Events•
on March 30th, 2009•
Hey all! Here is a neat tool to help you stay connected to what’s happening with Centered. Twitter is a recent development in social networking where you can follow friends and share what you’re doing. Also, it’s a great way for ministries and organizations to effectively send out messages to those who follow them. Hope this tutorial helps!
1. Visit http://twitter.com
2. Click on “Get Started-Join!”
3. Type in your information, choose a username, and click “Create My Account”
4. You can add people you want to “follow” by clicking on “Find People,” then using the “Find on Twitter” tab, try searching for bcentered. You can also view others who are following our ministry and choose to follow them, should you desire.
5. You can edit your profile under “Settings.”
6. Also under Settings, you can click “Devices,” enter your mobile number, and then you’ll get a code to send to 40404 from your phone. This enables you to get updates sent from whomever you want sent straight to your phone as a text message (standard rates apply)
7. The above step turns on the general feature, but now you have to individually click on a friend’s username or icon, underneath which you’ll see “Device updates OFF.” By clicking on this, you can turn it ON. You must do this for everyone you want to get updates sent to your phone for.
8. Now you’re ready for updates: tell us what you’re doing! Click back on “Home” at the top, and type your status updates in the box.
Remember, Centered’s username is bCentered
For more tips, check out http://tinyurl.com/ddo3wn
Blog•
on March 26th, 2009•
A Look At The Enemy’s Schemes
1 John 2:15-17
15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
Introduction
Satan cannot stop us from becoming Christians, but he will do everything that’s in his power to keep us from becoming strong Christians. And this is exactly what he does best: he tries to divert our attention from our walk with God, cluttering our lives so we won’t feed on the Word of God. The Scriptures declare: “I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:14) Simply stated, no one can become an Overcomer without having strong roots in the Word of God. Without growing strong in the Word and maturing in our walk with Jesus, we become an easy prey for our enemy, the devil, who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)
Weak Christians have no impact on this world as they are not able to fulfill God’s call for their lives, and the churches are filled with this type of Christians. Addressing a National Seminar on Church Leadership, George Gallup stated: “We find there is very little difference in ethical behavior between churchgoers and those who are not active religiously. The levels of lying, cheating, and stealing are remarkable similar in both groups. Eight out of ten Americans consider themselves Christians, Gallup said, yet only about half of them could identify the person who gave the Sermon on the Mount, and fewer still could recall five of the Ten Commandments. Only two in ten said they would be willing to suffer for their faith.” (Quoted in “Pastor to Pastor”, by Erwin Lutzer, p. 66). It is clear that we live in times when we experience a distressing drift toward accepting a form of Christianity that does not demand a life – changing walk with God. Apostle Paul prophesized that his would be a sign of the end times: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Let’s now look at what Scriptures teach us regarding the devil’s schemes so we not only understand them, but to also equip ourselves to overcome a world system that is stacked up against the people of God.
Command or Suggestion?
Apostle John begins this passage with a clear command: “Do not love the world or anything in the world.” Why can’t we love the world? The Bible tells us in John 3:16 that God loved the world, so why can’t we? Is here a contradiction?
To answer this question we must understand that the original word “kosmos” that is translated “world” is used with different meanings in Scriptures. “World” is used in the Bible to refer to the created world, lost people, and the world system under the evil influence of Satan. For instance, in John 3:16 “world” is used in reference to the lost human race. In the next verse, John 3:17, the reference is to the created world. However, in our text it means “the human society, temporarily controlled by the power of evil, organized in opposition to God” (Stephen S. Smalley, Word Biblical Commentary, p. 81). Referring to Satan and his temporal dominion over this world, Jesus declared in John 12:31, “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” In 1 John 5:19 John writes: “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” This is the world that John commands us not to fall in love with.
We must notice that there is no middle ground with this issue. Either you love God or you love the world. You cannot love both. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Jesus emphasized in Matthew 6:24 that it is impossible for us to serve two masters. James, a straight shooter, said the same thing: “Friendship with the world is hatred toward God” (James 4:4).
John’s command is in the present tense imperative, indicating that not loving the world is the only victorious way for the believer in Christ. The problem is that often Christians get too attached to the things of this world. This was a problem in the first century and it became widely spread in our times. One of Paul’s disciple, Demas, turned his back on Paul because he had fallen in love with the world: “Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:10).
The Schemes Of The Enemy
John goes on to describe the three major types of strategies that Stan deploys against God’s children to stop them from fulfilling God’s will and call in their lives.
1. “The cravings of sinful man” – literally, “the desire of the flesh.” “Flesh” – “sarx” in original Greek – is another word that can have multiple meanings: It can be used for our physical body or the sinful nature that all human race inherited from Adam and Eve. Our bodies have legitimate needs, such as food, sex, or sleep. However, these needs can become sins when they are perverted. This is the meaning that John use “sarx” in this context: the fleshly desires and attitudes that are in oppositions to the “spiritual” ones, “a disposition of hostility toward God” (Stephen S. Smalley, Word Biblical Commentary, p. 84). For example, the need for food can be distorted and becomes gluttony. The God-given desire for sexual intimacy becomes adultery or fornication when it is perverted and used outside your marriage, or homosexuality, when used with a person of the same gender, or bestiality, when used with animals.
