summary of the book

 *Lyell once wrote that his goal was to "free the science from Moses." Is this objective science or a prejudice against the Bible?

B. Charles Darwin-at 22 yrs, he sailed on the British ship "Beagle" in 1831.
The voyage lasted five years. He began developing his concepts based on Lyell's work. Darwinian Evolution was laid out based on the "millions of years" Lyell's work used.
 Darwin published the book "The Origin of Species" in 1859.

 "To have the unthinking masses accept all that I say would be calamity…" Charles Darwin

C. Gradualism- In Biology, the slow processes of genetic change, gradually going on generation after generation through immense spanses of time. ASSUMED to be the ultimate cause for every living thing in nature.

SO, The Working Definition of Evolution: A directional and irreversible process occurring in time, which in its course gives rise to an increase of variety and an INCREASINGLY high level of organization in its products. Our present knowledge indeed forces us to the view that the whole of reality is evolution, a single process of self- transformation.
Julian Huxley, atheist (20th Century)

What are the mysteries of Evolution?

1. IT ALL STARTED WITH THE Big Bang.

It is felt that nothing existed (not even space!) except for this tiny ball of matter. After 1000s of years, it just blew up with an unbelievable release of energy & heat. They think this mega blast happened about 12 to 15 BILLION YEARS AGO. They argue things have been spinning off that explosion ever since.

*From then to now random processes have caused everything in the universe to become increasingly complex. The sun and all the other stars eventually condensed out of swirling gas. The planets, including our Earth, also condensed out of the dust particles hurling through space.

SIMPLE QUESTION: Do explosions ever INCREASE order?
*Hmmm…If I place a stick of dynamite under lumber, do I get a framed house or do I get toothpicks? Disorder to Order?

2 Time, the MAGIC FACTOR

All evolutionary ideas require lots of time. Without the inconceivable "eons" of time, evolution has not got a chance! They say if given enough time, anything can happen! BUT, does evidence demand evolutionary time existed? The probability of an event happening does not become greater by allowing MORE time. Events with extremely low probability fall into the category of “improbable”. 

*When a series of improbable events must occur in a sequence at very specific times, the improbable becomes "impossible!

So, what really happens as time marches on?
 a) Orderly things become disorderly.
 b) New things get old and break down.
 c) Living things age and wear out.

This is called the Second Law of Thermodynamics (a.k.a.= the Law of Entropy). 

 *Evolution and Entropy are polar opposites! Every energy system in the universe wears out! 
Stars burn out. Galaxies fly apart. Energy is becoming less and less useful through time. The ONLY consistent observation is that everything in our physical universe is running down!



Related posts

Wake Up Call to Your Generation

There's a worldwide view that something has gone wrong in our world -Romans 3. Almost all people believe that we can fix what's gone wrong ourselves. We continue to drink from the same well that we know is poisoned. Not any one sin is causing the problem. Why treat only the symptoms when the disease is what's killing us. God spoke flavors into existence. He did that for our pleasure. If you worship the creation over the Creator then you'll never be fulfilled. We live like we think we're smarter than God, even though we'll never say it out loud. We turn ourselves into blasphemous people by declaring "look what I can do!" when we should be saying, "look what He did through me!" You lie because you're a liar. You steal because you're a thief. You murder because you have hatred. You commit adultery because you lust.

1. All of the ills that befall mankind are symptoms of a greater problem.

2. All human beings are guilty of three things: Romans 1
-All of us prefer creation to the Creator.
-We think we're smarter than God.
-We've all failed to acknowledge Him.

3. If you could fix yourself, you would still be guilty of failing to acknowledge God.

4. You are in desperate need of someone who does not owe, to pay.

5. Through the law no one will stand righteous before God. -Romans 3:20

6. You went from no righteousness of your own to getting the righteousness of God Himself. -Romans 3:21-22 &23 &24

7. You didn't justify yourself. You were justified.
-We try to justify our "bad" actions by our "good" actions, when actually they're equally despicable to God.
-Righteousness has been made available to us through Jesus.

8. You are, without any ability to argue your cause, guilty.

9. We have lost a fear of God.

10. We will give an account to God.

11. It's a righteousness that is given to you in Jesus Christ.

No amount of "good" works can provide righteousness for us. Even through our deliberate rebellion, God continues to pursue us.

Quran vs. Bible

The "Quran" means "the recitation".
Chapters are called the Suras.
Verses are called Ayahs.