How are we, the Christians of 21st Century, to overcome the cravings of our sinful nature? Jesus set an example for us when he was tempted in this area: after He had been fasting for forty days and became hungry, Satan tempted Him to turn stones into bread in order to satisfy his hunger. Jesus responded, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’ ” (Matthew 4:4).
2. “The lust of his eyes” - We could think particularly to the desire to watch things which give sinful pleasures, such as pornography, but more probable, “John’s thought is of greed and desire for things aroused by seeing them” (I. Howard Marshall, New International Commentary, p. 145). This is the desire to have everything that you set your eyes on. Advertisers understand this concept very well: They flash images on TV screen of everything from cars to clothes to jewelry, especially designed to make us covet what they are selling. The grass seems always to be greener on the other side of the fence and so you will tempted to believe that you need to get what the advertisers say is better for you. The problem is that when you get what’s on the other side you are never satisfied. The object of your desires never rises up to its advertisement’s pitch and you are still feeling empty and unsatisfied and continue to covet all the more.
Jesus also had to face the temptation to covet and He showed us how to overcome it. Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and offered to give them to him if He would kneel before him and worship. Jesus responded, “Away from me Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only’” (Matthew 4:10). Jesus knew that to indulge oneself in materialism was to actually worship these things. And to worship the things of the world is to worship the one to whom they belong. In other words, the essence of materialism is Satan worship.
3. “Boasting of what he has and does” – This “pride of life” essentially consists of two things: (1) Boasting about material possessions – money, house, cars, jewelry, clothes, etc.; and (2) Boasting about accomplishments – education, diplomas, position, sport achievements, etc. Such pride causes you to put your faith in yourself rather than in God. Therefore, such pride will ultimately cut you off from the grace of God because His grace is received through faith alone. The Bible clearly teaches that pride will lead to our downfall. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).
Jesus was also tempted in this manner: Satan dared Jesus to show off by leaping from the top of the temple. Jesus responded, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’ ” (Matthew 4:7). What the devil enticed Jesus to do was to jump off the Temple in the middle of the crowd to impress them on the spot. This would have been a shortcut and Jesus would have been crowned as Messiah without going to the cross. Same tactic used with Eve: “…you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).
If we have been blessed with talents, positions, and possessions we must be very careful not to put our confidence in them because verse 17 tells us that they will not last. Martin Luther wrote, “I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all. But the things I have placed in God’s hands I still possess.” What the Bible commands is to not love these things, to not set your hearts on them, to not think of them as important. Do not give yourselves to amassing things, do not love luxury and ease, and do not strive to outshine others. May God help us to keep from that at all costs!
Conclusion of Tonight’s Message
1 John 2:17 declare, “The world and its desired pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” The Bible teaches us that one day the world and all the things of the world will be destroyed by fire (2 Peter 3:10-11). If you have lived your life only for the things of this world, what will you have left on that day? Nothing! That is why Jim Elliot, a young missionary who died at the hands of the Auca Indians, said, “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.”
This passage is teaching us that we will share in the destiny of whatever we give our lives to. If we give our lives to the world we will burn in the lake of fire for all of eternity. If we give our lives to God will enjoy paradise for all of eternity as the verse says, “the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
Conclusion “A Generation Of Overcomers In A Dangerous World”
A rich man bought an island so he could get back to the beauty of nature and solitude. Friends convinced him to build a golf course so he’d have something to do – then a hotel to house the guests who came to play golf – then a shopping mall for the wives of the golfers – then a hospital to care for emergencies – then a police station to take care of the crime that developed. Soon, he could no longer see the natural beauty of the island or the ocean, nor could he hear the sounds of nature or the crashing of the ocean waves. He had put too many things in the way. That’s the way it is with us and God – we have so many other things in the way, we have lost our communion with God. That’s why we should “love not the world”. The love of the world will choke out the awareness of the presence of God.
Obviously, the world will not choke us in an instant. The Devil has time and patience. Like in the experiment with the frog in the kettle: if you put a frog into a pot of boiling water, it will leap out right away to escape the danger. But, if you put a frog in a kettle that is filled with water that is cool and pleasant, and then you gradually heat the kettle until it starts boiling, the frog will not become aware of the threat until it is too late. The frog’s survival instincts are geared towards detecting sudden changes. The devil works his schemes gradually. He will work his deceiving acts on all of us in his attempt to take us down with him to Hell!
How can I become an Overcomer of this world and against the Prince of this world? Jesus set an example for us: He Himself used the Word of God to defeat the evil one. Jesus declared in Luke 10:19 “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Are we using the authority that comes through the Word of God? Are we swinging “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephes. 6:17) “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms?” (Ephes. 6:12)