1. The Quran- its composition

Gabriel appeared to Mohammed and gave him visions.
After Mohammed's death in 632 A.D. his students compiled everything he said into one document.
Central religious text of Islam is the Quran.
There are 114 Suras in the Quran. Roughly the size of the New Testament.
The Suras are arranged in decreasing size, largest to smallest.

2. The Quran - its treatment

Muslims believe that this is the only uncorrupted holy book.
A special cloth or stand is put on the ground before the Quran can be placed there.
The Quran is to occupy the highest place in the house.
Only the clean can touch the Quran. (washed hands/ bathed to be clean)
When the Quran is read publicly everything happening around it must stop as respect for the text.


3. The Quran - how it was received

Once a year Gabriel appeared to Mohammed and gave him more of the Quran.
For the messages to be true they must be in the Arabic language.
Only once in the Quran is Gabriel named.

4. The Quran - its relation with the Bible

The Quran recounts stories of the Old Testament and even the Apocrypha.
Moses is mentioned in the Quran more than any other individual.
Jesus is mentioned more than Mohammed.

A. Mary:

The Quran gives her parents' names: Hannah and Emrom.
The Muslims affirm her virgin birth.
The Quran teaches that Mary was raised in the temple under the eye of Zechariah (father of John the Baptist).
She gives birth under a palm tree.

B. Jesus:

Jesus speaks as an infant in the cradle.
He performs miracles in the Quran.
There are two miracles that are not found anywhere in the Bible.
Both of these miracles are recorded in the Apocrypha.
The biggest sin is to believe that God would become man.

C. Holy Spirit :

The Holy Spirit and Gabriel seem to be confused as the same person.
Not the same Spirit Christians believe in.

Mysteries of the Early Earth Part 2

The Bible makes it impossible to accommodate evolutionary concepts!

The Bible states:

1. Earth existed before all  stars! (Light travelling millions of years?)
2. Daylight existed before the sun.
3. Water covered the earth before dry land.
4. Complex fruit trees existed before the jellyfish.
5. All plants existed before the sun!
6. Birds and whales existed before all land creatures.
7. Man was made before woman!

So, What REALLY happened in the beginning?

God is eternal so “In the Beginning…” is a reference to time beginning. It is like a small window in eternity. God is ABOVE time!

*2 Peter 3:8-ALWAYS misquoted but frequently used! It simply reveals God is not bound by time. He created it. It does NOT reveal that a day could be 1,000 years long

What next? God created the heavens (means “stretched out space”).

*He had to make the empty space to put everything!

Then… God created the earth (means the dirt or matter from which everything else is made. It was without form and void—the BUILDING BLOCKS).

Where Does Light Come From?

“LET THERE BE LIGHT!” (Day and Night First Day) Believed to be a general reference to energy (including atoms)—All matter was energized! Particles were now in motion and operating in TIME.

Essentially, God’s first creative act defines the BASIS of ALL Physical Reality:

space, matter, & energy!

“…all things were created by Him (Jesus) and for Him; And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist (or hold together).” Colossians 1:16-17

Genesis 1:2 The Creation of Water

God’s Spirit moved ( or hovers) over the waters. The earth was covered in water on the beginning of the 2^nd Day. God moved some of the water above the planet, separated by the firmament. He re-named the firmament “heavens” – notice the plural? (Gen 1:6-8) Apparently more than one heaven!

Hmmm… Original Hebrew word “Shamayim” is translated in Genesis 1:1 as “heavens”. Mayim= waters; Sham= there/in it. So, the expanse of the heavens includes water. NASA?

“Waters above the heavens” (Psalm 148:4)

Water-essential for life and in abundance on the Earth!

Day 3: God changed the form of the earth- gathered the waters and allowed the dry land to appear. It was good! Then He created all of the plants and the planet was no longer void! It was good!

Day 4: (v14-16) God filled the vast empty space with lights.

Why were the Heavenly bodies made anyway?

Six reasons are found in verses 14-15:

1. to separate day and night

2. as signs

3. to mark seasons

4. to mark days

5. to mark years

6. to give light upon the earth

In God’s master plan, what is the center of attention?

The rest was set up to “help” the earth!

How long were each of the days of creation?

The days of creation week were separated by “the evening and the morning were the first day…” The boundaries are very clear!

But, what makes an evening and a morning?

Is it the sun? (Remember, it was not created until the 4^th day!)

If we look at Exodus, God reaffirms the six days of creation while making the 10 Commandments:

“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” (Ex 20:8)

Further explained in v9 “Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work”

And v11: “For in Six days (same word!) the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them…”

In all of these verses the same Hebrew word "yom" is used. These days are the same length.

What about the water above the firmament?

*This suggests the Earth’s environment was very different in the beginning. It is felt that “waters above” were much more than just the clouds of today.

*It is often felt the firmament was a large water canopy high in the atmosphere (This would be a perfect water source for the great flood.)

What does the scripture say? 

(Genesis 2:5-6) States that “God had not sent rain” at the completion of creation, but an ideal watering system!

Hebrews 11:7 warned Noah about “things not yet seen.” (Rain?)

Genesis 9:13-14 Implies a rainbow and the clouds were a new surprise after God’s promise.

*The canopy could lead to a “VERY Good” Earth! Results:

1 Longer life spans (Adam 930; Seth 912; Methusaleh 969; Noah 950; …)

2 Minimal Disease

3 Rapid healing

4 Greater Stamina & endurance

5 **Larger specimens of some plants and many animals that keep growing as long as they live!

            --Evidence:

           *Dragonflies (four or five inch wingspan) Reached 3 feet across!

           *Cockroaches that were a foot long! (eww)

           *Hornless rhino reached 18 feet high and 30 feet long!

           *A Coiled shellfish {8 inches} with fossils measuring over 5 feet!


Related Posts

Mysteries of the Early Earth Part 1

“ You alone are the Lord; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all things on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The host of heaven worships you.” (Nehemiah 9:6)

“For in six days the Lord made heaven, earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day…” (Exodus 20:11)

*Do you believe in the Bible? Believe it from cover to cover? That it is the “inerrant” Word of God? Or is some of it out dated? Maybe it is a Fairy Tale that has been disproven by the advancements of science?

How Important is the Biblical concept of Creation?

A Summary of Genesis Chapter 1:

Day 1 v.1 Time Begins; Heaven and Earth created.

v.2 God’s Spirit hovered over the waters.

v.3 Light called to “be”.

Day 2 v.7 The Expanse (or firmament) was made.

v.7 Waters separated below and above the expanse.

Day 3 v9,10 Waters below the expanse gathered to become seas.

Dry land appears and is called earth.

v12 Plants are created.

Day 4 v14, 15 Lights are made in the expanse.

v16 Sun and moon made.

Stars are made.

v17 They are placed in the expanse.

Day 5 v21 Great sea monsters created; Other sea life created;

Birds created as well.

Day 6 v25 Beasts and cattle of earth are made. All things that creep!

v27 Man is created.

v28 Man is given dominion over every living thing.

v29 Every plant is given as food.

Day 7 The Lord Rests!

How important is the Biblical Concept of Creation?

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…Then God saw everything that He had made and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:1,31)

Are we to understand that these words mean EXACTLY what they say?

An age old Question: Where did I come from?

*If you trust the written word of God, the Created physical world around us points us directly to God!

“ From (since) the creation of the world…the invisible things (God's attributes ) even His eternal power and Godhead (His divine nature), are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made… so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

What has been clearly seen? His very nature.

How is that revealed? Through the things He has made!

*All men are ‘without excuse’ for ignoring God.*

What happens when men ignore God? (Hint: Romans 1:21)

“but became…vain in their imaginations.”

CREATION & OUR FAITH

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” (Hebrews 11:3)

Why is Creation so Important?

*If God is subtly removed from people’s minds as their Creator, then it is simple for them to disregard Him as their Redeemer.

What is TRUE Science?

“A fool’s speech brings him to ruin. Since he begins with a foolish premise, his conclusion is sheer madness.” (Ecclesiastes 10:12-13)

What’s the outcome of a foolish premise?

God’s Word is…Enduring. (Matthew 24:35)

…Inerrant. (2 Tim 3:16; Prov 30:5-6; Romans 3:4)

…Clear. Prov 8:8-9

What causes our lack of understanding?

*You really only know what you have been taught. If that is built on error, then your conclusions will be distorted! KEY FACTORS:

• Ignorance-of God’s Word and His power. (Matt 22:29)

• Natural (Unspiritual) Thinking (1 Cor 2:14)

• Attraction to Fables (2 Tim 4:4)

• Willful Ignorance (2 Peter 3:4-5)

• Suppression of the Truth (Rom 1:18)

“For as the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)

What should be our attitude as we study the creation around us?

“Speak to the earth and it shall teach thee…” (Job 12:8)

1. Faith (Hebrews 11:3)
2. Confidence (1 Thess 5:21)
3. Insight (Eph 6:12; 1 Cor 2:14-15)
4. Openness (Psalm 119:130; Prov 8:9; Job 12:9-10)

Related Posts